WRITTEN ON November 2nd, 2004 BY Frank McDonough AND STORED IN Uncategorized

While some remarkable things have been done in many governments, the glitter of e-Government in its current form is fading. Most countries are operating on an e-gov model that they established several years ago. Something fresh and new is needed. One cannot hold the attention of elected officials for several years. Issues in government move on over time and the attention of elected officials moves on as well.

Leading countries such as Canada are stepping back and rethinking where they are going with e-Government. The next phase will be called something other than e-Government. This term is regarded as technology and does not interest most officials in governments.

Some governments are beginning to talk about transformational systems which I have always felt is the end state of e-government. My sense is that the next phase will be a transition from the information age to the intergovernmental, collaborative phase and that as all sectors of societies form into networks, the new age will be as important as was the transition from the agricultural age to the industrial age.