Transcript Digital Divide Network

Achieving
E-Government for All
Andy Carvin
Digital Divide Network
EDC Center for Media & Community
[email protected]
www.digitaldivide.net
About the Digital Divide Network
www.digitaldivide.net
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Launched in 1999 at President Clinton’s
National Digital Divide Summit
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Internet’s largest interactive community on the
digital divide
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7,000+ activists, policymakers and educators
in more than 120 countries
What is the Digital Divide?
The gap that exists between populations
in terms of:
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Access to information and communication
technologies (ICTs)
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Literacy skills and ability to use ICTs effectively
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The availability and accessibility of high quality,
relevant content - including e-gov services
Is E-Gov a Digital Divide Issue?
Yes!!!
THE POTENTIAL of e-government as a development tool hinges
upon three prerequisites – a minimum threshold level of
technological infrastructure, human capital, and e-connectivity –
for all. E-government readiness strategies and programmes will
be able to be effective and “include all” people only if, at the very
minimum, all have functional literacy and education, which
includes knowledge of computer and Internet use; all are
connected to a computer; and all have access to the Internet.
The primary challenge of e-government for development
therefore, is how to accomplish this.
– UN World Public Sector Report 2003:
E-Government at the Crossroads, October 2003
The Brave New World of E-Gov
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Billions of dollars invested worldwide
Improved efficiency of transactions between
governments, vendors and the public
Decreased paperwork and red tape
Increased good governance
But how does this affect people
on the wrong side of the digital divide?
E-Gov Services Missing Their
Target Audience?
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DDN begins exploring equitable access to
e-government services in 2002
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Alabama jobs program only available online, but
targeting populations with almost zero Internet
access
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Missouri healthcare directories no longer printed as
paper, to save money; elderly can’t access Internet
or utilize PDF files
Latest Example: MyPyramid.gov
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April 2005: US Dept of
Agriculture releases
new “food pyramid”
only on website
Not available over
phone, fax or on paper
Inaccessible for people
with disabilities
English-only; Spanish
website not ready for
launch
A Partnership to Address
“E-Government for All”
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DDN joins Rockefeller Institute of
Government’s NYS Forum to organize a
conference on e-government and the digital
divide
Recruits domestic and international partners,
including CTCNet, Information Society of the
Americas and BytesforAll.org
Organizes November 2003 virtual
conference: www.egov4all.org
The
Conference
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Two-week event
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1,300 participants from 80+ countries, including tech
activists, policymakers, website designers
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Panel sessions, live chats, email session reports,
bulletin board discussions
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Final report published in June 2004
Issues Raised During egov4all
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Literacy: both traditional and ICT-related
Web accessibility and the disabled
Linguistic accessibility
Website navigability and document formats
Public vs. at-home Internet access
The relationship between e-gov and e-dem
Best Practices and “Worst Practices”
Ideas from the Conference
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Top 10 Obstacles for achieving egov4all
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Top 10 Opportunities for achieving egov4all
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Four Stages of E-Government for All
Top 10 Obstacles for Achieving
E-Government for All
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A disconnect in e-gov and
digital divide policies
Unnecessary “bells and
whistles”
Non-enforcement (or
lack) of accessibility
standards
Insensitivity to reading
levels
Linguistic barriers
E-Gov user unfriendliness
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“Out with the old, in with
the new” (shutting offline
services, replaced by
online services)
Funding challenges
Non-engagement of
private sector & civil
society
Lack of public
engagement
Top 10 Opportunities for
Achieving E-Government for All
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Educating govt officials
Establishing cross-agency
E-Government for All
working groups
Employing public input to
improve understanding of
audience
Enforcing Web accessibility
& readability standards
Creating E-Government for
All ombudsmen
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Know Thy Audience:
development of user
“personas”
Engagement with private
sector and civil society
Addressing the total cost of
e-government prior to
deployment
Establishing standards for
digital divide research
Maintaining alternative
channels of information &
services
Four Stages of E-Government for All
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Based on Gartner Group’s Four Stages of E-Gov
(Presence, Interaction, Transaction, Transformation)
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Four Stages of E-Gov for All include
Initiation, Engagement, Integration, Equity
Stage One: Initiation
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Basic online documents made available in multiple
formats to suit all users’ needs
Users provided access to free translation tools
Internet access provided to the public via schools
and libraries, telecenters and other public institutions
Promotion of volunteer programs for addressing ICT
literacy
Preservation of existing offline channels for
constituents to access government information and
services
Stage Two: Engagement
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Governments engage constituents to develop userfriendly, accessible interactive government services
Promote opportunities for constituents to gain Internet
access, improve literacy and ICT skills
Partner with the private sector, civil society and
academia to coordinate strategies regarding ICT literacy
and the digital divide
Adopt technical standards for accessibility & readability
Develop policy prototypes to address equity concerns
Partner with the private sector to invest in advanced
translation tools
Stage Three: Integration
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Broader adoption of successful policies and
practices for expanding ICT equity
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Long-term strategy for addressing equity in
the appropriations/budgeting process
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Government agencies and officials
accountable for providing equitable e-gov
Stage Four: Equity
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All people have equal access to government
information and services, both online and
offline, no matter their education level,
language spoken, income or disability
Universal basic literacy
Successful implementation of sustainable
universal service policies for ubiquitous
Internet access and ICT literacy
Next Steps
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Organize follow-up egov4all conference,
both offline and online
Partner with governments to develop detailed
E-Government for All strategies
Identify and publish best practices based on
hands-on experiences of governments
addressing E-Government for All
For More Information
Andy Carvin
Program Director, Digital Divide Network
EDC Center for Media & Community
[email protected]
www.digitaldivide.net
www.egov4all.org
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