Setting sail into the age of digital local government : [electronic resource] trends and best practices / Tony E Wohlers; Lynne Louise Bernier

Acknowledgments; Contents; List of Tables; List of Figures; Chapter 1: Introduction; General Approach; Methods, Conceptual Framework, Hypothesis; Plan of the Book; Part I: Trends and Theoretical Context; Chapter 2: Current Trends in Local E-Government; Development and Functionality of Local E-Government; Global Trends of Local E-Government; North America; Europe; East Asia; Barriers to the Successful Transition to Local E-Government; Chapter 3: Transformation of Local Government in the Digital Age; E-Democracy and Politics. ICTs and Citizen Participation in Local Democracy: A Glimmer of Hope? ICTs, Citizens, and Representative Democracy; Part II: Comparative Analysis of Local E-Government Functionality; Chapter 4: United States; Trends of Local E-Government Functionality in the United States; Context; National Trends; Adoption of Local E-Government Strategies and Policies in Seattle; From the World's Fair to High Tech City; Beginning the Journey on the World Wide Web; Reorganization and Implementation of IT Structures; Creation of IT Synergies Beyond City Hall. Expansion of E-Government Presence and Functionality Addressing the Digital Divide and Moving towards M-Government; Conclusion; Chapter 5: Germany; Trends of Local E-Government Functionality in Germany; Adoption of Local E-Government in Nuremberg; Challenging Demographics but IT Hub; The Beginnings and Systematic E-Government Acceleration; Data and Regulatory-Driven E-Government Expansion and Consolidation; E-Government Functionality beyond the Billboards and Service Levels; Conclusion; Chapter 6: France; Trends of Local E-Government Functionality in France. Overview from a Nation-Wide Perspective Local E-Government in Seven French Regions; Adoption of Local E-Government Strategies and Policies in Bordeaux; Context; Bordeaux's ICT Strategy: The Mayor in the Lead; Strategic Planning for ICTs; Implementation and Standardization of E-Government; Main Stakeholders Pushing for E-Government; Conclusion; Chapter 7: Japan; E-Government in Japan; Trends of Local E-Government Functionality in Japan; A Case of the Local E-Government in Japan; Context; Local E-Government in Shizuoka City; Conclusion; Chapter 8: Conclusion; Outline Placeholder.

The Internet and related technologies have dramatically changed the way we live, work, socialize, and even topple national governments. As the Internet becomes increasingly pervasive across societies, we find more often that governments adopt Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) as part of their toolbox for facilitating efficient and citizen-oriented service delivery at all levels of government. Local governments across the major industrialized democracies have not been an exception to this trend and have set sail into the age of digital government. Closest to their citizens, towns and cities have adopted ICTs to facilitate electronic government (e-government). While research on local e-government functionality in terms of information dissemination, service delivery, and citizen engagement continues at an impressive empirical and methodological pace, gaps in our knowledge remain. Cross-national comparative research on local e-government that covers a wide range of municipalities in combination with in-depth case study analyses is lacking. Informed by a comparative case study approach, this book seeks to narrow that gap and offer practical policy solutions to facilitate local e-government. We do so by pursuing both a macro and micro perspective of e-government functionality in the federal republics of Germany and the United States and unitary France and Japan. The macro perspective focuses on the state and scope of e-government functionality across a large number of randomly selected municipalities of all sizes in these advanced industrialized countries. Based on a small sample of case studies, the micro perspective analyzes the successful implementation of e-government in Seattle (United States), Nuremberg (Germany), Bordeaux (France), and Shizuoka City (Japan).