Assessing and Comparing E-Mail Responsiveness in the Bavarian Public Sector

E-mail is the most important electronic communication medium for governments with their constituents. While there are a lot of matur ity models and benchmarking studies focusing on the tech nological and organizational integration of information technology in governments, the “customer side” of e-government maturity has been often neglected. Replicating studies from Australia, New Zealand, Slovenia and Denmark, this study explores the responsiveness concerning customer-government e-mail correspondence for the Bavarian Public Sector. Our study assesses the response rate and quality of 375 e-mails send to public administrations in Bavaria. Our results show that the Bavarian Public Administration has a poor responsiveness compared to other countries in terms of both quantity and quality. Based on our results, we provide recommendations for future research and practice

Electronic administration in Spain: from its beginnings to the present

This study presents the basic lines of electronic administration in Spain. The complexity of the Spanish political-administrative system makes such a study challenging, in view of the considerable degree of autonomy and competences of the regional administrative bodies and local agencies with respect to the central government, the former being more visible in the 17 regions of Spain. Nonetheless, the central government maintains a series of legal instruments that allow a certain common framework of action to be imposed, aside from what is put into effect through diverse programs aimed precisely to develop common tools for the regions and municipalities of Spain. After an introduction that provides some necessary background, this study describes the legislative framework in which Spain's electronic administrative system has developed. The data included in the study refer to investment in information and communication technologies (ICT) and the services offered by the different Administrations on the internet; internet access by citizens, homes, businesses, and employees, as well as the interactivity existing with administrations by means of the internet; the origins and rise of various political initiatives of the Central Government involving electronic administration; and finally, the situation of civil service personnel, as catalysts of the success of Information Society in the Public Administration within Spain

Metaverse for advancing government: Prospects, challenges and a research agenda

A number of government agencies have started deploying the Metaverse to connect better with their constituents. The Metaverse provides a rich interaction environment and has the potential to engage with, especially, the younger generation. However, the Metaverse's potential impact on the government sector has been given limited attention. This discussion paper aims to fill this void by reviewing the state of the art, analyzing possible roles of the Metaverse for governments and providing research directions. We found six facilitators and nine barriers and risks. The Metaverse offers much more than a virtual presence or copy of the physical world; significant transformations are needed in government to reap the benefits. Given the evolution of the Metaverse, government presence also needs to evolve, and different governments make different decisions about their Metaverse presence. We recommend more research into the nature, use, applications, transformations, and implications of the Metaverse on government functioning