E-Government

1. E-Government Euan Eadie John McCloughlin Ziyad Wanis ATTENTION: This is not a political presentation

2. Introduction of e-Government. Advantages of an e-government service. E-Democracy. E-Voting. Disadvantages of an e-government service. Presentation Outline

3. What is e-Government? • Moving government systems to an online service. • “the use of information and communications technologies (ICT) to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of government ” . • The term e-government encapsulates many topics. http://www.worldbank.org/egov, ‘What is e-government?’; The World Bank

4. Advantages of e-Government • Improve efficiency of current system. • Allows all citizens to receive the same service irrespective of where they stay. • Potentially decrease voter apathy. • Increase transparency within government organisations.

5. Example of Advantages • Gujarat is a state within India. • They adopted an e-government service for controlling border checks. • New system decreased corruption. • The system gave a three-fold increase in tax revenue from $12m to $35m paying the cost of the project, $4m, back in four months. http://www.egovonline.net/articles/articledetails.asp?articleid=507&typ=In%20Practice, ‘e-Governance impacts Gujarat’; M.P. Gupta and Prabhat Kumar (2006)

6. eGovernment - eDemocracy • What is eDemocracy? • ICT based solutions that offer the public an opportunity to influence and participate in the policy/political process. • An initiative that aims to help citizens better understand their governments, to encourage citizens’ participation in government, and to provide greater communication, access and accountability of government.

7. eGovernment - eDemocracy eDemocracy and people’s participation & eParticipation! What is the situation today!? • Abstention of citizens from the political process to the extend of forsaking their dominant democratic right. • Democratic deficit even in “established” democracies. • Citizens’ participation in democratic processes across Europe has been declining for years • The UK Government launched the International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy (ICELE). Set to drive up eParticipation rates in the UK through providing best practice advice and support to local authorities.

8. eGovernment - eDemocracy Why is eDemocracy necessary? • Political participation is declining • Membership of political parties is down • Voter turnout is low • General distrust in politics Examples of eDemocracy • Online questionnaires • Webchats with elected representatives • Email directories • Online voting (eVoting) • Streaming footage of debates • Political information

9. eGovernment - eDemocracy Advantages of eDemocracy – ‘the enemy of dictatorships!’ • Facilitate dialogue between public and their government • Empower populations and strengthen community engagement • Reduce barriers to participation such as time, geographical location and allow for views to be expressed in a private non-confrontational arena. • Appeal to “hard-to-reach” groups, e.g. young people • Innovative solutions could encourage bottom up participation • Will be the future ‘straw’ that will break the back of dictatorships in the World.

10. eGovernment - eDemocracy eDemocracy, a solution for Disadvantages • I couldn’t see any disadvantages except that it may lead to demagogy where the people gain full power through eDemocracy and oversteps their borders. Demagogy (from Greek demos, "people", and agogos, "leading") refers to a political strategy for obtaining and gaining political power by appealing to the narrow-mindedness, fears, and expectations of the public.

11. eGovernment - eDemocracy What about the Digital Divide? The BBC, on its special report 1999 – information rich, info poor says: “More than 80% of people in the world have never even heard a dial tone, let alone surfed the Web. And the gap between those who have access to information and those who do not is widening.” “In Mongolia, the price to connect is certainly out of reach for most ordinary people. One ISP charges approximately £30 ($50) per month and that does not include the cost of the phone call. The average GDP per capita is £1,359 ($2,250).” And the DV could be deepening the BBC says on its 26/10/2006 article. The number of people in the UK who have no intention of getting internet access has risen, research firm Point Topic has found.

12. eGovernment - eDemocracy Finally - Why having an eDemocracy? “The Internet can be used by Citizens to watch their governments – rather than by governments to watch their citizens”Professor Manuel Castells. eDemocracy IS NOT – • about technology • an e-government service • just about evoting • “push-button” democracy • An “alternative” democracy • A answer to problems

13. eGovernment - eDemocracy eDemocracy IS – • about consultation and deliberation • about right of “access” and accountability • about people’s voice being heard and respected “Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, involve me and I will understand.” An old Chinese proverb eDEMCORACY is about DEMOCRACY

14. eGovernment - eDemocracy International eDemocracy Organisations • Hansard Society [UK] • Commonwealth Centre for eGovernance [Canada] • Foundation for Policy Research [UK] • Access2Democracy [Australia] • National Science Foundation’s Digital Government Research Program [US] • UNPAN's eGovernment Page [UN] • DigitalGovernance.org Initiative [Personal site] • The E-Volve Foundation [US] • Institute For Politics, Democracy & The Internet [US]

15. Background of Voting • Originated around 508 B.C. in Greece • People actually voted for the politicians they wanted to put into exile for 10 years • Votes were made on broken pots called ostraka, which is where we get the modern word ostracise • The build up of the Venetian state in the 13th century saw the change to voting for the politicians people approved of • Reforms have been made over the years to make the process fair and developed the paper based system.

16. Introduction of e-Voting • Making the process of voting electronic • Common misconception that e-Voting is a recent thing • e-Voting was actually introduced in the 1960’s • Limited to the backend of the voting process (i.e. a counting role)

17. e-Voting methods • The Punch Card System • First adopted in 1964 in Georgia USA • Used a card or cards • The voter would punch holes beside the name of their preference using a punching tool • These cards would be fed into a computer which reads hole location • Marksense (Optical Scan) • Candidates names are listed on a card next to an empty rectangle • Voters would cast their vote by putting a mark in the box • Cards would be fed into a computer which reads the cards • dark mark logic is used • This technology is extensively used in the lottery systems. These methods are still used extensively in the USA today

18. e-Voting methods cont. • Voting kiosks • First example of the ‘e’ breaking into the front end • Kiosks are like ATM machines, though are usually touch screen • The system needs to determine who the person is - can be done by finger print scanning - Chip and PIN cards - Unique identifiers and PIN’s • Lists of candidates appear onscreen usually with a picture • The voter presses on the name or picture of their preference • Submit and confirm

19. e-Voting methods cont. Telephone voting “Typically the voter will dial a freephone number and will be greeted by a bespoke welcome message and a description of the menu s/he will be required to follow. Voters will be asked to enter their security number and voting intention by pressing keys on their phone pad. The voter's responses are repeated back to them and confirmation is sought before the vote is cast. If any numbers are mis-keyed (invalid security number for example) the error will be explained and the voter is re-routed back to the earlier part of the menu so that the data can be re-entered. The call is ended with a ‘thank you’ message and an instruction to replace the receiver.” www.ers.co.uk

20. e-Voting methods cont. • Internet Voting • Registered voters receive a letter in the weeks leading up to the election - a PIN - times and dates for internet voting - the website to take part in internet voting • When voting opens authenticate users - navigate to the specified website - enter in the PIN - answer two personal questions • The system knows the user is who he / she claims to be - cast vote by clicking on the preferred candidate - submit and confirm

21. The way forward • Governments would like to fully implement internet voting • Why internet voting? • Many people forfeit their right to vote - unable to get to polling stations (mainly the elderly) - out of the country (on business or holiday) - are too lazy or busy (mainly the under 25’s) • The 2005 UK general election (UK electorate population of 44,245,939) - there was a 61.36% turnout (27,148,510 people) - 17,097,429 people did not vote - Labour won the election with 33.3% of the vote - is the UK government being run by a party with a majority following?

22. Issues with internet voting • SECURITY • Authentication • The digital divide • Trust • Internet Connections

23. Who has implemented e-Voting • Switzerland • Several cantons (Geneva, Neuchâtel and Zürich) have developed internet voting test projects to allow citizens to vote via the Internet or by SMS. • Brazil • e-Voting in Brazil was introduced in 1996. Since 2000, all Brazilian elections have been fully electronic. By the 2000 and 2002 elections more than 400 thousand electronic voting machines were used nationwide in Brazil and the results were tallied electronically within minutes after the polls closed. • Canada • e-Voting in Canada has been used since at least the 1990s. They held the first full • electronic elections in North America using either the Internet or the phone but no • paper ballots. • Romania • In 2003 Romania first implemented electronic voting systems to give voting capabilities to soldiers serving in Iraq and other war zones.

24. Disadvantages of e-Government • Government service loses person to person interaction. • Can create an easy excuse for mistakes. • Inherits design problems of the internet. • Can cause divisions within the country (e.g. digital divide).

25. Any Questions??