3. Research methodology
Ewa Ziemba and Tomasz Papaj
Our research was cognitive‐experiential in nature. The cognitive study was based on a critical analysis of international literature and an analysis of European, Polish and Silesian initiatives for the development of e‐ Government. In order to present the practical dimension of e‐Government called SEKAP, a case study and an action research have been used. The aim of action research is to find " a solution to a local problem in a local setting "( Ellis and Levy, 2009, p. 329; Leedy and Ormrod, 2005, p. 114). A case study is used to " explore, describe, or explain phenomena by an exhaustive study within their natural setting "( Ellis and Levy, 2009, p. 327). In our study these methods refer to analyzing and diagnosing the e‐Government maturity in the Silesian voivodship. We work as experts for the Silesian Centre of Information Society( SCSI) on a regular basis. The SCSI is the coordinator of e‐Government development in the Silesian voivodship. Further, we have used methods of creative thinking and logical deduction to formulate recommendations on e‐Government development.
Studies on the use of SEKAP were conducted on September 30 th, 2012. For this purpose data from 121 government agencies that provide e‐Government services through SEKAP have been analyzed. In total, in the Silesian voivodship there are 203 government agencies, thus 57 % of all government agencies providing services through the SEKAP system. Data on the usage of SEKAP are collected from the SEKAP database. We have used Excel software for these data analysis.
4. Research findings – the diagnosis of e‐Government maturity by the example of SEKAP
4.1 Nature of SEKAP
An example of an e‐Government implementation in the Silesian voivodship is the Electronic Communication System for Public Administration called SEKAP( Ziemba and Papaj, 2012).
The Silesian voivodship was chosen because it is one of the most economically developed regions in Poland. It is simultaneously characterized by both: the highest level of population density and industrialization in the country. The region has been well‐known for heavy industry for many years and is undergoing transformation into an information region. Recently many new software companies, institutes of tertiary education, research and high technologies centers have been created here. Hence, not without reason, the Silesian voivodship is regarded as a strategic region for domestic as well as international investors. It is thought that its further expansion will be determined also by the development of e‐Government that makes government services more efficient and easier to access for citizens, businesses as well as government agencies. Creating the e‐ Government at the highest level of maturity has become a one of the priority issues for the Silesian voivodship.
SEKAP is a result of strategic innovative project, that was carried out by the municipal and district authorities of the Silesian voivodship in 2005‐2008( Ziemba and Papaj, 2012; www. sekap. pl). It enables the provision of e‐ Government services including five forms of the relations between government agencies and their stakeholders: C2G / G2C, B2G / G2B, G2G. The e‐Government services are provided at different levels of maturity, from the information level to the transaction level.
Currently( 2009‐2012) a project called“ Development and Dissemination of the Electronic System for Public Administration in Silesia – SEKAP2” is carried out. Within this framework, work is conducted on the improvement of SEKAP, e. g. the main objective is increasing the maturity levels of e‐Government services.
4.2 Maturity of e‐Government in SEKAP
Currently, SEKAP includes 558 various e‐Government services, in particular all 20 services recommended by the European Commission. They are rendered to citizens, enterprises, and government agencies, but some of them regard citizens, enterprises, as well as government agencies.
Unfortunately not all government agencies make all 558 e‐Government services available. This results from the fact that not every government agency is competent to offer every service. But first of all the reason for such a state of affairs is the fact that government agencies have not implemented appropriate processes and procedures, which make e‐Government services available.
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