Ewa Ziemba and Tomasz Papaj
refers to these two levels. Hence the conclusion can be drawn that making e‐Government services available at the 4 th maturity level enhances their use.
Fifth, currently government agencies do not make e‐Government services available at 5 th maturity level.
5. Conclusion
At the end of the discussion about the use of e‐Government at the local level in Poland we make a few reflections.
SEKAP is an innovative technological and organizational solution. It includes e‐Government services at the different levels of maturity for citizens, enterprises and government agencies. Many concepts and solutions that arose in the course of its design, implementation and use are universal, and certainly can be an example of“ good practice” for other regions. Unfortunately, its usage is not satisfactory and needs some improvement. Therefore, the implementation of innovative solutions in government agencies does not mean a strong interest in them from potential stakeholders at the same time. There are many barriers that hinder or even prevent effective and efficient e‐Government development. All the barriers to the usage of e‐Government must be identified and removed.
In our opinion in order to achieve success in usage of e‐Government we should concentrate on four main elements: e‐Government strategy, people, processes and technology. E‐Government strategy requires identification of its goals as well as activities and projects to be taken. Citizens, government agencies’ officials and employees should improve their skills and knowledge about e‐Government. Moreover, an appropriate culture and high self‐awareness of enterprises, citizens and government agencies are required. Besides the process approach to the implementation of e‐Government services and ICT supporting government processes are necessary as well as the delivery of e‐Government services.
Generally speaking, it is very important to indicate the critical success factors for successful usage and development of e‐Government. Hence, the critical success factors for e‐Government will undergo further research.
Acknowledgements
This paper has been supported by a grant entitled“ Designing a system approach to sustainable development of the information society – on the example of Poland” from the National Science Centre in Poland, 2011 / 01 / B / HS4 / 00974, 2011‐2014.
References
A Definition of E‐Government( 2003) The World Bank, Washington. Aldrich, D., Berlot, J. C. and McClure, C. R.( 2002)“ E‐Government: initiatives, development and issues”, Government
Information Quarterly, 19( 4), pp 349‐355. Almarabeh, T. and AbuAli, A.( 2010)“ A General Framework for E‐Government: Definition Maturity Challenges,
Opportunities, and Success”, European Journal of Scientific Research, 39( 1), pp 29‐42. Andersen, K. V. and Henriksen, H. Z.( 2006)“ E‐Government maturity models: Extension of the Layne and Lee model”,
Government Information Quarterly, 23( 2), pp 236‐248. Andersen, K. N., Medaglia, R., Vatrapu, R., Henriksen, H. Z., Gauld R.( 2011)“ The forgotten promise of e‐Government maturity: Assessing responsiveness in the digital public sector”, Government Information Quarterly, 28, pp 439‐445. Anttiroiko, A. V.( 2008)“ A brief introduction to the field of e‐Government,” in: Electronic Government: Concepts,
Methodologies, Tools, and Applications, A. V. Anttiroiko,( ed.), Hershey, New York, pp xli‐lxxv. Baum, C. H. and. Maio, A. D.( 2000) Gartner’ s Four Phases of E‐Government Model, Gartner Group, London, [ online ], http:// www. gartner. com / id = 317292. Benchmarking Digital Europe 2011‐2015 a conceptual framework( 2009) European Commission Information Society and
Media, I2010 High Level Group, pp 11‐13. Beynon‐Davies, P.( 2007) " Models for e‐Government ", Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 1( 1), p 7‐22. Brainard, L. A. and McNutt, J. G.( 2010)“ Virtual Government‐Citizen Relations: Informational, Transactional or
Collaborative?”, Administration & Society, 42( 7), SAGE, pp 836‐858.
COM( 2010) 245,“ A Digital Agenda for Europe”, Communication from the Commission of 19 May 2010 to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, [ online ], http:// europa. eu / legislation _ summaries / information _ society / strategies / index _ en. htm.
568