e-Government: Concepts and Practices

Lecture Schedule and Required Readings - Summer 2006

Day 1 - July 1     Internet Session 1   Day 2 - July 8   Internet Session 2

Day 1 - July 1st

Session 1 - Course Overview

• Explanations of Sessions/Class Introductions
• Discussion of Course Internet Reference Sites
• Overview of trends driving the development of e-gov/e-commerce
• Internet Use
• Business Capabilities
• Laws, Government IT Spending Trends

Required Readings:

• Pew Foundation > How Americans Get in Touch with Government (pdf - 28 pp.) - An excellent overview of how electronic access compares with other ways people currently use to interact with government agencies, and what the implications are for designing e-Government programs.
• WA DIS > Digital Government Plan (pdf - 47 pp.). Washington is considered an e-Government leader. This archived document contains an overview of the state’s original vision for developing e-Government.  The first 33 pages of the pdf are required reading.
• Brown University > 2005 State/Federal e-Government Survey (pdf - 29 pp.) - Brown University puts out one of the most well regarded surveys of federal, state and local e-Government web sites.

Session 2 – Citizen Centric Web Design

• Web Design principles –
• Organization
• Navigation
• Design of Content
• Citizen approaches to finding web information, accessing government
• Involving stakeholders in e-gov site development

Guest Presentation: Citizen Centric Web Design in the City of Bellevue - David Kerr, Web Coordinator, City of Bellevue
Discussion Topic: Analysis of a state or local government web site.

Required Readings:

• Current Issues in Web Usability- Jakob Nielson is the acknowledged guru of web usability. This page provides links to a number of articles he has written on the subject.  The link to “Usability 101” is required reading.
• Washington DIS > Web Presentation Guide – Washington’s Department of Information Services has a tremendous catalogue of on-line tools for developing e-government applications.  This particular link is to their basic guide for presenting information on  web sites.
• Yale Web Style Manual >Table of Contents - Optional Reading. For those of you that want to learn more about the fineries of web design, this manual is sort of a “Strunk and White: The Elements of Style” for the online world. 

Session 3 – Overview of Key E-Government Services

• Citizen to Government
• Access to government information
• Participation in policy development, rule making
• Business to Government
• Facilitating compliance - permits, notification, reporting
• Grants/Procurement - bidding, award and payment
• Government to Government
• Information integration
• Interactive policy development
• Data transfer and exchange

Discussion Topic: In which areas of government services can e-government make the most difference in Washington state?

Required Readings:

• Center for Digital Government Best of the Web 2005 – This site contains a number of links to what CDG considers to be “best practice” web sites. It includes examples of the various categories of eGovernment services that are described above.
• CRS > Primer on eGovernment (pdf - 21pp.) - The Congressional Research Service is a great tool for just about any policy issue you are interested in. This document provides an overview of the major types of e-Government programs, and what their existence and development means for policy makers and legislators.

Session 4 - Policies, Laws and Business Case Techniques

• Overview of e-Government Related Policy Issues
• Federal and State Laws & Initiatives
• Business Case Techniques

State University of NY-Albany > And Justice for All: Designing Your Business Case for Integrating Justice Information - Take a look at the home page, and explore any of the links on the left column for information on the major elements of a business case for an e-Government program. Section 2 - "Designing the argument: Approach, Rationale & Strategy" is probably the most important link for you to view. If you want to download/print the entire document, it is about 93 pages

End of day: Discussion of Course Projects for July 8 Session

• Web Site Evaluation Project
• Business Case Project

Internet Session 1

This internet session, to be scheduled during the period from July 5 - July 7, will include a both a short review of the themes covered in Session 3 and 4 , as well as a brief preview of the policy issues to discussed during Session 6 on July 8th. The intent will be to focus on the relation of these materials to the projects the students are preparing. Students will then have an opportunity to chat on-line and discuss their thoughts on the connections between these materials and their projects.

Day 2 - July 8th

Session 5 – Technology Background & Concepts

• Overview of  Computer Networking, Telecommunications, Internet Protocols
• Tools for Transactions, Data Exchange
• Authentication, Privacy and Security Technologies
• Concepts in Developing On-Line Applications

Guest Presentation: Brian Criss, Washington Department of Information Services

Required Readings:
ISPRS.ORG > 35 Years of Internet (pdf - 12pp.) - A fairly short and well written overview of internet history and technology. Pages nine through twelve focus on the ISPRS group itself, and are not required reading.

figure-speech.com > The Nuts and Bolts of the World Wide Web (pdf - 35 pp.) – This site is included as a reference only.  Pages 9-35 contain a glossary of internet terms.

Session 6 - E-Gov Policy Issues

• Public Access/Digital Divide
• Security
• Privacy
• Funding/Privatization

Student Led Discussions:  Based on the policy issue of their choice.

Required Readings:  Students are required to pick one of the topics below and complete the readings associated with it.

Accessibility-Digital Divide

• Pew Foundation > The Ever-Shifting Internet Population (pdf - 46 pp.) - This article provides a thought provoking and in-depth look at why some people are on the net and others are not.
• Gates Foundation > Toward Equality of Access (pdf - 36 pp.) - Another look at disparities in access to the internet, and some ideas and programs for addressing them.
• W3.Org > Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility - This site, run by one of the internet's main governing bodies, provides some tools and advice on how to evaluate web sites for accessibility, particularly for people with various disabilities.
• Digital Divide Network > Homepage - This site provides more links and information on the digital divide issue.

Privacy

• CRS > Internet Privacy - Overview and Pending Legislation (pdf - 22 pp.) - Provides some additional information on specific internet privacy and government "spying" issues. Through page 18 is required reading.
• CRS > Privacy: Total Information Awareness Programs and Related Information Access, Collection, and Protection Laws (pdf - 30 pp.) - This CRS brief starts with an interesting (and now defunct) program proposed by the Department of Defense, and uses it to provided a solid analysis of information collection activities and issues. Through page 20 is required reading.
• Electronic Privacy Information Center > Homepage - EPIC provides a lot of useful links and articles on privacy issues. In particular, the "Resources on Domestic Surveillance" page has some good links.
• Privacy.org > Homepage - Like EPIC, this organization specializes in news and information on electronic privacy issues.

Information Security

• CRS > Federal Laws on Computer Security (pdf - 16 pp.) - Provides a short summary of selected federal laws, executive orders, and presidential directives, currently in force, that govern computer security. The report focuses on the major roles and responsibilities assigned various federal agencies in the area of computer security.
• CRS > Creating a National Framework for Cybersecurity(pdf- 58 pp.) - This report presents an overview of the kinds of threats that face computer systems and the internet today. It looks at options for dealing with them, and discusses the various roles that government and the private sector can play. It also provides suggestions to government departments and agencies that have roles in cyberspace security. 

Session 7 – e-Government Best Practices and e-Democracy  

• Review of Best Practice Sites
• e-Democracy

Required Readings:

• Oxford Internet Institute Symposium on Electronic Democracy - Papers by leading academicians and practitioners about eDemocracy.
• Do-Wire.org > Democracies Online - This blog and e-mail announcement list is run by Steven Clift, one of the leading US thinkers about electronic democracy.
• eDemocracy.gov.uk - The UK government has a comprehensive national eDemocracy program. This site provides links to a number of features of that program.

End of Day Session: Student Presentations - Based on projects identified during Week 1

• Students will present the results of the business case or evaluation survey that they have been working on.

Internet Session 2

The second internet session, to be scheduled during the period from July 10-12, will focus on e-government programs and their potential to transform the way government services are delivered.