Implying that the development of e-Governance should be horizontal, US Professors say that vertical concentration of the web based governance may create digital divide among classes.
Addressing the ICEGOV conference in Tallinn, Thad E. Hall and Jennifer Owens from the University of Utah warned that progress in the field may cause a counter effect, with wealthier and tech-savvy citizens gaining faster and more hassle-free access to public services, but the underprivileged and less educated classes – who actually might depend more on those services – becoming even more cut off because they lack internet access.
The overall shift of focus to e-services must be accompanied by reasoned policies to reach out to the underprivileged members of society, the researchers said.
The International Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV), jointly organized by the Estonian e-Governance Academy Foundation, the United Nations University, and the University of Albany will continue in Tallinn through September 28.
