E-Governance Developments in European Union Cities: Reshaping Government's Relationship with Citizens

Abstract

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, the challenge to governments is to improve citizens’ trust in governments. The Internet aids good governance by increasing transparency and customer-oriented service delivery. During the last few years, European Union local governments have expanded their presence on the Internet. This article presents empirical evidence on the nature of e-governance initiatives in cities across Europe. The findings could be of interest to cities interested in determining how their online presence compares with that of other cities. There are opportunities for information and communication technologies (ICT) to enhance governance in local governments, but the focus of the ICT applications concentrates technologies on the management and delivery of services rather than on other areas. The Internet is not yet running as an effective medium facilitating democratic inputs into the policymaking process. Our study shows that technology is behaving as an enabler within preexisting social and political structures.