The first word that comes to my mind when I hear digital government is technology. The world of digitization is also home to the concept or basis of digital government. Digital government as a concept to me was all related to coding and technology. But I was incorrect. Digital government is not just mere coding, as it also entails how a government would use technology to implement projects to become closer to citizens.
So, what does digital government means in today’s time? Does it mean that the existing processes are obsolete, or does it mean that the citizens want or except more seamless services? The answer may vary for person to person. But the main idea is the same, which is to create an environment with effective and efficient services by implementing policies in an open, innovative and participatory manner.
Data is the new gold standard for any government and digital governance is an approach to use this to create a citizen-centric environment which provides a better interface to work with.
It helps with increased privacy and accountability for individuals, corporations and governments. Data driven environments are being used to create a strong relationship between the government and public. The seamless and customized government plan is utilized to reach everyone while applying across the policy areas. Digital government is used to provide an engaging personal experience to its users. However, there are some major concerns or challenges when transforming an analog process to digital. This would include safety, privacy and accessibility.
Here are some points that I learnt from the class:
- What is the actual meaning of digital government?
I learnt that while digital government does not mean just technology and digitization. It actually means to change the approach of how government works. Ensuring easy and quick accessibility in this day and age of digital environment is the primary goal of digital government.
- Government services can be more streamlined, easily accessible and digitized in a way that helps both the public and the government to be bring about more clarity and faster ways for its users to work in this data driven world.
To sum up, I am looking forward to this course and how it will help me widen my horizon of skills.
Gaurav's blog 