Government transparency should be embedded in the design of ICT systems.
Citizens too rarely understand how government decisions are made. This lack of transparency prevents the public from actively participating in government and from raising questions or protesting unfair or ill-advised decisions. A lack of transparency can conceal official graft or favoritism.
E-government can play an essential role in revealing to the public the policies their government is adopting or the actions the government is taking. South Korea, for example, reduced corruption by reorganizing government activities such as licensing and permit approval, and creating an online monitoring system to track each application. This program succeeded in reducing the number of bribes and collusion among corrupt bureaucrats because officials could now be held personally accountable for actions.
A major area where e-government and security concerns have converged is the area of online elections. Conducting a free and fair election always requires trust in the security and integrity of voting data. The Administration and Cost of Elections (ACE) project provides a thorough online resource for policymakers who are trying to design electoral systems that utilize ICT. The site includes advice on ensuring the security and reliability of data. http://www.aceproject.org/main/english/et/et.htm
OPEN (Online Procedures Enhancement for Civil Applications), Seoul, South Korea: Giving citizens the ability track online the progress of their applications for services.
In 1998, the Seoul government initiated a comprehensive campaign to battle corruption. As part of a concerted effort to bring transparency to government functions such as licensing and permit approval, reformers not only streamlined the burdensome regulatory rules (the complexity of which provided ample opportunities for extorting bribes) but they also created an online monitoring system to track the progress of government applications. Now, citizens will know at all times where precisely their applications stand in the evaluation process, thwarting corrupt bureaucrats who in the past demanded bribes to expedite applications or even tell a citizen the status of his application. OPEN: http://english.metro.seoul.kr/government/policies/anti/civilapplications Seoul, South Korea: http://www.metro.seoul.kr
Declaranet, Mexico: Public officials disclose assets to increase trust in government.
Mexican President Vincente Fox started the reform process towards greater transparency and government openness by submitting a public declaration of his assets using the e-government site Declaranet and urging all public functionaries to do the same. http://www.declaranet.gob.mx
