Digital Government and e-Services
Digital Government and e-Services tests how public services are redesigned around citizens, not merely put online. Expect concepts such as G2C, G2B, G2G, interoperability, digital identity, inclusion and service maturity.
Core rules
- E-government maturity moves from publishing information, to interaction, to transaction, to integrated services.
- Interoperability lets agencies share data lawfully; it needs standards, identifiers and data protection safeguards.
- Sri Lanka's Lanka Government Network (LGN) provides shared connectivity; gov.lk is the public web domain; e-Services should offer clear eligibility, status tracking and redress.
- Process re-engineering should precede automation. A bad paper process becomes a faster bad online process if rules are not simplified.
Worked example
Designing an online birth-certificate request: authenticate the applicant, show eligibility and fees, accept only necessary data, integrate payment, route the request to the correct registrar, give a tracking number, and define an appeal/correction path. Reason: the citizen wants an outcome, not a PDF form. Each step removes a counter visit or a duplicate data entry, while audit logs protect integrity.
Traps
Do not equate digitisation with transformation; do not ignore citizens without smartphones or connectivity; do not publish personal data in open-data releases; and do not promise a service level without back-office capacity. Accessibility and language choice affect adoption.