iGovernment: A new perspective on the future of government digitisation

Innovative use of ICT applications is rapidly becoming a cornerstone of modern government policy in every area of service, care and control. Looking beyond the individual applications and layers of digitisation, we find a hodgepodge of information flows running within and between the various public authorities, policy domains, and crossing the public/private boundary. This has consequences for the relation between government and citizens. Step by step, decision by decision, the everyday work of government is changing ‘the rules of the game’ and giving rise to “information Government” (iGovernment), without this being based on any overall strategic agenda or awareness among political decision-makers. This article places this development in a new framework and suggests a perspective on a necessary paradigm shift.