From trust to tech equity to transparency, governments have issues. Is digitization the fix?
IN BRIEF
- There was a time more than three out of every four Americans trusted the government to “almost always” do what’s right. Today, it’s fewer than one in six.
- The current state of e-government is fragmented, incomplete, and needs rationalization. This situation creates unique security and privacy risks due to legacy and new IT systems.
- The Government Accountability Office found that only three of 15 government systems had continuous monitoring of their cloud systems and issued a set of recommendations private companies have been following for years.
The trend is incontrovertible: Sentiment is at an all-time low when it comes to whether Americans “trust the government to do what’s right almost always/most of the time.” According to the Pew Research Center, only 16% agreed in 2023, compared to 54% in 2001. The all-time high was 77% back in 1964. Yes, there was a time more than three out of every four Americans trusted the government to “almost always” do what’s right. Today, it’s fewer than one in six.
In a survey worded somewhat differently and conducted internationally, only 31% of Americans said they had “confidence in the national [federal] government,” compared to 84% in Switzerland, 69% in Sweden, 61% in Germany, and 43% in Japan.
Yet, we know government is necessary. The market economy does not function well without the public provision of education, pensions, transportation, the rule of law, defense, security, and a host of basic “public” goods such as air traffic control, maritime signaling or weather forecasting. Even proponents of the “minimal state” see a role for regulation to play.
During times of crisis, most recently the coronavirus pandemic—governments stepped up with varying degrees of success to protect citizens from the fallout and to prevent the economy from collapsing. And just as in the private sector, the pandemic invited governments to significantly step up their digital presence. Has e-government lived up to expectations? Has it contributed to enhanced participation, quality, and efficiency? Can the digitization of government service be the panacea for the public sector?
The emergence of e-government
Aside from all the misgivings that citizens continue to have about their governments, perhaps the biggest change in the interaction between the two has involved digitalization. Regardless of whether people find government services useful, efficient, or even appropriate, the truth of the matter is that connecting with the government, accessing a program, and getting “paperwork” done has become greatly facilitated by new information technologies.
According to the United Nations’ biennial e-Government Development Index, which takes into consideration online services, human capital and the telecommunications infrastructure in equal proportions, the top ten countries in 2022 were Denmark, Finland, South Korea, New Zealand, Sweden, Iceland, Estonia, the Netherlands, the U.S., and the UK.
Being within this elite group, however, does not mean that every citizen benefits. In the case of the U.S., for example, access to information technologies is much more unequal than in any of the other top countries. Not surprisingly, this digital divide is more prevalent with those groups who have less access to technology, including people who are living below the poverty line, undocumented immigrants, people with disabilities or mental health issues, and seniors.
France Belanger and Janine Hiller, from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, proposed a five-stage model for an e-government: information, two-way communication, transaction, integration and political participation. Most governments have sought at various levels to offer services within each of these stages, but without fully deploying each of them.
As a result, the current state of e-government is fairly fragmented, incomplete, and in need of rationalization. This situation creates unique security and privacy risks due to the different protocols and standards that characterize legacy and new IT systems.
Regardless of whether people find government services useful, efficient, or even appropriate, the truth of the matter is that connecting with the government, accessing a program, and getting “paperwork” done has become greatly facilitated by new information technologies.
Technological frontiers
The adoption of cutting-edge technologies in e-government is very heterogeneous. Even in an advanced country like the U.S., only about half of federal agencies are on the cloud. The U.S. government is well behind the private sector in the use of blockchain and AI.
Another critical area for the future will be the use of digital tokens in general and cryptocurrencies in particular. In 2018, Ohio became the first (and only) state to allow taxpayers to settle their obligations in cryptocurrency, although the program was suspended in 2019 citing “legal issues.”
Only El Salvador and the Central African Republic accept cryptocurrencies as legal tender. In the U.S., the recent SEC approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) does not necessarily pave the way towards the government’s acceptance of payments in cryptocurrency. Rather, it reinforces the message that the likes of bitcoin are crypto-assets rather than means of payment.
Data security concerns
Looming large in the background of most e-government developments are data security concerns. The use of cloud computing has led to several high-profile hackings, especially the cyberattack on the U.S. State Department in 2023.
Doubts persist as to the security of recent projects such as the Department of Homeland Security’s system to share information across agencies involved in disaster relief and major sporting events; the U.S. Treasury’s system to process payments; the Labor Department’s effort to consolidate case management systems; and the Department of Agriculture’s management of federal lands.
The Government Accountability Office found in a detailed review that only three of 15 government systems had continuous monitoring of their cloud systems, and issued a set of recommendations that most private-sector companies have been following for years. As noted above, the incomplete online migration of government services to the most advanced technologies, which continue to coexist with antiquated legacy systems, poses formidable challenges in terms of data security.
Accountability, transparency and privacy
It is not clear either that e-government has led to greater transparency, participation, and accountability. In general, information technologies tend to give a false sense of improvement when it comes to transparency and accountability. Governments around the world continue to be criticized on both counts. Research also indicates that transparency can be at odds with privacy. The problem is that, on the one hand, e-government potentially makes information more readily available and easy to publicize. But, on the other, privacy can become a huge issue.
Even if security against data breaches were guaranteed, privacy can still be a big problem. Most citizens are apprehensive when it comes to sharing data with the government. The use of IT essentially means that every interaction with a government agency leaves a digital footprint. In addition, companies might be ordered by the government to surrender data about their customers.
Most citizens are apprehensive when it comes to sharing data with the government. The use of IT essentially means that every interaction with a government agency leaves a digital footprint.
In the U.S., the Government Accountability Office has noted that electronically stored information about citizens includes their school and health records, their extensive dealings with companies, and their interaction with governments. No wonder Americans are feeling increasingly “concerned, confused, and feeling lack of control over their personal information,” as a recent Pew Research Center study concluded.
Moreover, U.S. adults are more apprehensive about how the government might use their private information than about how companies may do so. In a recent study, the Center for Digital Government concluded that “efforts to address digital privacy are in the nascent stages.” The most significant threat continues to be data breaches. But data governance more broadly is also a concern.
Does e-government reduce costs?
One of the most interesting issues around e-government is the finding that increased participation leads to a decline in efficiency. Investments in IT are expensive, especially because they also require investments in training and education of both government workers and citizens.
In 1987, Nobel laureate Robert Solow formulated what came to be known as the IT productivity paradox when he observed that “you can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.” In this respect, e-government appears to be no different than the private sector. One cross-national study found that investments in e-government increased effectiveness but not efficiency.
Much remains to be done in terms of changing the public’s perceptions about government—in the U.S. in particular, where less than a third of adults express confidence in it. The use of IT can help, but governments must also clarify what the goals are—namely, accountability, transparency, increased access, effectiveness, and efficiency—especially when these goals find themselves at odds with one another.
Americans are feeling increasingly “concerned, confused, and feeling lack of control over their personal information,” a recent Pew Research Center study concluded.
