Eric Okimoto, senior technology adviser, Crown Agents, Sutton, UK, @crownagents

What can e-government do? The best e-gov examples provide services to submit data, make payments, collect feedback – they help citizens or businesses navigate bureaucracy. The border management sector is one of the best examples of where this is happening making it easier to trade across borders. The results have often included increased cross-border trade, greater foreign direct investment and reduced corruption.

It can beat corruption: E-gov fundamentally changes the relationship between government and citizens by removing the human interaction (whether that is for providing information, collecting forms or applications or submitting payments). Consequently, e-gov can remove the power base from which mid and low-level corruption thrives … driving corrupt officials to resist the technology which ultimately leads to its demise.

Subhash Bhatnagar, adjunct professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India

What do citizens say about e-government? I have been involved in assessing the e-delivery benefits for citizens for three projects in 10 states in India. Based on surveys, we found that people needed fewer trips to government agencies and smaller waiting queues, but bribery was impacted marginally. Reduction in bribery is what citizens want most.

What is good e-government? We need to define a basis for success and failure. From the agency point of view any project that enhances revenues and cuts cost by increasing efficiency is successful. However, citizens expect a reduction in their cost of accessing a service and increased accountability, transparency and less corruption.

Ali Z Bigdeli, research fellow, Cass Business School, City University, London, UK, @AZBigdeli

It's not just about technology: There have been several successful e-gov projects in Iran. For instance the electronic tax-related projects that initiated around five years ago, in which all financial interactions can now be done via the integrated portals. But I should say that although most of the e-goverment projects had been initiated successfully, they failed eventually. These failures weren't because of lack of technology or innovation, but due to organisational and social aspects missing in design, implementation and adoption of those services.

Watch out for the digital divide: The UN e-government survey published in 2012 indicates that the digital divide is still an obstacle we face, even with all new technologies and innovation. I think it is becoming more challenging to reduce the digital divide.

Serge P Kapto, policy specialist, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York, USA, @spkapto

Start small: A lessons we learned from mobile for development efforts is that to prevent project failures, it's better to test on a small scale first. Trial-and-error would provide valuable insight on design flaws, glitches, human requirements that are critical for success.

Data is the new oil: Governments sit on a wealth of it, and often don't exploit its full potential. Opening government data can potentially unleash a wave of innovation and opportunities in service delivery. We should be careful however that merely opening up the data doesn't become a substitute for meeting the responsibilities of government towards its citizens. A more interesting question is how open data and more transparency change the relationship between government and citizens, enabling greater accountability and responsiveness to meet the needs and demands of the people.

Gautam Raju, director, OurSay.org, technology and innovation lead, Oxfam International, New Delhi, India, @gautamraju

Engagement doesn't have to be high-tech: We have a saying that projects are 10% technology 90% people. A great example is Anna Hazare's missed–call campaign where the movement generated millions of missed calls to support anti-corruption movement. The technology team tapped into the cultural use and understanding of missed calling and linked it to their campaign which helped spark a national social movement in India. Technology was not ground-breaking but its application to mobilise and engage people was.

Ryan Schlief, executive director, International Accountablity Project, New York, USA, @iap_ryan

E-government isn't just top down: Successful e-governance does not necessarily need the government to set it up and manage a particular project or system. Decision-makers should also develop a means to accept information that has been generated without their direct involvement.

Technology should aid governance not replace it: To do this, the technology and the processes of collecting information must be rooted first within the people participating. We have to admit that the latest app may not be the solution for the everyone – but may work for many. The e-governance system should look at how people already collect and share information and seek to link tech with it.

Thabang Rabotho, web and social media editor, government communications, Pretoria, South Africa, @TkRabotho

History leaves a legacy: E-government in South Africa has a particularly important historical and social context due to the legacy of apartheid. As a result, a number of initiatives have been slow to get off the ground due to a lack of ICT infrastructure and proper management. Currently the South African government has introduced the South Africa Connect Initiative that seeks to create an environment where citizens whether living in the remote areas of the Kalahari or in urban areas of Gauteng will be able to connect and access government information, programmes and services.

Malick Tapsoba, technical manager, ministry of development of the digital economy and post, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, @mbakatre

Open data isn't exposed data: The principle of open data is that you make raw data available, not personal information. In no way is it meant to stigmatize or allow for the identification of individuals. In Burkina, we are particularly vigilant and we work closely with the Commission de l'Informatique et des Libertés in order to guarantee these essential individual liberties.

Open data is good for business: It improves the interaction with the private sector since they would no longer need to fight for access to key information that they would need to make decisions, but also the information they need to stimulate business.

Read the rest of the Q&A here.

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