Relevance of ethics in e-Government: an analysis of developments in the WWW era

Abstract

As e-government adoption becomes widespread, governments face a myriad of challenges which are fait-accompli when technology is introduced into organisational processes. Amongst these challenges governments are faced with ethical dilemmas associated with the use of ICTs to provide services to its citizens. Hence questions on what constitutes ethical or unethical actions are still less understood in e-government. Ethical issues in the context of business information systems have been widely investigated for some time. With the advent of e-commerce several studies have focused on ethical concerns in the online business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) contexts. Issues such as privacy, security, spamming, and the rights of e-customers have inter-alia, been highlighted. Due to the fundamental differences in the objectives of e-commerce and e-government, ethical dilemmas in respect of the latter are potentially different. A review of the literature indicates that e-government ethics have not been widely studied. This paper therefore examines the nature of ethics in e-government with a focus on government to citizen interactions. This paper adds to e-government discourse as it provides an analysis of ethics in the public sector and proceeds to examine these traditional views of ethics in the context of e-government. A comparative analysis of ethical dilemmas is made between e-commerce and e-government. Subsequently the ethical challenges which face e-government planners are highlighted. We identify culture and issues related to inclusivity as important factors in the formulation e-government ethical frameworks. Additionally the concept of trust is found to consist of different dimensions in an e-government context. Lastly we examine the implications of these for e-government in South Africa. Directions for e-government planners in South Africa who wish to develop new ethical frameworks are suggested, as well as enforcement strategies.