Fads and Facts of E-Government: A Review of Impacts of E-government (2003-2009)

This paper analyzes the impacts of e-government as reported in 55 first-hand empirical peer-reviewed journal publications during the period 2003-2009, using a conceptual framework to identify ICT (information and communication technology) impacts on four domains within the public sector: capabilities, interactions, orientations and value distribution. The analysis shows that research findings mostly report positive impacts in all four dimensions. In the empirical research, the majority of impacts from ICT are reported within the domain of capabilities, which is also the domain that features the most balanced mix of positive and negative findings. Findings show that although e-government has elements that make it different from previous use of ICT in public administration, research on e-government is yet to demonstrate a substantial shift in the nature and directions of impacts in comparison to earlier studies.