Egovernment: making sense of fragmentation and contradiction

Abstract

A burgeoning number of academic publications present diverse definitions, models and frameworks of eGovernment, while more recent empirical studies refer to discrepancies between the anticipated development of the field and eGovernment implementations. This white paper proposes that when eGovernment is considered from the perspective of the development of a discipline, it enables sense to be made of its current diversity and fragmentation. Increased clarity will come from acknowledging that eGovernment will experience similar tensions in its development to those of many other fields, and is not unique. This lens also allows researchers to draw upon relevant theory from related disciplines. This paper applies this perspective to some of the issues that have troubled eGovernment researchers, and proposes that the application of these ideas to future eGovernment research will help reduce duplication of effort and avoid theory silos.