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John Kost, Gartner Vice President and Research Director |
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Re-Engineering the Face of
E-Government
Tuesday, 25 March 2003
In the 19th century, if someone needed government services, they would ride to the nearest agency on a horse.
Today, citizens use the telephone, Internet, e-mail and Web chat to access government services. A basic principal remains unchanged — a single contact center is the most efficient way to initiate government service.
A good e-government strategy makes effective use of the right channel and the right level of service, ranging from self-service to service provided by generalists, specialists or experts, said John Kost, a Gartner vice president and research director, Tuesday at Symposium ITxpo.
Kost worked for the State of Michigan for twenty years, including four years as the State CIO. Kot explains that "government, more than any other industry, deals with customers without access to technology and must manage a great number of "face-to-face" interactions.
Nowadays, voice communication, such as the telephone, represents more than 90 percent of contacts for the average contact center. However, many contact centers are choosing to invest in Web chat and e-mail technology before implementing an interactive voice response or other voice-specific technology.
"Many government agencies have spent considerable sums implementing e-government systems. Unfortunately, many of these systems do little more than add another channel to the established organizational structure" Kost said.
Implementing technology will not guarantee efficiency or better serve citizens unless governments carefully review their needs and citizens' needs before implementing technology solutions.
Jim Grodnik
Gartner Staff
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