Bridging the Gap between Citizens and Local Authorities via E- government Dr Tan Yigitcanlar The University of Queensland,Brisbane, Australia www.yigitcanlar.com Abstract Among the many promises of the digital revolution is its potential to strengthen social equality and make governments more responsive to the needs of their citizens. E-government is the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) to transform governments by making them more accessible, effective, accountable, and making the most of the new technologies to deliver better quality and more accessible public services. This paper provides an overview of recent literature addressing e-government issues, and includes a discussion of its implications at the municipal level. It also covers Australian experiences in establishing and managing e-government services. Introduction The rapid pace of technological development has created increasingly more powerful ICTs that are capable of radically transforming public institutions and private organizations alike. These technologies have proven to be extraordinarily useful instruments in enabling governments to enhance the quality, speed of delivery and reliability of services to the citizens and to business. Many governments world-wide are attempting to increase accountability, transparency and quality of services by adopting ICTs to modernize and change the way their administrations work. Meanwhile the e-government concept is becoming a significant decision-making and service tool at the municipal, regional and national government levels. The vast majority of users of these government online services see significant benefits from being able to access services online. International experience and major international programs – to identify ways of ensuring that the digital revolution will benefit the population of the whole world – have demonstrated that electronic government and governance can make an invaluable contribution in creating digital opportunities for the public. E-government is a complex system of ICT networks that are radically changing how governments deliver services, collect, integrate and share information, and communicate with one another and the public. A growing number of people see the Internetas a transformative technology, and they regard e-government as part of a new vision of government for the twenty-first century. The use of ICTs to support public participatory decision-making with e- government provides information technology to assist governments to operate more efficiently. E-government draws on the actions and innovations enabled by ICTs combined with higher levels of speed, scalability and accuracy. ICT is not a solution to all concerns about e-government, but it can start to close the gap between what governments do and how it relates to people's everyday lives. E- government means more than just a website as it has the power to transform citizens’ lives.