E-Government at the American Grassroots: Future Trajectory

In this paper, I employ data from surveys and focus groups to examine the likely future trajectory of local e-government in the U.S. E-government at the local level is a relatively new phenomenon with two thirds of local government web sites being seven years old or less. Most local e-government offerings remain in early stages of development, are mainly informational and provide for relatively few transactions (especially financial transactions). Although local governments state that they intend to add new transactions to their web sites, this should be viewed with caution because local governments' stated plans for adopting new information technologies do not always predict actual adoption. Evidence from the focus groups identified five likely future trends emanating from local governments' future e-government plans. These trends show that local governments' interests in providing e-government are very citizen centric. They also indicate a gradual and incremental evolution of local e-government in the U.S.