Track Chair: Marco de Marco, University  Cattolica, Milan, Italy - marco.demarco@unicatt.it

E-Government can offer numerous possibilities for improving the Public Sector response to the basic needs of its citizens. However, this potential is not being realized. Most of the present endeavours at promoting e-Government initiatives fall short of acknowledging two aspects: the complexity of governance and the real potential of ICTs. Both are extremely relevant. Where these two circumstances join, they will make e-Government a meaningful agent of transformation.

As often happens when a new resource reveals its extraordinary potential for the first time, the literature on e-Government shows itself to be dominated by a very generous optimism, which tends to read the set of innovations as one great virtuous circle. The new generation of technologies seem to hold the ultimate solution for all problems. Real experience indicates that advanced technologies already provide many building blocks for e-Government solutions but, in order to make full use of them, additional effort is required.

The eGovernment in Europe: The state of Affairs Report (2003) notes that “e- Government cannot happen in a vacuum� (pg. 13). Unlike the mainstream wisdom, a more comprehensive approach implies that the e-Government takeoff requires full acknowledgment of social, cultural and political factors, along with informal organizational logics, them being the actual power networks, mutual trust relationships, tacit knowledge and so on.

Although ICT in government could be a key issue for IS researchers and form a ground for various comparative/longitudinal and interdisciplinary research, we need further knowledge of what has been investigated and with what results. This track, along with its related events, is intended to be a platform for assessing and challenging methodological, substantive and epistemological findings on e-Government.

Participants will present their research on e-Government and invite the audience to add its perspectives and experiences on this topic. We ask academics and practitioners to send information about their empirical,conceptual and/or theoretical studies on e-Government. The goal is to have an overview of the current situation in order to investigate the complex relationships between ICT infrastructures, government contexts, cultural attitudes and organizational factors. Research papers, research in progress and panel proposals should be sent to the organizer of the track.

Suggested topics:

-	One-stop-Government
-	e-Government strategies, implementation policies and best practices
-	Sustaining business processes, collaborative activities, legal interpretation
-	Knowledge-in-use vs. knowledge management in e-Government policies
-	IT-supported systems for policy formulation, execution and evaluation
-	Ethical aspects
-	New forms of networks (public-private-partnerships etc.)
-	Conditions for successful implementation of e-Government projects
-	Standards for information interchange and processes
-	E-Government for arts and cultural heritage
-	ICT in the developing countries
-	E-Government as seen by the citizen