E-Governance Review

Welcome Back,

                This past nine week has been a major learning curve for myself and the knowledge that was distributed out on this blog I hope will be helpful beneficial. I enjoyed the time that I spent in being able to show what I’ve learned. This week’s blog will consist of a review and redistribution of information already given in a sequence by the weeks.

            Dr. Ali Farahani did a lecture on e-Government framework on how e-Gov Participatory Democracy which redefines representative democracy. He implied that openness-transparency around decision-making includes audio, video, online documents, accessibility, and participation. Having the right steps in making government more accessible makes many lives better and time manageable. An example relating to such idea may be the voting system of which we know issues have been a constant problem in our elections.

            E-Democracy has been a major part of our society that has integrated itself slowly into our society and as I have learned with electronics. E-Democracy allows people to interact with their politicians and personal use such as emails. E-Democracy allows citizens to be an equal participant in our political process as we know it today.

 Social media is being used at every level of the government which is a part of their operations for delivering services, displaying economic development, and the management of emergency systems. As we have come accustom to, social media is the communication and marketing tool for which government uses to connect with constituents in real-time function. This allows for a faster and better response between both parties that are interacting. What is social media, it’s basically a software that provides information throughout the internet.

            The political process using technology to its advantage in reaching out to potential voters over social media, raising funds, and getting donation from people who wants to help a candidate win. Just look at television, cable, radios, computers and satellites, put unprecedented power into the hands of a user. Without any of this technology mention in the previous sentences how would society make as we have forgotten back then some of these items didn’t even exist.

            I hope you enjoyed this 9 weeks with as much as I have. This information will online forever and never can be deleted so if you want to go back to and review this blog for more information. Thanks again for being a part of this learning experience.

Federal and state laws and regulations

Welcome Once Again,

This week’s blog will focus on relevant federal and state laws and regulations within government in preparing trust from agencies and developing strategies to who things and people accountable. Every organization has rules and regulations that must be taken serious and necessary to abide by all rules. When setting up laws and regulations there always has to be a beginning/framework that protects information and citizens. These ideas have been beneficial because it stops illegal activities that may exist as we have seen many times throughout our government. Understanding regulations and laws is something that citizens have to invest their time to gain the knowledge needed to be relevant when the time presents itself.

Within the United States, five sources consist of constitutional law, statutory law, treaties, administrative regulations and the common law which play a major part in society. We all know that federal laws take place in Congress as well for regulations getting approved and state laws plan the same role. E-Governance/E-Government have to protect themselves at all time from lawsuits that may exist from error from the technology and the people who oversee it. E-government is predicated on leveraging the capabilities and power of IT to deliver services provided by governments at local, municipal, state, and national levels (Grant and Chau, 2015).

New technologies have become the transaction of fostering a shift change in how we use information and process data. As you look at Wall Street, it has so many laws and regulations because of the corruption such as fraud, insider trading, etc., because having these types of avenues implemented can help with security, privacy, and data. E-Government itself deals with information that requires security and privacy of personal and governmental agencies. As I research information and look at articles to help justify what is being given to the world, its important keep growing as technology grows. Fjermestad and Romano (2007) stated: "that security can be interpreted in the symbolic meaning referring to any illegal activity or any unfortunate casualty" (p.66). The main purpose is to prevent and maintain stability at levels of government and other organizations.

         Technology will continue to transform how we view government functionality and the communication with society. An example of how the government controls regulation just look at how it shut down the mergers between AT&T/T-Mobile and Comcast/Verizon over the past few years because they want to give smaller independent companies a fair shake with customers. FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is relevant to e-Governance based on the decision help citizens such as the telemarketers making their numbers known on caller ids. Without regulations and laws then a lot of illegal practice would continue.

Role of technology involving managers decision-making!

Welcome Back

            Over the past several week's information has been given out with regards to government and other organizations using today’s technology. These weeks have been very informative and understanding how society has been evolving along with technology as it grows. Sometimes we as people are afraid of change and can be content on what we already use. E-Governance has been something that has been around for quite some time of which the existence was unknown to me and many others. The knowledge and understanding of technology that I’ve gain has been very valuable and I hope readers soak up the information like a sponge as I have as well. This week’s topic will elaborate on the role of technology for managerial decision-making and agency performance.

            Technology plays a significant role in helping managers make a decision with regards to what’s best for the company. Managers have to make sure that they’re getting the right information to put in place and getting the wrong information can be detrimental to the agency. Technology has a way of making sure things are easier to use for employees who has the hands-on experience for such work. Managers have to some key qualities in being a person in charge of others involves learning how to adapt and excellent motivational skills. Also having a great assessment of how the agency is performing with the technology.

            Sometimes ambiguity can be a problem over who will be held accountable for which decisions are decided. As a result, the entire decision-making process can stall, which hinders the agency itself. The role of technology in management decision-making involves the risk, uncertainty, and the future. Managers have sufficient or complete information and sometimes know what the outcomes will be. But they too must have alternatives set in place for the purpose of one decision fails. It’s achieving a goal to bring about good performance from the organization.

            The performance of agency depends on how managers or handling the technology and making sure the work is being done properly by the decision-making process. Technology role can make or break an organization in regards to making sure the information is distributed accurately and effectively. It’s well-known that organizations are characterized by the changing and dynamic environments that we know today. Having strong team members will help make the function of technology run smoothly and improve the performance measurements that's viewed by top leadership. With so many people using government websites and other organization websites to pay bills, taxes, set up voting registration, get driver’s license and banking information online, the feedback given by people helps determine if the company is succeeding. In simple words, are the organizations doing a good job in providing great service to society, and managers have to keep up the progress?

            Whenever you go online to pay a bill, a box pops asking for you to complete a survey before exiting the system. This lets the organization know how it’s doing what the people think about the company itself. Some of these agencies truly need a review on their performances because of the technology isn’t always perfect which cause frustration for a lot of people.

            Having the right group of individuals to make technology run smoothly is a must for government agencies, and without oversight, things would fall apart. Technologies role will continue to be a major part of any agencies performance and have a greater impact on the decision-making process of managers. Staying focus on the task at hand will make all transitions run smoothly without any issues.

Role of Technology

Welcome Back

           

            I would like to welcome everyone and the new information seekers back for another week of gaining new knowledge about how our government functions with the assistance of technology. As you may now know that this is one of many blog entries that I’ve created and it’s been a great learning experience with regards to government and any other organization that affects our daily lives. Today’s society seems to be changing every minute, every hour, and 365 days of the year so that I will focus this week’s topic on the role of technology in our society.

            Technology has constantly been evolving over the years and going to continue into the future, so much so that it seems hard to adapt. Once something new comes out a few months later, another version takes its place without getting used to what you already have. The role of technology within government allows for people to have access to a lot of information by just sitting at home. Technology is becoming the new way of life, and with e-Government, it plays a significant role in regards to data information.

            The political process using technology to its advantage in reaching out to potential voters over social media, raising funds, and getting a donation from people who wants to help a candidate win. Just look at television, cable, radios, computers and satellites, put unprecedented power into the hands of a user. Without any of this technology mention in the previous sentences, how would society make as we have forgotten back then some of these items didn’t even exist.

 But technology has to management by IT individuals whose job focuses on programs themselves ensuring nothing goes wrong especially with regards to the voting machines and registration. An example of how the role of technology works and need management, the HealthCare.gov that went online from the federal level in 2013 which had more bugs in it than one can imagine. To fix this problem who did the Federal called in the Silicon Valley experts to fix it. This technology allowed people to go online and select a healthcare plan that would benefit the individual or a family. At one point and time, this technology didn’t exist because everything has been completed on paper from the HR Department office.

 Many cities are bringing in companies on a daily basis to implement new technology to improve government responses and to empowering citizens as well as the viewing of government budgets. New apps, smartphones, iPad, and laptops which create a great amount of output and productivity. Social media plays a major role in technology with regards to the information being delivered by the people. http://www.interparty.org/importance-of-ict-on-governments.html

During my tenure with North Carolina Department of Public Safety government, I’ve noticed that technology is taking over how we go about our daily lives. Everything is becoming computerized, and face-to-face communication ceases to exist as emails are the new form of communication between employers and employees. Within government entities, similar NC Department of Public Safety only secures access to pertinent information in which citizens or not allowed to view. With the exception that citizens can see salaries of government employees online as I found out a few years ago. So the role of technology has its uses for government, non-profit, and citizens who wish to be involved with the change.

           

Social Media: Our Government

Welcome Back,

             I would like to welcome back the returning readers and the new readers. For the new readers, this blog has been very exciting because of the newly released information that is discovered. Many different topics have been discussed and introduced to the world. I encourage all to give feedback on this blog whether it is positive or negative. As we continue to learn more about e-Governance from the previous weeks, the present, and the future, this information may be useful in dealing with organizations. This week’s topic will cover the social media within our society as we know it and how it has played a major significant within our government.

Social media is being used at every level of the government which is a part of their operations for delivering services, displaying economic development, and the management of emergency systems. As we have come accustom to, social media is the communication and marketing tool for which government uses to connect with constituents in real-time function. This allows for a faster and better response between both parties that are interacting. What is social media, it’s basically a software that provides information throughout the internet.

How many people uses social media today? Millions of people uses Facebook, twitter, and instagram, so with these popular sites they have allowed for great communication in finding out governmental information. Now myself I will admit that I’m one of the few that doesn’t use instagram or twitter for anything relating to important information, but I will use facebook.  A lot of campaigning on social media has created a storm because of the mass flow of information being presented to the people. You may find out more information from this link if you ever want to communicate with your government and officials:  http://www.usa.gov/index.shtml.

Fairfax County, VA is hosting the 2015 World Police and Fire Games which represent government employees everywhere for more information go to: http://fairfax2015.com/. This information use by the Fairfax County Government has been distributed on social media all over including Facebook which also shows how information is given. Using social media such as this event to promote is one way government has established itself into the social media trend. Today it seems like there is no way to avoid social media whether it’s good information or bad information.

An example of good use of the social media is when President Barack Obama in 2008 took his grassroots campaign and flooded it like there was no tomorrow. By the time he won the nominee
everyone knew that there was a new improve and young candidate in town. The White House even used twitter to do town hall meetings (also known as Twitter Town Hall) where citizens can ask questions have them answer right then and there. Now everyone from the political landscape seems to be using social media to promote their own initiatives to the voters.
Another example how social media work is one that law enforcement uses the most and which facebook, yes facebook. Many criminals have been caught after putting information up on the internet which leads to plenty arrest without the assistance of another person. Even some cases involving child abuse have been proven from facebook as well. So the government utilizes social media from every avenue to benefit them as well as protecting law abiding citizens.

Social media will continue to make history whether good or bad but it’s up to society and government how it will be used. Utilize whatever information the government is given to your advantage which can make life easier when trying to pay bills, meetings, and other useful information. Follow me next week on another great informative topic involving our government and communities.                     

                                      https://youtu.be/ASZJE15E0SY  

                                                                                      

E-Democracy Online Voting

Welcome Back,

            Over the past several week's valuable information and understanding of how government works with regards to e-Governance and technology. The government has been a crucial part of our daily lives with the decision-making process and how things operate. As I have been continuing the pursuit of my Masters Degree in Public Administration, the knowledge, and information that is learned will make you wonder about our so-called government system.

                E-Democracy has been a major part of our society that has integrated itself slowly into our society and as I have learned with electronics. E-Democracy allows people to interact with their politicians and personal use such as emails. This idea will enable citizens to be an equal participant in our political process as we know it today. The focal of this blog will be about online voting and how it will better the process of every American especially the ones that may not access to transportation.

 

 http://www.ted.com/talks/david_bismark_e_voting_without_fraud

            Online voting has been a debate for years and several European countries such as Belgium and Estonia which have seen great success with over 30% of the voters have used the internet for casting ballots. With elections the main focus is to bring efficiency and transparency to government and paper ballots are still done in some places to increase security and integrity. There will always be doubt on how the process of online voting will be handled with regards to making sure there isn’t any cheating going on.

            Should America take the same path as the other countries? United States using e-voting (also known as Electronic Voting) which a system to aid in casting and counting votes. Now if you’ve ever voted before then, you know how the process works along with the stories of voting system failures. In general, two main types of e-Voting are identifiable:

• E-Voting which was physically supervised by representatives of governmental or independent electoral authorities (e.g. electronic voting machines located at polling stations). 
• Remote e-Voting where voting is performed within the voter's sole influence and is not physically supervised by representatives of governmental authorities (e.g. voting from one's personal computer, mobile phone, television via the internet (also called i-voting).

                                                                                      https://youtu.be/IoWJkrlptNs

 E-Democracy is a part of the process which helps citizens vote freely. We know the voting process here has been penniless such as redistricting, changing voting laws and targets a certain ethnic group of people. Go back to the Bush/Gore election back in 2000 that cause a Supreme Court battle of ballots. That year Florida was given to Gore, and out of nowhere, Bush was given Florida which ultimately led to Al Gore’s defeat. Something was real funny about that entire election voting process and system which now Americans look for honesty within the voting process.

           

       With the online voting I feel that is saves money and time for the states as well as the people. Arizona in the year of 2000 was the first state in the country to cast binding votes in a national election which I think is pretty cool. This really work well for the political participation that resulting in more marketing of candidates, fundraising events, and the issues that are being presented at this time. Here are two independent websites that have started to promote online voting and they are election.com and voter.com. This movement of online voting has become serious as we see in our political candidate today.

         What a few weeks it has been and the information being giving out for a better understanding of how technology works with government. And I have been privileged to give information that I hope will inspire and encourage a lot of people to take part in the political process. Be ahead of the Government as they are slowly trying to keep pace with change and show them how actions speak louder than words.

Citizenville-Government

Welcome Back

Over the past few weeks, this blog has been giving great information in regards to e-Government and how it co-exist within the government. With the ever so changing technology that we encounter every day whether at work, on the computer, or social media everyone must stay on point.

This week will be a little different which still relates to e-Governance, and its evolution involves a book that's read for my Public Administration Degree program called Citizenville. Which was written by California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom with Lisa Dickey which focuses on a more open robust democracy, centered on the digital age of our society. Citizenville gives a story of how ordinary people can change the political ties that we encounter today by using the technology of smartphones and social networking which has evolved over time and will continue vastly change. He also talks about how technology can empower citizens and transform government.

He took the initiative to interview with politicians that may have significant influences on how we live our lives and the changes that were and are made. In a way, this book was written to emulate what a lot of people think when it comes to government and how it works with technology. As you see today that campaigns have become a movement which takes over television, online news websites, and ads popping up on everything that we view. Newsom continues to discuss the changes from the JFK with his “We can do better,” Reagan with “Morning in America,” Obama with “Yes we can” and once the elections are over the fireworks die down. Convincing people to open themselves up, believe and let their guards down. Do they know what citizens want, as Citizenville seems to be our thoughts that aren't being heard?

Everything in government has to involve transparency for things to acceptable. As followed through reading this book was the Care Not Cash program that Newsom fought to implement in San Francisco that involved homeless people that were getting $400 stipends then cut to $59 a month of which the rest of the $341 would go to housing and services. He stated that he had the fierce opposition to the program. Another section of the book that was informative was “Project Homeless Connect” which involved the power of real data that consist of actually going out and collecting information to show who needs the system and whether to show growth and decline.

During my time throughout my career, I have done some volunteering which involved feeding the homeless for an organization called “Doing My Part” located in Charlotte, NC which was a great experience. I think we all should take the time to help others in need that are less fortunate.

The amount of money the government spends on things such as cars, travel, paper, or advisor is considered a part of wasteful spending of which the money can be put forth to better services such as feeding a family. As Newsom uses the procurement, it’s a word that represents the third party gang, meaning something’s might be corrupt. Everything seems to be a buddy system within our government.  Everyone knows the term Good Old Boys’ System which still exists today. Another suggestion the government needs to do is open up the data as Newsom indicates that will create more jobs and build trust, so is this is the case then let flood gates open.

In the time of one of the worst fiscal crisis beginning in 2007 which took place at the beginning of 2008 since the Great Depression give people a reason to trust the government again. Because our politicians that we call “Congress” has been during a horrible job over the past years trying to tear each

other down instead up building and uplifting peoples spirits. They say what the American people want is why they’re doing what they do, I haven’t been asked any question and probably 98% of the American people haven’t either so is it what they want and think people want? Newsom sums up a lot within this book and after reading it I suggest you do so as well.

"Never Fear The Unknown Because The Unknown Will Never Fear You" By O. Quick

Evolution of e-Government

Greetings,

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog which is another opportunity to display my knowledge being gained. This will be my first ever blog and the topics that will be discussed on a weekly basis involves E-Governance. The purpose of this blog is to give a better understanding how of technology has changed and has been influential in our society and organizations. Whatever direction you came to find my blog I hope that it's beneficial in you line of work and thanks for reading.

My name is Olando, and I’m currently a graduate student at Troy University studying for a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in Public Management. Prior to this degree, I’ve completed a dual degree in Human Resources Development and Management and Leadership. My background and experience involves working in the Juvenile Justice Field at the state and county levels as well as interacting with the general public and other governmental agencies. The purpose of this blog is share the knowledge that I’ve gained from Troy University and experience gain throughout the years as well as to educate the public on how technology has grown. I hope this blog will educate people and give a better understanding how government uses technology.

Over a 9 week period, I will be posting about technology and how it has changed public administration the role it plays weekly. I plan to express my thoughts learn from this class as well as my classmates and I hope whomever reads this blog will take the time to give feedback.  My blog within the search engine can be found at www.oquick.blogspot.com.

We can began understanding and defining what e-Governance is as a whole. E-Governance is the application of information and communication technology (ICT) for delivering government services, exchange of information communication transactions, integration of various stand-alone systems and services between government-to-customer (G2C), government-to-business (G2B), government-to-government (G2G) as well as back office processes and interactions within the entire government framework (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Governance). Do we believe this process has been effective for government?

Technology’s future role involving government will increase drastically over time because of the use of the internet to allow organizations to grow and function when dealing with individuals. E-governance innovation will allow for the use marketing that will allow for a data base to keep specific information needed in order to survive. Technology will be a gateway involving how things are being implemented into a system. Technology continues to grow and change in our society as we see it today. E-governance will allow for government to function properly allowing better communication with individuals whether positive or negative. The internet has been around for decades and continue to evolve over time and will continue deliver information as well as change.

Technology can be a challenge and very expensive when trying to get a certain program up and running but after listening to TED Talk by Clay Shirky he discussing how the activities that are going on in government are beneficial to people that may not have access such information. He also talks about How the internet will (one day) transform government. And as we know today the internet has evolved and will continue to evolved overtime with additions and sub-tractions of programs. For instance Facebook has become the transformation which helps the government such as law enforcement agencies that may be needed in order to solve crimes.

Through my years of experience working for the government involving the juvenile system, it now allows individual information to be shared with other organizations. But don’t get me wrong the system needs to be revamp because of the so many issues when implementing a new system. Most government agencies are behind the time and are trying to catch up with technology that others may already have. As I learned coming from a state government to a county government which still uses time cards, the last time that I’ve seen a time card was in 1997 when Mike Tyson fought Evander Holyfield and bites off a piece of his ear in the third round of the WBA Heavyweight title. Now this lets you know some government agencies are behind time when it comes to technology as an evolution for change.

With e-Government we must also remember that it’s broadly defined that may include the use of all information and communication technologies, from fax machines to wireless palm pilots, lap top, iPad, cell phones to facilitate the daily administration of government.  From what I’ve noticed within today’s society, government, and other organizations technology is can help with cost efficiency as well individual not being able to utilize some of the old school ways that made society great.

Over the next several weeks I will be expounding the evolution of e-Government/technology within our society as a whole as well how it relates to my career. The idea is to show what has become overtime whether technology has been negative or positive. And the only way to get a sense of understanding is share information and inspire what could be great for all. We all must do our part in taking an interest in technology and understand the growth that has been occurring. Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and look forward to seeing some feedback.