i4donline: November - December 2003 issue: ICT and Governance: E-Governance vs. E-Government

Introduction
There have been some suggestions in different jurisdictions in Canada and other countries recommending that the definitions we are seeing emerge as a result of the applications of Information and Communications Technologies in Government (ICTs), and the way the terms are being described, that is e-government, e-governance and e-democracy, should no longer be used, nor should definitions for these new constructs be attempted. This approach is subject to debate and exploration rather than outright rejection of any definitions. A case can be made that it is through the development of terminology that a subject matter can be evolved.

Putting the "e" on services, such as e-health, e-participation, e-voting, e-environment or e-weather, for example, serves as a guide to the wider subject matter of e-government and e-governance, that can, in time, be imprinted on the public mind. More importantly, the use of terms such as e-government, e-governance and e-democracy, leads to the creation of an identifiable discipline. This then widens the development of the subject beyond the parameters of simply government boundaries to the larger spheres of civil society, associations, unions, the business community, international organizations and the academic world.