Dialogue with citizens - the missing link in delivering e-government?

Many governments and political bodies across the globe are exploring the potential benefits of ICT as a means of improving communication with citizens and stimulating participation and engagement in political and civic processes. This paper reviews progress to date in the UK towards delivering e-government at the local level, and concludes that that there is evidence of a lack of 'pull-through' of the ministerial concepts and vision in the current delivery of e-government. In order to achieve the important e-government goals of increasing citizen participation and improved speed and efficiency of the underlying processes, the authors argue that a participative approach to the design and delivery of e-government is required. A co-creation approach to design is proposed. This will enable a dialogue between the citizen and the local authority, and which will embody and support democratic processes which will facilitate the genuine co-creation of decisions.