The World Wide Web as an information system in Spain's regional administrations (1997-2000)

As a citizen's information system, the World Wide Web (Web) has led to a revolution in the information providing use of government services. It has also led to major changes in the very relationships that citizens have with their governments. The present work is an empirical analysis of the Web sites maintained by the Spanish regional government administrations. The aim is to determine the current degree of development of the technological application, the alternative service that the citizen is offered, and its evolution since 1997. The results show there to be different degrees of regional development, a notable advance in the number of new entities offering Internet-based services. They also demonstrate a slow evolution in the introduction of substantial changes into Web sites that have already been created and a great heterogeneity with respect to services provided (personnel directories, that is, addresses of functionaries and political appointees working in an Administration, press releases, tourist information, statistics, etc.). This study forms part of a broader investigation of the incidence of Internet technology within the Spanish Administration, that is, the hierarchy of organizations that administer Spain's public services. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier Inc.