Local e-Government in New Zealand

Although e-government initiatives have been introduced at all levels of government, the implementation of e-government at the local government level is trailing behind national e-government progress in most countries, including New Zealand. This study addresses this issue by (1) assessing the websites maturity of all local councils in New Zealand; (2) identifying citizen expectations of local e-government, and factors that influence their participation in it; and (3) exploring factors that have influenced the implementation of local e-government initiatives. The findings are that the overall level of local e-government maturity is at a relatively immature. Citizens’ awareness of available local e-government services is relatively low, and their expectations from e-government remained largely unmet. The major barriers include the lack of an e-government strategy, limitations in broadband access, a lack of skilled human resources, low levels of interoperability and inter-agency collaboration.. The implication is that it will be difficult for local government in New Zealand to meet the established national e-government targets for 2020 if progress continues at its current pace.