title: Digital government and public health.
abstract: Digital government is typically defined as the production and delivery of information and services inside government and between government and the public using a range of information and communication technologies. Two types of government relationships with other entities are government-to-citizen and government-to-government relationships. Both offer opportunities and challenges. Assessment of a public health agency's readiness for digital government includes examination of technical, managerial, and political capabilities. Public health agencies are especially challenged by a lack of funding for technical infrastructure and expertise, by privacy and security issues, and by lack of Internet access for low-income and marginalized populations. Public health agencies understand the difficulties of working across agencies and levels of government, but the development of new, integrated e-programs will require more than technical change - it will require a profound change in paradigm.
authors.affiliation: National Center for Digital Government, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. jane_fountain@Harvard.edu
authors.forename: Jane E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Fountain
mesh_terms: D022126:Access to Information; D003146:Communications Media / Q000639:trends; D003256:Community Participation; D003195:Computer Communication Networks / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends; D006076:Government; D006079:Government Publications as Topic; D006292:Health Priorities; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D020407:Internet; D018907:Privacy; D017149:Private Sector; D011634:Public Health; D011635:Public Health Administration; D040442:Public Health Informatics / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D014584:User-Computer Interface