Abstract
The goal of this chapter is to compare the adoption of Web 2.0 information and communication technologies (ICT) by government agencies in Canada and the United States and to explore their respective impact on e-government. Governments at all levels recognize the need to develop and enhance multimedia and multichannel communication strategies to communicate with citizens and provide services as well as enable interaction among employees and to cross agencies’ boundaries. Governments have discovered that Web 2.0 communication channels can have an unexpected reach, and occupy a new and quite possibly an essential space in electronic communications. Government agencies, needing to or requiring to communicate with the public, are finding that Web 2.0 technologies are an effective, efficient, timely, and valuable way to get the word out. This chapter shows that Web 2.0 use is creating entirely new online communities that defy traditional communication reach and organizational boundaries. Web 2.0 ICT can enable collaborative work with external stakeholders as well as within and among agencies. By examining specific examples of Web 2.0 use in Canadian and US governments, analyzing the insights gained, and reflecting on observations and recommendations, both public administrators and IT professionals are provided with a framework to evaluate the benefits and challenges of adopting these new ICT and applications. The fundamental questions are the following: What is Web 2.0? How have government agencies in Canada and the United States adopted these technologies to encourage interaction and collaborative work?
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Wigand, F.D.L. (2010). Adoption of Web 2.0 by Canadian and US Governments. In: Reddick, C. (eds) Comparative E-Government. Integrated Series in Information Systems, vol 25. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6536-3_8
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