E-Governance: Information, Communication, and Policy Making (PZK_116)

The course aims to help students gain a deeper understanding of the nature, current impacts, and potential future impacts of e-governance, also known as digital government or electronic government. E-governance is the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies to provide government information and services, as well as channels of communication to citizens, businesses, and other governments. Many local, state, federal, and supra-national organisations and international institutions have developed an online presence, ranging from simple information to complex services. These are collectively known as e-government. Specific areas of study will include the e-government’s relation to the political process and to information policy, what populations are and are not using e-government, challenges to access, the evaluation of e-government, public sphere entities that support e-government, and social networking applications and e-government, among other topics.