Analysing the Implementation of Electronic Communication Strategies Through Legislation

Abstract

E-government strategies have come a long way and often undergone several revisions until now. The scientific community has identified building blocks, singular cases and especially success factors for their implementation. However, as of now there is little evidence regarding the legal implementation of these strategies. To contribute to this gap in the scientific literature, in this paper we examine three central European countries regarding the implementation of legal measures that have been suggested or implied by their current e-government strategies. To achieve a focused observation of the legal frameworks, we decided to concentrate on the element electronic communication, which has recently gained relevance in European e-government. To achieve this, we carry out a document analysis as well as a legal analysis of current strategic and legal documents for the three cases. Our results show differences in strategy formulation that are defined by overarching European trends as well as an existing legal basis for electronic communication between public authorities and citizens that will need to be adapted for new ways of electronic communication in the future.