The community portal challenge––is there a technology barrier for local authorities?

Abstract

The UK government has set targets for on-line access to citizen services by 2005. Community portals are recognised by many governments as a key `front-office' gateway to e-Citizen services, and the UK government portal UK on-line interactive is a major component of the strategy for development of e-Gov services to citizens. Research has been undertaken to investigate the extent to which locally deployed UK community portals are capable of supporting interactive citizen services within local government departments. This paper is based on a research study of local authority community portal capability in 2002, using information gathered through primary research, including interviews and targeted questionnaires to key contacts in UK local government offices. Elements of a portal service are considered and gaps identified in existing capability. Specifically, the research probes the technical capability of local authorities to support and sustain the development of electronic service channels for citizen interaction with council services through a portal gateway. The study finds that few existing portals enable on-line access to back-office systems to enable self-service interactivity for citizens. A discussion of the social context for portal development informs the argument for portal functionality and citizen-centric interactions with government, (and other), services. The paper concludes by suggesting a hybrid future with local authority hosted portlets, giving a local look and feel, with access via a central or regional government gateway to primary database service interactions.