Introduction

Abstract

Information technologies are being applied vigorously by governmental units at national, regional, and local levels around the world. The application of IT to government service is often termed "e-government" and the larger concept of government that depends upon IT to achieve basic missions is termed "digital government." This distinction is, of course, lexically arbitrary, but serves to distinguish R&D specifically aimed at creating techniques for applying IT to government operations. Such R&D efforts also consider the long-term impact of these applications on citizens and government itself.