e-Govt is citizen-focused - AGIMO

AGIMO acting CEO John Grant told ZDNet they are now moving into a more complex environment much reliant on business processes, information management and privacy and security issues.

"People now want to deal with the government in national, local, state and even federal level. They want to be able to do simple things like pay for licences online or register their cars," Grant said.

He also added that with the information provided online, calls to the call centres are becoming shorter and more specific because of the information attained prior to the call.

"People are now finding what they want online and often their questions are now in context when they do call the government call centres because now they have the information to base their questions on," Grant said.

AGIMO's aim is a more "citizen-centric" (as opposed to agency-oriented) e-government where people can do the most basic transactions online. However, Grant assures this trend towards a more integrated e-government will not replace job positions, instead it will "create new jobs with requirements for different skills."

Grant said "the focus will be on how the government uses ICT to operate internally and deal with clients externally. It will also focus not only on technology but more on the processes of government in dealing with customers and how to protect their privacy more."

Grant said they are currently looking at being able to engage citizens in a discussion about policy programs to get them more involved in the process.

Grant will be speaking about The transformation effect of ICT during the CeBit forum tomorrow at Sydney's Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre.