Internationally, in Australia and Germany, for example, integrated call centers are providing one telephone number service for accessing government services and addressing complaints. A customer service representative in a call center equipped with a web-enabled system fields complaints with a minimum of call transfers with the citizen. The web is also being used directly in combination with internal citizen relationship management software systems that link all elements of an organization in providing coherent and timely responses to citizen concerns. A key challenge moving forward will be to use the opportunity of e-Government to transform the way government does business and to provide better value for citizen tax dollars. Community organization, and citizen self-help.
Citizens can also organize crime watch and other community building activities.
Providing web access to volunteer resources and opportunities is often promoted or facilitated by local governments as an adjunct to paid public services. Each of these six areas presents opportunities for state and local government to carry out their missions. E-Government initiatives may well be included in the future as an important topic to consider in regular strategic planning and management processes. As 76 million American baby boomers begin to retire from the paid workforce over the next decade, the resulting labor shortage may provide the impetus for increased use of web-based public services to a greater extent than today. Although there has historically been a reluctance in many quarters of the public sector to invest heavily and quickly in advanced information technologies, this looming labor shortage in public service, improved technologies with demonstrated track records of performance, and heightened expectation of citizens about public service delivery could combine to support a major push toward e-Government.