E-inclusion as a further stage of e-government?

Purpose - An IT rationalist discourse predominates in the e-government literature. Furthermore, and whenever an alternative and holistic discourse is developed, e-government evaluation remains mechanistic. E-inclusion is rightfully advocated as a socially inclusive strategy for e-government planning and development but it is erroneously considered as a further stage of e-government development, following the fourth and transactional stage. The paper aims to reconfigure e-government and e-inclusion as two parallel processes of government intervention to support a socially inclusive development strategy through a national IT strategy. Design/methodology/approach - This paper reviews the general discourse surrounding e-government development and implementation, highlighting its mechanistic underpinnings and contrasting it with an inclusive approach to e-government. The mechanistic discourse of e-government is analyzed through key constructs that underlie the e-government concept. Vision and objectives, e-government evaluation, e-government models and the enabling role of ICT will be analyzed in view of sorting out the predominance of a mechanistic theme in their elaboration. The synthesis part of this work introduces e-inclusion based on a more organic and community-centered approach to e-government in light of the insufficiencies earlier identified. Findings - Whilst e-inclusion provides a good platform to pinpoint insufficiencies of the predominant mechanistic approach to e-government, it remains doubtful whether it could be achieved within the realm of e-government programs alone. Practical implications - Models, roadmaps and strategies for e-inclusion should explicitly outline the premises for a socially inclusive e-government and not consider e-inclusion as a further and mechanical stage of the e-government stage model. E-government evaluation has to pinpoint the inclusion aspects of existing projects by going beyond mechanistic measurements. Originality/value - This paper questions a major assumption in the e-government literature, namely that e-inclusion follows e-government. By drawing from the political science literature, it identifies a niche for e-inclusion which helps reconceptualize it as socially inclusive government rather than a further stage of e-government.