E-Government and Its Impact on E-Commerce in LDCs

This chapter illustrates the impact of electronic government (e-government) on electronic commerce (e-commerce) development and implementation in the Less Developed Countries (LDCs). It introduces e-government from a business point of view. We try to assess the capacity of e-government as an enabler to e-commerce. Furthermore, since e-government is about enhancing efficiency and transparency of government operation; we shall explore new perspectives on how and where e-commerce can avail from this shift in government operation paradigm. There are new opportunities for LDCs in particular to utilise new IT offerings to achieve growth, efficiency, and cost reduction. We will discuss some of these towards the end of the chapter. In the process, we will try to draw the connection between e-government and e-commerce in such a way that helps decision makers understand the potential of e-government for a better implementation of e-commerce.