e-Governance: A Critical Review of e-Government Systems Features and Frameworks for Success

Purpose – To determine the key features, key performance indicators and framework for successfully implementing an e-governance system. Method – Exploratory research was made to understand better the opportunities and challenges in implementing an e-governance system. Six highly urbanized cities (HUC) were compared: Manila, Taguig, Pasay, Makati, Quezon, and Davao. To categorize, the three blocks of eGovernment services were utilized in grouping the process and features in the system: Government to Citizens (G2C), Government to Business (G2B), and Government to Government (G2G). These services were grouped according to each e-government block to determine commonalities and unique features. Results – In this study, the researchers identified four communication channels used by each city such as web portal, social media, mobile application, and web application. In addition, the common e-services for each block are: In the G2C category, the researchers have the real property tax, local civil registry, and community announcements e-services. In G2B, the researchers have occupational


INTRODUCTION
Digital transformation has been a buzzword for many years. Many businesses today were able to adopt a different digital strategy to remain competitive and relevant. However, not all companies are very successful with their digital transformation. According to Harvard Business Review (Tabrizi et al., 2023), 70 percent of all digital transformations in 2019 did not reach their goal, with an estimated $900 billion going to waste.
The same challenges are being experienced by our government today, especially in implementing digital technologies for public services. However, the COVID-19 pandemic made digital transformation the new normal (Elsersy et al., 2021). The government had to play its part in providing clear, up-to-date information to the public, health workers, and local authorities while reducing the spread of fake news and lowering the risk of potential cybersecurity and data privacy issues (Farrell et al., 2020). A review done by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) shows that among 193 UN Member States' national portals, the researchers have 188 countries (97.5%) that were able to set up a dedicated COVID-19 portal for information sharing and monitoring in a span of 50 days (Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2020).
The digitalization of public services will significantly rely on the application of digital technologies that maximize gains for all citizens through more receptive, high-quality, and reasonably priced services crafted to meet specific needs and viewpoints (Schroeder et al., 2021). Concerning the quantity and caliber of public services, governments face growing opportunities and rising citizen demands (Mali, 2020). Thus, our study focused on understanding the basic framework for implementing an e-government system.
• Compare our local government applications and the e-services they offer.
• Discuss the opportunities and challenges of e-governance from previous studies.
• Identify the KPIs they can use for the e-government systems.
• Define the application building blocks for implementation.
Implementing an e-government system involves establishing a digital infrastructure that allows for the delivery of government services and information to citizens through electronic means. The basic framework includes developing policies, laws, and regulations for the use of technology in government, creating secure and reliable systems for data storage and communication, ensuring accessibility and usability for all users, and building capacity among government employees to effectively use and manage the system. Additionally, it involves engaging with stakeholders, such as citizens, businesses, and other government agencies, to ensure their needs and expectations are met.

Maturity Assessment of Local E-Government Websites in the Philippines
The United Nations Four-Stage Model was chosen for this research paper to assess 150 local government websites in the Philippines (Khalid & Lavilles, 2019). These maturity stages include emerging information services, enhanced information services, transactional information services, and connected information services. Ranking the emerging information services as Stage 1 or the earliest phase and connected information services as Stage 4 or the most mature.
The researchers used a two-step approach in assessing the e-government websites: guided assessment and semi-structured interviews (Babb, 2021).
The researchers determined that out of 150 sample e-government websites, 49 were inaccessible, and the remaining 101 were analyzed carefully. The municipalities were classified into six, of which the 1st class is the most developed and the 6th class the least. The cities were also grouped into highly urbanized, independent components and component cities (Rood, 2019).
According to the findings, 54 of the 112 municipal websites were classified as Stage 1 (Emerging), the remaining 20 as Stage 2 (Enhanced), and 38 as having no website. For the city evaluations, 13 of the example websites are from Stage 2, 14 are from Stage 1, and 11 do not have government websites. The findings also found that no websites had attained Stage 3 (Transactional) or Stage 4 (Connected) maturity.
The findings had two implications: first, all accessible local e-government websites were still in the early stages of development; and second, numerous towns and cities do not yet have independent websites.
This study demonstrates that transitioning to e-government necessitates adequately established and protected websites prior to full adoption, as online processing has related to several hazards. However, when this project is completed later, it will benefit the country and its residents through smoother and speedier processing.

The Market Environment Innovation of General Trias City
The research assesses the degree of knowledge and preparation of the selected firms in the City of General Trias, Cavite, to participate in the Smart City Project. It is a market and business environment innovation method that focuses on aligning economic and market resources with accessible technology for increased efficiency and effectiveness. To assess enterprise awareness and preparedness, the researchers employ a descriptivecorrelational study approach. The poll results suggest that businesses are aware of and ready to adopt the Smart City Project; yet some are terrified of the project's projected hurdles. It also demonstrated a substantial association between respondents' awareness and preparation for implementation, activities, procedures, and ideas (Alarca, et. al., 2022).

Towards the Development of E-barangay Mobile Application
The study was carried out to identify the elements of a mobile application designed to assist local government functions in Quezon City, Philippines (Bringula et al., 2019). With software development and theoretical contributions to the field of e-government, the goal of this research is to create a mobile application that can suit the demands and preferences of its users.
A survey with locals as participants and a face-to-face interview with three informants were utilized as techniques. The findings suggest that participants had access to technology, a high degree of computer expertise, a lower level of involvement in the local community program, and an average impression that local officials may still enhance their information dissemination tactics. Furthermore, the researchers feel that these aspects are important and should be considered when developing mobile applications for other local populations in the Philippines.
Based on the interviews, the community has four essential services: filing complaints, requesting documents, suggestions for improvements, and information dissemination. We, the researchers, believe that these essential features help determine the minimum viable product (MVP) in developing a mobile application for e-governance systems kickoff. Ndou (2004) defined four components of eGovernment: government to citizens (G2C), government to business (G2B), government to government (G2G), and government to employees (G2E) (G2E). This research highlighted the following e-Government opportunities:

E-Government for Developing Countries: Opportunities and Challenges
1. Cost savings and increased efficiency 2. Service delivery quality to businesses and customers 3. Accountability, transparency, and anti-corruption 4. Increase the government's capabilities 5. Creating a network and a community 6. Improve the decision-making process 7. Encourage the use of ICT in different areas of society. The e-Government challenges identified in this research are: 1. Infrastructure for ICT (e-readiness, computer literacy, telecommunication equipment) 2. Policy considerations (legislation) 3. Development of human capital and lifelong learning (skills, capabilities, education, learning) 4. Management of Change (culture, resistance to change) 5. Partnership and cooperation (public/private collaboration, community and network development) 6. Strategy (vision, purpose) (vision, mission) 7. Position of leadership (motivate, involve, influence, support) The case analysis provides an essential tip for eGovernment initiatives' successful design and implementation-first, the criticality of e-readiness assessment. Second, awareness of the public and private organizations. Third, being agile in the development and delivery of solutions. Fourth, encourage strong collaboration between government agencies and departments. Fifth, invest in human evolution. Sixth, have a pragmatic approach by having a clear vision and goal. And last, clear knowledge management practices and transparent change management processes.

Gartner: Develop Impactful KPIs with Citizen Experience Metrics to Show the Business Value of Digital Government
Gartner emphasized the importance of having goals that favor impact instead of activities that could serve as a reference in making meaningful KPIs over time (Gartner_Inc, 2022). They have observed that citizen experience (CX) initiatives and projects not linked to investment in experience and business outcomes often face program termination. They have recognized the business value of IT as a government's strategic partner. However, several government reports show that IT is not aligned with the business outcomes and citizen experience, which undermines its value (Alfirević et al., 2018).
Gartner (2022) recommends the following actions to our government CIOs leading the digital transformation and innovation:

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• Link the value of digital government initiatives to citizen expectations by engaging with internal CX specialists to leverage citizen or constituent journey maps. The maps will be utilized in developing a baseline for compelling, mission relevant KPIs for all digital government projects and products because each persona represents both analog and digital users. • Automate the collection of CX metrics to supplement systems and applications KPIs. Examples of these CX tools are voice-of-citizen (VOC) and sentiment analysis solutions. • Establish KPIs that reflect business units' goals and organizational priorities. Work with CX and the business unit team to combine individual people, process, and technology metrics that measure the impact of CX and digital government initiatives.
They also showcase the "Digital Maturity Model -Key Metrics Domain," as seen in Figure 1. What the researchers deem necessary in this study are the examples of digital government metrics related to citizen/constituent experience that can serve as our reference. The metric was grouped based on its impact on the people, process, and technology categories. The suggested metrics for people are citizen/constituent satisfaction, Net Promoter Score (NPS), citizen/constituent level of effort, visitor intent, employee satisfaction rate, and employee error rate. For process, it includes channel switch rate, online transaction conversion rate, and time to completion. And for technology, page load time, service availability, and channel availability.

METHODOLOGY
They conducted exploratory research to understand better the opportunities and challenges in implementing an e-governance system (Hanks, 2017). They compared the eGovernment systems of six highly urbanized cities (HUC): Manila, Taguig, Pasay, Makati, Quezon, and Davao (Alampay, 2013) . To categorize, the researchers utilized the three 2011 blocks of eGovernment services in grouping the process and features in the system: Government to Citizens (G2C), Government to Business (G2B), and Government to Government (G2G). The researchers discarded the Government Employee (G2E) services because of a lack of evidence from the resources they used for all the cities identified in this study.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
In this research, the researchers identified the communication channels used by each city and categorized them into four which are: • Web Portal -Publicly available websites. Access credential is not mandatory to navigate through the web pages (Rood, 2019). • Social Media -Social media presence such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter (Bringula et al., 2019). • Mobile Application -Applications downloadable through Android Play Store or Apple App Store (Rood, 2019). • Web Application -Access credentials required to access government services (Rood, 2019).  Table 1 shows the communication channels of highly urbanized cities. When it comes to digital maturity, Davao is a first-class, highly urbanized city. It is the third most populous city after Manila and Quezon City. Davao is still in the initial phase focusing on increasing the number of services online. Makati, surprisingly, is also in the initial phase of digital maturity despite being known as the financial center of the Philippines. Even though they don't have a mobile app, Makati still provides unique G2C monetary assistance for their citizens, like "Ayuda Makati, Blucard Seniors, P5k Maka-Tulong" for economic relief and community services.  Table 3 shows the government-to-business services. It is evident on the table that most of the HUC does not have digital transformation when it comes to e-bills. They are still using a manual process. Most of the HUCs do not have monetary assistance services. The city of Taguig, Pasay, and Quezon City are also still in the developing phase in terms of digital maturity. These three cities enabled chatbots in their web and mobile apps for faster response. For the featured services, Taguig offers online movie subscriptions for their senior citizens, while Pasay provides cheap homes, rentals, and mass housing 2013 advisories. And Quezon City, you can book an appointment in the public library, get updates on the QC scholarship programs, or apply for the QCitizen ID online.  Table 4 shows the government-to-government services of HUCs. It is evident that highly urbanized cities are not focused on their digital transformation when it comes to government-to-government services. Only Manila city has its own digital services in SSS, Pag-Ibig and Philhealth. Pasay City has only digital emergency response and only Taguig City has its digital barangay risk assessment.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This study identifies the e-government service categories and how the researchers can group the application's key features. If an LGU would like to implement an egovernment system, it is highly recommended to start with the common G2C and G2B services. It is also essential to use multiple channels such as web portals, social media, mobile Apps, and web apps to reach the different personas of the communities and to communicate government activities and announcements faster. For example, LGUs are using Facebook and Twitter to update the community about work and class suspensions during bad weather conditions. The variety of communication channels will guarantee high citizen adoption, especially for novices in this digital era.
Our recommendations based on the e-governance systems the researchers reviewed for the list of common e-services are (Table 5): Although the researchers have yet to link the existing KPIs to the systems in this study, we have understood the relevance of having them for continuous service improvements (CSI). The saying goes, "You can't improve what you don't measure." Therefore, the researchers recommend doing qualitative research to further the study to understand the metrics used as a benchmark in improving the citizen experience.
In addition, the persona-based journey maps are highly recommended to understand the concerns and services that can be prioritized in the early stage of development of the said e-government applications.
The implementation of e-government in the Philippines has made significant strides in recent years, although challenges remain. The government has recognized the potential of technology to enhance public service delivery, increase transparency and accountability, and promote citizen engagement. As a result, several initiatives have been launched, such as the e-Procurement System, the Integrated Tax System, and the Electronic Business Permit and Licensing System.
One of the main challenges facing the implementation of e-government in the Philippines is the lack of adequate infrastructure and connectivity in some areas, particularly in rural and remote areas. This hinders the access and adoption of egovernment services, limiting the potential benefits to citizens in these areas.
Another challenge is the need for capacity-building and skills development among government employees to effectively use and manage e-government systems. Additionally, the need for ensuring data privacy and security, as well as addressing issues of digital divide and accessibility, must be addressed.
Despite these challenges, the implementation of e-government in the Philippines has shown promise in enhancing public service delivery and citizen engagement. As technology continues to advance, the government must continue to invest in infrastructure, capacity-building, and stakeholder engagement to ensure the success of egovernment initiatives.