Criteria of Selection among Channels for Citizen Relationships in the Case of Electronic Public Administration

Abstract

The proliferation of electronic public administration is much slower than it has been anticipated. One of the constraints is that the citizens as customers of services of public administration are considered as a homogeneous group, therefore it is assumed that the citizens’ demand for electronic services can be fulfilled by a unified solution of services. One of the facts that is not taken into account is the skills and capabilities of clients, especially in the case of the representation of enterprises. The clients who act on behalf of companies have specific skills, capabilities, competencies, knowledge and experiences that should be utilised when personalised services are to be defined. Ignoring the specific competencies of contact persons is one of the obstacles against the wide-spread use of electronic services of public administration. For citizens unskilled in electronic services, the personalised services of information exchange are acceptable and welcome. This type of services may be ‘simulated’ through the usage of ‘chat bots’, although that technology cannot be considered as appropriate for professional clients of firms in official cases of enterprises. The paper proposes a set of criteria that makes possible the improvement of services of public administration.