Objectives of knowledge management

E‑government defined 
E‑government
refers to the application of e-commerce technologies to government and 
public services. In the same way that e-business can be understood as transactions with cus-
tomers (citizens), suppliers and internal communications, e-government covers a similar 
range of applications:
● 
Citizens
– facilities for dissemination of information and use of online services at local and 
national levels. For example, at a local level you can fi nd out when refuse is collected and 
at national level it is possible to fi ll in tax returns.
● 
Suppliers
– government departments have a vast network of suppliers. Th e potential ben-
efi ts (and pitfalls) of electronic supply chain management and e-procurement (described 
in Chapters 6 and 7 ) are equally valid for government.
● 
Internal communications
– this includes information collection and dissemination and 
email and workfl ow systems for improving effi ciency within government departments.
E-government is now viewed as important within government in many countries. The 
European Union set up ‘i2010’ ( 
European Information Society in 2010
) whose aims included 
providing an integrated approach to information society and audio‑ visual policies in the 
EU, covering regulation, research, and deployment and promoting cultural diversity. 
(eEurope, 2005)
Digital business opportunities 
Digital business has introduced new opportunities for small and large organisations to com-
pete in the global marketplace. As we observed at the start of this chapter, many commenta-
tors have noted that one of the biggest changes introduced by electronic communications is