Digital Government in Developing Countries: Reflections on the Korean Experience

Abstract

Chronicles the trend of information technology (IT) in its application to the challenges of public administration and effective service delivery and offers the Republic of Korea’s experience to demonstrate the broad stages of e-governance evolution. Since 2010, Korea has ranked as the top country in the United Nations (UN) e-government survey, a composite index that combines three important dimensions of e- governance: the provision of online services, telecommunication connectivity, and human capacity. Not every Korean e-governance undertaking has proven successful; some of the lessons learned emerge from challenges such as bureaucratic struggles over turf and mandates, investments overtaken by subsequent technological advances, and projects that failed to live up to their initial promise. The push to embed e-governance within a national development strategy that focused on informatics and export-led growth may have occurred because of a confluence of unique factors, but many other aspects of Korea’s experience warrant attention from other developing countries.