Do We Need Intermediaries in E-Government? Intermediaries to create a demand-driven government

摘要

The advent of e-government and the use of the Internet to connect governments to citizens and businesses have resulted into direct contact among government agencies and their customers. The development towards more direct interaction can be used to predict the bypassing of intermediaries. In this paper three case studies are analyzed which counter this argument. A reintermediation strategy is followed in which intermediaries are used as new distribution channels to interact with customers. The case studies show that intermediaries can be employed to reduce cost and at the same time make government more demand-driven. Following only a disintermediation strategy, often motivated by transaction cost, is a too narrow approach and needs to be complimented by reintermediation strategy to advance towards a demand-driven government.