Governments that want to connect with their citizens through online media can potentially implement their policies more effectively and increase their influence on citizens more directly. The delivery of public sector information and services to citizens through the Internet is considered to be e-government. While the benefits of e-government are compelling, it is worth noting that the countries that are taking advantage of this trend are those that have a high concentration of Internet hosts per thousand inhabitants. The benefits of e-government may indeed materialize in countries where a majority of the electorate uses the Internet frequently. At the same time, GSM-based mobile (wireless) phones are replacing land line connections in many developing countries because of the cost and unreliability of land connections-this has an impact on Internet viability for e-government.
A study conducted by West (2003) on global e-government of 2,166 national government websites in 198 countries around the world paints an interesting picture. While most of the government Web sites offer primarily informational content, only 16% offer services that are fully executable online. While West's definition of services included only those services that were fully executable online, he found that interactive features, such as information provision over e-mail, enabled public outreach. Such outreach is achieved when citizens register on the website and receive information on a particular subject, such as a newsletter highlighting a prime minister's views, as it becomes available (West, 2003). West (2003) found that the country with the largest number of online services was Singapore, with an average of 7.8 services across its government agencies. This was followed by the United States (4.8 services), Turkey (3.2 services), Hong Kong (3.1 services), and Taiwan (2.4 services). It is interesting to note that many of the countries in which e-government is the most developed are those that were considered developing countries only a few decades ago. Have investments in e-government combined with concerted IT policy measures enabled these governments to inject momentum into their economies?
The connection between national policies and development appears to be an illusive one. However, an understanding of what constitutes this link can provide governments with powerful tools to bring about economic growth (Easterly, King, Levine, & Rebelo, 1991). There appears to be a sense that Information Technology (IT) can bring about economic growth. Baliamoune-Lutz (2003) suggest that income and government trade policies influence