Achievements and Future Trends of E-Government Service-Implications from the SARS Outbreak

Rapid advances in technology and the advent of the Internet have redefined public expectation of the government and its services. With the great support from Hong Kong and Singapore government, e-government system has achieved temporary success by offering some everyday services through virtual Internet. During last year’s Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, e-governments in Hong Kong and Singapore ensured the proper running of government services despite of massive physical restrictions caused by SARS outbreak. E-government started to show its value through continuous development in the past decade. The idea of “virtual government” implementation had been proved in some extent. In the meantime, SARS outbreak introduced new challenges to e-government in dealing with abrupt events. The paper will present the new trends and dynamics in e-government development enlightened by feedbacks from fighting with SARS outbreak. The paper will also provide assessment for those functional specifications raised under the SARS outbreak.