eGovernment for business across the Atlantic: from cases to models

This paper presents the methodology and conclusions of a study - subcontracted by CIMIC-Rutgers University within a project funded by the NSF dg.o program - aimed at comparing a CIMIC-New Jersey (USA) project for integrating online Public Services (ePSs) for businesses with similar cases based in the European Union (EU). The study attempts to gain a general understanding of the key issues associated with intra & inter-Public Administration (PA) agency governance, case sustainability, and networking that are as critical in the USA as in the EU by analyzing a multitude of individual eGovernment cases at local, national or European levels. Another interesting direction to be explored concerns the networking across the Atlantic of dedicated portals for businesses. Though the cyberspace is essentially global, normally the one-stop shops of ePSs target business communities which are 'local', no matter they are also national, or even international. As transnational linkages should be further developed within the EU, leveraged by pan-European eGovernment services and initiatives aiming not only to diffusion, but also to strengthen European integration, the same expectation should be fostered in a transatlantic perspective.