Technology as a Tool of Transformation: e-Cities and the Rule of Law

Abstract

New model for successful urban organization in the global age is emerging. Municipalities can survive the increasingly intense global competition by the local political arrangement, but how? The electronic dialogue between Public Administrations, citizens and enterprises represents the key element for the development of the public sector. This interactive communication is able to carry out a sharing of information and knowledge that is both an instrument and the main task for Municipalities in the Digital Era. The e-government is a complex and multidimensional issue. Cities of the Future will be built along “information highways”. These smart communities – in which each individual is part of the whole – promote the context for our lives and the fabric of our existence. If technology is a tool of transformation, e-government is a way to fulfill the conditions of good governance. The electronic government is not just ICT: it also includes rules and procedures, because the public administration cannot innovate without a normative drive. So it must operate under the Rule of Law, protecting general principles such as equality, administrative transparency, rights protection for all citizens. Democratic legal systems have to foster and promote civil and political rights also in the scenario of “electronic cities”. Technology has opened up domains of information which only some years ago were unthinkable, and everyone – including people who are disadvantaged due to limited re-sources or education, age, disabilities – should be able to enjoy the related benefits.