**3. Electronic services in public sector**

Let us look at services in public sector. Services can be described by three dimensions; services can be general in opposite to individualized, separate in opposite to coordinated (integrated) and informative in opposite to performative (Goldkuhl & Persson, 2006).

sector so different from development of e-business applications in private companies. In public sector the goal is not only to move services to internet, it is also a question of developing one-stop government solutions (Kubicek & Hagen, 2000; Gouscos et al., 2003).

Electronic services are in this context referred to as e-Services, which relates to services that public organizations provide. The term e-Services is further defined as interactive, contentcentred services are accessed through the internet (Rust & Kannan, 2002; Rust & Kannan, 2003). Most e-Services are related to information: the internet is a way to access information independently of time and location. However, there is an increasing demand on interactive and transaction-enabled services through the internet (Ancarani, 2005). Clearly, e-Services need to be integrated into processes and systems of the organization that provides them,

Travel industry is a good example of an industry, which uses information technology extensively. The customer or the traveller has the possibility to make reservations, get to know hotels, car-rental services and more in the travel destination. The internet gives the traveller services which earlier were possible only through the travel agency. This gives the traveller better control on the travelling experience. The result is a change in the infrastructure of travel industry; today customers are increasingly making reservations by themselves. From the service providers perspective it is critical to have visibility in the internet; the service should be listed when the traveller is planning trip and uses search engines like Google in this. The issue here is that traveller needs to do the planning; technology just shows different options (routes, hotels, fares etc.) to choose from. It is likely that in the future this is not enough, more advanced services will be developed which help in travel planning and adjust to changes in schedules, for example

With e-business small- and medium sized companies can compete globally. The most significant benefits of e-business are connected to transactions and communication (Dutta & Roy, 2003). Internet lowers transaction-related costs for both buyers and sellers. Companies can change prices on-line when raw-material costs change, for example. At the same time buyers have access to up-to-date prices directly from their terminals - most online shoppers use comparison-shopping engines (Mulpuru, 2007). Internet allows restructuring of processes which results better profitability - these are important issues for all companies, and are motivators for development in the public sector as well. Even though goals, ethics and values are slightly different business-like performance measurement has been evolving in public sector organizations as well (Van Der Wal et al.

Let us look at services in public sector. Services can be described by three dimensions; services can be general in opposite to individualized, separate in opposite to coordinated

(integrated) and informative in opposite to performative (Goldkuhl & Persson, 2006).

Let us look closer at development of electronic services in public sector.

especially if the services are transaction-related (de Ruyter et al., 2001).

**2. Value of electronic services** 

(de Ruyter et al., 2001).

2006; Parhizgari & Gilbert, 2004).

**3. Electronic services in public sector** 

The first dimension relates to integration of services. Separate e-services are services from one single agency or office. At the other end there are coordinated e-services which are result of cooperation of several agencies or offices. Some coordinated services are fused together, but there are also services that are merely aligned and may still be separated from each other. Fused services are totally integrated and individual services are not separable. (Atkinson & Leigh, 2003)

The services may be general in a way that they are not designed for any special group of users. Again, services or part of services may be tailored to specific users or user needs. The third dimension of e-service refers to the degree of information and interaction in the service; whether there is interaction and transaction in the services. This dimension is close to seeing development of e-services as a stage model (Atkinson & Leigh, 2003; Asgarkhani, 2005).

In general, the development of electronic services tends to go through different stages, starting with presence on the internet and moving towards transactional services that make it possible to carry out activities right away (Atkinson & Leigh, 2003; Asgarkhani, 2005). The first stage has mostly to do with providing different kind of information to citizens. In the second stage there are often different forms and applications on the website for the user to download and fill. The most enhanced stage is called transactional services. They are result of services that are made transactional. For example, transactional service is when the citizen can fill-in an application for renewing drivers' license, send it and receive acknowledgement. It might also be possible for the citizen to later track the progress of the drivers' license renewal, for example.
