Online plan needs substance to keep it from sinking

Fei Li China Daily/Asia News Network Beijing

When the Government Online Initiative was launched in 1999 with great fanfare, hopes were high that the project would lead to a more efficient information flow and interaction between the government and public.

During the past six years, the number of government websites has boomed. Those sites have become a convenient way for the public to learn about government policies, a move that deserves loud applause.

But not all of the sites bridge the gap between the government and public. For example, many of the sites put up by municipal departments in Zhengzhou, capital city of Central China's Henan Province, did not make the grade, according to a report on government websites.

It rated the performance of the government departments out of a total of 100, and gave 14 of the 91 Zhengzhou departments zero.

Among the 14, eight departments did not even bother to create a website. The sites of the remaining six were no longer accessible. In addition to many sites not being accessible, the report found that there were problems such as a lack of content and with content being updated, in addition to problems with "interactiveness."

They are the same problems that bogged down our traditional government information disclosure system. The e-government initiative was intended to resolve such difficulties.

Considering all government departments were put on one year's notice to improve their websites, Zhengzhou's case is even more mind-boggling.

It may not necessarily be representative of all government websites across the country. However, it would not be the exception, either.

Originally designed to offer one more avenue for the public to access government information and for government to elicit citizens' views, the online project was warmly welcomed by residents.

It shows respect for the public's right to know and should be helpful in making the government more transparent and open. But in reality, many of the sites exist because they have to, not for any greater good. It is no secret that many websites are constructed to score political points. With that in mind, the formality is important but the substance, which is the whole idea, falls by the wayside.

Problems that the project is encountering in Zhengzhou remind us that we should see the real picture behind the big number of government websites. At a time when building a transparent government is the emphasis, making the government online project really work is imperative.

We need to be able to see a virtual government and to see how it is going about its business, which would allow the public to have more of a say in the decision-making process. This demands the content be sufficient and updated regularly.

Government websites should become a medium through which the public and the government can work with each other in an interactive process. We should guard against this well-intended project from becoming a lemon.