Abstract
Information Technology, especially the Internet, has definitely opened the political scene to the public. Its influence on politics relies on a new and widened visibility, mixed to a clearly new approach of communication. Indeed, it has become a common tool. And adding to the low cost of access, it has also become a brand new type of information and communication system, giving the choice for the users to select and interact. Facing this expansion, and following the logical way of thinking of the political actors, the new goal was then to reach the public to spread specific messages, whatever were their respective functions. That is why a lot of them really had to reconsider the Internet has the raising political highway. Behind this new reality, the British government could not avoid this U-turn. Indeed, and in a broad, large and sometimes painful effort to modernize public services, labour had to select and hold every significant way that could lead to a goal awaited by the public. If PM Tony Blair has proved a sincere conviction and concern in the development and use of IT within the governmental web, what is the situation of the so called "egov" initiative? Wondering about 'dream' or 'reality' on such an issue first requires to understand the real dynamic of this project, which could not be defined as a reform of any governmental agency but a complex, large and, most of all, global innovation dealing with the connections between the political sphere, the media and the public. Is there any better definition of the word 'challenge' ? Once this has been clarified, many alternative questions such as what are the 'targets', the main objectives, on which purpose and on which resources are effectively mobilized to reach them? Sectioning this reflection seems to be the best way to clearly analyse the meaning of the e-gov initiative. First, a further look on the project and its structure may be useful. Then, an analysis of the present possibilities could pave the way to a critical comment, which would form the last step of this essay.
