E-Governance State-of-the-Art Survey: Stuttgart, Germany

E-Governance or Smart Government is buzzword across Europe to improve interaction between government and stakeholders. Governments both at national and local level are making efforts to transform themselves into a well-connected entity that responds efficiently to the needs of its citizens by developing an integrated back-office infrastructure. Cities are implementing smart and innovative means to improve quality of life and enhance competitiveness. Various measures are being taken to provide transparent, efficient, innovative and responsive government through adoption of various Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools. Stuttgart, located in south-west of Germany is no exception which started its E-Government initiative a decade ago, has today crossed significant milestones. Various e-services platforms are created to inform and assist citizens and e-transaction platforms are created to reduce the burden on existing staff in various departments. These services have shown remarkable results in management of some areas such as waste, mobility, human resource, etc. These platforms are still evolving and being created and developed after a thorough research, planning and consultative process with various stakeholders. Stuttgart has been successful in extending the reach of services digitally to its citizens and promoting a sense of sustainability. This city takes care of wide spectrum of administrative, political and social services through diverse ICT and Geographic Information System (GIS) platforms. Stuttgart is hub of high-tech auto industry and also known for its advanced ICT industry and highly innovative green technologies. This sense of sustainability is also reflected in adoption of environmental friendly practices which are being supported by befitting e-democracy and E-Governance measures. The objective of this paper is to review process of formation of E-Government services in Germany and the key milestone related to development of E-governance in Stuttgart. An case of best practices in mobility is presented to ascertain if Stuttgart leads its way to be a smart city.