<p>&nbsp / </p> <p>The Internet is now facilitating the provision of an increasing number of services. Thus, technology has become a more integrated part of people‟s daily routine. Some of these technologies include electronic communication, online banking, and shopping as well as electronic learning - to name but a few. However, for various reasons, such as limited formal education (which is a key promoter of reading and writing skills), access and skills, not everyone has an equal opportunity to benefit from the use of these technologies. The unequal distribution of opportunities of such nature is often broadly referred to as the <i><font size="3" face="Arial,Arial"><font size="3" face="Arial,Arial">digital divide</font></font><font size="3">. That is the gap between those who have access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and those who do not. One noted challenge that influences the use of ICT consists of socio-economic conditions, which together elicit high levels of poverty. An identified strategy for uplifting these areas was (and still is) entrepreneurship, notably small businesses. These small businesses however, generally have very short and mostly unsuccessful lives. As a result the government at all levels (national, provincial and local) has endeavoured to provide support to these businesses. Some of this support is provided through mediums, such as the Internet (here named &quot / electronic support&quot / ) to assist these small businesses. This support, which comes from government, is however, not being fully utilised by the intended beneficiaries. Thus, the small businesses are not benefiting from the support provided. Consequently, many are still experiencing a short and unsuccessful existence. This research thus analyses the small businesses in areas of the greater Cape Town, which are characterised by high levels of poverty and unemployment. <font size="3">Previous studies in these areas have reported the lack of ICT related skills, also known as electronic skills (e-skills), as one of the reasons for the low uptake of electronic support (e-support). This e-support is provided by various levels of government through selected agencies (service providers). In essence, this study is aimed at investigating the influence of e-skills in the access and use of the provided e-support by owners of small businesses. Considering that the lack of adequate e-skills has been identified as influencing the use of e-support, the study also aims to identify the e-skills needed to fully utilise the provided e-support. The approach to this investigation included a review of pertinent literature and devising a conceptual model. This model was then tested in the empirical setting of this study. This setting included: (i) Providers of e-support (various specialised government agencies) and (ii) the intended beneficiaries of this e-support, i.e. small businesses in the previously disadvantaged areas (PDAs) of the greater Cape Town. Through the use of case study methodology and face to face interviews, it was found that many small business owners were not able to appropriately use the provided e-support. This was due to their lack of e-skills, which resulted in their inability to use ICT. Additionally, some were unaware of the existence of the e-support or the service providers. During the review of pertinent literature done as part of the study, an e-skills framework was designed. The framework identified the e-skills considered necessary in order for small business owners to effectively utilise the provided e-support and other technologies. The e-skills framework suggested by this study could be used as a tool to assist: (i) The providers of e-support to understand the usage of their services and enable (ii) a more informed understanding of the need for appropriate e-skills among small business owners, in relation to their use of the provided e-support. Additionally, (iii) small business owners should be in a better position to recognise the benefits of using technology, especially the Internet. <font size="3">The contribution of this study is seen as twofold. Firstly, it should assist the providers and users of e-support. This is done by addressing the practical side of the provision and usage of these services. Secondly, the study contributes an informative e-skills framework related to the effective use of e-support. This study also furthers academic knowledge in the area of the investigation, and suggests further directions for research. Considering, the limited small business sample (only participants from three PDAs), the generalisation of this study is limited. This limitation does not however, influence the validity of this research, or the credibility of the findings. </font></font></font></i></p>

Zugl.: Wernigerode, Hochschule Harz, Diplomarbeit, 2009

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Electronic government holds the promises of enabling government to become more efficient in the delivery of services to the public. E-government would ultimately mean that government departments would not work in isolation from each other. The electronic environment would mean that databases would be linked and that information would be shared across all levels of government. There are a number of issues that are presently, and will increasingly in the future impact on the success of e-government. The paradox for e-government is that while this sharing of information, paints a picture of an ideal state of affairs, that would benefit both citizen and state, there could be enormous effects on privacy. These are the ability for government to compile comprehensive profiles on citizens without their knowledge or consent. Another impact on privacy is that wrong information can be linked to the wrong person thereby impacting on the identity of an individual. Data protection and record management policies and legislation are necessary to protect personal data and information. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Elektroniese regeringsdienste hou enorme voordele in om 'n meer effektiewe diens aan 'n land se inwoners te lewer. 'n E-regering stel staatsdepartemente in staat om nie meer in isolasie te werk nie, dat databasisse gekoppel en inligting op alle regeringsvlakke gedeel kan word. Daar is egter elemente in 'n e-regeringstruktuur wat 'n beduidende impak op die toekomstige sukses daarvan kan uitoefen. Die paradoks van 'n e-regering is dat hoewel dit 'n ideale prentjie skilder, dit 'n enorme impak op die privaatheid van beide die inwoners en die regering van 'n land kan uitoefen. Dit voorsien 'n geleentheid waar die regering 'n uitgebreide persoonsprofiel kan saamstel, sonder die medewete of toestemming van die persoon. 'n Verdere aspek is dat die inligting aan die verkeerde persoon gekoppel kan word, wat 'n negatiewe impak op die identiteit van so 'n persoon kan hê. Dit op sigself maak data- en dokumentbeheer, beleide and wetgewing 'n noodsaaklikheid voorvereiste vir die beskerming van persoonlike data en inligting.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The use of technological tools by governments as a way to access the citizen and inform him about matters of public interest is a relatively recent movement and is linked to a culture of transparency, in which the citizen has the power to control the paths taken by their state. This governance model is termed Electronic Government and in Brazil it has been adopted for more than 15 (fifteen) years. The advances in this area have been strengthened with the advent of the Brazilian Information Access Law, Law nº. 12.527/11, which states that access to information is the rule and secrecy to the exception. In this way, all Brazilian government agencies are linked to the provisions of this law that determines the maximum disclosure and transparency in Brazil. Among these, the Ministry of Health draws attention for, in addition to dealing with theme of universal interest, make heavy use of electronic resources on the Internet, and cited here only three: the Portal of Health, the health blog and the Ministry of Page Health on Facebook. So, the question is: the Ministry of Health, in using these online environments, follows the guidelines of the culture of access to information? Moreover, how happens the relationship between him and the Internet citizens who use their official websites? In order to determine what is e-government and how the new information and communication technologies help in the realization of the right to access to information, specifically in the Brazilian Ministry of Health, were used the method of deductive approach, the method of a monographic procedure and techniques of indirect documentation of research (literature and documents) as well systematic intensive direct observation in the environments analyzed on the Internet. It is concluded that despite using up of electronic tools intensively and Law nº 12.527/11 represent an advance in public transparency of the country, Brazil is still far short in other respects, requiring other protection measures for the user to ensure the democratic rule of law which aims to be. / O uso de ferramentas tecnológicas por Governos como forma de acessar o cidadão e informá-lo acerca de assuntos de interesse público é um movimento relativamente recente e vincula-se a uma cultura da transparência, em que o cidadão possui o poder de controlar os caminhos tomados por seu Estado. Este modelo de governança é denominado Governo Eletrônico e no Brasil ele vem sendo adotado há mais de 15 (quinze) anos. Os avanços neste tema foram reforçados com o advento da Lei de Acesso à Informação Brasileira, Lei nº 12.527/11, que determina que o acesso à informação é a regra e o sigilo a exceção. Desta maneira, todos os órgãos públicos brasileiros estão vinculados aos preceitos desta lei, que determina a máxima divulgação e transparência no Brasil. Dentre estes, o Ministério da Saúde chama a atenção por, além de tratar de tema de interesse universal, fazer uso intenso de recursos eletrônicos na Internet, sendo citado aqui apenas três: o Portal da Saúde, o blog da Saúde e a página do Ministério da Saúde no Facebook. Assim, questiona-se: o Ministério da Saúde, na utilização destes ambientes online, segue as diretrizes da cultura do acesso à informação? Ademais, como se dá a relação entre ele e os cidadãos internautas que fazem uso de seus sítios oficiais? Com o objetivo de determinar o que é governo eletrônico e de que forma as novas tecnologias da informação e da comunicação auxiliam na efetivação do direito ao acesso à informação, especificamente no Ministério da Saúde Brasileiro, foram utilizados o método de abordagem hipotético dedutivo, o método de procedimento monográfico e as técnicas de pesquisa de documentação indireta (bibliográfica e documental) bem como a observação direta intensiva sistemática nos ambientes analisados na Internet. Conclui-se que apesar de utilizar-se de ferramentas eletrônicas de forma intensa e da Lei nº 12.527/11 representar um avanço na transparência pública do país, o Brasil ainda está muito aquém em outros aspectos, sendo necessárias outras medidas de proteção ao usuário para se garantir o Estado Democrático de Direito que visa ser.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:14:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4887.pdf: 1236062 bytes, checksum: f0ea9829806cebf83382a52507857381 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-28 / This dissertation is proposing to make an analysis on how Information Technology and Communications became part of the structure of state administration in Brazil, taking into account their different stages of merger and consolidation in the context of the restructuring of the state late twentieth century. Specifically, it is to examine how the use of Information Communication Technologies was incorporated into the routine of public administration and translated into the creation and development of a policy for electronic government (or e- Government) in the period extending from first mandate of Fernando Henrique Cardoso to the last term of the government of Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. This analysis is done through a historical reconstruction of what has to be such a policy, covering all phases of development, beyond the key actors for implementation. We assume that the analysis of influence of theses mechanisms is fundamental to understanding the path that takes politics in this country. From this we make a balance between the two government studied in order to check the continuities, innovations and setbacks of e-government policy in the period. This balance is organized from the checklist used by Chahin (2004), is based on best global practices of e-government, and includes the following dimensions: leadership and coordination, policy formulation and evaluation, cultural environment, infrastructure and standards. / Esta dissertação tem como proposta fazer uma análise acerca da forma como as Tecnologias da Informação e Comunicação passaram a fazer parte da estrutura da administração estatal brasileira, levando em conta suas diferentes fases de incorporação e consolidação no contexto da reestruturação estatal do final do século XX. Especificamente, trata-se de analisar de que forma a utilização das Tecnologias da Informação de Comunicação foi incorporada no cotidiano da administraçao pública e traduzida na criaçao e desenvolvimento de uma política de governo eletrônico (ou e-Government), no período que se estende do primeiro mandato do governo de Fernando Henrique Cardoso até o último mandato do governo de Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. Essa análise é feita através de uma reconstrução histórica do que vem a ser tal política, abarcando todas suas fases de desenvolvimento, além dos atores fundamentais para sua implementação. Partimos do pressuposto que a análise desses mecanismos de influência é fundamental para a compreensão dos rumos que a política toma no país. A partir disso fazemos um balanço entre os dois governos estudados de forma a verificar as continuidades, inovações e retrocessos da política de governo eletrônico no período. Esse balanço está organizado a partir do check-list utilizado por Chahin (2004), é baseado nas melhores práticas mundiais de governo eletrônico, e contempla as seguintes dimensões: liderança e coordenação, formulação e avaliação da política, ambiente cultural, infraestrutura e padrões.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:25:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DissTMPT.pdf: 3564161 bytes, checksum: 1b66302501f23e382c36b20deb5e189f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-08-22 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / This dissertation provides a reflexion about the use of the Communication and Information Technologies (CIT s), particularly, the Internet, by São Paulo city s government. In order to achieve this, we have used, as empirical corpus, the analysis of São Paulo s electronic government politics from 2001 to 2006, we also emphasized both elements which are included in this politics: the City Hall Portal and the Digital Inclusion Plan. This way, we intend to comprehend how and in which extension this politics integrates the city s government with the actual installation demands of a new management model, which, in its turns, is defined by the Market principles. It is also important to understand how São Paulo s city government intends to enlarge citizens participation in the public management. With the aim to measure these elements, this research is based on five participation degrees, called digital democratic degrees. To reinforce this investigation, we have studied documents (such as laws, decrees, bylaws and communications), interviewed people responsible for the electronic government politics in the designated period, and we have evaluated the City Hall Portal as well as the users of the telecentres, idealized by the Digital Inclusion Plan. / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo refletir sobre o uso das Tecnologias da Comunicação e Informação (TICs), particularmente da Internet, pelo governo municipal da cidade de São Paulo. Para tal, como corpus empírico, analisamos a política de governo eletrônico da Prefeitura de São Paulo de 2001-2006 e enfatizamos os dois principais elementos que a compõe: o Portal da Prefeitura e o Plano de inclusão digital. Pretendemos, assim, compreender como e em que medida esta política visa integrar esse governo municipal às exigências atuais de instalação de um novo padrão de gestão, que vigora pelos princípios do Mercado, e ainda, ampliar a participação ativa dos cidadãos na gestão pública municipal, uma vez que a Internet tem potencial tecnológico para satisfazer ambos os intuitos. Para mensurar esses dois aspectos baseamos nossa analise na existência de cinco graus de participação, nomeados de graus de democracia digital, os quais nortearam metodologicamente esse estudo. Para dar corpo a essa investigação, a pesquisa recorreu ao estudo de documentos (leis, decretos, portarias e comunicados), a entrevistas com os coordenadores dessa política no período estudado e a realização de uma avaliação efetiva no Portal da Prefeitura e com os usuários dos telecentros do Plano de inclusão digital.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T13:53:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JoseMSF.pdf: 349753 bytes, checksum: abe5c7a4cc0677f38204b1f6c0f06e2e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-07-21 / New technologies appear each moment and its use can result in countless benefits for that they directly use and for all the society as well. In this direction, the State also can use the technologies of the information and communication to improve the level of rendering of services to the citizens, to give more quality of life to the society and to optimize the public expense, centering it in the main necessities. For this, it has many research on politics of Electronic Government (e-Gov) and its main effect for the citizen and the society as a whole. This research studies the concept of Electronic Government and wishes to understand the process of implementation of Free Softwares in the agencies of the Direct Administration in the Rio Grande do Norte. Moreover, it deepens the analysis to identify if its implantation results in reduction of cost for the state treasury and intends to identify the Free Software participation in the Administration and the bases of the politics of Electronic Government in this State. Through qualitative interviews with technologies coordinators and managers in 3 State Secretaries it could be raised the ways that come being trod for the Government in order to endow the State with technological capacity. It was perceived that the Rio Grande do Norte still is an immature State in relation to practical of electronic government (e-Gov) and with Free Softwares, where few agencies have factual and viable initiatives in this area. It still lacks of a strategical definition of the paper of Technology and more investments in infrastructure of staff and equipment. One also observed advances as the creation of the normative agency, the CETIC (State Advice of Technology of the Information and Communication), the Managing Plan of Technology that provide a necessary diagnosis with the situation how much Technology in the State and considered diverse goals for the area, the accomplishment of a course of after-graduation for managers of Technology and the training in BrOffice (OppenOffice) for 1120 public servers / Sabe-se que novas tecnologias surgem a todo momento e entende-se que seu uso pode resultar em benef?cios incont?veis n?o s? para os que usam dela diretamente como tamb?m para toda a sociedade. Neste sentido, o Estado tamb?m pode se utilizar das tecnologias da informa??o e comunica??o para melhorar o n?vel de presta??o de servi?os aos cidad?os, dar mais qualidade de vida ? sociedade e otimizar o gasto p?blico, centrando-o nas principais necessidades. Para este mister, h? muitas pesquisas sobre pol?ticas de Governo Eletr?nico (e-Gov) e seus principais efeitos para o cidad?o e a sociedade como um todo. Este estudo parte do conceito de Governo Eletr?nico e objetiva compreender o processo de implementa??o de Softwares Livres nos ?rg?os da Administra??o Direta no Rio Grande do Norte. Al?m disso, aprofunda a an?lise para identificar se sua implanta??o resulta em redu??o de custo para o er?rio estadual e pretende mapear a participa??o dos Softwares Livres na Administra??o e as bases da pol?tica de Governo Eletr?nico neste Estado. Atrav?s de entrevistas qualitativas com coordenadores e gestores de TI em 3 Secretarias de Estado p?de-se levantar os caminhos que v?m sendo trilhados pelo Governo a fim de dotar o Estado de capacidade tecnol?gica. Percebeu-se que o Rio Grande do Norte ainda ? um Estado imaturo em rela??o a pr?ticas de governo eletr?nico (e-Gov) e a implementa??o de Softwares Livres, posto que poucos ?rg?os t?m iniciativas factuais e vi?veis nesta ?rea. Carece ainda de uma defini??o estrat?gica do papel da TI e de mais investimentos em infra-estrutura de pessoal e equipamentos. Observou-se tamb?m avan?os como a cria??o do ?rg?o normativo, o CETIC (Conselho Estadual de Tecnologia da Informa??o e Comunica??o), o Plano Diretor de TI que proveu um diagn?stico preciso da situa??o quanto a TI no Estado e prop?s diversas metas para a ?rea, a realiza??o de um curso de p?s-gradua??o para gestores de TI e o treinamento em BrOffice para 1120 servidores p?blicos

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Information Technology in the Faculty of Informatics and design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2014 / This study focuses on information flows in the social grant process from a user experience perspective. The study was conducted with the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), which is responsible for the administration and distribution of social grants to underprivileged citizens. Social grants help poor citizens to attain equitable income on a monthly basis. Grants play an increasingly important role in reducing poverty and inequality in South Africa, but are also subject to challenges like dependency, mismanagement and corruption. Information flow within SASSA is essential for the coordination of the grant process. The success of administering any social grant process depends largely on efficient communication practices and stable information technology. Communication among grant users requires the transfer of relevant information from its point of inception to the next point(s) of use. Government departments are transposing their paper-based systems into digital systems, which pose new implications for grant administration, however. Accordingly, the use of electronic services in government should mean faster information flow and, thus, more effective service delivery. The literature reveals, however, that non-technical aspects like user experience (UX) are essential in designing meaningful e-government systems. With a focus on user experience, this study uncovers the problems that SASSA and grant users face in the grant process and works toward possible solutions to resolve these problems. This research lays an important foundation in terms of gaining a better understanding of information flows, e-government, and user experiences in the grant process. This research is exploratory in nature and adopts a qualitative interpretivist approach. To gain a deeper understanding of the perspectives and experiences of grant users, the researcher employed the „Institutionalise User Experience in Government‟ (IUXG) methodology. The study targeted individuals that had knowledge of the social grants. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the research participants. Furthermore, the researcher adopted a thematic analysis method to code and analyse data. The findings of this study revealed the centrality of user experience in the grant process, notably in terms of the many challenges associated with information flow. The findings also revealed that factors such as social grant awareness, availability and use of information technology, digital divide, and grant accessibility bring enormous impact on grant processes and service delivery. The study contributes a landscape model for depicting the information flows in processing grants, and develops a broader understanding of how technology can help users to better disburse, access, and utilise grants. The study also informs e- government practitioners about the design and implementation of user-centred design with emphasis on information flows. Key Words: Information flows, social grants, e-government, and user experience.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:38:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leandro Pupo Natale.pdf: 2776145 bytes, checksum: 113bb06865c071e6572064e376dc086c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-12 / In recent years the technological advances have allowed the improvement, streamlining processes, activities simplification and the establishment of new forms of communication between people. They also reached the government sphere and its activities, bringing benefits with respect to access information and enabling greater interaction between citizens through services C2C (Citizen to Citizen). Based on these aspects, this research is guided in the use of the social networks analysis to achieve the mapping of relationships and interactions between citizens under the government focus, in order to extract and represent that knowledge in metadata to build an ontology. Through the use the UML notation and the Java platform, it was modeled and developed a prototype of a computer system that manages and manipulates a social network, using metadata to store the social ties in the ontological database. This allows the social network to be expanded dynamically through a semantic analysis of the data held in each new citizen inserted in the network. In a complementary manner, by means of algorithms adapted the graphs theory, the prototype provides every citizen the path to pass through to find other people with common interests and needs in, revealing the result of the search graphically. The prototype also displays graphically the different social ties among citizens, so that government agencies can quantitatively analyze the information present in the social network. / Nos últimos anos os avanços tecnológicos têm permitido a melhoria, agilização de processos, simplificação de atividades e o estabelecimento de novas formas de comunicação entre as pessoas. Estas alcançaram também a esfera governamental e suas atividades, trazendo benefícios com relação ao acesso à informação e possibilitando uma maior interação entre os cidadãos por meio de serviços C2C (Citizen to Citizen). Com base nesses aspectos, esta pesquisa pautou-se na utilização da análise de redes sociais para o mapeamento das relações e interações entre os cidadãos sob o foco governamental, de forma a extrair e representar esse conhecimento em metadados para construir uma ontologia. Por meio do uso da notação UML e da plataforma Java, foi modelado e desenvolvido um protótipo de um sistema computacional que gerencia e manipula uma rede social, utilizando metadados para armazenar os laços sociais num banco de dados ontológico. Isso permite que a rede social seja ampliada dinamicamente por meio de uma análise semântica dos dados, realizada a cada novo cidadão inserido na rede. De forma complementar, por meio de algoritmos adaptados da teoria dos grafos, o protótipo fornece a cada cidadão o caminho a ser percorrido para encontrar outros cidadãos com interesses e necessidades em comum, exibindo o resultado da busca graficamente. O protótipo ainda exibe graficamente os diferentes laços sociais entre os cidadãos, para que os órgãos governamentais possam analisar quantitativamente as informações presente na rede social.

Orientador: Maria Cecilia Calani Baranauskas / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Computação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T08:59:53Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Hornung_HeikoHorst_M.pdf: 2237274 bytes, checksum: d8329b2e979c07802514aa9b26b8b128 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: Serviços do governo eletrônico (eGov, do inglês: electronic government/e-government) são um veículo de comunicação entre as entidades do governo nos diferentes níveis (municipal, estadual, etc.) e os cidadãos. Além de tornar ações do governo mais transparentes e aumentar a eficiência e eficácia, esses serviços visam fortalecer a democracia oferecendo a possibilidade de participação dos cidadãos nos processos democráticos. Para tais fins, serviços de eGov precisam possibilitar o acesso pela população inteira, isto é para pessoas com diferentes competências ou necessidades específicas. A contribuição desse trabalho envolve mostrar caminhos para como interfaces de usuário de serviços de eGov podem ser projetados de uma maneira inclusiva, respeitando a diversidade de uma população. Partindo de uma análise do contexto brasileiro, esse trabalho mostra tanto as principais diferenças entre serviços de eGov e outras aplicações web quanto as diferenças entre países em desenvolvimento e países desenvolvidos a esse respeito. O principal desafio identificado é a adaptaçãao de métodos tradicionais ao contexto de serviços inclusivos de eGov. No próximo passo identificamos barreiras do acesso ao serviços de eGov por usuários com necessidades específicas como diferentes de eficiências, baixo letramento ou baixo letramento digital. Propomos o conceito de técnicas assistivas" que ampliam a visão limitada de tecnologias assistivas para o contexto de nosso cenário, isto é, um uso por pessoas que usam serviços em diferentes situações, inclusive de eficiências. Os desafios identificados e diferentes experiências trazidas de projetos nos motivaram a propor um framework para o design socialmente responsável. Os elementos principais desse framework são métodos e técnicas da Semiótica Organizacional e do Design Participativo para atingir uma visão sócio-tecnica dos problemas de design. Esses métodos e técnicas são aplicados em Práticas Participativas Inclusivas em um Cenário*, um grupo de representantes de usuários finais que foram escolhidos como imagem de características encontradas na sociedade brasileira. Por fim analisamos um conjunto de protótipos que foram criados dentro do contexto do framework de design socialmente responsável. Como o design de serviços inclusivos de eGov depende de fatores culturais entre outros, criamos um design rationale abstrato que discute diferentes questões de design e assim visa apoiar o designer na tomada de decisões adequadas ao respectivo contexto. / Abstract: Electronic government (eGov) services are means of communication between entities of the government (on local, state or other levels) and the citizens. Besides making actions of the government more transparent and increasing efficiency and effectiveness, such servicees aim to strengthen democracy by offering citizens possibilities to participate in democratic processes. Thus, eGov services have to enable access to the whole population, including people with different competencies or special needs. The contribution of this work involves showing ways of creating user interfaces to eGov services inclusively and respecting the diversity of the population. Starting with an analysis of the Brazilian country context, this work shows the main differences between eGov services and other web applications as well as differences between developing and developed countries regarding those applications. The principal challenge that has been identified is that of adapting traditional methods to the context of inclusive eGov services. In the next step we identify barriers of access to eGov services that are imposed on users with special needs like impairments, low literacy or low digital literacy. We propose the concept of \assistive techniques" to extend the limited vision of assistive technologies to the context of our scenario, i.e. to people with special needs besides impairments who make use of eGov services in different situations. The challenges identified and different experiences from diffrent projects motivated us to propose a framework for socially responsible design. The main elements of this framework are methods and techniques from Organizational Semiotics and Participatory Design in order to get a socio-technical vision of design problems. These methods and techniques are employed during Participatory Inclusive Practices in a Cenário*, a group of end user representatives that has been composed to mirror the characteristics of the Brazilian society. Finally, we analyze a set of prototypes that have been created within the context of the framework of socially responsible design. Since the design of inclusive eGov services depends on cultural and other factors, we created an abstract design rationale that discusses different design issues and thus supports the designer in taking decisions that are tailored to the respective context. / Mestrado / Mestre em Ciência da Computação