Developing a better interaction between citizens and the municipality - Study case

• Author: Catalin Vrabie
• Position: Assistant Professor, PhD, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA) - Faculty of Public Administration
• Pages: 255-261

Interdisciplinary Dimension of Communication Science

255

Developing a Better Interaction between

Citizens and the Municipality. Study Case

Ctlin I. Vrabie

1

Abstract: Understanding citizen online goals is critical because it gets at the heart of what the public

institution web site should or could “do”. The challenge is that for most agencies/institutions, there are likely

to be multiple goals that represent the “reason why” citizen could come to the web site. Unfortunately many

public institution feel that it should have an online presence only, so, many web sites are created to offer a

little more than onli ne reproductions of its services. The purpose of this article is to provide an example of a

public institution Web site, developed for a better interaction with citizens so that they may add value to their

Web site. This article shows the initiative of the Brasov City Hall (central Romania) to develop an online

technical dispatcher. The project is consistent with initiatives undertaken at EU level - eEurope 2005,

eEurope +, i2010 by adhering to the principles of in teroperability, interactivity public services, trust, security,

privacy, and is fully consistent with the Romanian Government strategy regarding th e informatisation of the

public administration. Creating a dynamic Web site that contains a dispatcher component through which

citizens can address in order to provide information about a specific problem encountered in the city and by

that the responsible in stitutions to be mobilized timely. Br asov City Hall Web site can be used as a frame of

reference for this t ype of interaction because its providing to the citizens a wide range of electronic services,

extended availability and increased efficiency in handling the citizens demands.

Keywords: e-gov; electronic; digital

1. Introduction

E-government has become extremely popular. Nowadays, it has become a viable alternative to

traditional administrating methods, so it has been adopted by many institutions, especially because its

wide application in various organizations. Specialized studies, published in the last five years, show a

continued increase in the use of e-government in public organizations (Towards Maturity, 2012;

eEurope 2005; eEurope+; i2010).

Today the term e-gov has come to be classified as:

• E-gov based on intranet (public institutions networks used for exchanging information inside

the organization);

• E-gov based on Internet (used for interacting with citizens and business sector).

This paper aims to present mostly the second kind of interaction by providing e model realized by the

city hall of Brasov municipality in Romania. I choose Brasov manly because it is one of the first cities

in Romania who implemented GIS (Geographic Information System) in order to interact with citizens

and secondly because is an emblematic citadel for this country (considered by many Romanians as the

most beautiful city here). With a population around 250.000 inhabitants, having a classic way of

1Assistant Professor, PhD, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (SNSPA) - Faculty of Public

Administration, Address: 6 Povernei str., Sector 1, Bucharest 010643, Romania, Corresponding author: cataloi@yahoo.com.