OECD Peer Review of E-Government in Denmark - ePractice.eu

ANNEX F: GLOSSARY
This glossary was compiled for the purpose of this study, and describes how the terms are used in
this report.
AUTHENTICATION - a security measure for checking a user’s identity before being allowed
access to an information system or application.
BACK OFFICE - the internal operations of an organisation that support its business processes
and are not accessible or visible to the general public.
EXTERNAL BARRIERS - external barriers to e-government are obstacles that need to be
resolved with the help of other actors (e.g. in central administrations) in order to be overcome. They
often concern breakdowns, missing components or lack of flexibility in the government-wide
frameworks that enable e-government. The result is often the inability to achieve effective e-
government implementation.
CHANNELS - means of accessing services (e.g. Internet, telephone, visit to a government
office). Different types of customers use different service access channels.
E-GOVERNMENT - the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), and
particularly the Internet, as a tool to achieve better government.
FRONT OFFICE - refers to government as its constituents see it, meaning the information and
service providers, and the interaction between government and both citizens and business.
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (ICT) – refers to both
computer and communication technology. IT (information technology) is defined as any equipment or
interconnected system (subsystem) of equipment that includes all forms of technology used to create,
store, manipulate, manage, move, display, switch, interchange, transmit or receive information in its
various forms. Information can be in the form of: business data; voice conversations; still images;
motion pictures; multimedia presentations and other forms including those not yet conceived. The
meaning of communication refers to a system of shared symbols and meanings that binds people
together into a group, a community, or a culture. The word communication was added to IT so as to
make a network of the usage of Information Technology. 1
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT (IM) - operations which develop and maintain the
information resources and processes of an organisation.
INFORMATION NETWORK - a system of ICT hardware and services which provides users
with delivery and retrieval services in a given area (e.g. electronic mail, directories and video
services);
1 Adapted from http://afrinet.intnet.mu/competition2002/rcpl2/ict/frameless/definition.htm
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