Purpose -To examine the progress local governments in Victoria. Australia have made utilizing the internet to deliver traditional services, and examine models that attempt to define the maturity of local government electronic service delivery. Design/methodology/approach -The research approach comprised two components. The first was to examination and assess local government web sites in Victoria, and the second part involved an in-depth case study with one local government. Findings -The findings suggest that conventional linear e-commerce and e-Government maturity models are not applicable in the case of local government as this level of government traditionally focuses more on active community participation and interaction.Research limitations/implications -The research examines a wide sample of council web sites but the case study is limited to one council. It suggests that the implementation and uptake of e-commerce and e-Government across the local government sector have been mixed and more detailed models of electronic service are needed. Practical implications -In Australia, there has been significant Federal government emphasis on initiatives to promote internet use for local government service provision, yet the move to electronic service delivery (ESD) in the sector has been varied. For the local government sector, the internet offers significant potential for the delivery of government services and this research identifies some significant issues. Originality/value -The report on the research outlines the similarities and differences between the various levels of government and suggests that the purpose and needs of ESD are different for municipal councils.

As businesses world‐wide begin to adopt enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in increasing numbers, academics are deciding how to utilise these types of systems in information systems (IS) curricula. Alliances with some of the ERP vendors have enabled some universities to develop innovative courses and subjects. Nevertheless, the limited research in this area has only outlined case studies or examples of ERP use in IS. In this paper we outline how ERP systems can be incorporated into a broad IS curriculum model such as IS’97, thus providing a guide to institutions that may be contemplating the use of ERP in their curriculum.

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Governments around the world are increasingly interested in the potential for delivering government services on the World Wide Web. Examples of substantial transition to electronic service delivery can be found in some sectors in some countries, however most government services have failed to evolve from enhanced information-based web pages. The failure to move from web based information to e-service provision is most notable in the local government sector in Australia (particularly Victoria where this research took place) despite numerous policies and hopeful deadlines imposed by governments at all levels. This paper presents research, which examined the current status of Australian local government electronic service delivery, exploring the appropriateness of current eBusiness maturity models for evaluating the progress local governments are making towards electronic service delivery.The research involved an evaluation of local government websites and a detailed case study of one local council. The results indicate that apart from Web based information provision, little progress has been made in the transition to electronic service delivery in most areas of local government. In an effort to promote and enhance the use of web sites, local governments have started to make non-integrated moves toward e-Democracy and e-Governance suggesting that conventional linear e-Business and e-Government maturity models may not be appropriate for this sector.

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