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PurposeTo provide the framework for digital government in its e‐government and e‐democracy aspects.Design/methodology/approachUsing the aspects‐and‐opportunities framework of the internet‐web compound, the nodal aspects of the continuing and potential technologically‐based change known as digital government are discussed. Reallocation of certain government functions to the market becomes newly attractive economically in the presence of the web as marketplace. The web as a broadly accessible medium and a forum offers new opportunities in digital democracy. The utilitarian aspects of the internet‐web, those of the universal telecommunications network, delivery vehicle, and a common development platform, render the compound a new societal infrastructure, with the consequent benefits and exposures. The opportunities, as well as vulnerabilities, need to be the focus of information specialists as technologists and as citizens.FindingsOpportunities are surfaced to reallocate the functions of e‐government from the hierarchy to the market using e‐commerce methods and tools.Research limitations/implicationsVulnerabilities of the web‐internet combine in the application to e‐government are not investigated here.Practical implicationsMove from the bureaucratic to market‐oriented structures is implied.Originality/valueA broad application of e‐commerce facilities to digital government is presented within a disciplined framework.