IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Only one in ten Swiss makes use of online services provided by the local, cantonal and federal authorities despite much publicity promoting e-government.

But three-quarters of those questioned said they would not give out personal details over the Internet unless security were guaranteed.

The survey, commissioned by the National Electronic and Computer Technology Centre (NECTEC), and carried out by Chulalongkorn University's Sasin Graduate School of Business Administration, found that government IT workers generally held low-level positions at their organisations, and that they "failed to hold positions whose seniority reflected their skill levels".

"What is left are incremental improvements," said Martin Cole, chief executive of Accenture's government group, which recently conducted its annual customer survey.

According to the new research, while worldwide growth in public use of e-government saw a slump in year-to-date November 2003 compared to 2002, India displayed an optimistic appetite.

Scandinavian nations dominated the top ranks of the survey, which was published April 19. Denmark was No. 1, followed in order by the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

The survey entitled "World Public Sector Report 2003: e-Government at the Crossroads" ranked countries in terms of e-government readiness as reflected in "the generic capacity or aptitude of the public sector to use Information and Communication Technology for encapsulating public services and deploying to the public high-quality information and effective communication tools that support human development."

The rankings were based on the three key indicators, government's aptitude to employ e-government as a tool to inform, interact, transact and network, telecom infrastructure and human capital index which took into consideration literacy rate and the overall school enrolment ratio.

The survey of the official city websites, conducted by Rutgers University, ranked Dubai in the ninth position, along with Auckland, scoring 7.86 out of 20 points, against the average score of 2.85. The survey ranked Dubai 11th worldwide in the service delivery category, ahead of Dublin, Helsinki and Tokyo, according to the Madar Research Group.

The main objective of the Mobile Portal survey was to assess the feasibility of providing government services via the Mobile Internet as an innovative channel, for government department services, meeting customer needs and increasing usage of online services.

The survey of the official city websites, conducted by Rutgers University (the State University of New Jersey), ranked Dubai in the 9th position, along with Auckland, scoring 7.86 out of 20 points, against the average score of 2.85. The survey ranked Dubai 11th worldwide in the service delivery category, ahead of Dublin, Helsinki and Tokyo, according to Dubai-based Madar Research Group, which has released the findings.

The survey of the official city websites, conducted by Rutgers University (the State University of New Jersey), ranked Dubai at the 9th position, along with Auckland, scoring 7.86 out of 20 points, against the average score of 2.85.

The feasibility study was requested by the government and is a first step in the country's implementation of its recently developed National ICT Policy.

While people can renew passports and book driving lessons, they are more likely to use the internet to shop.

Research firm TNS said that, while use of e-government in Britain has increased this year to 18%, up from 13% in 2002, this is still way behind the global average of 31%.