The comparative study, conducted annually for the past five years by the high-tech consultancy Accenture, rates the quality of service governments in 22 countries offer their citizens. In it, Canada placed first in all categories of e-government "maturity," which Accenture calls service breadth, service depth and customer relationship management. The E-Government Leadership: High Performance, Maximum Value study concluded that "Canada's e-government program continues to set the standard for the rest of the world."
Singapore and the United States shared the second-place ranking, followed closely by Australia, Denmark, Finland and Sweden, which were tied for the fourth place. France ranked eighth, the Netherlands and the Britain tied for ninth, and Belgium, Ireland and Japan jointly held the eleventh position.
Accenture defines e-government as the ability to provide information about services and conduct government transactions over the Internet. The study is based on results of a survey of 5,000 regular Internet users in 12 countries in North America, Europe and Asia, as well as a quantitative assessment of the maturity of e-government services in 22 countries.
In terms of innovative government services, Accenture said its study found that in general, advances in maturity are slowing down because most countries have reached plateaus in terms of innovation, progress and impact of their services. This means that even the countries with the most advanced e-government services still have work to do to derive greater public-sector value, Accenture concluded.
Most regular Internet users visit government Web sites purely to gather information, on subjects such as tourism or health, Accenture said, but not to conduct on-line business, such as filing taxes and applying for passports.
Accenture credited Canada's success in terms of its aggressive search for user interaction for its continued good showing.
"Over the past year, Canada's focus on self-examination and its relentless pursuit of user feedback have allowed it to continue to build what is clearly one of the world-leading customer-focused government on-line programs," Accenture Canada's Graeme Gordon, said. "Canada's e-government program continues to set the standard for the rest of the world."
In general, Accenture noted some trends in e-government:
- After a period of rapid expansion, the pace of e-government development is slowing and many countries have hit a plateau;
- E-government leaders earn savings by being able to deliver enhanced government services while making operations more cost-effective;
- Promoting e-government is becoming a growing priority in an effort t0 increase usage.
- While some governments seek to integrate services across agencies and departments, which Accenture calls "horizontal integration," the most successful e-governments integrate local, state, federal and even international services, or "vertical integration";
- Governments are beginning to offer personalized on-line services. By identifying and segmenting their citizens and users, governments can provide them with more relevant services and information.
Accenture researchers in 22 selected countries conducted the study by attempting to fulfill 206 service needs that might typically be provided by a national government. They assessed Web sites of government agencies to determine the quality and maturity of services and the level at which business can be conducted electronically with government. Services were assessed across a dozen sectors, including agriculture, defence, e-democracy, education, human services, and immigration, justice and security.
Polls were conducted by telephone, using random-digit dialling of Internet users only. The survey results do not represent a sample of the entire population of Internet users and non-users alike.
Quelle: Globe and Mail, 04.05.2004
