Taiwan trailed South Korea but led the other 96 countries in the study, which was conducted during June and July. A total of 1,667 government Web sites were analyzed based on many criteria, including the contents of central government Web sites, disability access, the presence of privacy policies, security policies, contact information, foreign-language options, advertisement and user fees, and the number of online services.
Under a 0-100 point scoring system, Taiwan received full marks in the rating for offering online publications, announcement of privacy and security policies, and foreign-language options.
Taiwan was given a score of 58.7 in the general e-government rating, lagging behind South Korea's 64.7 points but beating the United States' score of 53.7 points -- the top three in the annual Brown University rating.
The government statement attributed the achievement to efficiency in the promotion of data opening. According to a study by the commission, in Taiwan more than 13 million people ages 12 and older use the Internet, and the time they spend surfing the net was found to surpass 2.4 hours a day on average.
The Internet has become one of major channels for mutual communications between residents in Taiwan and the central and local governments,the statement said,noting that the public's satisfaction with e-government services has reached 62 percent.
To further upgrade online government services, the commission said that the Executive Yuan has prepared a new four-year improvement program (2008-2011) with three major goals, including actively serving public needs, reinforcing social care, and boosting network interactions.
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Quelle/Source: The China Post, 23.08.2008
