The IRS notes that February usually marks the peak of electronic tax filing, and although the first four months of the year undoubtedly constitute one of the most intense periods of electronic interaction between citizens and government, it does not end there. As the 15 April deadline begins to loom larger, it is worth taking a look at what kinds of interactions citizens in the US are undertaking with their local, state and federal governments.
Not surprisingly, data from the 2002 National Technology Readiness Survey, conducted by the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business in conjunction with Rockbridge Associates and released in January 2003, indicate that general activities related to taxes constitute the most common type of transaction US citizens have with the federal as well as state and local governments online. Information searching and downloading of forms follow well behind, as do other interactive transactions such as permit applications and renewals and bidding for government contracts. Outside of the tax arena, state and local government Web sites generally scored higher levels of citizen usage than those of the federal administration in the University of Maryland study.
The distribution of activities coincides to a large extent with the findings of Brown University's Taubman Center for Public Policy, which profiled the features and functionality of 1,265 state and federal government Web sites, reviewing an average of 24 sites per state. Taxing filing was the leading online service available across the board, but it was closely followed by job application services (i.e.: for government jobs). At the state level, essential permit application and renewal services such as driver's and hunting licenses and vehicle registration have achieved a 40% to 50% penetration rate throughout the US.
In a general sense, government agencies are following a similar path to the Web that private-sector firms have already blazed, with basic information sites progressing into more interactive, information-rich portals with forms that can be downloaded, to sites permitting online transactions, such as tax filing or permit applications. As with other products and services that began their life offline, getting citizens to use Internet-based government offerings is and will remain one of the greatest challenges that administrations across the country will face. However, in their pursuit of cost containment, achieving scalability and reaching target usage rates, they do have a few advantages over their private sector forebears: at least governments do not need to worry themselves with pleasing investors and achieving profitability.
Quelle: eMarketer
