Government has not improved much in any of the categories used to rank the countries its best progress being a 9% improvement in the area of customer relationship management. Its score for depth of egovernment services inched up only 2%. The international rankings are compiled by Accenture.
Government's goals are to supply services to citizens from cradle to grave, and to make those services accessible to everyone, at anytime and anywhere, through different access devices.
"Under the current action plan, the e-government strategy is set to be implemented in six phases over a 10-year horizon," says Accenture SA senior manager Isabel Malheiro.
Government already considers the first two stages to be complete, after it set up its www.gov.za central government website. A priority for this year is to reorganise service delivery into "one-stop shops" by adding government-wide information and some transactional capabilities.
However, Accenture has found that citizens rarely take full advantage of online government services anywhere in the world. Most users visit government websites only for information on topics such as tourism or health, rather than online transactions such as tax submissions and applying for passports.
In most countries surveyed at least 75% of respondents said that they would use e-government more if it saved them time, and 70% said they would if it saved them money.
But they complained it was still too difficult to find the correct site, and easier to conduct business by telephone or in person. Online privacy concerns and internet security issues deterred 17% of people from using egovernment services.
"While there appears to be good understanding of the potential for e-government to save time and money, there is a considerable gap in citizen expectations that it can actually deliver on that promise," says Stephen J Rohleder, CE of Accenture's government operating group.
Countries leading the way in e-government, including Canada at the top, are achieving tangible savings by delivering better services and cutting their operating costs.
Quelle: AllAfrica, 10.06.2004
