“The tendering process can vary depending on the complexity of the tender but most public bodies offering contracts over €50,000 would seek tenders online.”
The survey, carried out by IT consulting firm Capgemini, reveals that Ireland is slipping in terms of the online availability of key public services from central and local government. It is also slipping in terms of the sophistication of what’s being offered, such as two-way interaction.
According to the new 'State of the Net' quarterly bulletin on online activity in Ireland, the country lags far behind other nations for internet usage.
The report, which has been compiled by AMAS together with the Irish Internet Association, was launched at the IIA's annual congress on Thursday. The publication collates internet usage statistics in Ireland and it is aimed at businesses, researchers, the media and individual internet users.
The report, which coincides with the IIA’s annual conference, points to Ireland’s uncomfortable position in the bottom quarter of 30 countries tracked in the OECD’s broadband league table. Ireland’s score of 6.7 connections per 100 of population compares with an OECD average of 11.7 and an EU average of 11.8. It warns that this threat poses competitive problems for Ireland Inc and for businesses as well as frustrations for Irish users.
The annual ‘Leadership in Customer Service’ survey of e-government deployments globally by Accenture revealed that in general the leading governments are introducing services on a par with the best of the private sector. Governments that have led the way, however, are now at a critical junction having ‘reached the limit’ of their current approaches and need to re-assess and re-craft their customer service strategies.