The finding emerged in a survey carried out by the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA). The details were given at a conference at Craigavon Civic Centre on e-government, the initiative designed to use technology to improve the delivery of public services.
A new on-line booklet published by Enterprise Ireland warns that businesses who fail to respond appropriately -- in areas such as the reliability of their IT systems -- risk losing business to other companies both in Ireland and abroad.
The delay in the establishment of a central Public Service Broker (PSB), the centerpiece to Ireland's e-government strategy, has slowed the growth of e-government in Republic, according to management consultancy and technology services company Accenture. Once this fundamental enabler is in place, growth could take off once again, said the firm's fifth annual e-government report.
Ennis Information Age Services (EIAS), a company that specialises in accessibility, usability and on-line marketing services, published the survey. The report provides an analysis of the standards of accessibility achieved by the Web sites of Irish Government organisations.
Voters in all constituencies will be using a paper ballot rather than voting electronically on 11 June following the publication of the interim report of the Independent Commission on Electronic Voting.