Accenture's sixth annual global e-Government survey shows that Ireland came in at 14th place along with five other nations. This places the country in the "follower" category in terms of overall e-government service maturity. In 2004, the Republic was ranked 11th in the firm's report. Overall, a total of 22 countries were covered in the study with Canada coming first for the fifth consecutive year with a 68 percent score for efficiency in dealing with its citizens. The US came second with 62 percent while Denmark and Singapore tied third with 56 percent. Ireland scored a total of 46 percent.
Unlike previous reports carried out by the consultancy firm, the latest study went beyond simply measuring the extent to which governments offer services online to look at leadership in delivering true customer service
The study comprised two major components. The first was a leadership assessment of the overall service maturity of countries based on the e-government services offered. In addition, a survey of 9,000 adults across the 22 countries was undertaken to discover their perceptions and experiences of interacting with their government in person, by phone and on-line.
According to the study, Ireland's performance in most areas of e-government was average. In customer service maturity, for example, it ranked between 10th and 15th place in all four areas: citizen-centered, multi-channel, cross-government interactions and proactive communications.
The report suggests that as with many other countries, Ireland seems to be changing its focus toward putting the enablers in place that will ensure a better service experience for citizens. Such enablers include the widespread availability broadband and the development of citizen's ICT skills.
Accenture noted that the Public Services Broker platform still looks like the key to enabling a whole range of cross-government, citizen-centered services that will lead to a transformation in service delivery. The Broker, which supports integrated access to all services of central and local government through a single point of contact and through multiple access channels, has faced a series of delays but is now finally come online.
According to Accenture's citizen survey results, approximately 60 percent of Irish adults use the Internet at least monthly. However, the study indicates that use of e-government services is average at just 42 percent.
One key problem highlighted by Accenture is that at present, government departments use several identifiers or codes to identify citizens. The Personal Public Service Number (PPSN), which currently covers approximately 98 percent of the population is viewed as the unique key to transactions between individuals and a number of government departments and agencies. However, legislation does prevent use of the PPSN by government in some instances. Additionally, the 1998 Social Welfare Act does not allow the use of the PPSN for transactions between citizens and partially private entities.
According to Accenture's study, 64 percent of Irish respondents reported having had multiple contacts with the government over the past 12 months. However, only 42 percent rated the government as effective at working together to deliver services citizens need.
The study suggests that a single unique identifier would be an important foundational element for building a single view of each Irish citizen across the whole of government and improving the government's effectiveness in this regard.
Irish citizens already seem amenable to data sharing across agencies if it would lead to better service; in fact, Irish citizens were rated among the most comfortable in sharing all types of personal data to effect better service for themselves.
Autor: Charlie Taylor
Quelle: ElectricNews, 07.04.2005
