This year's study reviews 1,935 government Web sites during June, July, and August 2004. Among the sites analyzed are those of executive offices, legislative offices, judicial offices, cabinet offices and major agencies serving crucial functions of government, such as health, human services, taxation, education, interior, economic development, administration, natural resources, foreign affairs, foreign investment, transportation, military, tourism and business regulation.
Researchers find that 89 percent of Web sites have online publications and 62 percent have links to databases. Only 14 percent (up from 12 percent in 2003) show privacy policies and 8 percent present security policies (up from 6 percent in 2003). According to automated software provided by Watchfire Inc., government Web sites are lagging on disability access. Only 14 percent of sites provide some form of disability access, such as assistance for the vision- or hearing-impaired. That figure is unchanged since 2003.
In addition to looking at particular features, researchers also rate countries for overall e-government performance. Using an assessment based on the number of services plus access to information, disability access, privacy, security and foreign language translation, they rate each country on a 100-point scale. The most highly ranked country is Taiwan, followed by Singapore, the United States, Canada, Monaco, China and Australia. Some countries had sizeable moves up from last year, based on new features added to their Web sites. The following table shows how each of the world's 198 countries ranks on e-government performance.
Fourth Annual Global e-Government Rankings (Previous year's rank and score are in parentheses):
1 (5) Taiwan 44.3 (41.3)
2 (1) Singapore 43.8 (46.3)
3 (2) United States 41.9 (45.3)
4 (3) Canada 40.3 (42.4)
5 (166) Monaco 39.0 (24.5)
6 (11) China 37.3 (35.9)
7 (4) Australia 36.7 (41.5)
8 (44) Togo 36.0 (32.0)
9 (20) Germany 35.0 (34.4)
10 (185) Iraq 34.0 (24.0)
11 (19) Hong Kong 33.7 (34.5)
12 (13) New Zealand 33.6 (35.5)
13 (34) Italy 33.2 (33.2)
14 (27) Bahrain 33.0 (33.8)
14 (149) Dominica 33.0 (26.7)
14 (7) Great Britain 33.0 (37.7)
14 (151) Liechtenstein 33.0 (26.5)
18 (27) France 32.8 (33.8)
19 (32) Israel 32.3 (33.3)
20 (119) Bolivia 32.0 (28.0)
20 (184) Indonesia 32.0 (24.0)
20 (191) Marshall Islands 32.0 (20.0)
20 (119) Moldova 32.0 (28.0)
20 (119) Saint Vincent, Grenadines 32.0 (28.0)
25 (144) Malta 31.4 (27.6)
26 (24) Belgium 31.3 (34.0)
27 (21) Netherlands 31.0 (34.3)
28 (27) Czech Republic 30.9 (33.8)
29 (23) Japan 30.8 (34.2)
30 (62) Saudi-Arabia 30.7 (31.8)
31 (13) Denmark 30.6 (35.5)
32 (87) South Korea 30.5 (30.0)
33 (76) Kuwait 30.1 (30.7)
34 (95) Ireland 29.9 (29.4)
35 (62) Sweden 29.8 (31.8)
36 (75) Jordan 29.7 (30.8)
37 (85) India 29.6 (30.1)
37 (109) Luxembourg 29.6 (28.7)
37 (30) Mexico 29.6 (33.7)
40 (44) Chile 29.2 (32.0)
41 (13) Finland 29.1 (35.5)
42 (119) Iran 29.0 (28.0)
42 (76) Lebanon 29.0 (30.7)
42 (17) Maldives 29.0 (35.2)
42 (44) Palau 29.0 (32.0)
46 (44) Poland 28.6 (32.2)
47 (71) Estonia 28.5 (30.9)
47 (93) Oman 28.5 (29.8)
49 (44) Qatar 28.3 (32.0)
49 (44) Uzbekistan 28.3 (32.0)
51 (10) Austria 28.2 (36.0)
52 (71) Greece 28.1 (30.9)
52 (21) Iceland 28.1 (34.3)
54 (44) Belize 28.0 (32.0)
54 (119) Egypt 28.0 (28.0)
54 (158) Guyana 28.0 (26.0)
54 (71) Latvia 28.0 (30.9)
54 (119) Myanmar 28.0 (28.0)
54 (44) North Korea 28.0 (32.0)
60 (37) Slovakia 27.9 (32.8)
61 (44) Slovenia 27.7 (32.0)
62 (13) Philippines 27.6 (35.5)
62 (11) Switzerland 27.6 (35.9)
62 (42) Thailand 27.6 (32.4)
62 (6) Turkey 27.6 (38.3)
66 (71) Armenia 27.5 (30.9)
66 (37) Romania 27.5 (32.8)
66 (43) Serbia and Montenegro 27.5 (32.3)
69 (80) Lithuania 27.3 (30.5)
70 (34) Croatia 27.2 (33.2)
71 (44) Bahamas 27.0 (32.0)
71 (34) Norway 27.0 (33.2)
71 (18) Saint Lucia 27.0 (35.0)
74 (76) Bangladesh 26.8 (30.7)
75 (32) Cyprus (Republic) 26.8 (33.3)
76 (68) Peru 26.7 (31.3)
77 (70) Cambodia 26.5 (31.0)
77 (68) Spain 26.5 (31.3)
77 (80) Vietnam 26.5 (30.5)
80 (119) Panama 26.4 (28.0)
81 (67) Bulgaria 26.3 (31.4)
81 (87) Sudan 26.3 (30.0)
83 (99) Andorra 26.2 (29.3)
83 (8) Malaysia 26.2 (36.7)
85 (118) El Salvador 26.1 (28.1)
86 (119) Afghanistan 26.0 (28.0)
86 (178) Congo (Republic) 26.0 (24.0)
86 (95) Gambia 26.0 (29.4)
86 (169) Madagascar 26.0 (24.0)
86 (119) Mauritania 26.0 (28.0)
86 (31) Portugal 26.0 (33.6)
86 (9) Vatican 26.0 (36.5)
93 (66) Ukraine 25.8 (31.6)
94 (112) Mongolia 25.7 (28.6)
95 (115) Albania 25.6 (28.3)
95 (106) Morocco 25.6 (28.9)
97 (92) Hungary 25.4 (29.9)
98 (85) Bosnia and Herzegovina 25.3 (30.1)
98 (75) Georgia 25.3 (30.8)
98 (196) Laos 25.3 (19.0)
101 (87) Botswana 25.0 (30.0)
102 (26) Colombia 24.8 (33.9)
103 (87) Belarus 24.7 (30.0)
104 (102) Pakistan 24.6 (29.1)
105 (106) Yemen 24.5 (28.9)
106 (95) Brazil 24.4 (29.4)
107 (103) Barbados 24.3 (29.0)
108 (62) South Africa 24.2 (31.8)
109 (145) Arab Emirates 24.0 (27.4)
109 (177) Chad 24.0 (24.0)
109 (119) Comoros 24.0 (28.0)
109 (44) Cote d'Ivoire 24.0 (32.0)
109 (119) Cyprus (Turkish Republic) 24.0 (28.0)
109 (109) Dominican Republic 24.0 (28.7)
109 (84) Ethiopia 24.0 (30.3)
109 (114) Kazakhstan 24.0 (28.4)
109 (168) Libya 24.0 (24.0)
109 (119) Macedonia 24.0 (28.0)
109 (103) Nigeria 24.0 (29.0)
109 (119) Niue 24.0 (28.0)
109 (170) Sierra Leone 24.0 (24.0)
109 (171) Sri Lanka 24.0 (24.0)
109 (119) Turkmenistan 24.0 (28.0)
124 (101) Nicaragua 23.9 (29.2)
125 (94) Trinidad and Tobago 23.8 (29.5)
126 (65) Djibouti 23.6 (31.7)
127 (95) Argentina 23.5 (29.4)
128 (106) Jamaica 23.4 (28.9)
129 (99) Russian Federation 23.3 (29.3)
130 (115) Ecuador 23.2 (28.3)
130 (41) Nepal 23.2 (32.5)
130 (44) Tunisia 23.2 (32.2)
130 (109) Venezuela 23.2 (28.7)
134 (154) Ghana 23.0 (26.3)
134 (167) San Marino 23.0 (24.2)
136 (119) Algeria 22.8 (28.0)
136 (83) Fiji 22.8 (30.4)
138 (157) Zambia 22.7 (26.1)
139 (145) Burkina Faso 22.6 (27.4)
140 (37) Brunei 22.4 (32.8)
141 (161) Mozambique 22.3 (25.5)
142 (151) Mauritius 22.2 (26.5)
143 (153) Cape Verde 22.0 (26.4)
143 (179) Cook Islands 22.0 (24.0)
143 (87) Haiti 22.0 (30.0)
143 (119) Mali 22.0 (28.0)
143 (164) Swaziland 22.0 (25.0)
143 (173) Zimbabwe 22.0 (24.0)
149 (155) Cuba 21.8 (26.2)
149 (143) Uganda 21.8 (27.7)
151 (117) Honduras 21.7 (28.2)
151 (113) Uruguay 21.7 (28.5)
153 (119) Senegal 21.6 (28.0)
154 (119) Guatemala 21.3 (28.0)
155 (149) Paraguay 21.2 (26.7)
155 (162) Rwanda 21.2 (25.3)
157 (197) Gabon 21.0 (16.0)
158 (164) Grenada 20.3 (25.0)
159 (119) Samoa 20.2 (28.0)
160 (181) Angola 20.0 (24.0)
160 (119) Antigua and Barbados 20.0 (28.0)
160 (174) Benin 20.0 (24.0)
160 (119) Burundi 20.0 (28.0)
160 (44) Congo (Democratic Rep.) 20.0 (32.0)
160 (40) East Timor 20.0 (32.6)
160 (187) Guinea 20.0 (22.7)
160 (103) Guinea-Bissau 20.0 (29.0)
160 (160) Kenya 20.0 (25.7)
160 (155) Namibia 20.0 (26.2)
160 (158) Niger 20.0 (26.0)
160 (44) Somaliland 20.0 (32.0)
160 (44) Syria 20.0 (32.0)
160 (24) Tajikistan 20.0 (34.0)
174 (189) Papau New Guinea 19.9 (22.4)
175 (148) Kyrgyzstan 19.4 (26.9)
176 (187) Malawi 19.3 (22.7)
176 (119) Seychelles 19.3 (28.0)
178 (195) Soloman Islands 19.0 (19.2)
179 (163) Cameroon 17.9 (25.1)
180 (119) Saint Kitts and Nevis 17.3 (28.0)
181 (175) Bhutan 17.0 (24.0)
181 (186) Tanzania 17.0 (23.3)
183 (190) Lesotho 16.7 (21.7)
184 (44) Azerbaijan 16.0 (32.0)
184 (180) Costa Rica 16.0 (24.0)
184 (182) Equatorial Guinea 16.0 (24.0)
184 (80) Micronesia 16.0 (30.5)
184 (44) Sao Tome and Principe 16.0 (32.0)
184 (191) Suriname 16.0 (20.0)
184 (172) Tonga 16.0 (24.0)
184 (191) Vanuatu 16.0 (20.0)
192 (176) Central Africa 12.0 (24.0)
192 (183) Eritrea 12.0 (24.0)
192 (147) Kiribati 12.0 (27.0)
192 (191) Liberia 12.0 (20.0)
192 (197) Nauru 12.0 (16.0)
192 (44) Somalia 12.0 (32.0)
192 (119) Tuvalu 12.0 (28.0)
In order to improve electronic government, the report suggests that governments undertake several steps to reach their full potential for accessibility and effectiveness. For example, sites for some nations include links that don't work. Other nations have links that take a long time to load or lead users to incorrect sites.
Many sites are under construction or have not been updated for long periods of time. Designers should attempt to keep the sites as current as possible to ensure that all information presented is accurate and complete, the report suggests. Furthermore, while many sites offer links to e-mail addresses, several such links connected the visitor to an address of a webmaster as opposed to an actual government official. This makes it difficult for citizens to communicate with members of their government.
Sites that offer an A-to-Z index, provide a clear list of links to agency or department Web pages, or organize their online services by agency or function instead of one comprehensive list are more navigable and user-friendly. Encountering an intricate and convoluted portal makes users less likely to explore the site and be able to find desired information or online services.
Web sites that are bilingual or multilingual are helpful to facilitating accessibility, as long as the link actually takes the user to the intended language. Links which automatically revert to the original language frustrate users who use the translation service.
Researchers found that well-developed Web sites help users explore and learn about the country. The biggest impediments to investigating a government's site are lack of organization, cluttered portals, technical difficulties and language barriers. With some changes to the outline of their sites, governments should be able to increase the accessibility and user friendliness of their sites.
MEDIA INFORMATION:
The full global e-government study is online at www.insidepolitics.org. The appendix of that report presents detailed Web profiles for each of the 198 national governments in the study.
Quelle: AScribe , 12.09.2004
