|
Citizens and business welcome eGovernment
services (1/12/2003)
A survey just published on the quality and usage
of public electronic services shows that almost
80% of users approve of the quality of on-line
public services, and more than half are very
satisfied with these services. Almost 80% of
users indicate that they would recommend the
services to other people. The most frequently
cited benefits of using on line services are
saving time (84%) and gaining flexibility (65%).
The most important factors providing user
satisfaction are ease of use (for citizens) and
the speed of the web site service (for
businesses). The study concludes that crucial
elements for the success of on line government
services are optimising workflows, simplifying
processes, and improving the way information is
re-used and shared amongst public authorities.
'Freedom of Information and Access to Government
Records Around the World'
by Privacy Internationals David Banisar
gives a detailed, global overview of legislation
towards access of government records and
identifies some of the problems with current
laws and the factors for adoption in countries
that do not yet have such laws.
Over fifty countries have adopted comprehensive
laws to facilitate access to government
information. In just the past year, six
countries have adopted laws and over thirty more
are in the process. The laws are broadly
similar, allowing for a general right by
citizens, residents and often anyone else to
demand information from government bodies.
However, the battle is far from over. Many of
the laws are not adequate. In some countries,
the laws lie dormant due to a failure to
implement them properly or a lack of demand. In
others, the exemptions are abused by governments
to prevent embarrassment. New laws promoting
secrecy in the global war on terror have
undercut access. International organisations
take over national government roles and have not
subjected themselves to the same rules. These
problems need to be addressed by all of the
participants. Access ebbs and flows at any given
time in any country but the transformation has
begun and it is no longer possible to tell
citizens that they have no right to know.
Freedom of Information and Access to Government
Records Around the World
(28.09.2003)
http://www.freedominfo.org/survey.htm
e-government
The American think-tank has published a study on
how the population and the world perceives the
economy in the face of the measures taken for
the development of e-government in Europe and
the USA. In "Benchmarking e-Government in Europe
and the US”, Irma Graafland-Essers and Emile
Ettedgui show that only a third of companies use
e-government tools.
Commission surveys e-government services
(Europemedia.net: 04/06/2003)
Benchmarking of e-government services goes into
a new - interactive - phase this summer with the
European Commission's "Top of the Web" survey.
Over 4000 webmasters across Europe are being
asked to put a user-questionnaire on their site.
These web sites deliver one or more of the 20
key public e-services that the Commission is
benchmarking, as part of the eEurope strategy.
High Payoff in Electronic Government
This report by the Intergovernmental Advisory
Board discusses five of the reasons E-Gov is
valuable to the public sector and the metrics
governments use to measure the benefits of using
the Internet to deliver government services. It
provides a comprehensive overview of E-Gov
programs around the world and an in-depth
analysis of 75 State programs that were
nominated for digital government awards in 2001
and 2002. |
RoDI
ISOC
IWA
ARTT
RTS
WQC 2003
ISAQ 2005