The UK could lead the way in "e-Government" says a new study
As governments around the world look to the use of technology to
better serve their citizens, recent research claims that the UK may
become the world's leading "e-Government" if it can meet
anticipated growth in demand for internet accessibility.
A study titled 'At the Dawn of e-Government: The Citizen as
Customer' by public service institute Deloitte Research evaluated
the approach to customer service of more than 250 state-level
government departments in Australia, America, Canada, New Zealand
and the UK.
Its findings reveal that in the UK, some 41% of net users are
predicted to use the internet as their primary means to access
government services by 2002 - a 424% increase from the current
level of 8%.
The study also shows that some 60% of British government
agencies currently have both electronic self-service options and
customer relationship management processes in place, putting the UK
higher than other governments when compared to the global averages
of 53% and 47% respectively.
"Customers are driving the e-Government explosion. Their
expectations have been heightened as a result of experiences with
private sector organisations such as on-line financial services,
retailers and travel agents," comments Richard Granger, Deloitte
Consulting partner, Public Sector Europe. "As customers of these
organisations, they are receiving one-stop shopping and more rapid
service. Not surprisingly, as tax payers they are now demanding
similar access to, and speed of service, from the government."
During the research, the internet was identified as the top
technology for the next two years by 70% of UK government agencies,
while 40% believed technology to be the solution to improving
customer service.
Following the UK in terms of the percentage of customers
predicted to prefer on-line access to government services by 2002
are Canada (40%), Australia (34%), the US (31%) and New Zealand
(24%).