The UK has slipped in the world e-government rankings,
according to the latest research from IT services and consulting
group Accenture.
In a survey of 22 countries the UK has fallen from 9th to 12th
in the maturity of its e-government services, Accenture found.
Accenture said, however, it was ranking the UK 10th, because it
was so close to Sweden and the Netherlands, which only scored
marginally ahead of the UK.
Although the company said it has changed its methodology for
this year’s survey, the findings will still be disappointing to the
government, which last week launched its Connecting the UK: the
Digital Strategy.
The strategy aims to transform public service around the
e-government and boasts advances in broadband internet penetration
and digital TV in the UK.
Accenture measured the breadth of government services online as
well as the depth of their capabilities in terms of transactional
capability, completeness of interaction, and integration across
government.
In 2003, the UK government came 8th in the Accenture research,
falling from 6th place the previous year.
The survey shows that although the UK has relatively high
internet usage, hits on e-government services remain low compared
to other countries with similar net usage.