United Nations E-Government Survey 2012

United NationsE-Government Survey 2012E-Government for the People www.unpan.org/e-government



United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 ST/ESA/PAS/SER.E/150Department of Economic and Social AffairsUnited NationsE-GovernmentSurvey 2012E-Government for the People United Nations New York, 2012 i

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012United Nations Departmentof Economic and Social AffairsThe United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs is a vital interface betweenglobal policies in the economic, social and environmental spheres and national action. TheDepartment works in three main interlinked areas: (1) it compiles, generates and analyses awide range of economic, social and environmental data and information on which MemberStates of the United Nations draw to review common problems and to take stock of policyoptions; (2) it facilitates the negotiations of Member States in many intergovernmentalbodies on joint courses of action to address ongoing or emerging global challenges; and (3)it advises interested governments on the ways and means of translating policy frameworksdeveloped in United Nations conferences and summits into programmes at the countrylevel and, through technical assistance, helps build national capacities. –DisclaimersThe designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publica-tion do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of theSecretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, terri-tory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiersor boundaries. The term ‘country’ as used in the text of this publication also refers,as appropriate, to territories and areas.Since there is no established convention for the designation of ‘developed’ and‘developing’ countries or areas in the United Nations system, this distinction ismade for the purposes of statistical and analytical purposes only and does notnecessarily express a judgment about the stage reached by a particular countryor region in the development process.Mention of the name of any company, organization, product or website does notimply endorsement on the part of the United Nations.Copyright © United Nations, 2012All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored inretrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission.ST/ESA/PAD/SER.E/150ISBN: 978-92-1-123190-8e-ISBN: 978-92-1-055353-7Sales no E.12.II.H.2Printed at the United Nations, New Yorkii

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 ForewardForewordToday, powerful new technologies can be used to advance sustainable developmentfor all people across the world while including them in the process. In particular,e-government can be an engine of development for the people. In deliveringe-government for the people, public services are designed to be responsive, citizen-centric and socially inclusive. Governments also engage citizens through participatoryservice delivery processes. The evidence base for the latter is strengthened by recentprogress in e-government in a growing number of countries where citizens are bothusers and co-producers of public services. The increasing role of e-government in promot- and other innovations of this sort must be nurtureding inclusive and participatory development has and supported and made available to all segmentsgone hand-in-hand with the growing demands for of society.transparency and accountability in all regions of theworld. E-government has strongly shifted expecta- The steady diffusion of information and com-tions of what governments can and should do, using munication technologies and the bridging of themodern information and communication technolo- digital divide can help empower all stakeholders togies, to strengthen public service and advance equi- translate commitments into action. I therefore en-table, people-centred development. courage policymakers and public administrators ev- erywhere to apply information and communication This report shows that with the right institu- technologies and e-government as important toolstional framework, policies and capacity-building in advancing sustainable development for all. –efforts, progress in enhancing the contributionsof e-government to sustainable development is Sha Zukangwithin reach. Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Secretary-General However, the report also explains that adequate of the United Nations Conferencefunding is needed to enhance e-government. on Sustainable Development (Rio+20)Furthermore, it shows that there are challenges toreducing the digital-divide and increasing access topublic services by vulnerable populations and dis-tant communities. More than ever, mobile services,crowd sourcing, cloud computing, e-service kiosks iii



United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 AcknowledgementsAcknowledgementsThe 2012 edition of the United Nations e-Government Survey is the result of the efforts,contributions and support of many people from a number of organizations and thanksare extended to all who were involved directly or indirectly. In particular, the followingpeople are acknowledged for their specific roles in its production. Preparation of the publication was undertaken Under a collaborative agreement between theby a group of senior e-government researchers United Nations and Cornell University in theand advisers at the United Nations Department United States, the collection of data on onlineof Economic and Social Affairs, led directly by services was overseen by Vincenzo Aquaro andHaiyan Qian, Director of the Division for Public Seema Hafeez, supported by Kim Andreasson,Administration and Development Management. Keping Yao, and Thomas O’Toole of the CornellShe was assisted in this task by Vincenzo Aquaro, Institute of Public Affairs (CIPA). The CIPA teamChief of the E-Government Branch, who man- included: Samar Alam, Timur Baiserkeev, Haticeaged the data collection effort, and John-Mary Bilici, Santiago Calderon, Viktor Englund, HadiKauzya, Chief of the Public Administration Fathallah, Nira Gautam, Adalsteinn Hakonarson,Capacity Branch, who helped guide the analyti- Aleks Janjic, Sonia Javed, Rami Jawhar, Resyacal work. Kania, Juliana Lima, Haiyue Luo, Margaret Lynch, Andreea Mascan, Grit Mathias, Ammar Naqvi, The core research team comprised DPADM Michail Panagopoulos, Weng Pong Woo, Vorapatstaff members Seema Hafeez who drafted Praneeprachachon, Diego Rios Zertuche, JavadChapters 1 and 2, Michael Mimicopoulos and Rostami, Frantz Seide, Sarmad Shaikh, AdityaJohn-Mary Kauzya who drafted Chapter 3, Deniz Shrinivas, Chamnan Sieng, Thitsar Thitsar, ArdakSusar who drafted Chapter 4, Peride Blind who Tukenova, Marc Ufberg, Kim Vallejo, Martinadrafted Chapter 5, and Seok-Ran Kim who drafted Vanikova, Ana Vanjac and Yucheng Zheng.Chapter 6. Patrick Spearing contributed a back-ground paper on information services in support Comprehensive second stage data assessmentof sustainable development. Richard Kerby and was conducted a group of United Nations internsJonas Rabinovitch provided case studies and field coordinated by Seema Hafeez. The team includeddata. Patrick Spearing and Wai Min Kwok acted Alisher Djaborov, Aaron Gardner, Katerynaas referees in reviews of the various manuscripts. Goychuk, Monica Hernandez, Sonia Javed, Rami Jawhar, Loreta Juskaite, DuyiLi, Sine Soeberg, The survey benefited from advice and guid- Desislava Stefanova, AlexanderThomson, Quentinance on e-government measurement provided Tourancheau and Yucheng Zheng, in addition toby a group of experts who met in New York in a number of volunteer translators which includedDecember 2010. The group consisted of Abdulla Eran Goldshtein, Davaadorj Khulan, TündeAl Hamid (Bahrain), Kim Andreasson (United Lázár, Suela Lleku, Michaela Mackuliakova, IngeStates), Roberto Bellotti (Italy), Rowena Bethel Meesak, Stephan Nunner, Srinart Poputtachai,(Bahamas), David Eaves (Canada), Tanya Gupta Vorapat Praneeprachachon, Alfred Prevoo, Nadja(World Bank), Morten Goodwin Olsen (Norway), Saveska, Artemis Seaford, Yaroslav Shiryaev,Koon Tian Ooh (Singapore), Jeremy Millard Gracia Sidabutar, Tomohiro Tsuden, Aura Ursu,(Denmark), Rajkumar Prasad (India), Abir Qasam Vilde Vaeroyvik, Eva van Aalst, Stine Wind and(United States) Mikael Snaprud (Norway) and Benjamin Ziga.Barbara Ubaldi (OECD). Roberto Bellotti andNicola Amoroso provided advice on the refinement Technical data management and support wasof the statistical methodology. provided by Aaron Gardner, Rami Jawhar and v

Acknowledgements United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 Quentin Tourancheau. Kim Andreasson provided United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural the data assessment platform and support to the Organization respectively. initial collection of data on online services. Data assessment on access to vulnerable groups was Administrative assistance was provided by conducted by Christian Rodli Amble, Morten Rosanne Clarke, Wally Clarkson, Elvira Doyle, Nathan Goodwin and Mikael H. Snaprud and peer review Henninger, Madeleine Losch, and Luis Prugue. by the University of the United Nations through Tomasz Janoxski. Editorial review and coordination was under- taken by Michelle Alves de Lima-Miller, supported Telecommunication infrastructure and edu- by Silvia Schwarz. cation data were generously contributed by the International Telecommunication Union and the Copyediting services were provided by Mary Lynn Hanley. Creative design was directed and ex- ecuted by Eliot Sela.–vi



United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 AcronymesAcronymsC2G Citizen-to-government ITU InternationalCIO Chief information officer Telecommunication UnionEGDI E-government development index LDC Least developed countryEU European UnionFAQ Frequently asked questions MEA MultilateralFOI Freedom of information environmental agreementG2C Government-to-citizenG2G Government-to-government NGO Non-governmental organizationGDPGII Gross domestic product OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentGNI Government informationHCI infrastructure OSI Online service indexHDI Gross national incomeHTML Human capital index PDA Personal digital assistantICT Human Development Index PPP Public-private partnershipIMISP Hypertext markup language RSS Real simple syndication Information and communication technology SMS Short message service Instant messaging Internet service providers UNDESA United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs WAI Web accessibility initiative WAP Wireless application protocol WCAG Web content accessibility guidelines W3C World Wide Web Consortium WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development vii

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 ContentsContentsForeword iii Chapter 4: 73Acknowledgements v Supporting multichannel 74Acronyms vii service delivery 79Executive summary 1 4.1 Global and regional trends 83 4.2 Challenges and opportunities of multichannel service delivery 4.3 Conclusion and recommendationsChapter 1: 9 Chapter 5: 87World e-government rankings Bridging the digital divide by reaching 10 out to vulnerable populations 881.1 Overview of national 10 97 e-government development 14 5.1 Factors affecting e-government 34 access and use1.2 Global leaders at a glance 351.3 Regional comparisons 35 5.2 Conclusions and policy recommendations1.4 Least developed countries1.5 Post-conflict countries Chapter 6:1.6 Conclusion Expanding usage to realize the full benefits of e-governmentChapter 2: 37 101Progress in online service delivery 38 6.1 E-service usage: The current landscape 102 39 1032.1 Online service rankings 53 6.2 Challenges, recent efforts and opportunities2.2 Trends in e-service provision 1122.3 Conclusion 6.3 Increasing e-service usage: Policy conclusionsChapter 3: Annexes: 117Taking a whole-of-government approach 55 Survey methodology 119 Data tables 1183.1 E-government harmonization in practice 56 Notes 126 References 1363.2 Challenges and opportunities of integrated 63 Regional groupings 143 e-service delivery3.3 Conclusions 69 ix

Contents United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 Boxes Boxes (cont.) 1.1 Seychelles leads in Eastern Africa 16 3.3 Germany chooses integrated services 62 17 on multiple portlets 1.2 Tunisia national portal 21 22 3.4 Malaysia “no wrong door” policy 62 1.3 Mexico’s alternative approach 24 3.5 Cloud computing 68 1.4 Brazil: Expanding services 24 4.1 Malta MyAlerts: Notifications through 77 1.5 Integrated services in Kazakhstan 25 multiple delivery channels 1.6 World leader in e-government 25 4.2 Turkey: UYAP SMS information system 78 development 2012: Republic of Korea 26 26 4.3 Italy: Reti Amiche for multichannel 78 1.7 China: Enhancing transparency 27 public service delivery and openness 27 4.4 ServiceOntario of Canada 80 1.8 India looks to sustainable development 28 by including all 5.1 Selected examples of e-government 91 30 initiatives of education to bridge the 1.9 Pakistan in the forefront of e-passport 31 digital divide 38 1.10 Singapore in the vanguard of countries 5.2 Automated search for barriers to usage 93 39 1.11 Israel consolidates e-services 43 5.3 Selected examples of initiatives in support 97 46 of access/use 1.12 Saudi Arabia offers innovative e-services 47 6.1 Benefit of e-tax payment: Convenience 104 1.13 Qatar’s Hukoomi: Working 48 and ease of paying taxes towards integration 51 6.2 311 Service: Trust, transparency and service 1.14 EU leads the way to innovative application 52 of ICT to sustainable development 60 request map of New York City 105 61 1.15 Denmark: Providing multiple choices 6.3 United States: Fostering social inclusion 108 and increasing e-service usage through 2.1 Bahrain, a leader in Western Asia social media 2.2 Russian Federation: Investments for 7.1 The four stages of online 123 service delivery improvements service development 2.3 Kazakhstan: A leader in e-participation Figures 12 13 2.4 Colombia: E-participation 1.1 Emerging leaders in 13 e-government development 14 2.5 Australia: E-participation 14 1.2 India advancing in 15 2.6 Providing outcome on feedback received e-government development from citizens concerning the improvement of their service 1.3 Impressive gains by China 2.7 Trinidad and Tobago: Wealth of information 1.4 Regional averages in on environment e-government development 2.8 Brazil: Special section on Rio +20 1.5 Advances in regional e-government development in the last decade 3.1 Usa.gov leads in integrated portals 1.6 Trends in e-government development 3.2 Mauritius, an A to Z thematic approach in Africa 2008-2012x

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 ContentsFigures (cont.) Figures (cont.)1.7 Limitations of infrastructure impeding 18 2.17 Online leadership promotion and e-government in Africa 19 accountability in environmental sustainability 51 211.8 Regional e-government in the Americas 22 2.18 Countries offering education or 51 information on public policy concerns1.9 E-government in Northern America 23 29 2.19 Reflection of public concerns on national 521.10 Regional e-government in Asia environmental websites 331.11 E-government in Norway and the 2.20 Citizen participation in environmental 53 United Arab Emirates 38 affairs by region 391.12 Regional e-government in Europe 3.1 Countries with CIO or equivalent 56 40 overseeing e-government1.13 Regional e-government development: 40 Oceania and the world 41 3.2 Countries offering a one-stop-shop 58 412.1 Progress in online service provision 3.3 Countries with government websites 59 2003-2012 in selected countries 44 linking to a national website or portal 452.2 E-services in Latvia and Belarus 46 3.4 Percentage of national sites or portals 59 48 linking to government ministries2.3 United Nations Member States’ online presence, 2003 – 2012 49 3.5 Policy information online 592.4 Online features availability 49 3.6 Institutional integration efforts 60 in environment2.5 Sectoral user services online 49 4.1 Overview of channels for public 752.6 Extent of e-service delivery 49 service delivery2.7 Geographic distribution of top performers 50 4.2 Breakdown of channels by region 75 in e-participation 50 4.3 Breakdown of channels by income level 752.8 Depth of e-participation 4.4 Selected mobile-based channels for 762.9 E-consultation tools used by governments multiservice delivery2.10 Overall environmental e-service provision 4.5 Breakdown of mobile-based channels 76 by region2.11 Africa sub-regional average scores as percentage of regional average score 4.6 Breakdown of mobile-based channels 77 by income level2.12 Americas sub-regional average scores as percentage of regional average score 4.7 Availability of payment transactions 79 in different channels2.13 Asia sub-regional average scores as percentage of regional average score 5.1 Inclusion of at least one of the vulnerable 89 groups on the national website2.14 Europe sub-regional average scores as percentage of regional average score 5.2 Multilingual national portals 902.15 Relationship between e-environment 5.3 Multilingual European portals 90 performance and gross national income per capita 5.4 Multilingual Asian portals 902.16 Use of e-government to raise 5.5 Assisted sites 92 awareness of sustainable development 5.6 Female economic activity 94 xi

Contents United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 Figures (cont.) Tables (cont.) 5.7 Broadband (2012) and GDP per capita 1.9 Top ranked countries in the Americas 19 (2010 or the latest figure) 95 1.10 E-government development in the Caribbean 20 5.8 M-government and vulnerable groups 96 1.11 E-government development in Central America 20 5.9 Broadband, m-government, 96 1.12 E-government development in and vulnerable groups Northern America 21 6.1 E-government usage growth rate lagging 1.13 E-government development in South America 21 behind e-government availability growth rate (2005 – 2010) 103 1.14 E-government leaders in Asia 23 6.2 Transaction services: countries providing 1.15 E-government development in Central Asia 23 on-line payment facilities in different sectors 104 6.3 Number of countries with privacy 1.16 E-government development in Eastern Asia 25 statement and security policy online 105 1.17 E-government development in Southern Asia 26 6.4 Governments’ efforts to garner 107 1.18 E-government development in 27 and report on usage feedback South-Eastern Asia 6.5 Relationship between broadband 1.19 E-government development in Western Asia 28 penetration and citizen uptake of e-government services (2008) 107 1.20 Top 10 in Europe 29 6.6 Government websites and social media 109 1.21 E-government development in Eastern Europe 30 6.7 Government websites providing 110 1.22 E-government development in 31 a statement that promotes open Northern Europe government data initiative 6.8 FOI laws in countries around the world: 111 1.23 E-government development in 32 Global view Southern Europe 6.9 Freedom of Information in different 111 1.24 E-government development in 32 regions of the world Western Europe 1.25 E-government development in Oceania 33 Tables 1.26 E-government development in least developed countries 1.1 World e-government development 34 leaders 2012 11 1.27 E-government development in post-conflict countries 1.2 E-government development in largest 35 population countries 13 2.1 Top 20 countries in online service delivery 38 1.3 Top ranked countries in Africa 15 2.2 Advanced features available on websites 40 1.4 E-government development in Eastern Africa 16 2.3 Transactional services online 41 1.5 E-government development in Middle Africa 17 2.4 Extent of service delivery in top performers, 1.6 E-government development in Northern Africa 17 selected countries 42 1.7 E-government development in Southern Africa 18 2.5 E-services in selected developing countries 42 1.8 E-government development in Western Africa 18 2.6 Top e-participation leaders 43 2.7 Extent of e-participation 44xii

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 Contents 15Tables (cont.) Maps 19 1.1 Sub-regions of Africa 232.8 Extent of government’s commitment 45 1.2 Sub-regions of the Americas 29 to e-participation 1.3 Sub-regions of Asia 33 1.4 Sub-regions of Europe 1432.9 Collecting citizen feedback 46 1.5 Sub-regions of Oceania 7.1 Regional groupings xiii2.10 Web 2.0 tools used in e-decision making 472.11 E-decision making features 482.12 Top countries on environment survey 482.13 Selected environmental online features 50 and content2.14 Environment-related online citizen feedback 533.1 Chief information officer or equivalent 57 by region3.2 Interoperability and back-office integration 583.3 Whole-of-government top performers 613.4 Selected organizational changes needed 64 in the pursuit of a whole-of- government approach3.5 National portals clearly indicating 68 a security feature4.1 List of countries utilizing all channels 745.1 Components and subcomponents of the 89 conceptual map of digital divide5.2 National websites with accessibility features 925.3 Access of females versus males to 94 social media6.1 List of countries with government 109 websites providing a statement ‘follow us on Facebook or Twitter’6.2 List of countries providing chat rooms 109 or an IM feature7.1 E-participation index 1267.2 Online service index and its components 1287.3 Telecommunication infrastructure index 130 and its components7.4 Human capital index and its components 1327.5 E-participation index 1347.6 Environment Index 135



United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 Executive summary Executive summary Progress in online service delivery continues in most countries around the world. The United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 finds that many have put in place e-government initiatives and information and communication technologies applications for the people to further enhance public sector efficiencies and streamline governance systems to support sustainable development. Among the e-government leaders, innovative technology solutions have gained special recognition as the means to revitalize lagging economic and social sectors. The overall conclusion that emerges from the 2012 Survey in today’s recessionary world climate is that while it is important to continue with service delivery, governments must increasingly begin to rethink in terms of e-government – and e-governance – placing greater emphasis on institutional linkages between and among the tiered government structures in a bid to create synergy for inclusive sustainable development. An important aspect of this approach is to widen the scope of e-government for a transformative role of the government towards cohesive, coordinated, and integrated processes and institutions through which such sustainable development takes place. 1

Executive summary United Nations E-Government Survey 20122 In the current recessionary world climate, in can be met with a concerted and coordinated effort which the lives of people have become ever more that incorporates the environmental dimension into interconnected, governments have been harness- development planning at every stage. ing the power of information and communications technologies (ICT) for delivering much needed sus- Within this context, national governments tainability in social and economic services to their need to understand the economic, social and en- citizens. As part of this shift towards e-government, vironmental pathways must be adapted to develop there has been an increasing recognition that ef- or reform their strategic frameworks towards out- forts towards a holistic approach to governance for comes that promote sustainable development. The sustainable development require strategic national basic strategic approach needs to germinate first and planning to ensure efficacy, transparency, respon- foremost in the acceptance of the importance of the siveness, participation and inclusion in the delivery inter-linkages among the economic, social and envi- of public services. These aims could not be achieved ronmental aspects of development. without the underlying notion of sustainable devel- opment for the people. The role of the government is once again being redefined to reform the governance sys- The overall challenge then is to deliver improve- tems through which services are delivered in a ments in the standards of living in such a manner way that maximizes development and minimizes that development today does not compromise de- natural resource degradation. A holistic approach velopment tomorrow. Embedded in the concept to governance includes taking into account the ef- of sustainability is the viability of (i) national and ficiency and distributional aspects of sectoral poli- sub-national governance systems that are citizen- cies and their outcomes, national development centric, socially inclusive and participatory; and agendas, and international cooperation agree- (ii) the associated government operations and ments, so that resulting solutions are sustainable services that affect development outcomes. In in the future. paying attention to citizen needs, there is a critical need for governments to encompass modalities in The message of the 2012 Survey is that all stake- working together with citizens in fulfilling service holders need to recognize the key role that e-gov- delivery. Therefore the theme of the United Nations ernment – and e-governance – can play in support E-Government Survey 2012 is E-Government for of the establishment of effective institutional link- the People. Areas deserving special emphasis in- ages necessary for sustainable development. clude expanding usage of e-government services, including through multiple channels, and a whole- Evidence shows that it is possible to successfully of-government approach in promoting equity and utilize ICT based on governance frameworks that un- bridging the digital-divide by extending service de- derpin the effectiveness of public sector institutions. livery to all, particularly vulnerable groups. E-government is at the core of building a stra- The nexus of e-government, tegic sustainable development framework. One of its key functions has been to provide an integrated institutional linkages and framework of policies, laws and regulations and de- velop institutions and processes that allow the pri- sustainable development vate sector to provide – and the people to partake E-government has an important role to play, now and of – the benefits of newer technologies. in the future. As the world moves towards 2015, the date set for reaching the Millennium Development The underlying principle of e-government, sup- Goals, the unmet targets of poverty reduction and ported by an effective e-governance institutional other social and economic development goals are framework, is to improve the internal workings of being revisited within the ambit of climate change the public sector by reducing financial costs and and natural resource conservation. Inherent in this transaction times so as to better integrate work flows paradigm is a focus on pivotal linkages among pub- and processes and enable effective resource utiliza- lic institutions, such that development challenges tion across the various public sector agencies aiming for sustainable solutions. It seeks to establish ‘bet- ter processes and systems’ aimed at more efficiency, effectiveness, inclusion and sustainability. As a key

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 Executive summary 3driver of efficiency and coordination, e-governance The entry point for economic sustainabilityencompasses institutions, mechanisms and pro- is how e-government supports efficiency and ef-cesses for planning, organizing, coordination and fectiveness in government for greater growth andimplementation of successful socio-economic de- development by employing whole-of-governmentvelopment programmes. approaches. Hierarchical and bureaucratic struc- tures need to be transformed into horizontal Utilizing e-government can be the key to the integrated systems, which facilitate customer ori-achievement of the integration of economic, social entation and increase levels of transparency andand environment goals for development planning. accountability in a move towards public service de- livery solutions that are sustainable.•In this context, national governments need to: Recognize the opportunity for synergy among At the same time, social equity and inclusion are possible only if institutional barriers to citizen• institutions that e-government offers; inclusion are removed and opportunities for their Re-engineer the enabling environment for participation through ICTs are equitably distrib- e-governance to enable institutional inter- link- uted. The reach of innovative inclusive solutions to support citizen decision-making processes is• ages within the government; and just as important as the nature of the participa- Promote coordination and connectivity be- tory process itself. For social sustainability, the tween ecosystems and development outcomes. role of e-government requires a shift from that of As the public sector continues to reform struc- a controller of information and services to that oftural processes and institutions for greater efficiency a facilitator, whereby information and services areand better service delivery; provide a climate con- geared towards addressing the needs and concernsducive for businesses; and offer greater participation of the citizenry, especially the vulnerable, and tofor citizens, e-government will increasingly become promoting user uptake.the key enabler of sustainable development. Fromputting in place policies and programmes to the de- Finally, e-government can support environ-sign of laws and regulation for ICT access and citi- mental institutional integration by bringing envi-zen participation, e-government and e-governance ronment agencies online and linking them withwill expand their reach in affecting the living condi- governance structures responsible for developmenttions of peoples in all countries of the world in gen- planning so that coordinated solutions can be founderal, and in ameliorating the adverse impact of the that are efficient, effective and sustainable.digital divide in particular. The United Nations E-Government Survey One of the key challenges in building the frame- 2012: E-Government for the People addresses thework of sustainable development is how to employ conceptual and analytical issues related to how themodern technologies to ensure inter-institutional Member States are utilizing ICTs to support citizencoordination and the effectiveness of development centric service delivery and citizen participation inoutcomes while safeguarding natural resource service delivery to ensure sustainable development.conservation. Lessons of experience in a few of thevanguard countries indicate that by deploying inno- Global trends invative ITC solutions e-governance endeavours canoptimize solutions to hither-to-fore intransigent de- e-government developmentvelopment challenges. The United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 explores the inter-linkages between e-government There is a growing recognition that e-gover- and sustainable development efforts. While present-nance can support development by improving ing the United Nations e-government developmentinter-organizational linkages and consolidation of rankings for 2012 it analyses how governments ofgovernment systems. This emerging e-government the world are employing e-government policies andparadigm, allied to the twin objectives of efficacy in programmes to support efficiency, effectiveness, andgovernment functioning and achieving improve- inclusiveness as the parameters of sustainable devel-ments in service delivery, is bringing about new opment efforts worldwide.perceptions of the inter-linkages between e-govern-ment and the sustainability of systems.

Executive summary United Nations E-Government Survey 20124 It addresses conceptual and analytical issues disparity in the use of information technologies. In related to an effective e-governance institutional this way it contributes to a better understanding of framework as the key enabler for the organizational the need for e-government to be deployed in order and regulatory environment that is the necessary to create the required synergy and integration across ingredient for such development to take place. institutions and processes that will support Member Building on lessons learnt and best practices iden- States’ efforts towards sustainable development that tified through previous UNDESA work on e-gov- includes all. ernment, the 2012 Survey highlights the ‘silo’ or sector-by-sector approach often common to both Key findings from the 2012 Survey e-government and environment in development According to the 2012 United Nations planning. It brings together concepts and best E-government Survey rankings, the Republic of practices such as whole-of-government; effective- Korea is the world leader (0.9283) followed by ness of multichannel service delivery; increasing the Netherlands (0.9125), the United Kingdom access to Internet and mobile use around the world (0.8960) and Denmark (0.8889), with the United in bridging the digital divide; the importance of States, Canada, France, Norway, Singapore and e-service to vulnerable groups; and challenges in Sweden close behind. user uptake. It thereby alerts policy makers to the current need for a holistic vision to sustainable de- The steady improvement in all the indicators velopment that emphasizes synergies among vari- of the e-government development index has led to ous sectors and approaches that will help advance a world average of 0.4877 as compared to 0.4406 economic sustainability and social equity. in 2010. This reflects that countries in general have improved their online service delivery to cater to A special focus of this year’s Survey is on envi- citizens’ needs. On a regional level, Europe (0.7188) ronment-related services. It assesses the provision of and Eastern Asia (0.6344) lead, followed by environment and resource conservation information Northern America (0.8559), South Asia (0.3464) and services to the citizen and presents the first data and Africa (0.2762). set on United Nations e-environment indicators. Despite progress, there remains an imbalance The message of the 2012 Survey builds upon the in the digital divide between developed and the findings of the previous United Nations Surveys developing countries, especially in Africa. The lat- and sets the importance of e-government firmly ter region had a mean e-government development within the current global developmental debate. index of about 30 per cent of Northern America First, underscoring the importance of technologi- and about half of the world average. The digital di- cal advancements and the role of the government vide is rooted in the lack of e-infrastructure, which and sustainable development, it highlights the im- has hindered information-use and knowledge-cre- portance of e-government and ICT as integral to ation. The tremendous difference of broadband sustainable development. width and subscriptions between the developing and the developed world proves that there are yet Second, expanding the concept of e-governance many milestones to be reached in order to close it points to the need to place it at the centre of de- the gap of the digital divide. velopment thinking for a coherent, coordinated and synergistic approach to public sector solutions. Whole-of-government approaches lead the way in vanguard countries Finally, it draws attention to state-of-the art e- Employing e-government to improve efficiency government approaches that are being deployed in and effectiveness of public service delivery in vanguard countries as case studies for a whole-of- government structures is one facet of economic government framework and inclusion of the disad- sustainability. The 2012 Survey finds that many vantaged in the circle of development. Member States are moving from a decentral- ized single-purpose organization model, to an Thus, it presents the progress made in e-govern- integrated unified whole-of-government model ment development around the world since the last Survey (2010) while cautioning against the digi- tal divide that stems from the current worldwide

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 Executive summary 5contributing to efficiency and effectiveness. The Much more needs to be done to include vul-model aims at centralizing the entry point of ser- nerable groups in the benefits of technology. Withvice delivery to a single portal where citizens can a focus on social sustainability, the underlying ap-access all government-supplied services, regardless proach of the top performers in 2012 is inclusion forof which government authority provides them. In all, which has led to the expansion of informationsome countries, the whole-of-government ap- and services to vulnerable groups, people who liveproach helps build a transparent government in isolated rural areas and the disabled. Further, insystem with interconnected departments and di- pursuit of greater efficiency, more and more govern-visions, feeding into the funnel of greater govern- ments are paying closer attention to citizens’ use ofment efficiency and effectiveness. online services. The levels still remain low with only around a quarter – or 47 countries – providing in-Member States are paying formation on how citizens use services.closer attention to multichannel Developing countries make progress in e-participationservice delivery Many developing countries have adopted citizenThe increasing power of ICT has also provided inclusion as key in providing “customer”-orientedgovernments with the flexibility of providing services. While the Republic of Korea and theservices and information to citizens through Netherlands are the world leaders, Singapore andmultichannels. Citizens have diverse needs and Kazakhstan are close behind. Europe has the largestdemands for services; therefore it is no longer sus- share of the top e-participation countries. Despitetainable for governments to utilize one preferred progress the gains are not spread evenly, both acrossway of service provision over the other. It is now and within countries, with the majority still offeringever more essential that governments exploit all low levels of engagement possibilities.possible delivery channels in order to reach out toas many people as possible, no matter how poor, il- Citizens demand more servicesliterate or isolated. The 2012 Survey shows that 71 While the primary focus of Member States has beenMember States partner with third party organiza- the provision of services from a supplier perspective,tions such as those in the civil society or the private recently there has been a shift towards a more con-sector to provide e-services. sumer demand driven policy and greater emphasis on citizen usage. Nevertheless the level of citizen Progress on the digital divide is far from satisfac- up-take currently remains at low levels. Usage di-tory though rapid dispersion of mobile technology vides across and within countries is one of the manygives hope for improvement. challenges hindering high levels of citizen up-take. According to the 2012 Survey, only 24 countries This year’s Survey also indicates that global in- openly promote free access to e-government ser-frastructure access has improved, with the global vices through free wifi or kiosks. Leveraging socialaverage ICT index value reflecting an increase in media for the benefit of e-service uptake is anothermobile penetration – the global average number area where a greater effort can make a differenceof mobile subscriptions per 100 inhabitants is now since currently only 40 per cent of Member States88.5. Broadband penetration, however, remains very are using a social networking site.low, with a global average of only 8.7 fixed broad-band connections per 100 inhabitants. Mobile- A good beginning but e-environmentbased technologies have become the most rapidly initiatives have a long way to goadapted technologies to provide e-services, playing With the worldwide focus on sustainable develop-a pivotal role, especially in developing countries. ment this year the 2012 United Nations e-Govern-Rural areas with very little access to telephony can ment Survey devoted a special section to examiningnow benefit from mobile and broadband services to the effort made by Member States in provision ofaccess services. According to the 2012 Survey, 25countries have developed separate m-governmentwebsites, and 24 countries provide the option ofmaking payments via mobile phones.

Executive summary United Nations E-Government Survey 20126 environment-related online information and ser- The way forward vices. In keeping with institutional development identified as one of the two main themes for Rio As the way forward the first imperative is to recog- +20, the 2012 Survey assessed Member States’ on- nize the role of national governments in tapping line offerings in three areas cited in the Secretary- into the transformative nature of e-government for General’s Report to the Preparatory Committee sustainable development as it relates to whole-of- for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable government approaches and multichannel service Development: 1) dissemination of information; 2) delivery. In this regard countries must at a minimum institutional integration with respect to environ- establish a persistent online presence with at least mental matters; and 3) opportunities for citizen basic services in order to build trust in government. engagement on environmental issues. With respect to information dissemination services, Chapter Second, shifting from a structurally disinte- 2 looks particularly at four policy areas related to grated government to one that is a more intercon- environmental degradation and natural resources nected single-purpose whole-of-government will management: clean air, clean water, energy, and re- require collaboration and streamlining not only source conservation. Given the importance placed along the whole spectrum of governance but also on empowering citizens – particularly marginal- with private sector and civil societies. Prerequisites ized groups – with respect to environmental policy for achieving this shift include long-term vision making, it also assesses how e-participation tools and leadership commitment, a strategic frame- are deployed in the environmental domain, at the work, an IT management programme aligned with same time, focusing on the importance of institu- the overall strategy, and technical integration of IT tional integration at all levels for sustainable de- systems. Whole-of-government practices will not velopment. Chapter 3 assesses how e-government only boost efficiency of government agencies but offerings support both sub-national and interna- also utilization of public services if properly ad- tional integration. Among the top-scoring coun- ministered in accordance with a clear strategy and tries on the environment, four provide considerable motivated leadership. environment related information and services to their citizens – Germany, the Republic of Korea, Third, it needs to be reiterated that the digital Singapore, and the United States. As in the case of divide is still an obstacle we face. With all the cut- e-government development rankings, developed ting-edge technologies and development of social countries dominate the e-environment service media and networking tools, which have re-shaped delivery, with 36 per cent of countries providing parts of our modern world, it is becoming more less than one third of the information and services challenging to diminish the digital divide. Not assessed; another one third providing 34 to 66 per only is the non-availability of infrastructure such cent; and 56 countries providing 67 to 100 per cent as broadband the main reason behind this divide, of the e-environment services assessed. but differences in skills and lack of means to ac- cess information also play a major role. Therefore A majority of countries provide online infor- it is vital for governments to learn from global best mation or education to citizens regarding clean practices and collaborate internationally to develop water (111 countries), clean air (105 countries), a harmonized framework with indigenous ICT and resource conservation (104 countries). Nearly content. An effective approach must address both half of countries, 86, provide information pertain- access to infrastructure as well as well as barriers ing to energy. However few countries provide to using online services that may persist even when features designed to proactively notify citizens of such access is available. environmental issues or permit citizens to focus online searches specifically on the environment. Fourth, there is a need to reach out to all citi- Similarly, citizen engagement on environment is- zens, particularly the disadvantaged and vulnerable sues is in its infancy. While Europe takes the lead, groups, in order to bridge the gap and maximize other regions are slow to follow. the utilization of online service delivery. However, governance processes for the effectiveness and ben- efit of all cannot be realized without a well-estab- lished coordination framework encompassing the

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 Executive summaryinvolvement of all national and international stake- have created opportunities for greater participationholders, including third party organizations, which and social inclusiveness. By bringing technologycan play a pivotal role in the process. This is par- to the people instead of making the people cometicularly important in the context of multichannel to technology hubs, and by creating opportuni-service delivery, where it is important to follow an ties for online service delivery, e-government hasevolutionary rather than a revolutionary approach contributed to coordinated efforts for increasedto developing new channels. In other words, service e-government among public sector officials, publicdelivery via new channels should not come at the institutions and citizens.expense of service delivery via established channels. As the collective global effort, led by the United Fifth, low usage and user uptake indicates that Nations, gains momentum towards a greater ac-e-services up-take has untapped potential for the ceptance of the institutional linkages among theimprovement of service delivery in line with citi- economic, social and environmental pillars of sus-zen demand. tainable development, there is a need to be cogni- zant of the importance of e-government that is for Finally, the 2012 Survey assessment points the people, in achieving higher standards of livingto horizontal and vertical e-government linkages for future generations. –among various institutions and nodal points that 7



United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankings Eliot Sela Chapter 1Chapter 1 10 WorldWorld e-government rankings 10 e-government1.1 Overview of national 12 rankings 14 e-government development 15 Progress in online service delivery continues in most countries1.2 Global leaders at a glance 19 around the world. The United Nations E-Government Survey 22 2012 finds that many have put in place e-government initiatives 1.2.1 Countries with a large population 29 and information and communication technologies applications1.3 Regional comparisons 33 for the people to further enhance public sector efficiencies 34 and streamline governance systems to support sustainable 1.3.1 E-government in Africa 35 development. Among the e-government leaders, innovative 1.3.2 E-government in the Americas 35 technology solutions have gained special recognition as the 1.3.3 E-government in Asia means to revitalize lagging economic and social sectors. 1.3.4 E-government in Europe 1.3.5 E-government in Oceania The overall conclusion that emerges from the 2012 Survey in1.4 Least developed countries today’s recessionary world climate is that while it is important to1.5 Post-conflict countries continue with service delivery, governments must increasingly1.6 Conclusion begin to rethink in terms of e-government – and e-governance – placing greater emphasis on institutional linkages between and among the tiered government structures in a bid to create synergy for inclusive sustainable development. An important aspect of this approach is to widen the scope of e-government for a transformative role of the government towards cohesive, coordinated, and integrated processes and institutions through which such sustainable development takes place. 9

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankingsE-government 1.1 Overview of national e-agriculture, e-trade and other fields. Accessing theseinnovation and e-government development new technologies for development is being recog-development can nized as one of the key sources of economic growth.position the public The United Nations Survey 2012 assessment of prog- Of particular importance is the effect of cellular tech-sector as a driver of ress indicates that e-government is increasingly being nologies. Where national governments have taken ademand for ICT viewed among countries in the vanguard as going lead, rapid mobile technology proliferation has con-infrastructure and beyond service delivery towards a framework for a tributed as much as a one per cent annual increase inapplications in the smart, inclusive and sustainable growth for future gen- economic growth over the last few years.1broader economy. erations. In countries that follow that trend, a focus on institutional integration coupled with online citizen Notwithstanding these trends, progress re-10 orientationin publicservicecontinuestobe dominant. mains uneven. In the current recessionary climate Both in terms of information and services, the citizen some countries have been better able to continue to is increasingly viewed as ‘an active customer of public invest in ICT infrastructure and service improve- services’ with borrowed private sector concepts being ment. Others are evaluating the marginal utility applied to improve public sector governance systems. of such investment, especially taking into account low user uptake of existing services, and reassess- A key driver for this approach is the need to ing service portfolios where demand for online achieve efficiency in government at the same time that services is low. Many countries with low levels of services are being expanded. Advances in technology, infrastructure and human capital remain at lower which allow data sharing and efficient streamlining levels of e-government development with serious of cross-agency governance systems are forming the issues of digital divide. back end of integrated portals where citizens find a myriad of relevant information arranged by theme, In all cases, e-government take a prominent role life cycle or other preferred use. The trend towards in shaping development making it more in tune with personalization of services has gained momentum people’s needs and driving the whole process based with more countries tailoring substance and presenta- on their participation. tion in accord with varied preferences. Multichannel service delivery features were found on several portals 1.2 Global leaders at a glance in 2012 through which the government conducted business with citizens. Citizen inclusion is also ex- Building upon the transformative nature of ICT and panding both horizontally and vertically with more maintaining their focus on e-government develop- governments around the world in 2012 accepting and ment, all of the top 20 countries in 2012 were high- promoting the need to inform – and involve – the citi- income developed economies.2 All have values that zen in the public decision making process. range from 164 to 190 per cent of the world average. Of the 20, 14 are in Northern America and Europe; E-government innovation and development can 3 in East Asia (Republic of Korea, Singapore and position the public sector as a driver of demand for Japan); 2 in Oceania (Australia and New Zealand); ICT infrastructure and applications in the broader and 1 in Western Asia (Israel). economy. The effect will be more pronounced in cases where government programmes constitute a While the Republic of Korea (0.9283) maintains significant proportion of a country’s GDP and where its position as achieving the greatest e-government the regulatory environment is conducive to expansion development, in 2012 it is followed by three European of ICT manufacturing, software and related services. countries, with the Netherlands (0.9125) advancing by three and the United Kingdom of Great Britain E-government programmes can be a catalyst in and Northern Ireland (0.8960) by one to become the boosting productivity, thereby speeding up the ben- 2nd and 3rd leading e-ready governments in the world. efits of newer technologies to the people. In the last Denmark (0.8889), the United States of America few years many countries have employed ICT in areas (0.8687), France (0.8635) and Sweden (0.8599) fol- such as entrepreneurship, innovation, research and low close behind among the global leaders. development, promoting distance learning, e-health,

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankings The top 20 countries have marginal differ- government-to-government (G2G), government- Table 1.1 World e-govern-ences among them in the level of e-government to-citizen, and citizen-to-government (C2G) inter- ment developmentdevelopment. All have invested, consolidated and actions in the last stage.3 leaders 2012aggregated their e-government development offer-ings in the last two years. Israel, Liechtenstein and The United Nations Survey 2012 finds that mod- Rank Country E-governmentLuxembourg, among the high-income countries, els of an integrated portal differ across countries development indexjoined the group of world leaders in 2012. and regions. While a few countries are progressing towards one national integrated portal, others have 1 Republic of Korea 0.9283 In 2012, the United Nations e-government developed their e-government offerings with a viewassessment focused on the concept of integrated to more than one portal, with thematic and/or func- 2 Netherlands 0.9125services that exploit inter-linkages among different tional services integrated in a manner that finds e-in-public services on a functionally and/or themati- formation separate from e-services or e-participation. 3 United Kingdom 0.8960cally similar one-stop-shop portal, thereby improv-ing and facilitating citizen experience, allowing for Though each of these have integrated services 4 Denmark 0.8889back-office integration across governmental de- across various departments on the thematic or func-partments and strengthening institutional arrange- tional portal, they nevertheless make less convenient 5 United States 0.8687ments. Single sign-on integrated services on portals the user search for government information, servicescan organizationally transform public service de- and participation in one place. The United Nations 6 France 0.8635livery at both the front and the back end. They can E-Government Survey 2012 differentiates these asincrease functional productivity in governments by ‘integrated services’ from a single ‘integrated portal.’ 7 Sweden 0.8599identifying and improving governance processesand mechanisms across several departments, lead- In 2012 no country had a true single-sign-on 8 Norway 0.8593ing to greater efficiency and effectiveness of services integrated portal. The United States, Republic ofalong with needed cost savings. With a focus on Korea, Israel, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Bahrain, 9 Finland 0.8505governance solutions that enhance service delivery Qatar, United Arab Emirates and New Zealand areand streamline public sector efficiency, the United among the few that come close to a pure one-stop- 10 Singapore 0.8474Nations e-government rankings in 2012 reflect an shop portal with information, services and partici-assessment of which countries are undertaking pation services integrated on one site. 11 Canada 0.8430their e-government development with a view to in-tegrated, user-centric public service delivery. Most countries from the European Union (EU) 12 Australia 0.8390 follow the approach of separate portals for their in- The 2012 Survey assesses web portals with a formation, service and participation offerings. In 13 New Zealand 0.8381view to the provision of e-information, e-services, several European countries e-government serviceswhich range from interactive to transactional to net- focus on the nationally organized one-stop channel 14 Liechtenstein 0.8264worked services, e-participation, and features that for the provision of 20 basic e-services essential toare the conduit for service flow from government their citizens while the government-provided in- 15 Switzerland 0.8134to citizen and consequently a reflection of attention formation forms a separate portal with informationto governance processes. Indicators grouped along services integrated on it from across all sectors. 16 Israel 0.8100the four stages of the model (emerging, enhanced,transactional and connected) range from static in- Lessons of experience from the assessment in 17 Germany 0.8079formation such as links to ministries/departments, 2012 indicate that more services have been integratedarchived information, and regional/local govern- across sectors and agencies. While this trend is likely 18 Japan 0.8019ment services; to unidirectional government-to- to continue it seems that increasingly complex publiccitizen (G2C) information flows such as online sector services in the future will be ‘cloud-based’ with 19 Luxembourg 0.8014policies, laws and regulation, reports, newsletters, service providers able to address innovation and pro-and downloadable databases, among other things; ductivity upgrades without costly investments by the 20 Estonia 0.7987to two-way financial and non-financial transac- government. Cloud service equips governments withtional services and advanced technical features greater efficiency by helping them scale up their ser-such as mobile apps; and to integrated and partici- vices, including storage capacity, as it evolves. Amongpatory services characterized by an integration of the main challenges for large-scale adoption of cloud- based government services are the integrity of service, data security and privacy, and regulatory environment in most countries around the world, which will need 11

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings Figure 1.1 Emerging leaders It is somewhat noteworthy that the emerging in e-government development leaders group includes some developing countries that have begun to catch up with higher-incomeThe 2012 Survey Austria 0.7840 countries, such as Kazakhstan (0.6844); Chileextends a special Iceland 0.7835 (0.6769), Malaysia (0.6703), Colombia (0.6572),recognition to those Spain 0.7770 Barbados (0.6566) and Cyprus (0.6508).countries with a Belgium 0.7718population of over Slovenia 0.7492 Many of these countries have invested consider-100 million, which Monaco 0.7468 able resources in e-government in the last few years.have made the Russian Federation 0.7345 They have expanded infrastructure and humantremendous effort United Arab Emirates 0.7344 skills on which to build further advances in serviceto provide e-govern- Lithuania 0.7333 delivery and employ the full potential of informa-ment services to their Croatia 0.7328 tion technologies for long-term sustainable develop-people despite the Hungary 0.7201 ment. Some of the developing countries have foundchallenges they face. Italy 0.7190 ways to leapfrog traditional development cycles by Portugal 0.7165 deploying mobile technology for bridging the digital12 Ireland 0.7149 divide. They have reoriented their public sector gov- Malta 0.7131 ernance systems towards user-centric approaches Bahrain 0.6946 visible on their websites through multichannel ser- Greece 0.6872 vice delivery features. Kazakhstan 0.6844 Chile 0.6769 As in the case of the world leaders, countries Malaysia 0.6703 in the emerging leaders group have e-government Saudi Arabia 0.6658 development values close to each other, ranging Latvia 0.6604 from 0.6508 to 0.7840. Most of them are provid- Colombia 0.6572 ing similar levels of e-services such as in the case of Barbados 0.6566 Cyprus, which though ranked lowest for this group, Cyprus 0.6508 has achieved around 83 per cent of the level of e-gov- ernment development of Austria, the group leader. 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80 EGDI 1.2.1 Countries with a large population continued reform in governance systems and a con- The raison d’être of the United Nations E-Gov- tinued focus on strengthening institutional linkages. ernment Survey is to assess whether countries are deploying e-government for inclusion-for-all. Close behind the top world leaders are the 25 emerging leaders as given in figure 1.1. Among these, Since each country faces a different set of factors 16 are in Europe, 6 in Asia and 3 in the Americas. that can help or hinder its overall progress towards With close proximity in the e-government develop- e-government development, this year the United ment index value, the leaders among this group are Nations Survey is extending special recognition to Austria (0.7840), Iceland (0.7835), Spain (0.7770) and those countries which, with a population of over 100 Belgium (0.7718). Substantial effort was made by some million, have made a tremendous effort to provide countries, which is reflected in their advancement this e-government services to their people, despite the year. Notable among these are the Russian Federation challenges they face. (0.7345), the United Arab Emirates (0.7344), and Saudi Arabia (0.6658), all three of which joined the Table 1.2 presents e-government development emerging leaders group. Progress was also noted in the in countries with populations larger than 100 mil- case of Italy (0.7190) and Portugal (0.7165). lion that have made a special effort to improve ser- vice delivery to large swathes of their populations. It should be kept in mind that the E-Government

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankingsTable 1.2 E-government development more miles of fibre-optic cable than a small countryin largest population countries to provide broadband connectivity to its citizens. Similarly, a country with a very large population E-gov. development index World e-gov. must provide many more online access points – development ranking via kiosks, mobile phones, or other means – to its citizens than a country with a small population.Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 Population Conversely, a country with a high income has more (in millions) resources to apply to e-government developmentChina 0.5359 0.4700 than a country with a low income.India 0.3829 0.3567 78 72 1,341United States 0.8687 0.8510Indonesia 0.4949 0.4026 125 119 1,225Brazil 0.6167 0.5006Pakistan 0.2823 0.2755 5 2 310Nigeria 0.2676 0.2687Bangladesh 0.2991 0.3028 97 109 240Russian 0.7345 0.5136Federation 0.8019 0.7152 59 61 195Japan 0.6240 0.5150Mexico 156 146 174 Figure 1.2 India advancing in e-government development 162 150 158 150 134 149 27 59 143 EGDI 0.38 0.39 18 17 127 OSI 0.40 55 56 113 ICT 0.11 0.54 0.16Development Index (EGDI) is constructed on a Indiacomparative basis that rates each country relative to HCI Belizeall other Member States. 0.50 Lack of access to both ICT and education infra- 0.62structure in the developing countries is a major con-straint on e-government development. Income per 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6capita imposes another limiting factor, with lower Indicesincome countries having a higher marginal cost for adollar spent on ICT. With the economic downturn, on- For example, India has about 4000 times theline services are at a disadvantage in the competition for population and about 130 times the area of Belize.resources with safe water, rural health and basic educa- Moreover, it has only about one quarter of the Grosstion services. This becomes especially acute if the coun- National Income of Belize. As such, the effort re-try has a large population and/or a large land area since quired by India to provide e-government services ise-inclusion demands that online service access and far greater than that of Belize.infrastructure be available to all. Large areas requiregreater investments in providing telecommunication Figure 1.3 Impressive gains by Chinainfrastructure. Even with cellular technology on themove, connectivity remains a major challenge for far EGDI 0.5359flung rural areas. Including a population of 200 people 0.5217living in the Sahara desert denotes a high marginal costfor the government. Large populations also require OSI 0.5294greater investments in schools and functional literacy. 0.4248Many developing countries continue to feel the dragof a low level of educational achievement, which pulls ICT 0.3039 Chinadown the United Nations E-Government rankings. 0.3969 Viet Nam Implicit in the concept of inclusion-for-all is thatlarge, low income countries must exert far more ef- HCI 0.7745fort to achieve a given level of e-government devel- 0.7434opment than small, high income countries. A largecountry by land area, for example, must lay many 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 Indices The same is the case of China, which has about 15 times the population of Viet Nam, around 30 times the area, and some 30 per cent the income per capita. This implies that China has a lower availability of 13

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings resources, skill levels and connectivity, at the margin, Figure 1.4 Regional averages to devote to e-government development compared in e-government development to Viet Nam, and that it must put forth a greater effort to achieve a similar level of e-government develop- Africa 0.2780 ment. Despite these challenges the effort made by Americas China has translated into a higher EGDI, at 0.5359. Asia 0.5403 Europe 0.4992 The converse is true too. Countries endowed Oceania with a high income per capita, a small population, World average 0.7188 and high levels of connectivity face fewer challenges. It is to be expected that with fewer constraints, their 0.4240 e-government development efforts will be more 0.4882 developed so that e-services are available to all, and that high-income developed economies will go the 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 extra mile to deploy ICT for transformation of soci- EGDI eties for sustainable development. as a whole remain far ahead of the rest of the world This brings into sharp focus two aspects of e- regions. Asia, which is home to around three-fifths government for development. Countries with a of the world citizens, has nevertheless only around high per capita income, an established ICT infra- 70 per cent of the level of e-government in Europe structure, and high levels of human capital can easily while the level of services in Africa barely squares utilize these advantages to leverage the opportunity off at 40 per cent of those in Europe. Within any afforded by ICT and support sustained socio-eco- region, countries at the lower percentile of e-devel- nomic development. However, in some cases, they opment do not fare well either. This is especially may not be doing so fully. Others with lower levels true of the lower income countries in both Asia shown by key indicators no doubt need a greater ef- and Africa. The 10 least e-ready countries in Asia fort, but also have an opportunity to leapfrog long have barely 37 per cent of the level of e-govern- gestation developmental cycles by adroit utilization ment in Europe while in Africa the figure is little of ICT for development. more than 20 per cent. 1.3 Regional comparisons What is encouraging is the worldwide trend during the last decade. Since 2003 all regions of the world have steadily improved their e-government Sustained integration, expansion and consolida- Figure 1.5 Advances in regional tion of government online offerings led to more e-government development in the than a 10 per cent increase in the world average of last decade4 e-government development compared to two years ago. The region of Europe (0.7188) shows the high- 0.8 est e-government development followed by the Americas (0.5403). 0.7 Europe Figure 1.4 highlights that despite considerable 0.6 strides towards bridging the digital divide, infra- Americas structure and human capital limitations in sev- eral parts of the world impinge upon the ability of 0.5 Asia governments to spread – and the citizens to par- World take of – the benefits of information technology average in the delivery of services. With a history of high levels of functional education and widespread te- 0.4 Oceania lephony infrastructure, Europe and the Americas 0.3 Africa 0.2 2003 2004 2005 2008 2010 201214

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankingsdevelopment offerings with European countries vis- for government ministries and agencies. Table 1.3 The key challenge foribly taking off in the last two years (see figure 1.5). shows that Seychelles (0.5192) climbed several the e-governmentWhile some countries have advanced considerably points to number one in the region in 2012 followed development ofover others, Asia as a whole progressed at a leaner by Mauritius (0.5066) and South Africa (0.4869). Africa remains therate till 2010 – almost in line with the advances in It is notable that all of the African leaders increased lack of widespreadthe world average – and then took off. With an al- their e-government development index value in infrastructure andmost flat curve for the period 2003-2012, e-govern- 2012 but lost in comparative performance around functional literacy.ment offerings in Africa advanced minimally, with the world, except for Kenya and Morocco, whichthe region as a whole still remaining least e-ready. gained in the world rankings from 124 to 119 and from 126 to 120 respectively. Tunisia (0.4833) and1.3.1 E-government in Africa Egypt (0.4611) declined in rank substantially as did Cape Verde (0.4297) because their improvementsThe key challenge for the e-government develop- did not keep pace with those of other countriesment of Africa remains the widespread lack of in- around the world.frastructure and functional literacy. Despite recentexpansion in mobile telephony, most countries in Table 1.3 Top ranked countries in AfricaAfrica remain at the tail end of the digital divide.These challenges have translated into a lower than World e-gov.world average e-government development for all E-gov. development index development rankingsub-regions. Southern Africa (0.3934) consistentlyoutpaces all other sub-regions. Though there has Rank Country 2012 2010 2012 2010been some improvement in all sub-regions, exceptfor Northern Africa and Middle Africa, it has been 1 Seychelles 0.5192 0.4179 84 104minimal, with the least e-ready sub-region being 2 MauritiusWestern Africa (0.2171). 3 South Africa 0.5066 0.4645 93 77 4 TunisiaFigure 1.6 Trends in e-government 5 Egypt 0.4869 0.4306 101 97development in Africa 2008-2012 6 Cape Verde 7 Kenya 0.4833 0.4826 103 66 8 Morocco 9 Botswana 0.4611 0.4518 107 86 10 Namibia 0.4297 0.4054 118 108 0.4212 0.3338 119 124 0.4209 0.3287 120 126 0.4186 0.3637 121 117 0.3937 0.3314 123 125Eastern Africa 0.3011 2012 Regional Average 0.2780 0.2733Middle Africa 0.2782 2010 World Average 0.4882 0.4406Northern Africa 2008Southern Africa 0.2879Western Africa 0.2492 0.2603 0.2530 0.3159 Map 1.1 Sub-regions of Africa 0.3692 0.3403 0.3934 Western Africa Northern Africa Eastern Africa Mozambique 0.3505 Benin Algeria Burundi Rwanda Burkina Faso Egypt Comoros Seychelles 0.3893 Cape Verde Libya Djibouti Somalia Côte d’Ivoire Morocco Eritrea Uganda 0.2171 Gambia Sudan Ethiopia United Republic 0.2156 Ghana South Sudan Kenya 0.2110 Guinea Tunisia Madagascar of Tanzania Guinea-Bissau Malawi Zambia0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 Liberia Middle Africa Mauritius Zimbabwe EGDI Mali Angola Mauritania Cameroon Africa has seen improvement in e-government Niger Central African Republic Southern Africawith countries in the region looking to increase Nigeria Chad Botswanatheir online presence through developing websites Senegal Congo Lesotho Sierra Leone Democratic Republic of the Congo Namibia Togo Equatorial Guinea South Africa Gabon Swaziland São Tomé and Príncipe 15

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings Box 1.1 Seychelles leads in Eastern Africa https://eservice.egov.sc/eGateway/homepage.aspx The Government of Seychelles took the through its SeyGo Connect for residents, http://www.egov.sc initiative to enhance its e-government citizens and businesses which branches out service offerings in line with an integrated into an e-services gateway, providing a one- and interdependent strategic approach, stop-shop services ranging from thematic, which focuses on ICT infrastructure, sectoral, life cycle services to single sign-on legal and regulatory framework, human tailored for the individual user. u resource development, ICT industry and improvements in the efficiency of the gov- ernment. It aims at making “Seychelles globally competitive, with a modern ICT enabled economy and a knowledge-based Information Society where strong, efficient and sustainable improvements in social, economic, cultural, good governance and regional integration are achieved through the deployment and effective application of ICT”.5 Seychelles hosts its integrated portal Table 1.4 E-government development In 2012, Seychelles undertook further con- in Eastern Africa solidation of infrastructure and its e-government development. Major improvements in mobile E-gov. development index World e-gov. telecommunication and integration of thematic development ranking services in education, health, and finance with the national portal allowed it to improve its world rank- Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 ing. Mauritius improved its offerings around 10 per cent with the national portal providing facilities for Seychelles 0.5192 0.4179 84 104 services such as appointments for vehicle inspec- Mauritius 0.5066 0.4645 tions, scholarships and work permits. Although it Kenya 0.4212 0.3338 93 77 ranked 2nd in the Eastern Africa region, its efforts Zimbabwe 0.3583 0.3230 could not keep pace in comparison to peers, leading United Rep. 0.3311 0.2926 119 124 to a decline in its global ranking. of Tanzania 0.3291 0.2749 Rwanda 0.3185 0.2812 133 129 Online services of Mozambique have gained Uganda 0.3054 0.2890 ground in attempting to consolidate all information Madagascar 0.2910 0.2810 139 137 into one complete site, though this site lacks trans- Zambia 0.2786 0.2288 actional services. Integrated services across sectors, Mozambique 0.2740 0.2357 140 148 including important legislation, are available. They Malawi 0.2358 0.2327 include obtaining an identity card, registration of Comoros 0.2306 0.2033 143 142 motor vehicles, finding private employment recruit- Ethiopia 0.2288 0.2014 ment agencies, and the payment of taxes, to name a Burundi 0.2228 0.2059 148 139 few. Progress on back-office integration can be found Djibouti 0.2043 0.1859 from the linkages to the various ministries and in- Eritrea 0.0640 0.0000 154 143 stitutions of the government. Lack of infrastructure, Somalia especially broadband, remains a critical factor imped- 158 161 ing the e-government efforts in other countries of this 159 159 171 160 172 172 173 174 176 170 180 175 190 N/A Sub Regional Average 0.3011 0.2782 World Average 0.4882 0.440616

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankingsBox 1.2 Tunisia national portal The national government portal provides a ‘Most Used Services’ section on the home page that pro- http://www.tunisie.gov.tn vides quick access for citizens to information on services such as obtaining a driver license, and acquiring personal and home loans. Information regarding government services is also laid out by sector, providing quick and efficient access to com- prehensive data. usub-region such as Mozambique and Rwanda as well, of Sao Tome and Principe, though providingdespite their progress in expanding services. mostly static information, has archived data in- cluding sectoral information on health, education The top five countries in the Middle Africa sub- and the economy.region all improved their service offerings in 2011.However the marginal improvement did not trans- For effective e-government to materialize, plan-late into rank improvements on a world level, except ning and organization needs to accompany resourcein the case of Cameroon (0.3070). The countries availability and an adequate level of human andof Middle Africa trailed behind other countries of physical infrastructure on the ground.the world. Table 1.6 E-government development Gabon (0.3687) was the sub-regional leader in Northern Africafollowed by Sao Tome and Principe (0.3327) andthen Angola (0.3203). Improved features such as E-gov. development index World e-gov.Twitter and Facebook on the Gabon national site development rankingindicated a move towards greater participationand inclusion of the citizen. The national website Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 Tunisia 0.4833 0.4826 103 66 Egypt 0.4611 0.4518 Morocco 0.4209 0.3287 107 86 Algeria 0.3608 0.3181Table 1.5 E-government development Sudan 0.2610 0.2542 120 126in Middle Africa South Sudan 0.2239 Libya N/A 132 131 N/A 0.3799 165 154 E-gov. development index World e-gov. 175 N/A development rankingCountry 2012 2010 2012 2010 N/A 114Gabon 0.3687 0.3420 129 123Sao Tome and Principe 0.3327 0.3258Angola 0.3203 0.3110 138 128 Sub Regional Average 0.3159 0.3692Cameroon 0.3070 0.2722 World Average 0.4882 0.4406Equatorial Guinea 0.2955 0.2902 142 132Congo 0.2809 0.3019Democratic Republic 0.2280 0.2357 147 149of the Congo 0.1092 0.1235Chad 0.1399 151 138 Though most countries of Northern Africa in-Central African Republic N/A creased their e-government offerings since the last 157 135 Survey, they slipped in overall world rankings this year primarily because other countries overtook 174 158 them in infrastructural development, especially in mobile telephone access. Tunisia (0.4833) main- 189 182 tained its position as the leader of e-government in the sub-region. Morocco improved its e-government N/A 181Sub Regional Average 0.2492 0.2603World Average 0.4882 0.4406 17

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings value (0.4209) reaching 120th. Algeria increased its upon the virtual presence of the Government in e-government development value by 13 per cent and Libya (formerly the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya), which maintained its global rank. Egypt did not improve went offline at the time of the survey assessment. Table 1.7 E-government development South Africa (0.4869) was the sub-regional in Southern Africa leader, followed by Botswana (0.4186) and Namibia (0.3937). South Africa developed a solid E-gov. development index World e-gov. presence covering many of the basic services and development ranking features while simultaneously developing transac- tional facilities and venturing into the networked Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 presence stage. Though providing slightly higher online services than in 2010 and advances in mo- South Africa 0.4869 0.4306 101 97 bile telephony, all countries in Southern Africa, Botswana 0.4186 0.3637 except for Lesotho, fell behind due to continued Namibia 0.3937 0.3314 121 117 low availability of infrastructure, especially for the Lesotho 0.3501 0.3512 use of broadband. Swaziland 0.3179 0.2757 123 125 136 121 144 145 Sub Regional Average 0.3934 0.3505 Table 1.8 E-government development World Average 0.4882 0.4406 in Western Africa much and declined to 107th. South Sudan became the E-gov. development index World e-gov. 193rd United Nations Member State and at the same development ranking time came online with a world ranking of 175th. At the same time, domestic political turmoil impacted Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 Cape Verde 0.4297 0.4054 118 108 Ghana 0.3159 0.2754 Gambia 0.2688 0.2117 145 147 Nigeria 0.2676 0.2687 Senegal 0.2673 0.2241 161 167 Côte d’Ivoire 0.2580 0.2805Figure 1.7 Limitations of infrastructure impeding Liberia 0.2407 0.2133 162 150e-government in Africa Togo 0.2143 0.2150 Benin 0.2064 0.2017 163 163 Mauritania 0.1996 0.2359 Guinea-Bissau 0.1945 0.1561 166 144 Mali 0.1857 0.1815 Mobile subscribers per 100 inhabitants Burkina Faso 0.1578 0.1587 169 166 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Sierra Leone 0.1557 0.1697 Niger 0.1119 0.1098 178 165 Guinea 0.1426 N/A 179 173Botswana 6.000 117.800 181 157Namibia 6.847 0.604 182 179 0.600 6.500 183 176 6.657 4.169 67.200 185 178 0.420 186 177Seychelles 25.480 41.000 188 183 135.900 6.603 7.260 N/A 180South Africa 12.300 100.500 Sub Regional Average 0.2171 0.2156 8.428 World Average 0.4882 0.4406 7.551 Internet users Telephone lines 1.480 Internet subscriptions Fixed broadbandLesotho 3.860 32.200 Mobile subscribers 1.787 0.124 Cape Verde (0.4297) was the sub-regional 0.020 leader. Although half of all countries, includ- ing Ghana (0.3159), Gambia (0.2688), Senegal 8.020 (0.2673), and Liberia (0.2407) increased their offerings in 2012 all countries of the sub-regionSwaziland 3.710 61.776 remained below the world average. Despite the 1.883 0.137 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Numbers per 100 inhabitants18

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankingsupsurge in mobile telephony online in recent Table 1.9 Top ranked countriesyears, services in Africa remain circumscribed in the Americasby lack of infrastructure. World e-gov. E-gov. development index development ranking1.3.2 E-government in the Americas Rank Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 E-government strategies in theAs part of their effort to advance citizen services, 1 United States 0.8687 0.8510 5 2 Americas are geareddeveloped countries are paying greater attention towards user-centricto the concepts of an integrated government por- 2 Canada 0.8430 0.8448 11 3 solutions, which servetal and the re-engineering of back-office processes to synergizein designing their e-government capabilities. 3 Chile 0.6769 0.6014 39 34 governance processesE-government strategies are geared towards user- and systems acrosscentric solutions, which serve to synergize gover- 4 Colombia 0.6572 0.6125 43 31 multiple publicnance processes and systems across multiple public administrationadministration domains. 5 Barbados 0.6566 0.5714 44 40 domains. As noted in figure 1.8, the sub-region of 6 Antigua and Barbuda 0.6345 0.5154 49 55 CaribbeanNorthern America (0.8559), encompassing only Antigua and Barbudathe United States and Canada, is the world leader 7 Uruguay 0.6315 0.5848 50 36 Bahamaswith values far higher than the world average and Barbadosall other sub-regions. In 2012, all sub-regions col- 8 Mexico 0.6240 0.5150 55 56 Cubalectively improved performance in the Americas, Dominicaincluding the Caribbean (0.5133) and South 9 Argentina 0.6228 0.5467 56 48 Dominican RepublicAmerica (0.5507). Grenada 10 Brazil 0.6167 0.5006 59 61 Haiti Jamaica Regional Average 0.5403 0.4790 Saint Kitts and Nevis World Average 0.4882 0.4406 Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesFigure 1.8 Regional e-government The United States was found, as before, a best prac- Trinidad and Tobagoin the Americas tice example of an integrated portal that provides easy to navigate design and collects and consolidates all infor- 19Caribbean 0.5133 2012 mation and services for citizens in one place, includingCentral America 0.4454 2010 agency services at the state and local level, which vastlyNorthern America increases the effectiveness of user search and uptake.South America 0.4895 0.8559World Average 0.4295 0.8479 Barbados (0.6566) has been and remains the sub-regional leader among the Caribbean countries 0.5507 in 2012 followed by Antigua and Barbuda (0.6345) 0.4869 and the Bahamas (0.5793). The national site of Barbados offered a user friendly approach of “chan- 0.4882 nels” such as the Government Channel, Citizens & 0.4406 Map 1.2 Sub-regions of the Americas0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 EGDI Northern America Canada United States of America The top ranked countries in the Americas re- Central America South Americamained the United States followed by Canada, Belize Argentinaboth of which were also among the world leaders. Costa Rica Bolivia (Plurinational State of)All countries of the region improved their e-gov- El Salvador Brazilernment in the past two years, which contributed Guatemala Chileto around 12 per cent improvement in the sub- re- Honduras Colombiagional average. The majority of the countries were Mexico Ecuadoralso among the top 60 in world rankings. Nicaragua Guyana Panama Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay Venezuela

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings Table 1.10 E-government development Table 1.11 E-government development in the Caribbean in Central America E-gov. development index World e-gov. E-gov. development index World e-gov. development ranking development ranking Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 Barbados 0.6566 0.5714 44 40 Mexico 0.6240 0.5150 55 56 Antigua and Barbuda 0.6345 0.5154 Panama 0.5733 0.4619 Bahamas 0.5793 0.4871 49 55 El Salvador 0.5513 0.4700 66 79 Trinidad and Tobago 0.5731 0.4806 Costa Rica 0.5397 0.4749 Dominica 0.5561 0.4149 65 65 Guatemala 0.4390 0.3937 74 73 Grenada 0.5479 0.4277 Honduras 0.4341 0.4065 Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.5272 0.4691 67 67 Belize 0.3923 0.3513 77 71 Saint Vincent and 0.5177 0.4355 Nicaragua 0.3621 0.3630 the Grenadines 0.5130 0.4557 73 105 112 112 Dominican Republic 0.5122 0.4471 Saint Lucia 0.4552 0.4467 75 99 117 107 Jamaica 0.4488 0.4321 Cuba 0.1512 0.2074 81 75 124 120 Haiti 85 94 130 118 89 84 90 88 Sub Regional Average 0.4895 0.4295 World Average 0.4882 0.4406 108 89 110 96 187 169 infrastructure has allowed them to complement, and indeed supplement, traditional access to nar- Sub Regional Average 0.5133 0.4454 row the digital divide. World Average 0.4882 0.4406 Mexico upgraded its offerings in 2011 to in- Residents Channel, Businesses Channel, etc., mak- clude a comprehensive search service, which in- ing it easier for the user to find relevant information. dexes federal, state and municipal web portals Moving towards transactional offerings, it allowed daily. With more than 400 million registries in its for calculation of land taxes. index, the national portal greatly expanded online services to citizens, including an open government Improvements in online offerings along with initiative, special offerings for vulnerable groups, investments in telecommunications and human and a facility for the anonymous reporting of is- capital allowed Antigua and Barbuda to advance sues of concern to authorities. It allows for greater to a world ranking of 49th in 2012. Similarly, in inclusion of the citizen through social media such Dominica and in Grenada, substantial investments as Twitter and Facebook and is among the select in access infrastructure, especially broadband, con- 19 per cent of world countries providing a single tributed to an advance in world rankings. sign-on service. All countries of the Central America sub-region Though Panama improved its online services, increased their offerings in 2012. Mexico (0.6240) the main contributor to its advancement in this was the leader with e-government offerings around year’s rankings is the expansion of mobile infra- 27 per cent higher than other countries of the sub- structure, which is becoming an affordable technol- region. Closely following Mexico as number two ogy among other countries as well. Panama has one in the sub-region, Panama (0.5733) improved its of the highest penetrations of mobile subscribers in world ranking from 79 in 2010 to 66 in 2012. It is the region. As part of its Modernization Plan, to be followed by El Salvador (0.5513) and Costa Rica completed in 2014, Panama is aiming to provide free (0.5397). On the other hand, even as mobile te- access to the Internet for all citizens. lephony increased in El Salvador, broadband and other access infrastructure remained low, imped- The United States (0.8687) leads this sub- ing its online service delivery uptake. Other coun- region followed closely by Canada (0.8430). Since tries of the sub-region that improved e-services are the United Nations Survey started tracking e-gov- also demonstrating that the expansion of mobile ernment development in 2003 both countries have been among the top world leaders with integrated20

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankings Box 1.3 Mexico’s alternative approach http://www.gob.mx Mexico takes an alternative approach to being able to filter through other themes such e-services. Its portal, simply speaking, is a as laws at state and federal levels. Users are search engine with integrating services that also able to filter information that narrows respond to users’ specific search criteria. It down search results to those that are near contains information filtering features that the user. A translation feature allows users to allow users to filter content in order to nar- translate their searches into the various lan- row down searches for specific information. guages that Google offers. Another feature The portal has the ability to filter information is ‘The Government Recommends’ side-bar by image, videos or news, following the style that suggests useful pages to users so they can of Google’s main filtering features, as well as quickly gain access to information. uTable 1.12 E-government development closest to a pure integrated portal with access to in-in Northern America terlinked searchable information from the United States Government, state governments, and local E-gov. development index World e-gov. governments all in one place. Substantial back- development ranking office integration has gone into the user interface, which offers a simple convenient and easy-to-use fa-Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 cility for everything from government departments and agencies to verifying a social security number,United States 0.8687 0.8510 52 getting an employer identification number, multipleCanada 0.8430 0.8448 online participation efforts and much more.6 Early 11 3 recognition of the use of ICT for rolling out citizenSub Regional Average 0.8559 0.8479World Average 0.4882 0.4406portals and increasingly inclusive citizen services Table 1.13 E-government developmentspread across theme, functionally and now by life in South Americacycle and events. For example, the United Statese-government portal (http://www.usa.gov) comes World e-gov. development ranking E-gov. development index Country 2012 2010 2012 2010Figure 1.9 E-government Chile 0.6769 0.6014 39 34in Northern America Colombia 0.6572 0.6125 Uruguay 0.6315 0.5848 43 31 Argentina 0.6228 0.5467 Brazil 0.6167 0.5006 50 36 Venezuela 0.5585 0.4774 1.0 Peru 0.5230 0.4923 56 48 Ecuador 0.4869 0.4322 0.9 USA Paraguay 0.4802 0.4243 59 61 0.8 Canada Bolivia (Plurinational 0.4658 0.4280 State of) 0.4549 0.4140 71 70 Guyana 0.4344 0.3283 0.7 Suriname 82 63 0.6 102 95EGDI 0.5 0.4882 104 101 0.4020 0.4130 0.4267 0.4514 0.4406 0.4 106 98 0.3 World 109 106 average 116 127 0.2 0.1 0 Sub Regional Average 0.5507 0.4869 2003 2004 2005 2008 2010 2012 World Average 0.4882 0.4406 21

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings Box 1.4 Brazil: Expanding services Brazil’s national portal (http://www.brasil.gov.br) An innovative feature of the national portal is has looked to further build upon its strengths by of- ‘MeuBrasil’ (My Brazil), where users can personal- fering greater access and improvement of services ize queries by choosing their favourite themes that to citizens and increasing transparency of govern- allow updated and user-tailored content. An innova- ment actions. The layout of the national portal is tive approach is noticeable on the linked Ministry thematic with a ‘For’ section, which targets the of Health portal, (http://portal.saude.gov.br/portal/ student, worker and business person with a supple- saude/default.cfm). Here, through a live webcast, mental ‘About’ section differentiated by topics such radio users can receive the latest news and informa- as health, education, environment and citizenship. tion on health issues while a micro site offers health Government services, such as payment of income crisis information. At the time of assessment, avail- taxes, fines, utilities and application for social welfare able material related to dengue fever, informing on benefits, are easily accessible in an A to Z search from symptoms and methods of prevention and providing the national portal, which connects users to the vari- a map showing the risk of the disease in each state of ous ministries and government departments. the country. uIn 2012, three of the centric services has contributed to the United and the region as a whole has a higher level of e-world’s top 20 States’ top rankings in the last decade. As the figures government development than the world average.e-leaders are from indicate, both the United States and Canada have While there has been improvement in providingAsia, and the region consistently had e-government development levels e-services across the continent, some of the largestas a whole has a far above the world average from 2003 to 2012. gains are found in Western Asia.higher level ofe-government Chile (0.6769) is the sub-regional leader in The Republic of Korea (0.9283), the worlddevelopment than South America, followed by Colombia (0.6572). leader in e-government, is also the top performerthe world average. Whereas collectively the sub-region improved its e- in Asia with around double the average world e- government development by 13 per cent, of the 12 government offerings. The 2nd slot is taken this year22 countries that make up this sub-region all declined by Singapore (0.8474) followed by Israel (0.8100) in the world rankings except Brazil (0.6167) and and then Japan (0.8019). The performance of the Suriname (0.4344), indicating that countries within the region as well as around the world are investing Figure 1.10 Regional e-government in – and expanding – services faster than the coun- in Asia tries of this sub-region. 1.3.3 E-government in Asia Central Asia 0.4941 Eastern Asia 0.4239 Asia is home to 60 per cent of humanity. With some Southern Asia Asian countries, including China and India, averag- South-Eastern Asia 0.6344 ing around 8 to 9 per cent of the continent’s GDP, Western Asia 0.6470 Asia as a whole continued to expand e-government Regional Average services further. Investments were made horizon- World Average 0.3464 tally to expand infrastructure, including support 0.3248 for broadband and mobile access, while at the same time governments reached out to provide greater 0.4793 online services and improve e-governance. In 2012, 0.4250 three of the world’s top 20 e-leaders are from Asia, 0.5547 0.4732 0.4992 2012 0.4424 2010 0.4882 0.4406 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 EGDI

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankingsTable 1.14 E-government leaders in Asia Commensurate with global progress, all countries of Central Asia improved their service offerings, pull- World e-gov. ing up the sub-regional average by around 17 per cent. E-gov. development index development ranking Kazakhstan was the sub-regional leader, improving its global ranking by around eight positions in 2012.Rank Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 Kazakhstan in recent years has made efforts to1 Republic of Korea 0.9283 0.8785 1 1 modernize the public sector, including technology- based reform of administrative governance systems.2 Singapore 0.8474 0.7476 10 11 A parallel effort has been a focus on the use of ICT3 Israel 0.8100 0.6552 16 264 Japan 0.8019 0.7152 18 175 United Arab Emirates 0.7344 0.5349 28 496 Bahrain 0.6946 0.7363 36 137 Kazakhstan 0.6844 0.5578 38 46 Table 1.15 E-government development in Central Asia8 Malaysia 0.6703 0.6101 40 329 Saudi Arabia 0.6658 0.5142 41 5810 Cyprus 0.6508 0.5705 45 42 E-gov. development index World e-gov. development ranking Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 Regional Average 0.4992 0.4424 Kazakhstan 0.6844 0.5578 38 46 World Average 0.4882 0.4406 Uzbekistan 0.5099 0.4498 Kyrgyzstan 0.4879 0.4417 91 87 Tajikistan 0.4069 0.3477 Turkmenistan 0.3813 0.3226 99 91United Arab Emirates (0.7344) is especially notable 122 122as it advanced 21 positions to the ranking this yearof 28th globally and 5th in Asia. The rapid progress 126 130of the United Arab Emirates is a best practice casehighlighting how effective e-government can help Sub Regional Average 0.4941 0.4239support development. With double the population World Average 0.4882 0.4406and three quarters of the GDP per capita, the UnitedArab Emirates has achieved around the same level of for provision of services and inclusion. As in otheronline services as those offered in Norway, a global developing countries the acceleration of informa-leader at the 8th position. tization is aimed at increasing the efficiency of the government and exploiting synergies towards a sus-Figure 1.11 E-government in Norway tainable model of development.and the United Arab Emirates Ranked 2nd in the e-government development index in Central Asia, Uzbekistan has taken slow but signifi- cant steps toward increasing its online presence with the Government Portal of the Republic of Uzbekistan Online Service Index 1.0 0.8627 0.8 0.8562 0.6 United Map 1.3 Sub-regions of Asia Arab 0.4 Emirates Central Asia Eastern Asia Norway Kazakhstan China 0.2 Kyrgyzstan Democratic People’s Tajikistan Republic of Korea Turkmenistan Japan 0.2 0 0.2 Uzbekistan Mongolia 0.5570 0.4 0.4 0.7871 0.6 Southern Asia Republic of Korea 0.6 0.8 0.8 Afghanistan South-Eastern Asia 1.0 Bangladesh Brunei Darussalam Western Asia Bhutan Cambodia Armenia1.0 Azerbaijan India Indonesia Bahrain 0.708.391343 Cyprus Lebanon Iran (Islamic Republic of) Lao People’s Democratic Republic Georgia Oman Iraq Qatar Maldives Malaysia Israel Saudi Arabia Jordan Syrian Arab Republic Nepal Myanmar Kuwait Turkey United Arab Emirates Pakistan Philippines YemenHuman Telecommunications Sri Lanka SingaporeCapital Index Index Thailand Timor-Leste Viet Nam 23

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings Box 1.5 Integrated services in Kazakhstan http://www.e.gov.kz The official homepage provides more than participation online in almost all procure- 1300 codes, laws, decrees, and orders with ment procedures. The main driver behind all legislation integrated into the main the improvement in services is the elec- site. Each e-service has several icons stat- tronic public procurement portal featuring ing whether this service can be paid online digitization of 59 e-services of state bodies, or obtained through electronic signature. the e-license database, frequent open public There are other convenient sites such as ePay web conferences, often with the with active (http://www.epay.gov.kz) and eLicense participation of high-level government offi- (http://www.elicense.kz) where you can cials, and blog platforms in many ministries get specific services and payments. Another and agencies. u site, (http://www.goszakup.gov.kz), offers (http://www.gov.uz). Though the country slipped in The Republic of Korea offers around 87 per overall rank, it improved its services by around 13 per cent of all services assessed in the United Nations cent. If several years ago the website was merely infor- E-Government Survey 2012. The country’s emer- mative and not at all interactive, government initiative gence as the world leader in information and and consequent legislative changes in 2007 and 2009 communication technologies in fields such as broad- made possible a more comprehensive e-government band, semiconductors and third generation mobile portal. Compared to its earlier versions, the national site devices – has guaranteed its fast growth and devel- has added the following notable characteristics and fea- opment in the area of e-government. Japan follows tures: effective organization of information; integrated as number two in the sub-region, at 18th in world e- archived information (laws, policies, etc.); an increased government development rankings. It is notable that number of ministries linked to the portal; technical and all countries of Eastern Asia improved their service web design features (RSS, audio, video, language, etc.) offerings and that the Democratic People’s Republic and static online downloadable forms. of Korea came online. Box 1.6 World leader in e-government development 2012: Republic of Korea http://www.korea.go.kr The Government’s main website has devel- A key reason for continued leadership in oped into an integrated portal where citizens world e-government progress is significant can find almost every service they want, on development and provision of download- both national and local level. The main able mobile applications that are available government portal is a gateway to services from its national portal. The cross sector through multiple channels, by theme and mobile apps for citizens are both iPhone and subjects; citizens can also have a custom- Android compatible including for e-Learn- ized channel by inputting their own age, ing, which allows students to learn on their gender and services of interest. Back-office mobile phone in areas such as social stud- integration across many departments brings ies, math and English. For employment op- together a powerful search engine offering portunities, Jobcast provides information on advanced categorizing function, which can availability of jobs in the Republic of Korea list results by websites, services, and news, along with the relevant legislation govern- including at the local level. ing labour. u24

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankingsBox 1.7 China: Enhancing transparency and opennesshttp://www.gov.cn China has been making efforts to improve the level of its Government portal by providing comprehen- sive information, more integrated services of differ- ent sectors, and interactions between government officials and citizens. One thing worth mentioning is China’s endeav- our to promote the open government initiative. In order to improve transparency, there is a separate section on the government’s main portal that enables citizens to search for and refer to archived policy doc- uments and notifications of different sectors. u Among others, China has made steady progress Table 1.16 E-government developmentin overall e-government development. This is no in Eastern Asiasmall feat since it is a country of 1.2 billion people anda large land mass – both of which require more effort E-gov. development index World e-gov.from the government, especially if the population is development rankingwidely dispersed, than would a country with a smallpopulation living within a limited area. China has en- Country 2012 2010 2012 2010hanced the quality of its government portal by pro-viding comprehensive information, more integrated Republic of Korea 0.9283 0.8785 11services across different sectors, and greater interac- Japan 0.8019 0.7152tions between government officials and citizens. Mongolia 0.5443 0.5243 18 17 China 0.5359 0.4700 All countries of Southern Asia fall in the lower half Dem. People’s 0.3616 76 53of the e-ready countries with approximately an equal Rep. of Korea N/Anumber of them above and below the regional aver- 78 72age. A low GDP per capita, a still evolving infrastruc-ture and lower levels of functional literacy translate 130 N/A Sub Regional Average 0.6344 0.6470 World Average 0.4882 0.4406Box 1.8 India looks to sustainable development by including allhttp://www.indg.in In addition to the national portal, the view?set_language=en). A variant of the Government has also developed an India National Portal, but targeted towards a Development Gateway. This is “the National specific group of people, this site contains portal of India developed as a single-win- specific topics aimed at the rural poor: ag- dow access to information and services, riculture, rural energy, etc., and features with the specific objective of reaching forum discussions and an “ask an expert” the ‘un-reached’ rural communities of section. Making it available in English and India, especially women and the poor. It in eight local dialects, the government’s catalyzes the use of ICT tools for knowl- main objective is to stimulate women, the edge sharing, leading to development.” poor, and people in the remote rural areas to (ht t p://w w w. i ndg. i n/i nd ia/about-c-dac/ use technology to their own advantage. u 25

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings Box 1.9 Pakistan in the forefront of e-passport http://www.nadra.gov.pk In Pakistan, the Ministry of Interior and the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) have introduced a chip-based e-passport that would help fur- ther secure the identity of the citizens, making Pakistan one of the first countries in the world to issue the Multi- biometric e-Passport compliant with ICAO standards. The e-Passport solution uses security features on the data page supported by sophisticated technology and business logic, which makes it one of the most modern passports of this era. NADRA has already issued the passports to millions of Pakistani citizens. u into low service provision and user uptake for the ma- Table 1.17 E-government development jority of the populations of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, in Southern Asia Pakistan and Nepal, with e-government development levels ranging from 0.2664 to 0.3829. E-gov. development index World e-gov. development ranking Maldives (0.4994) leads in the sub-region fol- lowed by the Islamic Republic of Iran (0.4876) Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 and then Sri Lanka (0.4357). Service provision in Maldives builds on providing easy access to informa- Maldives 0.4994 0.4392 95 92 tion to citizens and businesses. Through an ‘I Want Iran (Islamic Republic of) 0.4876 0.4234 To’ section organized by theme and life cycle, users Sri Lanka 0.4357 0.3995 100 102 can find information on service procedures, includ- India 0.3829 0.3567 ing how to obtain driver licenses, obtain ID cards Bangladesh 0.2991 0.3028 115 111 and register vehicles. The national site of the Islamic Bhutan 0.2942 0.2598 Republic of Iran is available in two languages: Persian Pakistan 0.2823 0.2755 125 119 and English. Transactional service offerings in the Nepal 0.2664 0.2568 Islamic Republic of Iran are joint public-private part- Afghanistan 0.1701 0.2098 150 134 nerships with some available online but also though banks and other local and national institutions. 152 152 156 146 164 153 184 168 Sub Regional Average 0.3464 0.3248 World Average 0.4882 0.4406 Box 1.10 Singapore in the vanguard of countries http://www.ecitizen.gov.sg Singapore is among the leaders in the use services that lists by agency as well as bill of private cloud computing for leverag- type. Payments range from taxes, fees, fines ing ICT infrastructure and services. In and licenses that can be made through September 2009, it became the first gov- multichannels such as credit card, direct ernment in Asia to equip all its teachers debit as well as internet banking and even with Web 2.0 communication and collabo- by phone. u ration tools under an open standard cloud platform. Singapore’s citizen’s portal pro- vides an extensive range of online payment26

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankingsBox 1.11 Israel consolidates e-serviceshttp://www.gov.il/firstGov Israel has improved its e-government development and has now become the leading country in the Western Asia region. The Government portal is well organized. Citizens can access information on government services in three different ways: by target audience, topics and life events. Citizens can also use the portal’s electronic identity management feature ‘My Gov’ to filter content that interests them and to access the full range of online government services and make online payments. u With 1.2 billion people and challenges associ- Table 1.18 E-government developmentated with a large population, e-services in India are in South-Eastern Asiain the formative stage. The Government of Indiahas made substantial efforts in the last few years to E-gov. development index World e-gov.overcome the challenges, including that of connec- development rankingtivity to its 70 per cent rural population. Lookingtowards sustainable growth the government has Country 2012 2010 2012 2010announced that Rural Broadband Connectivity toall 250,000 Panchayats (local governments) in the Singapore 0.8474 0.7476 10 11country will be provided in three years to bridge the Malaysia 0.6703 0.6101digital divide.7 Brunei Darussalam 0.6250 0.4796 40 32 Viet Nam 0.5217 0.4454 Other countries in the sub-region such as Philippines 0.5130 0.4637 54 68Pakistan are also providing more e-services. In Thailand 0.5093 0.4653line with the Government of Pakistan’s policy to Indonesia 0.4949 0.4026 83 90digitize e-services, the Multi-biometric e-Passport Lao People’s Dem. Rep. 0.2935 0.2637project aims at improving transparency in the Cambodia 0.2902 0.2878 88 78public sphere. Myanmar 0.2703 0.2818 Timor-Leste 0.2365 0.2273 92 76 Tenth in the world ranking, Singapore(0.8474) is the leader in the South Eastern Asia 97 109region and a best practice example. It is among 153 151 155 140 160 141 170 162 Sub Regional Average 0.4793 0.4250 World Average 0.4882 0.4406Box 1.12 Saudi Arabia offers innovative e-serviceshttp://www.saudi.gov.sa A big development in the Saudi e-services is the eDash- board portal, which verifies the identity of the citizen (Digital Verification) and serves as a single sign-on portal where citizens can access all services provided. The Saudi Government also offers an Open Data Initiative, which provides citizens with documents and reports from min- istries and government agencies, all publicly available. It encourages e-participation to gather public opinion through surveys, public consultations and blogs. u 27

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings Box 1.13 Qatar’s Hukoomi: Working towards integration http://portal.www.gov.qa/wps/portal/frontpage Hukoomi, Qatar’s official government gate- Qatari law and society. The portal provides way that integrates government services, direct links to sub-portals, such as on the programmes and initiatives. Among its employment and recruitment service and goals are to improve efficiency, responsive- e-tendering; and links to application forms ness to users and accessible to all. Accessible from a wide range of government ministries, through the Internet as well as a mobile de- agencies and public services.8 u vice, Hukoomi integrates back-office pro- cesses to allow easy access to over 100 topics and articles with detailed information about the vanguard countries employing advanced an enabling ICT environment through legislation, technology for innovative future solutions, orga- policies, guidelines and standards, such as the e- nizing information in a seamless structured and commerce policy, security policy, and data protec- user-targeted manner. Malaysia (0.6703) contin- tion policy. It addresses ICT ‘readiness’ by offering ues to be the 2nd leading country in the South- e-services through a unified system of government Eastern Asia region in 2012, not least because of networks; provides a centralized, secure, govern- its impressive service provision through an A-Z ment data centre and a payment platform; and seeks topics section as well as a life cycle feature target- ing the user as a child, teenager, adult or elderly Table 1.19 E-government development person. An impressive national health portal, in Western Asia MyHealth, uses ICT to inform citizens on health issues in Malaysia. E-gov. development index World e-gov. development ranking Like other leading countries, the key to the ad- vancement of Israel, the leader in Western Asia, is its Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 integrated approach to e-government development. Israel has added 10 points to its ranking, advancing Israel 0.8100 0.6552 16 26 from 26th position in 2010 to 16th in 2012. United Arab Emirates 0.7344 0.5349 Bahrain 0.6946 0.7363 28 49 Close behind are Saudi Arabia (0.6658) and Saudi Arabia 0.6658 0.5142 Qatar (0.6405), both of which have undertaken to Cyprus 0.6508 0.5705 36 13 expand citizen centric services as reflected in their Qatar 0.6405 0.4928 notable performance, which raised their global Kuwait 0.5960 0.5290 41 58 rankings to 41st and 48th respectively. The principle Oman 0.5944 0.4576 goals of the Saudi Arabian e-government offerings Georgia 0.5563 0.4248 45 42 are to raise the productivity and efficiency of the Turkey 0.5281 0.4780 public sector, increase the return on investment in Lebanon 0.5139 0.4388 48 62 ICT and provide easy-to-use, timely accurate ser- Armenia 0.4997 0.4025 vices. A separate e-payment portal has been devel- Azerbaijan 0.4984 0.4571 63 50 oped through which citizens are able to handle all Jordan 0.4884 0.5278 online transactions. Syrian Arab Republic 0.3705 0.3103 64 82 Iraq 0.3409 0.2996 In accordance with the strategy of the Supreme Yemen 0.2472 0.2154 72 100 Council of Information and Communication Technology (ictQATAR), Qatar developed a stra- 80 69 tegic plan for the implementation of an integrated government programme. The plan aims to provide 87 93 94 110 96 83 98 51 128 133 137 136 167 164 Sub Regional Average 0.5547 0.4732 World Average 0.4882 0.440628

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankingsto improve ‘usage’ by increasing the number of e- Table 1.20 Top 10 in Europeservices such as businesses’ registration, visa ser-vices and resident permits. Hukoomi, the national World e-gov.portal of Qatar, integrates back-office processes to E-gov. development index development rankingallow easy access to over 100 topics and articleswith detailed information about Qatari law and Rank Country 2012 2010 2012 2010society. Online services available include, amongothers, payment for utilities, renewal of health 1 Netherlands 0.9125 0.8097 2 5cards, settlement of traffic violations, visa applica-tions, and licenses. 2 United Kingdom 0.8960 0.8147 3 4 3 Denmark 0.8889 0.7872 4 7 4 France 0.8635 0.7510 6 10 5 Sweden 0.8599 0.7474 7 12 6 Norway 0.8593 0.8020 8 6 7 Finland 0.8505 0.6967 9 19 Moving from improving public1.3.4 E-government in Europe 8 Liechtenstein 0.8264 0.6694 14 23 sector efficiency, Europe looks to takeEurope as a region has been in the vanguard of in- 9 Switzerland 0.8134 0.7136 15 18 this role further information technology and setting the pace for others adapting innovativeto follow. Building on the existing strength of high 10 Germany 0.8079 0.7309 17 15 technologies tolevels of human capital and infrastructure, the trans- human developmentformative role of ICT has been recognized and ad- Regional Average 0.7188 0.6227 and economicopted to further streamline e-government services. World Average 0.4882 0.4406 sustainability inMoving beyond improving public sector efficiency, the future.Europe is now looking to adapt innovative technolo- With a common e-government framework,gies to human development and economic sustain- EU countries are encouraged to deploy advancedability in the future. technologies, institute better governance and pro- vide expanded services with concomitant pursuitFigure 1.12 Regional e-government of greater transparency, efficiency and inclusion.in Europe Notwithstanding, differences remain between re- gions and within them. Key European countriesEastern Europe 0.6333 spend more than double the EU average amountNorthern Europe 0.5449 per capita on ICT; others, around half of it.Southern EuropeWestern Europe 0.8046 The Netherlands (0.9125) made substantialRegional Average 0.7113 gains, advancing to the top position in EuropeWorld Average and 2nd in world rankings, followed by the United 0.6574 Kingdom (0.8960) in 3rd place and Denmark 0.5566 (0.8889), which also advanced and occupies the 0.8142 0.7165 0.7188 Map 1.4 Sub-regions of Europe 0.6227 0.4882 2012 0.4406 2010 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 EGDI The European region has the highest level of Western Europe Southern Europe Portugal Northern Europe Eastern Europee-government development, which is around 50 Austria Albania San Marino Denmark Belarusper cent higher than that of the world as a whole. Belgium Andorra Serbia Estonia BulgariaWestern and Northern Europe offer the most on- France Bosnia and Slovenia Finland Czech Republicline services but considerable gains were made by Germany Herzegovina Spain Iceland HungarySouthern and Eastern Europe as well in 2012. Liechtenstein Croatia The former Yugoslav Ireland Poland Luxembourg Greece Latvia Republic of Moldova Monaco Italy Republic of Lithuania Romania Netherlands Malta Macedonia Norway Russian Federation Switzerland Montenegro Sweden Slovakia United Kingdom of Great Britain Ukraine and Northern Ireland 29

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings Box 1.14 EU leads the way to innovative application of ICT to sustainable development http://www.europe2020.org Europe 2020, EU’s growth strategy for the digital market based on fast or ultra-fast coming decade, involves an innovative use internet and interoperable applications. of technology to challenges of economic growth, employment, education, social in- •Targets include: clusion and climate/energy. Expanding the By 2013: broadband access for all by reach, EU countries are looking towards 2020: access for all to much higher ICT as the key enabling technology to un- derpin future development in the region. • Internet speeds (30 Mbps or above) By 2020: 50 per cent more European The EU Member States have ear- households with Internet connections marked a total of € 9.1 billion for fund- above 100 Mbps. ing ICT over the duration of the Seventh The strategy for the near future aims at Framework Programme.9 One of the development of common platforms and ref- three Flagship Initiatives to achieve Smart erence architectures, interoperability and Growth in Europe 2020 is the Digital agenda data exchange standards in order to build a for Europe, a blueprint for creating a single competitive advantage in technology solu- tions, which will yield high value added. u 4th position this year. Within the aforementioned market, targeting small and medium enterprises and common e-government framework, all of the top increasing the number of ICT experts. countries of Europe offered more or less the same level of user centric services to their citizens result- E-services were increasingly the norm in other ing in marginal assessment difference among them. countries as well. In 2010, Moldova, another For example, Germany (0.8079), the 10th leading country that improved its ranking, in collabora- country in Europe as a whole, achieved about 89 tion with the World Bank, started implementa- per cent of the e-government development level of tion of a Strategic Programme for Technological the regional leader, the Netherlands. Modernization of the Government, aimed at ICT-led Advancing 32 positions in the world rankings, Table 1.21 E-government development the Russian Federation (0.7345) became the leader in Eastern Europe in Eastern Europe followed by Hungary (0.7201) and the Czech Republic (0.6491). E-gov. development index World e-gov. development ranking As in other parts of Europe, all countries of the sub-region improved their e-government develop- Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 ment in 2012, advancing the sub-regional average by 16 per cent even though they could not maintain Russian Federation 0.7345 0.5136 27 59 their rankings, except for Belarus and the Russian Hungary 0.7201 0.6315 Federation. Being the largest country in the world Czech Republic 0.6491 0.6060 31 27 and consisting of eight federal districts influences Poland 0.6441 0.5582 the development of e-government in the Russian Slovakia 0.6292 0.5639 46 33 Federation. The Government recently announced Bulgaria 0.6132 0.5590 investments of around 80 billion rubles for the in- Belarus 0.6090 0.4900 47 45 formatization of federal government bodies and Romania 0.6060 0.5479 other initiatives related to the development of e- Ukraine 0.5653 0.5181 53 43 government. In Hungary, the focus of programmes Republic of Moldova 0.5626 0.4611 to develop the information society encompassed 60 44 support for improving ICT skills in the labour 61 64 62 47 68 54 69 80 Sub Regional Average 0.6333 0.5449 World Average 0.4882 0.440630

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankingsBox 1.15 Denmark: Providing multiple choices http://www.borger.dk Denmark’s services portal is the gateway for student loans and student grants schol- to the entire public sector in Denmark and arships, see and modify tax issues, apply provides access to an enormous amount of for a state pension, and report changes information and services. It paves the way in income or marital status. Feedback is for an efficient user interface with effective offered through a mailbox called E-Box, streamlining of public sector departments. which collects all the mail that the citizen The slogan of the page is “your access to the receives from both public authorities and public”. It is, for example, possible to report private companies. u an address change on this website, applyinstitutional reform to increase access to informa- improvement of user interface is evident in the inte-tion and promote digital services (e-services), and grated services on the United Kingdom’s DirectGovto improve public administration. By improving the (http://www.direct.gov.uk), which provides a one-governance frameworks the programme is expected stop-shop for all government information and ser- vices. Its comprehensive ‘Do It Online’ page lists allTable 1.22 E-government development public services, forms, tools and transactions thatin Northern Europe the government provides in a user-friendly manner. The Jobcentre Plus page located on the portal allows E-gov. development index World e-gov. citizens to search one of the United Kingdom’s larg- development ranking est online databases of job vacancies.Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 With a focus on service delivery, government na- tional portals are organized according to domains inUnited Kingdom 0.8960 0.8147 34 most of the EU countries. Denmark’s overall strategyDenmark 0.8889 0.7872 appears to go well beyond simply providing a singleSweden 0.8599 0.7474 47 portal. Rather, it seems to be focusing on multipleNorway 0.8593 0.8020 entry points to government based on various interestFinland 0.8505 0.6967 7 12 groups and constituencies. Early adoption of onlineEstonia 0.7987 0.6965 transactional services has resulted in substantial costIceland 0.7835 0.6697 86 efficiencies. In Denmark, for example, electronic in-Lithuania 0.7333 0.6295 voicing saves taxpayers €150 million and businessesIreland 0.7149 0.6866 9 19 €50 million a year. According to one estimate, simi-Latvia 0.6604 0.5826 lar efforts all across the EU would result in annual 20 20 savings of around €50 billion.10 22 22 In Northern Europe, the progress of Finland was especially noteworthy as it gained 10 positions 29 28 to rank 9th in the world. The National Knowledge Society Strategy 2007-2015 in Finland focuses on 34 21 the provision of multichannel, interactive e-services together with interoperability of information sys- 42 37 tems in the public administration. The suomi.fi (http://www.suomi.fi/suomifi/suomi) portal pro-Sub Regional Average 0.8046 0.7113 vides a single access point to online public servicesWorld Average 0.4882 0.4406 offered from both state and local authorities, orga- nized around daily life events.to result in simplification and consolidation of ad-ministrative procedures leading to transparencyand effectiveness. Six out of ten countries of Northern Europewere among the world leaders. Number three inthe world, United Kingdom (0.8960) was theleader in Northern Europe followed by Denmark(0.8889 – 4th) and Sweden (0.8599 – 7th).Thefocus on integration of back-office departments for 31

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings Some other Northern European countries also Table 1.23 E-government development fortified their e-services, providing greater access in Southern Europe and inclusion to citizens. Though they did not main- tain their global ranking, other countries such as E-gov. development index World e-gov. Lithuania (0.7333 – 29th), Ireland (0.7149 – 34th), and development ranking Latvia (0.6604 – 42nd) also improved e-government applications, networking, and other web services. The Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 e-government gateway of Lithuania (http://www.ep- aslaugos.lt) has been developed under the auspices of Spain 0.7770 0.7516 23 9 the Information Society Development Committee Slovenia 0.7492 0.6243 for the purpose of providing seamless public admin- Croatia 0.7328 0.5858 25 29 istration services and information to residents and Italy 0.7190 0.5800 business. Covering content in both the Lithuanian Portugal 0.7165 0.5787 30 35 and English languages, the gateway provides 211 Malta 0.7131 0.6129 first-level public services, 167 second-level services, Greece 0.6872 0.5708 32 38 33 third-level services and 12 fourth-level services.11 Serbia 0.6312 0.4585 The one-stop-shop portal of Ireland approaches San Marino 0.6305 33 39 the delivery of e-services in such a way that enables Montenegro 0.6218 N/A users to tailor those services to their needs at a place Andorra 0.6172 0.5101 35 30 and time that suits them, together with an overview The former Yugoslav 0.5587 0.5148 of the extent of public services online. Latvia’s one- Rep. of Macedonia 0.5328 0.5261 37 41 stop-shop portal (https://www.latvija.lv) offers 29 e- Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.5161 0.4698 services and online banking (e-payments). Points of Albania 0.4519 51 81 Single Contact allow service providers to obtain in- formation through a single entry point and complete 52 N/A required administrative procedures electronically in order to commence provision of services in a chosen 57 60 business sector in Latvia. An advanced users authori- zation system through bank or ID cards ensures users 58 57 privacy and security. The online banking system al- lows users to employ the system more efficiently and 70 52 securely (e.g., for income tax declaration). 79 74 Even though its global ranking dropped, Spain (0.7770) remained the leader in Southern Europe, 86 85 followed by Slovenia at 25th and Croatia at 30th in world rankings. The national site of Spain is avail- Sub Regional Average 0.6574 0.5566 able for the user in five languages with information World Average 0.4882 0.4406 services and easy-to-navigate features. In Slovenia the public sector reforms have included digitization Among other countries that increased their of governance processes and services for improved world rankings are Italy, Portugal, Greece and Serbia. functioning. The State portal of the Government of Particularly notable is Serbia’s performance, which Slovenia (http://e-uprava.gov.si) organizes infor- advanced 30 positions to arrive at 51st in the world mation to citizens by links to 18 life event categories rankings. In Serbia, the Digital Agenda Authority is such as work and employment, health and social affairs, personal finance and taxes, environment, Table 1.24 E-government development education and youth, and social welfare so that in- in Western Europe formation on government services can be easily and quickly accessible. E-gov. development index World e-gov. development ranking Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 Netherlands 0.9125 0.8097 25 France 0.8635 0.7510 Liechtenstein 0.8264 0.6694 6 10 Switzerland 0.8134 0.7136 Germany 0.8079 0.7309 14 23 Luxembourg 0.8014 0.6672 Austria 0.7840 0.6679 15 18 Belgium 0.7718 0.7225 Monaco 0.7468 17 15 N/A 19 25 21 24 24 16 26 N/A Sub Regional Average 0.8142 0.7165 World Average 0.4882 0.440632

United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 1Chapter One World e-government rankingsresponsible for introducing online services to improve Luxembourg’s services portal (http://www.economic e ciency and citizens’ quality of life, and guichet.public.lu/fr/citoyens/index.html) is helping tofor implementing e-government in accordance with simplify the citizens’ interaction with government bya “one-stop-shop” principle. Among other initiatives, providing a quick and easy access to all information andthe Authority created Serbia’s e-services portal, eU- services by public bodies to citizens and businesses andprava (h p://www.euprava.gov.rs), which aggregates it allows users to use the electronic signature LuxTrust.services and information from more than 27 govern-mental authorities, including municipal authorities. Table 1.25 E-government development in Oceania Of the countries of the region which are globalleaders, several o ered examples of best practice. E-gov. development index World e-gov.In the Netherlands, e ciency and citizen inclu- development rankingsion are the objectives of the e-government strategy.Integration of a back-o ce management system has Country 2012 2010 2012 2010been undertaken with a belief that citizens should pro-vide information once. e government is building an Australia 0.8390 0.7863 12 8e-government infrastructure encompassing citizen New Zealand 0.8381 0.7311access to government processes including electronic Fiji 0.4672 0.3925 13 14authentication, uniform identi cation numbers for Tonga 0.4405 0.3697both citizens and businesses and electronic personal Palau 0.4359 0.4189 105 113identi cation. As part of its broader ICT strategy the Samoa 0.4358 0.3742focus of e-government in the Netherlands was on Micronesia (Federated 0.3812 111 116improving e ciency of services concomitant with States of) 0.3539 N/Areduction of administrative cost and burden. Tuvalu 0.3512 N/A 113 103 Vanuatu 0.3242 0.2521 Based on extensive technological infrastructure, Nauru 0.3129 N/A 114 115the recently concluded National Implementation Marshall Islands 0.2998 N/AProgramme (NUP) for Be er Services and e-Gov- Kiribati 0.2416 N/A 127 N/Aernment laid out agreements among the national Solomon Islands 0.2147 0.2445government, provinces, and municipalities to im- Papua New Guinea 0.2043 134 N/Aprove service delivery. Its high levels of broadbandconnectivity ensured further enhancements in e- 135 155services undertaken during the last few years. 141 N/A 146 N/A 149 N/A 168 156 177 171 Sub Regional Average 0.4240 0.4193 World Average 0.4882 0.4406Figure 1.13 Regional e-government 1.3.5 E-government in Oceaniadevelopment: Oceania and the world Two of the world leaders – Australia and New2012 0.4240 Zealand – outpace others in the region. With many2010 0.4882 countries in the range of 113–177 in global rankings,2008 the region as a whole scored around 13 per cent less2005 0.4193 than the world average.2004 0.44062003 0.4338 0.2 0.4514 0.2888 0.4267 Map 1.5 Region of Oceania 0.3006 0.4130 Oceania Australia and World New Zealand average Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia Australia Fiji Samoa 0.3510 New Zealand Papua New Guinea Kiribati Tonga 0.4020 Solomon Islands Tuvalu Vanuatu Marshall Islands Micronesia 0.3 0.4 0.5 EGDI (Federated States of) Nauru Palau 33

1 Chapter One United Nations E-Government Survey 2012 World e-government rankings Australia continues to be the leader in the Table 1.26 E-government development Oceania region. The national portal (http://aus- in least developed countries tralia.gov.au) acts as a one-stop-shop that connects citizens to the information and services of around E-gov. development index World e-gov. 900 government websites and state and territory development ranking resources. Information can be quickly and easily accessed through the ‘People’ and ‘Topics’ sec- Country 2012 2010 2012 2010 tions, which categorically filter specific content while the ‘Services’ section allows citizens to per- Samoa 0.4358 0.3742 114 115 form many functions such as making payments Tuvalu 0.3539 N/A for taxes, driver license renewals, vehicle and busi- Vanuatu 0.3512 134 N/A ness registrations, lodging online forms and mak- Lesotho 0.3501 0.2521 ing online inquiries. The integrated portal of the Sao Tome and Principe 0.3327 0.3512 135 155 Government of New Zealand provides a one-stop- United Rep. 0.3311 0.3258Though there is shop portal for information, images and resources of Tanzania 0.3291 0.2926 136 121considerable from all New Zealand government agencies and Rwanda 0.3203 0.2749progress in the government funded sites. Angola 0.3185 0.3110 138 128expansion of online Uganda 0.3054 0.2812services, one of the 1.4 Least developed countries Madagascar 0.2998 0.2890 139 137primary challenges Kiribati 0.2991that remains in The least developed countries (LDCs) group was Bangladesh 0.2955 N/A 140 148LDC’s is integration led by Samoa (0.4358) at 114th place, followed by Equatorial Guinea 0.2942 0.3028of back-end Tuvalu (0.3539) which, at 134th, made considerable Bhutan 0.2935 0.2902 142 132processes with progress since 2010.12 Notable advances were also Lao People’s Dem. Rep. 0.2910 0.2598efficient, user made by Vanuatu (0.3512) and Rwanda (0.3291), Zambia 0.2902 0.2637 143 142friendly, and target- which moved up to 135th and 140th, respectively. Cambodia 0.2786 0.2810oriented services Overall, the LDCs remain hampered by a lack of Mozambique 0.2740 0.2878 148 139delivery. infrastructure, both physical and human. Despite Malawi 0.2703 0.2288 advances in mobile communication lack of func- Myanmar 0.2688 0.2357 149 N/A34 tional skills limit user uptake. Gambia 0.2673 0.2818 Senegal 0.2664 0.2117 150 134 Though there is considerable progress in the Nepal 0.2610 0.2241 expansion of online services, one of the primary Sudan 0.2472 0.2568 151 138 challenges that remains is integration of back-end Yemen 0.2416 0.2542 processes with efficient, user friendly, and target- Solomon Islands 0.2407 0.2154 152 152 oriented services delivery. Countries around the Liberia 0.2365 0.2445 world are increasingly adopting integrated, multi- Timor-Leste 0.2358 0.2133 153 151 channel and user-centric services online. Though Comoros 0.2306 0.2273 efforts towards deploying ICT for sustainable de- Ethiopia 0.2288 0.2327 154 143 velopment are evident, the extent, design and ap- Burundi 0.2280 0.2033 proach to user interface vary depending on several Democratic Republic of 0.2228 0.2014 155 140 factors, including leadership and vision, planning the Congo 0.2143 0.2357 and organization, level of income and absorptive Djibouti 0.2064 0.2059 158 161 capacity in the country. Togo 0.2043 0.2150 Benin 0.1996 0.2017 159 159 Eritrea 0.1945 0.1859 Mauritania 0.1857 0.2359 160 141 Guinea Bissau 0.1701 0.1561 Mali 0.1578 0.1815 161 167 Afghanistan 0.1557 0.2098 Burkina Faso 0.1512 0.1587 163 163 Sierra Leone 0.1119 0.1697 Haiti 0.1092 0.2074 164 153 Niger 0.0640 0.1098 Chad 0.1235 165 154 Somalia N/A 167 164 168 156 169 166 170 162 171 160 172 172 173 174 174 158 176 170 178 165 179 173 180 175 181 157 182 179 183 176 184 168 185 178 186 177 187 169 188 183 189 182 190 N/A