Brown University’s Taubman Center for Public Policy has completed its sixth annual analysis of online government services offered by 198 nations around the world. The researchers find that many nations are improving services and providing information for users. The United States ranks fourth, behind South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.

(See also a report on state and federal e-government.)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Asian countries once again dominate e-government ratings, taking three of the top five spots in a global e-government study undertaken by researchers at Brown University. South Korea, ranked 86th last year, earned the top rank, followed by Taiwan, Singapore, the United States and Canada. The study shows that 29 percent of government agencies around the world are offering online services, compared to 19 percent in 2005.

The sixth annual survey conducted by Darrell M. West, director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American institutions at Brown University, and a team of researchers evaluated online government Web sites of 198 countries around the globe. The researchers evaluated government Web sites based on two dozen criteria, including disability access, existence of publications and databases, presence of privacy and security policies, contact information, and the number of online services. The Taubman Center released previous studies of global e-government in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

This year’s study reviewed 1,782 government Web sites in 198 countries during June and July 2006. A variety of different sites were analyzed, including executive, legislative and judicial offices as well as such departments and ministries of the government as health, education, foreign affairs, interior, finance, natural resources, foreign investment, transportation, military, tourism and telecommunication.

Researchers found that 94 percent of Web sites have online publications and 72 percent have links to databases. Only 26 percent (up from 18 percent in 2005) show privacy policies and 14 percent present security policies (up from 10 percent in 2005). Software provided by the company Watchfire Inc. assesses whether websites provide assistance for the vision- or hearing-impaired. According to this software, government Web sites are still lagging on disability access. Only 23 percent of sites provide disability access, although this is up from 19 percent in 2005.

In addition to analyzing particular features, researchers rated countries for overall e-government performance. By evaluating the aforementioned features as well as others including PDA access, user fees, and foreign language translation, researchers rated each country on a zero to 100 point scale. The following table illustrates the rankings of the 198 countries in 2006. (Previous year’s ranking and score are in parentheses.)

In order to improve electronic government, the report suggests that governments take several steps to reach their full potential for accessibility and effectiveness. Governments should make their sites more user-friendly by improving site design. Clutter such as too much text in the navigation bars should be reduced and the number of ads on each page should be kept to a minimum. When governments have a portal page, the page should have links to other departments or ministries. This is a useful way to integrate e-government so each department is not just a single, separate entity on the World Wide Web. Site maps help citizens locate information.

Communication between the government and its citizens is crucial to progressing toward a more effective online presence. Feedback forms, e-mail addresses, polls, and other means of communication are vital to improving the sites to cater to citizens’ needs.

Site maintenance is increasingly important in the technological age, but it is often overlooked. Web designers add features and services to sites without ensuring their constant functioning. Many sites are under construction or have not been updated. Governments should keep their sites up-to-date to ensure that all information is accurate and complete.

Numerous sites already provide services revolving around tourism, such as hotel and flight bookings. However, the government should not only target tourists but offer services that are fully executable online for citizens as well. In some cases, online services exist, but they are not used by citizens. To help increase the use of e-services, countries could follow Canada’s model of publicizing its services by posting links to personalized online services in the navigation bar of their sites. In addition, a comprehensive list of all of the services offered should be located on one page in order to make them easy to find and to increase citizens’ awareness of the available services.

For more information on this study, contact Darrell M. West of Brown University at (401) 863-1163 or e-mail Darrell_West@brown.edu. The full Global E-Government Study is online at www.insidepolitics.org. The appendix of the report presents detailed profiles for each of the 198 national governments.

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