E-Government shows strong growth globally

Three out of ten citizens (30 per cent) globally said that they had accessed government services online compared with only a quarter (26 per cent) questioned a year ago.

In some countries, increases have been significantly higher than in others. Among the most significant increases in the use of government services online are Australia (from 31 per cent to 46 per cent), Turkey (from 3 per cent to 13 per cent), the Netherlands (from 31 per cent to 41 per cent), and the US (from 34 per cent to 43 per cent). In contrast, in Japan however, Government Online usage fell by four per cent (from 17 per cent to 13 per cent of citizens) between 2001 and 2002.

While security issues about accessing government services online were concerns for many countries during 2001, perceptions of safety have improved globally during 2002. Some 23 per cent of citizens worldwide said that they feel safe disclosing personal information such as credit card and bank account numbers online. This compares with just 14 per cent of citizens in 2001, representing an increase of almost two-thirds (64 per cent).

Nonetheless, there are significant variations between users in different countries about the safety of Government Online. The Scandinavian markets (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) together with some South East Asian markets (Singapore and Hong Kong) have the highest levels of perceived safety (around one third of users). In contrast, the greatest safety concerns were expressed by citizens in Japan (90 per cent said they felt accessing government service online was 'unsafe'), Germany (82 per cent) and France (76 per cent).

Government Online services are most commonly used to search for information (24 per cent of users) and to download information (11 per cent of users). The increased use of Government Online services is primarily due to the rise in the proportion of people searching for information (from 20 to 24 per cent during the 12 months to September 2002).

However, there has been little increase in the use of services which allow citizens to interact with government such as making transactions or providing personal information. Globally, online government transactions increased from just 6 per cent to 7 per cent in the 12 months to September 2002 and the percentage of those providing personal details to government increased from 7 per cent to 8 per cent.

Other key findings include:

The highest levels of Government Online use are found among people in Sweden (57 per cent of the population), Norway (56 per cent), Singapore and Denmark (both with 53 per cent). These countries also show the highest levels of internet use (approx 80 per cent of the population across the four countries)

In comparison, Britain and Japan are two of the countries with the lowest levels of use with just 13 per cent of the population using government services online

Globally, Government Online use is more prevalent among men (33 per cent) than women (26 per cent) and among those aged under 35 compared with other age groups

During the past 12 months substantial increases in Government Online use have taken place among 35-44 year-olds (from 22 per cent to 36 per cent) and 55-64 year-olds (from 2 per cent to 18 per cent). In contrast, use among those aged 65 and above decreased (from 7 per cent in 2001 to 5 per cent in 2002)

Globally, the proportion of internet users who have made transactions using government services online is equal to the proportion of users who made online shopping transactions. Fifteen per cent of internet users have made an online government transaction and in addition 15 per cent have made an online purchase at least once during the past 12 months

The percentage of internet users who access Government Online services varies considerably across different countries from 16 per cent in Hungary to 81 per cent in Norway

Wendy Mellor, Director, Social and Government, Taylor Nelson Sofres commented: "The increase in the use of Government Online services at a global level suggests that the public see the internet as a more acceptable means of getting involved in government activity at both national and local levels. However, significant differences exist between countries that may be due to awareness of services, perceptions of safety, relevance of the site to users, and access to the internet, among others.

"In countries such as Singapore, Norway and Sweden, where the use of government services online is high, it is likely that a significant proportion of citizens feel comfortable with this approach to dealing with government. Yet in countries, such as Britain, New Zealand and South Korea, where usage lags behind general internet use, more needs to be done to assess why uptake of online services is slow and what steps need to be taken to address this.

"While the growth in the use of e-government is encouraging, our research shows that the majority of this growth is from citizens searching for information online rather than making transactions or providing personal information to government. This may be due to perceived security risks but if the use of these services is to increase, messages about the safety of Government Online .