Americans Like E-Gov ? a Lot

By Gail Repsher Emery, Staff Writer


SEPT. 28 ? Americans overwhelmingly like e-government and think it will improve the way they relate to government, according to a study released today by Washington's nonprofit Council for Excellence in Government.


The study found that:


*By a 5-to-1 margin (56 percent to 11 percent), the general public thinks the impact of e-gov will be positive. Among frequent Internet users, the margin was more than 10 to 1 (67 percent to 6 percent).


*Seventy-one percent of visitors to government Web sites said the quality of the sites were good or excellent, and 60 percent said it was easy to find the information they needed.


*More than half of the general public and 62 percent of Internet users believe that e-gov will improve government operations. Ninety-two percent of government officials and 76 percent of business and nonprofit leaders agreed.


"The future of government online will be limited only by our imaginations, our ability to secure transactions and our ability to offer online access to all Americans," said Patricia McGinniss, president and chief executive officer of the Council for Excellence in Government.


The three-part study included surveys of 150 government officials, 155 business and nonprofit leaders and 1,003 members of the general public. Conducted Aug. 14-16 by pollsters Peter Hart and Robert Teeter, it has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.