Canada tops global e-gov study; U.S. ranks third

Governments are becoming increasingly sophisticated in using the Internet to improve service delivery and operational efficiency, according to Accenture's third annual report on e-government worldwide, titled "Realizing the Vision," released April 24.

For the second straight year, Canada topped Accenture's list of e-gov leaders. The Canadian government is midway through its five-year plan to provide citizens with anytime, anyplace electronic access to all federal programs and services by 2004.

Singapore, the United States, Australia, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Finland, Hong Kong, Germany and Ireland round out the top 10 countries in the study. Nine of the countries surveyed, led by the United States, Singapore and France, are approaching 100 percent breadth of online services, with more than nine of every 10 eligible services offered online to some extent.

Staff of the Hamilton, Bermuda, management consulting and technology services firm conducted the study in 23 countries between Jan. 7 and 18. Asked to behave like citizens and businesses, Accenture staff went online to do business with their governments and to assess the maturity of services.

One of the greatest challenges government's now face in developing e-government is building electronic bridges not only between agencies at the federal level, but also with their counterparts at the regional, state or provincial and local levels, said Vivienne Jupp, managing partner for Accenture's Global E-Government Services.

As governments create new electronic services, they must consider cross-agency integration, data security, individual privacy, governance structures, national security, global competitiveness and protection of civil liberties.

Governments are dealing with these issues by creating uniform privacy practices, digital signature standards and encryption standards for sensitive information, the study said.

At the same time, recognition is growing that e-government is not just about technology. A key to successful e-government is customer relationship management, treating citizens and businesses like customers by tailoring services to their needs rather than the needs of the agency delivering them.

The extent to which governments have adopted this approach is one of the single most important factors in determining whether a country is a top e-government performer, according to the study.