ACTIVITIES :: eGovernment :: Policy :: Measuring

Measuring

The main effect of measuring was in the beginning to "embarrass" to some extent government who had not yet contribute in the development of eGovernment services. As a result, government started to compete with each other by putting systems and documentations online. Afterwards governments tried to measure the accessibility of online services. Overall, the first objective of measurement was to see how information could be accessed. The second step was to measure how easy the access to information is in terms of filling forms. The final step was to measure if the services could be more proactive for instance by providing a reminder service. Within this framework, the system will be set in ways that it can advice you and become your personal assistant. For governments, it is important to measure how well the eServices are delivered in order to situate themselves at which level of the path they are in terms of implementing eGovernment. Within Europe, heterogeneity is observed among governments' performance.

The next important action is to include the users' perspective in the measurement analyses in order to adapt more the services according to citizens' needs. It is important to add in the measurement analyses some human interpretations and most of all users' feedbacks. As an example, at the beginning, the online service guides you through the whole process with the help of a wizard tool installed, but after a while, users needing less help should have the option to avoid its interference during the whole procedures.

The measurement has gain an international dimension as the European Commission has been asked to pool the resources with OECD. The United Nations is supporting the Europe's leadership in terms of measurement and is determined to cooperate in order have a system on a global scale.