Archive:E-government statistics

PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION !

Data from Month Year, most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

Online interactions of European businesses and citizens with public administrations

This article highlights the development and use of information and Communication technologies (ICT) for interacting with public administrations. This is one aspect of e-government, which is designed to improve public services and democratic processes by means of the Internet. Inclusion and better public services are part of the third priority of the i2010 initiative of the European Commission.

Main statistical findings

Obtaining information is the most frequent type of electronic interaction with public administrations, followed by the downloading of forms and the returning of completed forms.

There is a steady increase in the proportion of individuals and businesses interacting with public authorities via the Internet in the European Union.

The proportion of enterprises interacting with public bodies over the Internet is higher and growing faster than the proportion of individuals from 2004 to 2007.

Finland is the EU Member State with the highest proportion of companies returning completed forms over the Internet and the Netherlands progressed most between 2004 and 2007 for returning completed forms.

Considering the size, a higher percentage of large companies interact online with public authorities.
More than one third of Internet users have already profited from e-government services and another 37% would be interested in doing so.

Educational levels influence the degree of usage and interest in e-government services.

The lack of personal contact is the reason most often given for abstaining from using e-government services.

There is a relation between the types of e-government services requested and a citizen's profile based on age, professional and social status

Text with Footnote ^[1]

Development of eGovernment services usage

Figure 1: Online interaction of enterprises during reference year and of individuals during last 3 months with public authorities in EU27, 2004 - 2007^[2]

The most frequent type of interaction with public administrations over the Internet is obtaining information, followed by downloading official forms. Returning completed forms is the less frequent type of interaction. In 2006, figures for downloading official forms by enterprises reached the same level as for obtaining information. The percentage of interaction of enterprises compared to individuals is much higher. In 2007, 58% of European enterprises compared to 18% of individuals downloaded official forms. The discrepancy is even higher for returning completed forms. The difference in the percentage of interaction between businesses and individuals can be partly explained by the disparity in Internet access and connection. 93% of businesses have Internet connections, compared to only 54% of households in 2007. In addition, businesses are likely to have more interactions with public authorities. These interactions offer a high potential for automating business processes. However, the actual level of interactions with public administrations is also determined by the latter's on-line availability. Finally, the reference period for enterprises was one year and three months for individuals. The highest increase in 2005 for both enterprises and individuals was for downloading forms, whereas in 2006, the interaction "returning completed forms" showed the highest growth rates. This type of interaction is very interesting for economising as it has the potential to be fully automated. From the public administration side, receiving completed forms represents a first step towards full electronic case handling. In 2007, all three types of interactions increase considerably for individuals, whereas the growth rate for enterprises lacks behind.

eGovernment Services and Enterprises

Table 1: Online interaction of enterprises with public authorities, 2007

In 2007, more than half of the enterprises in the European Union obtained information or downloaded official forms from public authorities' websites. 45% of the enterprises returned completed forms to public administrations. Fewer than 10% of the enterprises submitted a proposal using an electronic tendering system.

Figure 2: Any online interaction of enterprises with public authorities by size class and type of Internet connection in EU27, 2007

The proportion of interaction between businesses and public administrations varies with the bandwidth of the Internet connection and the size of the enterprise. A higher percentage of enterprises with broadband, compared to narrowband connections, interact with public authorities. The largest divergence between enterprises is due to their size. 79% of the large enterprises and 74% of the medium sized enterprises download forms from public websites. Large enterprises take more advantage of using the Internet for interacting with public administrations.

File:Table2.png

Table 2: Enterprises returning completed forms online, 2004-2007

The proportion of companies returning completed forms increased at the European level (EU27) from 28% to 45% between 2004 and 2007. The development accelerated from 2005 to 2006 but almost stagnated in 2007. The stagnation is caused by Belgium, Spain, Italy, Austria, Poland and Finland, whereas in some Member States there has been a considerable increase in 2007, namely in Ireland, Hungary, Portugal, Slovenia and Slovakia. The countries with the largest percentage of interacting companies in 2007 are Finland, followed by Greece and the Netherlands. Taking into account the initial level in 2004, the highest increase can be recognised the Netherlands, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and Ireland. On the level of the European Union, the probability of enterprises to return completed forms online to public administrations has more than doubled between 2004 and 2007.

eGovernment Services and the Citizens

Interest in using eGovernment Services

File:Fig3.png

Figure 3: Replacement of personal contacts or visits to public services with the Internet in EU27, 2006

More than a third (35%) of individual Internet users within the European Union in 2006 have already used e-government services and another 37% would be interested in replacing personal visits to public authorities with services via the Internet. However, 28% are not interested in requesting services from public authorities online. Iceland, Denmark, the Netherlands and Estonia have the highest percentage of Internet users who already use e-government services in the European Union. The highest proportion of Internet users who are not interested in e-government services can be found in Latvia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Ireland. There is a tendency for Member States with a high percentage of e-government users to show a lower percentage of potential users.

File:Table3.png

Table 3: Replacement of personal contacts or visits to public services with Internet, 2006

Figure 4: Replacement of personal contacts or visits to public services with Internet in EU27, 2006

Education is a factor influencing the ability and willingness of individuals to replace personal visits to public authorities by e-government services. Those with a higher degree of education are more likely to use e-government services, whereas the proportion of persons not interested in e-government services is the highest for those with low educational backgrounds. Remarkable differences can be seen for urban, intermediate and rural areas, primarily in the percentage of Internet users not interested in e-government. Internet users in rural areas are less interested than Internet users in urban areas, although they may benefit more from using e-government services due to the longer distances needed to travel to authorities in rural areas.

Reasons for abstaining from eGovernment Services

File:Fig5.png

Figure 5: Reasons for abstaining from e-government services in EU27, 2006^[3]

Citizens were asked for the reasons why they would not like to use online government services. The most mentioned obstacle was missing personal contacts followed by concernons on data protection and security. The complexity of online applications and the availability was mentioned by 15% of the citizens. 13% missed an immediate response. This motivation might be closely related to personal contacts. Only 7% of the citizens are concerned about additioal costs incurred by online government services.

Use of eGovernment Services by Type of Service

File:Fig6.png

Figure 6: e-Government participation by types of e-government services in EU27, 2006^[4]

Interest among Internet users in accessing specific services on-line is dependent on the personal situation of the individual. Unemployed persons want to be able to use different services than, say, students. Nevertheless, there are a number of general services, which are of interest to all persons between the ages of 16 and 74. The usage of these services, such as requesting personal documents, health-related services, moving announcements, requesting certificates and car registrations are very much the same. Roughly two thirds of Internet users are interested in using or are already using these services. The percentage of actual usage of those online services has to be considered in relation to their rather rare frequency. Declaration of income taxes, searching for jobs and online visits of public libraries are those services that have the highest percentage of users within the European Union. However, the interest of citizens in declaring income taxes and searching for jobs is lower than the interest in the other services.

File:Fig7.png

Figure 7: e-Government participation by types of services and population group in EU27, 2006^[5]

Data sources and availability

Abbreviations

EU-27 (European Union, including 27 Member States); BE (Belgium), BG (Bulgaria), CZ (Czech Republic), DK (Denmark), DE (Germany), EE (Estonia) , IE (Ireland), EL (Greece), ES (Spain), FR (France), IT (Italy), CY (Cyprus), LV (Latvia), LT (Lithuania), LU (Luxembourg), HU (Hungary), MT (Malta), NL (Netherlands), AT (Austria), PL (Poland), PT (Portugal), RO (Romania), SI (Slovenia), SK (Slovakia), FI (Finland), SE (Sweden), UK (United Kingdom); IS (Iceland), NO (Norway).

Symbols

“:” confidential, unreliable or unavailable

Aggregation of results

An EU-27 aggregate is only calculated if the available countries represent at least 55% of the number of Member States and at least 60% of the EU population.

Community Survey on ICT usage in households and by individuals (2004-07)

Reference period: the first quarter of the reference year. Survey period: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Scope (individuals): individuals aged 16 to 74 years; Scope (households): households with at least one member in the age group 16 to 74. Internet users: Individuals who have used the Internet within the last 3 months Highest completed level of education: - Low: ISCED 0, 1 or 2 (no formal education, primary education or lower secondary education); - Medium: ISCED 3 or 4 (upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary education); - High: ISCED 5 or 6 (tertiary programmes which normally require successful completion of ISCED 3 or 4, or second stage tertiary education leading to an advanced research qualification).

Community Survey on ICT usage and E-commerce in enterprises (2004-07)

Reference period: January of the reference year for most variables, the previous year for e-government variables. Survey period: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Scope: enterprises with 10 or more persons employed in selected activities (see below). Size class breakdowns: Small enterprises: 10 – 49 persons employed Medium enterprises: 50 -249 persons employed Large enterprises: 250 and more persons employed Activity coverage: enterprises classified in the following sections and groups of the NACE Rev.1.1 classification: D (manufacturing); F (construction); G (distributive trades); 55.1 and 55.2 of section H (hotels and accommodation); I (transport, storage and communication); K (real estate, renting and business activities) 92.1 and 92.2 of section O (motion picture, video, radio and television activities).

Context

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Title of the publication

Main tables

Title of top Main tables folder, see:

Industry, trade and services

Information Society Staistics

i2010 Benchmarking indicators

Individuals using the Internet for interaction with public authorities

Enterprises using the Internet for interaction with public authorities

Enterprises using the Internet for returning filled in forms to public authorities

Enterprises using the Internet for submitting a proposal in a public electronic tender system to public authorities

Database

Title of top Database folder, see: