U.N. E-Gov Survey 2012: E-Government for the People

According to the latest E-Government survey by the United Nations, progress in online service delivery continues in most countries around the world. The U.N. E-Gov Survey 2012 found that many countries have put in place e-government initiatives and information and communication technologies (ICT) applications for the people to further enhance public sector efficiencies and streamline governance systems to support sustainable development. Among the e-government leaders, innovative technology solutions have gained special recognition as the means to revitalize lagging economic and social sectors.

The overall conclusion that emerges from the 2012 Survey in today’s recessionary world climate is that while it is important to continue with service delivery, governments must increasingly begin to rethink in terms of e-government.

The following are some of the key findings from the 2012 Survey:

• According to the 2012 U.N. E-Government Survey rankings, the Republic of Korea is the world leader followed by the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Denmark, with the United States, Canada, France, Norway, Singapore and Sweden close behind.
• While countries in general have improved their online service delivery to cater to citizens’ needs, on a regional level, Europe and Eastern Asia lead, followed by Northern America, South Asia, and Africa.
• The 2012 E-Gov Survey finds that many countries are moving from a decentralized single-purpose organization model, to an integrated unified whole-of-government model contributing to efficiency and effectiveness. The model aims at centralizing the entry point of service delivery to a single portal where citizens can access all government-supplied services.
• According to the 2012 Survey, 25 countries have developed separate m-government websites, and 24 countries provide the option of making payments via mobile phones.

Here in the U.S., the federal government has established the USA.Gov web site to make it easier for the public to get U.S. government information and services on the web. Check out the current state of the section  on USA.Gov focused on Health & Nutrition. Most states have also set up E-Gov web sites to provide easy access to state government information and services – see State E-Gov sites.

Finally, it should be noted that many of the E-Gov initiatives and web sites involve the use of 'open source', 'open access', 'open data', and 'open standards' solutions, especially in the healthcare arena. Visit the COSI 'Open' Government and COSI 'Open' Health web sites.

See the full U.N. eGov 2012 Report