Accenture's fifth annual global e-government study

The countries in the mid-range of maturity that
are currently on an upswing are France and the
Netherlands. France has not done anything dramatic
to improve; rather it spent several years putting its
eGovernment foundations in place and identifying
clear priorities. It then moved forward slowly and
steadily—minimizing peaks and lows in its progress.
The country very recently unveiled a new strategy and
action plan for 2004 through 2007 that emphasizes
the major elements of transformation—customerfocused
service, transparency and measurable
objectives.
The Netherlands and Norway (which has 49 percent
maturity) have followed nearly identical patterns of
growth since the beginning of our study. After a few
years of slow growth both countries decidedly accelerated
their pace of progress over the past year and
are likely to continue to improve. The Netherlands is
taking steps to corral its many strong but disconnected
services into one website. That move, plus
the country’s historically strong emphasis on customer
relationship management, sets the stage for
continued progress upward.
Norway also may be poised for dramatic advancement,
particularly in relation to its business-focused
services. One of its most significant developments
during the past year was the launch of Altinn in
late 2003. The program is important because Altinn
provides a common Internet-based solution for
reporting financial data from businesses and citizens
to agencies across the government. Altinn will likely
prove to be a significant eGovernment enabler for a
whole range of new and enhanced eGovernment
services for businesses and citizens in the near future.
The country’s minister for International Economic
Affairs and Financial Markets expressed the opinion
that future involvement from the central government
in regional eGovernment strategies and actions
would come in the form of encouragement, not
central decrees.
Looking at the growth patterns among the top
three ranking leaders also reveals some interesting
developments (see Figure 4).
Canada continued to increase the gap between
itself and the remainder of the countries, including
number two-ranked Singapore and the United
States. These two countries each grew approximately
6 percent, as opposed to Canada’s 9 percent. Once
again, Canada’s focus on self-examination and its
relentless pursuit of user feedback have allowed it
to continue to build what is clearly one of the
world-leading customer-focused government
online programs.
Yet, while all three countries continue to make
steady progress, only Singapore shows signs of an
upswing in its growth rate. The causes are the same
as in other tiers of maturity. Singapore’s eGovernment
program has been reinvigorated within the past 12
months. The country had an above-average improvement
in its overall customer relationship management
score. It also updated its eGovernment action plan in
Figure 4: Growth rates: Top three overall
maturity
30
25
Finally, we should look briefly at Sweden, which
made its debut this year in a joint fourth-place
position. While no growth data is available for
the country from past studies, results from this
year showed that Sweden is already a strong
eGovernment performer. Whether it can maintain its
solid position remains to be seen. The country has a
highly decentralized eGovernment program, to which
it attributes its successes to date. To make further
maturity advances, however, Sweden may need to
undertake a serious effort to coordinate these services
for truly seamless interactions for its customers.
Coordination is not likely to stem from mandates.
20
15
10
5
0
Y2001
OM Change
Canada
Singapore
Y2002
OM Change
United States
Average
Y2003
OM Change
Y2004
OM Change
11