Accenture's fifth annual global e-government study

Accenture believes that service transformation will
lead governments to become proactive—anticipating
and pushing appropriate services out to citizens
and businesses in a timely manner, and not simply
responding to requests or claims. Governments that
transform their services will not think in terms of
horizontal and vertical integration alone, but will
envision and create entirely new services enabled by
seamless integration. They will pride themselves on
removing services that do not add value.
Getting to service transformation requires a new,
inspiring vision—something some leading countries
are already beginning to articulate in their plans for
eGovernment. It requires taking a long-term view
while understanding that progress will be made in
short-term strides rather than one giant leap.
Positive outcomes achieved cost-effectively—and not
just simple quantitative outputs or targets—will be
the measures of progress.
Service transformation will not be easy. It will
require making government employees accountable
and rewarding them based on their achievements.
It will require thinking together as a whole government
and not as hundreds of individual agencies.
Governance models will necessarily change and
fiefdoms disappear. While the benefits are striking,
the changes may be wrenching for those affected.
No government has yet achieved service transformation.
Some are thinking about it, while others
may never have the appetite or the incentive to
undertake the change. However, we expect that
those that do can look forward to the rewards of
high performance and better engagement with the
citizens they support.
Figure 19: Future priorities for eGovernment
Low-maturity countries
Identify and implement highdemand
services with demonstrable
benefits to drive initial uptake
of eGovernment. Focus on
high-volume, repetitive services.
Establish cross-agency
collaboration.
Start with business-focused
services and follow with
citizen services.
Quick wins can be achieved but
should be part of a broader plan
to build the foundations for
service transformation.
Medium-maturity countries
Ensure that the long-term goal of
eGovernment initiatives is to enable
service transformation, not just
automate existing offline services.
Establish a strong governance model.
Ensure that the focus is on citizen
and business needs and that
services are structured and driven
accordingly. Decisions should be
based on knowledge of these needs.
Ensure eGovernment targets are
balanced between outcomes and
cost-effectiveness.
Break down barriers between
departments and agencies, enabling
a single point of contact for citizen
and business information and
transactions.
High-maturity countries
Be willing to establish new, more
cost-effective business models and
eliminate old, ineffective ones.
Adopt a whole-of-government
approach, building on strong
governance and cross-agency
collaboration.
Share the benefits of eGovernment,
such as cost and time savings,
with citizens and businesses.
Communicate these benefits.
Aim to establish seamless integration
across all levels of government.
Be proactive about services,
pushing them out to citizens or
even making them invisible from
a citizen’s perspective.
Consider the use of bundling
and intermediaries.
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