IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Die grundlegenden Dienstleistungsangebote von Behörden sind immer besser über das Internet zugänglich. Im Schnitt wird in der Europäischen Union ein Online-Umsetzungsgrad von 76 Prozent erreicht. Vollständig online verfügbar sind mit 58 Prozent etwas mehr als die Hälfte aller untersuchten Behördenangebote. Das zeigt eine Studie der Unternehmensberatung Capgemini im Auftrag der Europäischen Kommission, die heute in Berlin präsentiert wurde. "Die wirtschaftlich starken EU-Staaten befinden sich bis auf wenige Ausnahmen im vorderen Teil der Ergebnisliste. Einige der neuen Länder haben zwar mit zentralen Strukturen schnelle Erfolge im E-Government erzielen können, die überwiegende Mehrheit von ihnen jedoch stagniert seit einigen Jahren. Sie dürfen den Anschluss nicht verlieren", so Tom Gensicke, Leiter Public Services bei Capgemini Consulting.

Internet users in the Mena region comprise 5.2 per cent of the world's users and numbered 85.5 million in 2008, compared to 16 million in 2003, said the report. Their share of the world's total users rose from two per cent to 5.2 per cent over the same period.

The country was passed out by New Zealand, which last year ranked in 23rd place and this year is in 21st place. Austria notched up a few extra places from 21st position last year to 19th position this year.

The annual report cited the fact that Ireland is below average in terms of broadband take-up, ranking 20th out of the EU countries with only 10.5pc of the population accessing broadband compared with an EU average of 15.7pc.

At a time when most governments across Europe are under pressure to reduce costs by instigating harsh austerity measures, it seems that Ireland, as one of those countries most in need of slimlining its public sector, actually is above average when it comes to e-government.

Fine Gael’s Communications Spokesman, Simon Coveney TD, today (Tuesday) said the OECD has become the latest body to criticise Ireland’s performance on e-Government.

He was speaking in advance of today’s Fine Gael Private Members’ debate on the subject.

The report was commissioned by O2 and carried out by the market research firm iReach. It is said to be the first attempt to compare Ireland with its EU public sector peers in readiness to use mobile technology to deliver e-government services. This is one of the key planks in the Lisbon Agenda, which aims to improve Europe’s competitive position as a knowledge economy.

The country did manage a marginal increase in its score from 7.86 out of 10 last year to 8.03. Top of the league is the US with a score of 8.95.

The commission’s ninth e-Government Benchmark Report released yesterday shows Ireland ahead of other countries when it comes to providing e-government services.

The report examined the online availability of 20 basic public services, such as car registration, tax declaration and company registration, across the EU.

In the full online availability ranking, Ireland was number one among the 32 measured countries, on 100%, compared to the EU average of 82%.

The report found that the Republic has a centralized approach to public procurement activity with the establishment of a National Procurement Service and of a national eTendering platform.

This was the conclusion of the latest eGovernment Benchmarking Report compiled by IQ Content, which follows up on the first survey carried out early in 2003. The latest report benchmarks 40 Irish and UK e-government sites, to measure their effectiveness from the citizen's perspective.

Whoever said the United Nations has an anti-Israel bias? This week, the Jewish state was one of three recipients of a “special award” from the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Israel shared the honor — in the second of three categories of the 2012 e-Government Survey, “Outstanding Progress among the Top 20” — with Finland and Liechtenstein.

A report issued by the European Commission has placed Malta second in the ranking for the best online services provided by the local government.

Dänen, Schweden und Schweizer wissen die Informations- und Kommunikationstechniken (IKT) am besten einzusetzen. Das geht aus dem am Mittwoch veröffentlichten "Global Information Technology Report 2007" des Weltwirtschaftsforums hervor.

This emerged in the latest report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for 2012.

The annual report titled "Measuring the Information Society 2012", rank the Republic of Korea as the world's most advanced ICT economy, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Finland.

South Korea has topped a global list ranking countries on their level of ICT access, use and skills, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

In its report released Thursday, the United Nations agency said this is the third time in a row that South Korea has come in first in the ICT Development Index (IDI). The Asian state has the highest percentage of households connected to the Internet at 67 percent, while both mobile broadband and fixed broadband penetration rates were at 84 percent to propel it to the top, it noted.

Jobs4Bahrainis is a joint venture between Gulf Connexions, Bahrain's leading recruitment company and Al Hilal Group, a top publishing organisation in the region.

Against strict evaluation criteria, the website won the accolade for, among other reasons, its support for steps to integrate IT into the information society in Bahrain; its commitment to reducing the ‘digital divide’ and content gap between technology-empowered and technology-excluded communities and groups; and bridging society through multimedia.

The Kingdom ranked 84th globally in the 2010 IPB.

The IPB, which is part of the "Measuring the Information Society" report released this week by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), combined the average cost of the "sub-baskets" of fixed-telephone, mobile-cellular and fixed-broadband Internet services in 161 countries.

The 2012 UN Global E-Government Survey, which covered 190 countries, indicated that the Kingdom ranked 14th among West Asian countries, while it was eighth among Arabs states.

At the Arab level, the UAE ranked first in terms of e-government readiness, followed by Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon and Jordan, according to the report posted on the UN Public Administration Programme website.