Daily Research News Online no. 1990 - E Government Lags Behind in UK

E Government Lags Behind in UK

November 9 2002

Just 13 per cent of adults in Britain have used the Internet to access government services or products during the past 12 months according to the findings of the second Government Online Study published this week by Taylor Nelson Sofres. Compared with a global average of 30 per cent, Britain is ranked as one of the lowest users of e-government among the 31 countries surveyed.

An increase of two per cent points (from 11 per cent to 13 per cent of the adult population) in the use of e-government was seen between 2001 and 2002 in Britain. However, in comparison the global increase during the same time period rose by four per cent points (from 26 per cent to 30 per cent), showing that the uptake of e-government in Britain remains low.

These findings are set against a backdrop of relatively high use of the Internet in Britain, where the latest findings from the Government Online study reveal that 42 per cent of British adults use the Internet. This figure is identical to the global figure for Internet use, and shows that despite the high number of Internet users in Britain, the government has failed to attract people to its sites.

The survey also shows that just three per cent of Internet users in Britain have used government services to make a transaction online. This compares with 23 per cent of British Internet users who have purchased a commercial product online. At a global level, the equivalent figures are 15 per cent both for making a government transaction online and for shopping online.

Among adults in Britain, the use of government online services is more prevalent among men (16 per cent compared with just 11 per cent of women). However, between 2001 and 2002, the proportion of men using e-government has remained stable, while the proportion of women using government services online has grown by three per cent (from eight per cent in 2001 to 11 per cent in 2002).

More than one fifth of adults aged 25-34 have used e-government services compared with just two per cent of the over 65s. The largest growth in the proportion of e-government users during the 12 months to September 2002 was seen among adults aged 55-64 years-old (from eight per cent to 15 per cent).

Other key findings include:

Six out of ten adults in Britain felt 'unsafe' about disclosing personal information such as credit card and bank account numbers online, similar to the global average of 63 per cent.
British adults most commonly use e-government services to 'find information' (nine per cent of all adults in Britain) and 'download information' (four per cent of people in Britain).
The highest levels of e-government use globally are found among people in Sweden (57 per cent of the population), Norway (56 per cent), Singapore and Denmark (both with 53 per cent). These countries also show the highest levels of Internet use globally (approximately 80 per cent of the population across the four countries).
Spain, France and Germany all showed very similar, moderate levels of usage, all with approximately a quarter of the population in each country using e-government services during the past 12 months.

Susannah Quick, Director of Social Research, Taylor Nelson Sofres commented: 'While there has been a small increase in the number of adults in Britain accessing e-government services, Britain still has a very long way to go to catch up with other countries. These results will be a disappointment to most parties involved in the provision of e-government services, but there is much that can be done to improve the situation. In particular, marketing programmes which raise the awareness of sites and communicate the benefits and security of using them should be implemented to encourage use. Improving access to and uptake of government websites must be a key priority for those involved in providing online government services.'

The Government Online (GO) Study was undertaken by the Social and Government division of Taylor Nelson Sofres, via telephone and face-to-face interviews with 28,952 people across 31 countries or territories between July and September 2002.

A global summary can be downloaded at www.tnsofres.com/gostudy2002

All articles 2006-22 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.