Central Government

South Korea ranked number one for e-government

By Amelia Kwok | 1 September 2008

South Korea has emerged as the leader in e-government for the third consecutive year.

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South Korea scored well for its online foreign language service, protection of private information and access for users with disabilities, according to US-based Brookings Institution’s annual evaluation of global e-government. This year more than 1600 government web sites were evaluated, from 198 countries and territories around the world.

Countries vary enormously in their overall e-government performance. In technology usage, the US has fallen behind countries such as South Korea and Taiwan. The most highly ranked e-government nations in this study are South Korea, Taiwan, the US, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Dominica, Brazil and Malaysia. At the other end of the spectrum, countries such as Tuvalu, Mauritania, Guinea, Congo, Comoros, Macedonia, Kiribati, Samoa and Tanzania barely have a web presence.

Across the world, 50 per cent of government web sites offer services that are fully executable online, up from 28 per cent last year. 96 per cent of web sites this year provide access to publications and 75 per cent have links to databases.

Only 30 per cent of government web sites show privacy policies and 17 per cent have security policies. Visible statements outlining how a web site secures visitors’ privacy and security are valuable assets for encouraging people to use e-government services and information. Few global e-government web sites offer policy statements dealing with these topics.

Only 16 per cent of government web sites have some form of access for disabled persons, and only 57 per cent of government web sites provide foreign language translation to non-native readers. 80 per cent offer at least some portion of their web sites in English.

14 per cent offer the ability to personalise government websites to a visitor’s area of interest, while three per cent provide PDA accessibility. E-government has the potential to bring citizens closer to their governments. Regardless of the type of political system that a country has, the public benefits from interactive features that facilitate communication between citizens and government.

Overall, 50 per cent of the web sites surveyed allow visitors to perform practical functions, up from 28 per cent in 2007.