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e-Readiness Assessment
e-Government plans should be responsive to the current status of the country in terms of its ability to adopt and integrate technology-based projects. This assessment, based on both quantitative and qualitative measures of the ICT infrastructure and its accessibility and affordability to the population, is known as “e-Readiness.” Broadly stated, e-Readiness assessments measure a country’s ability to exploit ICTs for human, economic or democratic development. The e-Readiness assessment process can help frame realistic projects and identify underlying issues of technical and human capacity that will need to be addressed in order to effectively implement e-Government. However, e-readiness assessments cannot substitute for consultation with intended target audiences.
Most developing countries have already undergone an e-readiness assessment -- some countries have been “assessed” multiple times – so there may be no need to conduct a new assessment. E-Government planners would benefit from any existing work, but they may want to go beyond the metrics of general e-Readiness assessments and consider factors specific to the types of e-Government applications they are considering. The Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) has put together a readiness assessment methodology specifically tailored for e-Government. In any event, e-Government planners should not think that they have to go through the expensive and time consuming process of updating their nation’s e-Readiness assessment as a first step in formulating an e-Government strategy. Instead, more important first steps in developing an e-Government strategy are an IT skill inventory, a technology inventory and a service inventory of the public sector.
In assessing the needs and capabilities of citizens to utilize e-government services, e-Government planners should not loose sight of the fact that a large percentage – possibly the vast bulk -- of citizen interactions with the government services will continue to be in person at government offices or over the telephone. Ireland’s Information Society Commission has reminded policymakers in both developed and developing countries: “In developing e-government services, the readiness of citizen groups to use self-service channels must be taken into account, as must the complexity and requirements of the service. A high proportion of interactions between citizens and the public service are in the areas of health and social services where citizens tend to be elderly, in poor health and of lower educational and income backgrounds. Many of these will require assistance in accessing public services, either at front desks or over the telephone. They may not be in a position to benefit from a self-service channel where the citizen has to do much of the work of data entry.” See Information Society Commission (Ireland), “e-Government: More Than an Automation of Government Services” (2003)
Most developing countries have already undergone an e-readiness assessment -- some countries have been “assessed” multiple times – so there may be no need to conduct a new assessment. E-Government planners would benefit from any existing work, but they may want to go beyond the metrics of general e-Readiness assessments and consider factors specific to the types of e-Government applications they are considering. The Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) has put together a readiness assessment methodology specifically tailored for e-Government. In any event, e-Government planners should not think that they have to go through the expensive and time consuming process of updating their nation’s e-Readiness assessment as a first step in formulating an e-Government strategy. Instead, more important first steps in developing an e-Government strategy are an IT skill inventory, a technology inventory and a service inventory of the public sector.
Cautionary Note: Recognizing the Limits of Target Populations
In assessing the needs and capabilities of citizens to utilize e-government services, e-Government planners should not loose sight of the fact that a large percentage – possibly the vast bulk -- of citizen interactions with the government services will continue to be in person at government offices or over the telephone. Ireland’s Information Society Commission has reminded policymakers in both developed and developing countries: “In developing e-government services, the readiness of citizen groups to use self-service channels must be taken into account, as must the complexity and requirements of the service. A high proportion of interactions between citizens and the public service are in the areas of health and social services where citizens tend to be elderly, in poor health and of lower educational and income backgrounds. Many of these will require assistance in accessing public services, either at front desks or over the telephone. They may not be in a position to benefit from a self-service channel where the citizen has to do much of the work of data entry.” See Information Society Commission (Ireland), “e-Government: More Than an Automation of Government Services” (2003)
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