According to this year’s Global E-Government Readiness Report rankings, the United States (0.913) is the world leader, followed by Denmark (0.904), the United Kingdom (0.885) and Sweden (0.874), in delivering information and services to the public through the Internet combined with the infrastructure needed to dispense them.

The E-Government Readiness Index is a composite measurement of the capacity and willingness of countries to use e-government for ICT-led development. Along with an assessment of the website development patterns in a country, the e-government readiness index incorporates the access characteristics, such as the infrastructure and educational levels, to reflect how a country is using the ICT opportunity for national, economic, social and cultural empowerment of its people.

The report states that, “notwithstanding much progress in the last one year, there remained wide disparities between, and among, regions and countries in their e-government program offerings. Governments in the high-income countries are far advanced in their provision of public information, online services, communications and outreach to citizens, and overall electronic access to government. The bottom 40 countries show little relative progress.”

The report is prepared by the United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance (UNPAN), whose mission is to promote the sharing of knowledge, experiences and best practices throughout the world in sound public policies, effective public administration and efficient civil services.

More information: UNPAN