UN e-Government Survey 2008: UK experienced the biggest drop!

The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations (DESA) published its survey 2008 about e-Government in the world. Entitled "From e-Government to Connected Governance", the survey measures also an e-Participation index. USA, Republic of Korea, Denmark, France and Australia are in Top 5 Countries.

The United Kingdom experienced the biggest drop in ranking from the previous survey, descending from the leader position in 2005 to 24th in 2008. This was mainly due to the migration of e-participation products and services from its national portal to local governments portals. It should be noted the e-participation survey does not take into account regional and local portals or websites, but only national portals or websites and selected ministries.

British e-participation initiatives are now coordinated by ICELE (International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy).

The United States of America score the highest (1.0000) on the e-participation index. This was primarily due to its strength in e-information and e-consultation, which enables citizens to be more interactive with their government. It was closely followed by the Republic of Korea, which performed extremely well in the e-consultation assessment. Denmark and France were tied for third place.

Indeed, France allows its citizens to participate in the e-decision-making process through the French National Commission of Public Debate (Commission Nationale du Débat Public, CNDP). The CNDP uses e-decision-making tools to provide its citizens with several proposals on a specific project and the data necessary for them to make an informed judgment.

The French National Commission of Public Debate (CNDP) has an innovative site that allows citizens to debate on infrastructure projects in France. This site provides French citizens with a number of well-documented proposals to tackle the issues that are currently being debated. As a result, citizens are better informed to voice their opinions. The site also has a calendar of events that is several months in advance. The actual debates take place in various cities in France, and citizens have the choice of participating in person or posting their views online. The CNDP is currently using a wide range of technologies in order to widen its audience and to enhance participation. A blog offers citizens a way to react on minutes of meetings and allows them to post videos and photos if they do not feel comfortable with writing. A Q&A system automatically sends all questions posted to a project manager who has a maximum of two weeks to respond. In addition, there are forums and chat rooms. Every contribution (written, e-mailed, photos etc.) is scanned and made available online, along with all types of documents relevant to the debate.

• Download the e-Government survey 2008 (257 pages, .pdf)

Indeed, France allows its citizens to participate in the e-decision-making process through the French National Commission of Public Debate (Commission Nationale du Débat Public, CNDP). The CNDP uses e-decision-making tools to provide its citizens with several proposals on a specific project and the data necessary for them to make an informed judgment.

The French National Commission of Public Debate (CNDP) has an innovative site that allows citizens to debate on infrastructure projects in France. This site provides French citizens with a number of well-documented proposals to tackle the issues that are currently being debated. As a result, citizens are better informed to voice their opinions. The site also has a calendar of events that is several months in advance. The actual debates take place in various cities in France, and citizens have the choice of participating in person or posting their views online. The CNDP is currently using a wide range of technologies in order to widen its audience and to enhance participation. A blog offers citizens a way to react on minutes of meetings and allows them to post videos and photos if they do not feel comfortable with writing. A Q&A system automatically sends all questions posted to a project manager who has a maximum of two weeks to respond. In addition, there are forums and chat rooms. Every contribution (written, e-mailed, photos etc.) is scanned and made available online, along with all types of documents relevant to the debate.

• Download the e-Government survey 2008 (257 pages, .pdf)