Brussels, 09/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - The progress in developing and delivering public services on line across the EU EU's new Member States has been particularly rapid over the last two years. They are now where the EU 15 ones were in 2003. The following lessons can be learned from the survey, done for the European Commission by consultants Capgemini, examined 14,000 web sites in 28 countries, the 25 EU Member States plus Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. Sweden is the most advanced country for online public services; Austria is a close second. Estonia is already situated in the upper part of the ranking. Countries with the biggest advance in the past year are Iceland (+20%), Germany (+15%, Italy (+13%), the UK (+13%) and Belgium (+9%). “This study points to impressive progress in developing and delivering public services on line across the EU. The service delivery gap between new Member States and the pre-enlargement EU 15 is lower than many expected and could close very quickly” commented Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding.
The study suggests that growth in online sophistication (such as full interactivity of services) will level off in the coming years.
Further progress will require greater connection between civil services' front and back offices, increased collaboration and cultural and process change. The Commission confirmed that it would continue to support electronic communications and digital services; increase research and innovation in information and communication technology, and promote an Information Society dedicated to inclusion and quality of life, on the lines of the Lisbon Strategy.