Americans have warmed to e-government services, survey shows
Around 68 million Americans use government websites to find information on topics ranging from tourism to health and security, according to a report on the Internet and American life produced by the USA's Pew research centre. The study, based on a telephone poll of nearly 2,400 net users in January 2002, found that around 77 per cent of those surveyed used e-government services to find tourism information. Nearly as many people used the sites to research school projects and almost half visited them for health and safety information. 'One of the best ways for government agencies to improve the way they deal with constituents, and their standing with constituents, is to create a good, wide-ranging, interactive site,' said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet and American life project. The report, entitled 'The rise of the e-citizen: how people use government websites,' found that 60 per cent of those polled agreed the Net had improved the way they interact with at least one level of government in the USA. Almost three quarters of experienced Net users, who have been using the Internet for at least five years, said they use government sites to download forms, while 20 per cent file their taxes and 14 per cent perform administrative tasks such as renewing their driving licence. Of the less experienced surfers, just over half download government forms from the Internet, while 12 per cent file taxes and nine per cent deal with administrative tasks. Work currently underway in the Information Society DG of the European Commission is addressing the EU's 'smart government ' and 'e-democracy' initiatives, which aim to build better, more accessible online services with the goal of creating an integrated European government services by 2010.