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E-government Benefits Study
Foreword
An overview of the e-Government Benefits Study
Australia is a recognised world leader in the application of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) to the government sector consistently being ranked as amongst the top global performers by a variety of independent experts including the United Nations and the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The Commonwealth's use of the Internet to deliver government services has revolutionised the speed and effectiveness of government service delivery and administration in Australia. The Commonwealth's online presence has expanded from two websites in 1996 to a situation where all appropriate services (at last count more than 1600) are available online. It has also moved from the presentation of static information to an era of truly transactional services offering great benefit to Australians - and the best is still to come.
This E-government Benefits Study charts the progress of this transformation, identifying past and future levels of demand for online services. It reports on the benefits that have already been realised and the potential for future benefits. These include faster and better quality service delivery and reduced costs. It also identifies the return on the Government's investment through implementation of online service delivery from the perspective of both customers and agencies.
These positive effects have flowed from the Commonwealth's e-government strategies, beginning with the Government Online Strategy in 2000, and continuing through the current Better Services, Better Government strategy released in November 2002. The study confirms that the current high demand for, and take-up of, online services by people and business will continue into the future.
Data on the benefits to people and business and how much they value e-government services has been scarce and often underestimated by agencies. This study is a first step towards measuring those benefits. The introduction of enhanced measurement across agencies will further help Australia to be an intelligent user of ICT, focusing on customer value and ensuring that agencies' business cases for services are robust and offer sustainable benefits.
Senator The Hon Richard Alston
Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts