by Dave Lewan
Our 2012 Q2 E-Government Satisfaction Index that was released today shows the American people being more satisfied with their online government experiences than ever before.
There’s no evidence that the current administration’s Digital Government initiative, which is acutely focused on providing a better citizen-centric approach while implementing cost-saving measures to save the tax-payer money, has any bearing on the increase or not. But the important thing is citizens are satisfied either way.
Citizen Satisfaction:
The aggregate satisfaction score of the more than 100 federal agency websites measured reached 75.6 (up from 75.2 in Q1 2012) on ForeSee’s 100-point scale – a new height. Some sites such as the online Social Security Benefits Application site (92) continue to outperform private sector retail giants like Amazon (89, based on separate ForeSee research). Actually, three sites under the Social Security umbrella scored 90 or above. The index also had three new additions that debuted with scores above 80 – a score that has long been the benchmark for excellence. Download the free report to see satisfaction scores for each individual agency, department, and program website included in the Index.
Transparency
In addition to covering the results of the index in their entirety in our quarterly webinar scheduled for August 1, we will discuss government online transparency. The Online Transparency Index serves as a consistent measure of how thorough the information is and how quickly and accessible it is made available to the people and quantifies its impact on citizen’s attitudes and behaviors, as mediated by satisfaction. While agency focus on the transparency seems to be waning, the scores remain stable. For the third quarter running, the transparency scores rests at 76.8. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute website received the highest mark with an 87. Register for our webinar and tune in on August 1 for more details on this topic.
Now, as an e-gov practitioner, tell me what you think about the challenges you face moving forward with the Digital Government initiative. For citizens, tell me about your experiences – positive or negative – with online government.
