The study, "The New e-Government Equation: Ease, Engagement, Privacy and Protection," was conducted by Hart-Teeter Research.
According to the study, more than 60 percent of Americans who use the Internet are interested in using e-government for conducting activities such as filing a change of address, responding to a jury summons, renewing a driver's license, or obtaining a birth certificate or marriage license.
More than two-thirds (67 percent) of e-government users -- defined as those American Internet users who have accessed a government Web site -- say conducting transactions with government is easier because of e-government. Nearly three-fourths (74 percent) of the same group believe that the benefits of e-government will only grow and have a positive effect on the way government operates over the next 5-10 years.
Protecting Privacy
But there is a caveat. Though Americans value the ease and efficiency of better e-services from government, they also express concerns that dealing with government over the Internet may compromise their privacy.
"The results of this poll bring a complex challenge into clear focus: Americans want easy, efficient and effective e-government. Just as important, they want their privacy protected," said Patricia McGinnis, president and CEO of the Council for Excellence in Government. "Striking that balance is the next important evolution in the e-government revolution and will require the efforts of both government and the technology community to apply the appropriate safeguards and build trust in using government Web sites."
Electronic Government Helps Homeland Security
The study also makes the case that Americans believe that e-government is a critical tool to fight terrorism and strengthen homeland security. More than half of all Americans and half of all e-government users believe that investing in e-government will help homeland security by enabling government at all levels to share information, coordinate responses to emergencies quickly, and engage and inform citizens.
Half of all Americans also believe it is appropriate for the government to search its existing databases for information that could help them track down and catch terrorists.
Real Benefits
For the third year in a row, Americans cite better government accountability as the greatest benefit of e-government. In addition, the study interviewed four hundred government leaders across the country. Nearly forty five percent of them cited a lack of financial resources as the top challenge to successful e-government.
"There is clearly a high level of interest by citizens to conduct more of their transactions with governments online," said Stanley Gutkowski, managing partner of Accenture USA Government. "If governments can demonstrate that such interactions will be secure and personal information will be protected, e-government has a chance to flourish and really take hold over the next several years."
The study included surveys of 1,023 adults nationwide, including an over sample of 202 government Web site users, and 400 government decision makers (200 at the federal level, 100 in state government, and 100 in local government). A best practice area survey of 254 randomly selected Internet users in nine cities was conducted, as well as a survey of 2,000 Internet users in Australia, Canada, Singapore, Spain and the United Kingdom. The public opinion survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%, and was conducted in February 2003.
This is the third in a series of annual e-government polls conducted on behalf of the Council for Excellence in Government, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of leaders in the private and nonprofit sectors who are committed to improving the performance of government at all levels, and government's place in the lives and esteem of American citizens.
