E-Government Survey 2012

The 2012 edition of the survey was prepared in a context of multiple challenges to achieving the goals of sustainable development and a rhetoric of change in favour of an open, responsive and collaborative government. The report examines the institutional framework for e-government and finds that the presence of a chief information officer acting as a national coordinating authority can help overcome internal barriers and focus minds on integrated responses to citizen concerns an important lesson for sustainable development actors. The survey also argues that e-government provides administrators with powerful tools for grappling with problems of social equity and the digital divide. The caveat is that governments must find effective channels of communication that fit national circumstances while also taking steps to increase usage of online and mobile services in order to realize their full benefit to citizens. This survey, the sixth in the series, sheds light on the global state of e-government development and provides options on how best to move ahead.