Initiative D21 and ipima present new e-government user typology
19.10.2012 14:02
For the first time, the eGovernment MONITOR 2012 distinguishes between five user types in terms of their interest in e-government and their attitude to the Internet: digital e-government pragmatists (24 percent), mobile e-government pragmatists (17 percent), pre-digital e-government disinterested people (18 percent) , digital (e-)government skeptics (14 percent) and those unfamiliar with digital e-government (27 percent).
The results show, among other things, the future importance of mobile government: ten percent of digital e-government pragmatists are currently using mobile government offerings, and 35 percent are planning to use them. For mobile e-government pragmatists, the figures are 19 and 38 percent respectively. Of those disinterested in pre-digital e-government, only four percent use mobile government today, but 19 percent plan to do so in the future. And even among the digital (e-)government skeptics, of whom only two percent currently use mobile government, nine percent would like to do so in the future. Those unfamiliar with digital e-government show great interest in mobile administration applications: 21 percent would like to use them in the future, currently the figure is three percent.
“The results of the typing show one thing very clearly: people are interested in mobile citizen services, they see the advantages for themselves and are basically ready to
to use e-government. Now it is up to administration and politics to reach out to citizens and make e-government services available in a simple, user-friendly and reliable manner,” says Dr. Alfred Zapp, Vice President of the D21 Initiative. “Thousands of written form requirements can be replaced, thereby enabling the continuity of e-government services. A key point in increasing acceptance among citizens, as we know from the study.”
The five new e-government user types
Digital e-government pragmatists are convinced of the advantages of online citizen services: 100 percent already use e-government offers, over 60 percent have already used the ELSTER online tax return. They have confidence in the technical competence of the administration, which is also based on positive experiences with the administration. Digital e-government pragmatists have arrived in the digital world; 92 percent of them like to use the Internet.
They are also very satisfied with the administration's online offering Mobile e-government pragmatist. 85 percent already use e-government and 60 percent use the ELSTER electronic tax return. 91 percent use the Internet several times a day, 97 percent enjoy using the Internet. Accordingly, mobile e-government pragmatists are aware of risks in the area of data security and data protection (37 percent), and they also see a need to catch up in terms of consistency (58 percent) and user guidance (40 percent) compared to other online offerings.
The Pre-digital e-government disinterested people are characterized by significantly below-average e-government usage: only ten percent use online citizen services. The main reason for this lack of interest seems to be the low expectation of benefits for this group: the assumed advantages of online citizen services such as ELSTER are at the lowest level for this group.
Also the Digital (e-)government skeptics are more reserved than average: only 28 percent of them use online citizen services. 38 percent say that they are satisfied with the e-government offering in their city or municipality. This is the lowest value in all groups. The majority consider mobile access to citizen services to be rather unimportant. At the same time, these users have fundamentally arrived in the digital world: almost 90 percent of them enjoy using the Internet.
Digital E-Government Uninformed 75 percent have already gained experience with e-government offerings. However, they are not aware of this because they are obviously not familiar with the terms. Nevertheless, they are interested in the administration's online offering and want to use it in the future. For 59 percent, the most important obstacles to more intensive use were the lack of continuity of offers and for 55 percent, inadequate support. Not only the PC as a device, but also mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets are seen as increasingly important for e-government by 60 percent of this group.
In its third year of publication, the eGovernment MONITOR 2012, published by the D21 initiative and ipima, describes for the first time two new user typologies for the areas of e-participation and e-government. D21 and ipima presented the distinction between user types in e-government to the public for the first time at the eGovernment MONITOR 2012 specialist congress on September 28, 2012. They have been under since October 15, 2012 http://www.egovernment-monitor.de/nutzertypen/e-government.html public. The editors presented the typology in the area of e-participation back in July 2012.
“Both typologies clearly show that there is potential for those interested in e-participation and e-government offerings, who must be introduced to the Internet as an access channel via user-friendly operating concepts and simple structuring,” says Dr. Petra Wolf from ipima. “With knowledge of the common but also individual requirements of user types, state offers can be designed in a targeted manner. “Especially the emerging trend away from PCs towards tablets in the private environment makes it necessary to design applications for a new class of end devices that are user-friendly,” adds Prof. Dr. Helmut Krcmar from the Technical University of Munich and ipima.
In an online survey conducted by TNS Infratest, 1,000 interviews were carried out in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as in Great Britain and Northern Ireland for the eGovernment MONITOR 2012. On the one hand, the respondents provided information about their level of digitalization with questions about general Internet use, Internet avoidance and personal feelings of security. The survey also looked at participants' interest in e-government with questions about knowledge, use and mobile government.
Further information
eGovernment MONITOR 2012 as PDF:
www.initiatived21.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/eGovernmentMONITOR_2012_web.pdf
Website of the eGovernment MONITOR 2012:
www.egovernment-monitor.de
Press release from July 18, 2012
eGovernment MONITOR 2012: Use of e-administration and e-participation increased in Germany:
www.initiatived21.de/presseinformation/egovernment-monitor-2012-nutz-von-e-administration-und-e-participation-in-deutschland-stieg
ABOUT THE INITIATIVE D21
The D21 initiative is Germany's largest partnership between politics and business for the information society. It includes a cross-party and cross-industry network of 200 member companies and institutions as well as political partners from the federal, state and local governments. Its goal is to shape the digital society with non-profit, groundbreaking projects and to make Germany socially and economically successful in the digital world of the 21st century. Further information at www.initiatived21.de