EU ranks UK e-services fifth in Europe

According to a report by IT consultancy Capgemini on behalf of the European Commission, the UK government’s online services have improved significantly since last year.

The services are now rated fifth best in Europe for sophistication and availability, compared with sixth place last year. Austria took first place, followed by Malta, Slovenia, and Portugal.

According to the report, 89 per cent of basic public services are fully available online in the UK, compared with just 70 per cent in 2006.

The online sophistication of public services for UK citizens achieved an average of 90 per cent and the sophistication was almost as good as those provided for businesses.

Four out of nine services rated as proactive attained a score of 100 per cent, above the European average, while UK services were awarded 20 per cent for user-centricity, slightly better than the EU average of 19 per cent.

The report also found that the majority of UK public services for citizens are accessible through the national portal - Directgov and Business Link.

The report includes results from two core measurements of sophistication and fully online availability of services from public agencies in 31 countries – the 27 EU member states, plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.