As noted in
Chapter 2, the benefits to be expected from e-Government can be categorized into three broad categories: (a) improved delivery of public services, in terms of availability, ease of use, and cost savings to the government, to businesses and to individuals, (b) improved transparency, accountability and democracy and reduced opportunities for corruption, (c) broader economic and societal gains.
Using a comparable framework, the OECD developed the following model, which includes direct and indirect benefits to both government and non-government (citizens and businesses) stakeholders. Direct benefits include reduced costs to the government and reduced burden on users in complying with government regulations. Direct non-financial benefits and indirect benefits range from better management tools for government and increased accountability (leading to improved public trust) to the promotion of the information society in general.
| Type of Benefit |
Government Beneficiaries |
Non-Government Beneficiaries (Citizens & Business) |
| Direct Financial Benefits |
1) Reducing Costs: freeing resources for public and private innovation; increasing value of products and services |
2) Reducing Burden: administrative simplification; providing higher valued and faster services; saving time and money and improving equity |
| Direct Non-Financial Benefits |
3) Capturing Total Benefits of Investment: achieving synergies across service delivery channels; enabling the sharing and reuse of data for more proactive service delivery; promoting access as part of channel management strategy |
4) Increasing User Satisfaction: 24/7 service; improving personalization and service quality; improving access and equity; addressing security and privacy concerns; transparency and choice |
| Indirect Benefits: "Good Governance" as a Public Good |
5) Supporting Legitimacy: supporting security and trust at an aggregate level; modernization and transformation of the public sector; ensuring equity; increasing responsiveness, accountability and participation |
6) Supporting Growth: improving the business environment; creating an information society; establishing an infrastructure for secure and reliable transactions |
Source: OECD e-Government Project, “
Proposed Outline for Assessing e-Government Benefits” (2006).
Whichever exact framework is used, the definition of benefits should also inform the process of developing benchmarks for measuring progress.
<<Previous: Identifying User Costs
Back to Beginning of Chapter