E-government progress is being evaluated by multiple surveys, carried out by international and supranational organizations national observatories and individual parties. All surveys evaluate e-government progress using different methods, indices and perspectives. E-government progress evaluation is complex, since e-government projects vary from infrastructural, to software and to political ones. In this chapter, an evaluation framework for e-government software projects’ progress and results is introduced. The framework consists of indices extracted from e-government related literature and from the project management field of knowledge. Major benchmarking approaches -from the Information Society Directorate General, United Nations, World Bank etc. - were analyzed for the purposes of this framework. The approach results in the development of an “e-government balanced scorecard”, able to measure facets such as product and process issues, as well as project management processes. Each facet of the scorecard has a set of objectives and utilizes a set of measurements to evaluate e-government projects from various perspectives, interrelated to strategic planning, such as product, process and project management as well as service quality management.
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Central Governments worldwide have developed strategic plans for e-government and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) investments. Major strategic plans such as the US Federal Government’s (US Federal Government, 2002), the European (European Commission, 2002), the UK’s Modernizing Government plan (UK Cabinet Office, 2000), the German Bund Online 2005 strategic plan (German Federal Government, 2003) and the Canadian “Government on-Line (GOL)” (Treasury Board Secretariat, 2001) define common targets for e-government, such as “time and cost savings for citizens and Public Agencies” (Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, 2005) and “the development of a citizen centered, results oriented and market based Public Administration” (Federal Enterprise Architecture, 2002). Moreover, technological standards such as “openness, usability, customization and transparency for public portals” (Gant & Gant, 2002) and “interoperability between e-government systems” (UK Cabinet Office, 2002) guide the implementation of e-government projects. Table 1 summarizes the major targets of these strategic plans (Anthopoulos, Siozos & Tsoukalas, 2007).
Table 1. Common targets of major e-government strategies
| Strategic plan | Primary targets |
| “Expanding e-government” (US) | 1. Citizen centered, results-oriented, market-based Public Administration.
2. Federal and State Agencies interconnected in a one-stop portal.
3. Guidelines and standards for all unique initiatives, performed by state or local Agencies. |
| “Modernizing Government” (UK) | 1. Knowledge economy revolution.
2. Transformation of Business, Government, People.
3. Citizen-focused Government.
4. Better services for citizens and businesses.
5. Application of e-business methods in public sector.
6. All key services available online by 2008. |
| “Bund Online 2005” (Germany) | 1. Define and deliver online Federal Public services.
2. Client-orientation services.
3. Transparency and faster processing for federal services.
4. Quality and security of public services. |
| “eEurope 2005” (European Committee) | 1. Citizen centered Public Administration.
2. Encourage participation.
3. 25 primary digital public services for all European member countries.
4. Multilingual one-stop shop.
5. Telecommunication’s costs reduction.
6. Pan-European network of Public Administrations (IDA) of member-countries. |
All above strategies are implemented by multiple programmes and projects, concerning investments on infrastructures (e.g. broadband networks and information systems); on software platforms (e.g. public portals, digital public services and back-office applications); on initiatives encouraging social participation (e.g. public access points, e-Democracy portals and campaigns).