Governments must move beyond eGovernment initiatives to enhance customer service

The study, "Leadership in Customer Service: New Expectations, New Experiences," is Accenture's sixth annual global report on government service delivery. In a departure from previous reports, the 2005 study goes beyond measuring the extent to which governments offer services online to investigating their leadership in delivering true customer service - the value they bring to their citizens through multiple channels.

The study found that while eGovernment offerings across the board are well advanced, with an average service maturity breadth of 91%, all countries have room for improvement to realise the broader goal of leadership in customer service. In fact the overall average customer service maturity score - which measures four key aspects of service delivery, including how well governments are delivering service across multiple channels - was just 39% Only Canada has an overall customer service maturity score of more than 50%

The citizen survey found that while most citizens prefer a number of different methods of communicating with governments, they continue to rely on more traditional, offline channels. Despite the relative Internet savvy and familiarity with online government in some countries, the telephone continues to be the predominant means citizens use to communicate with government.

Over the past 12 months, 57% of respondents had used the telephone to interact with government, as opposed to only 22% who had used the Internet. Despite its popularity, the telephone is consistently ranked as the least easy form of communication across all countries surveyed.

"What we have learned from speaking with governments and citizens alike is that eGovernment is only one component of a high-performance government," says Marty I. Cole, group chief executive of Accenture's Government operating group.

"This year's research shows that governments cannot afford to invest all of their effort and resources in developing the online channel alone to keep pace with citizen demands. The entire government organization must become focused on delivering services to citizens that are tailored to their needs and circumstances, and are coordinated across the various channels of interaction."

Countries that fared worse this year tended to be those with an emphasis on solely the eGovernment aspects of their service delivery programs.

The study also found that while most citizens are eager to embrace a new generation of services, governments' are falling short on their ability to deliver them. For example, a majority of citizens (55%) believe government is being effective when it acts as a single, seamless entity that can remember all of the details of a citizen's previous contact.

However, an average of only 24% of citizens across all countries reported the government actually being able to do so. In the United Kingdom, which scored highest in this category, only 38% said the government remembered all details of a previous contact. Even in Canada, which ranked number one in overall maturity ratings this year, 70% of the respondents claimed that the government had forgotten at least some details of their previous transactions.

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