UN E-Government Development Index

Every two years, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) through its Division for Public Administration and Development Management (DPADM) publishes the United Nations E-Government Survey. The Survey provides a snapshot with relative rankings of e-government development of all Member States of the United Nations.

By ranking the performance of countries on a relative scale, the Survey provides relevant information to support policy makers in shaping their e-government programmes for development. As a composite indicator, the e-government development index (EGDI) is used to measure the willingness and capacity of national administrations to use information and communication technologies to deliver public services. This measure of the index is useful for government officials, policy makers, researchers and representatives of civil society and the private sector to gain a deeper understanding of the comparative benchmarking of the relative position of a country in utilizing e-government for the delivery of inclusive, accountable and citizen-centric services.

The EGDI is based on an expert assessment survey of the online presence of all 193 United Nations Member States, which assesses national websites and how e-government policies and strategies are applied in general and in specific sectors for delivery of essential services. The assessment rates the e-government performance of countries relative to one another as opposed to being an absolute measurement.

Mathematically, the EGDI is a weighted average of three normalized scores on three most important dimensions of e-government, namely: scope and quality of online services (Online Service Index, OSI), development status of telecommunication infrastructure (Telecommunication Infrastructure Index, TII) and inherent human capital (Human Capital Index, HCI). For more information about the computation of the EGDI constituents and other methodology see the UN E-Government Survey page and methodological annexes.

Source: UN E-Government ranking