E-Government & RSS The Role of the Internet in How Americans Interact with Government Paul Vogelzang Gnomedex 5.0 Seattle, Washington June 23-25, 2005

E-Government & RSS What’s new in e-Gov? Why studying it matters? Summarize past Internet research Findings from latest PEW RSS/e- gov study What it adds up to …

E-Government & RSS “The current potential to build government services and practices using existing [information] technologies and applications.” Office of Management and Budget “E-government … calls for rethinking the way government functions are carried out to improve some processes, to introduce new ones and to replace those that require it.” Congressional Record “What a country?” Yakov Smirnoff Two components & common misconceptions about e-government: –Political participation and deliberation –Public administration  service delivery

Why E-Government & RSS Matters There’s lots of it, but not always well- conceived: –Sometimes poor underlying assumptions Numerous potential benefits: –Cost savings –Better service delivery –Enhance participation  build social capital “The true test of a good government is its ability to produce good administration” – Alexander Hamilton

Why E-Government & RSS Matters Information empowers, reduces uncertainties –Health care –Civic/political engagement –Consumer research Internet helps foster social (good government) capital Creativity –Create own content –Recombine other Web content  Upshot – rising expectations among tech elite about internet’s effectiveness

Trends in general e-Gov use % of internet users who have visited federal, state, or local government websites Source: PEW Survey, July 2004

Nature of e-gov experience Most (80%) find what they are looking for at government Web sites (2002) Lots of basic information searching: oTourist/recreational information oResearch oForms oService inquiry oPolicy issues Rising expectations (2002): o65% of all Americans expect government info to be on the Web o39% of all Americans will turn to the Net first for next government contact. 37% of all Americans will turn to phone

Contacting government: How does the “internet” fit in? From the July 2004 PEW survey of 2,925 adult Americans: What percentage of adult Americans contact government? How do they contact government? Why do they contact government? Are they successful? Satisfied? What is the preferred method of contact?

Contacting government: How does the “internet” fit in? 54% of all Americans contacted the government in year prior to survey* 72% of Internet users contacted government 23% of non-Internet users contacted government 63% of all Americans were Internet users in the July 2004 survey * 54% figure excludes those whose last contact with government was mailing taxes

What people did the last time they contacted government … * Carry out a transaction  30% Get information about specific question  25% Express an opinion  19% Get help solving a problem  11% Other  7% * Based on contact within past year not related to mailing in a tax return, n=1,657, July 2004 survey

Preferred means of contact – Preferred means of contact – by reason for contact – Complex/ urgent Solve a problem TransactionGet information Telephone46%47%40%41% Web In person Letter11974

Preferred Means of Contact by Issue Area (1) – all respondents Over the Phone On the Internet Some other way Personal Tax Issue 51%17%26% Auto License or Permit Express Opinion Government Emergency 84942

Preferred Means of Contact by Issue Area (2) – all respondents Over the Phone On the Internet Some other way Research (school or work) 18%57%16% Programs agencies offer Recreational licenses Recreational or tourism activities

Problems – phone contact Not enough time 36% Can’t find right person 35 On hold too long 31 Getting transferred too much 30 Call not returned 24 Don’t know where to call 21 Can’t call during business hours 18

Problems – Web contact Web site doesn’t have information needed 33% Web site difficult to navigate15 Had difficulty figuring out which site to go to 13 Site had bad/outdated links31 Had problem downloading forms or instructions 8

What people want & need from e-gov and how might RSS help Multiple channels still important – even for Internet users… –People use multiple channels to interact with government & switch along the way Offline channels important to sub- groups… –One-third of America is not online –People with disabilities “Real time” interaction still preferred for urgent or complex problems

How might RSS help e-gov? Improve communication to citizens oMore direct oLess expensive oMore reliable Mitigate pitfalls of communication oSpam filters oPrivacy issue oNeed for permission oBurden of on IT infrastructure oPotential to be shut down by ISPs Opt-in nature of RSS Drive traffic to the website

Recent e-gov & RSS examples

Service delivery for “on demand” citizens Users want to be able to toggle to interactive help in real-time Study complementarities –Do some channels work better in conjunction with others? Integrate traditional channels into RSS & Web is highly suspect