9. Recommendations

From the information provided by respondents across all focus group interviews, summarised above, a number of recommendations to help remove barriers and encourage greater use by citizens of government web sites for information and services, emerge. The recommendations should be viewed within the context of past accomplishments and opportunities for future improvements. A worthy challenge is to level the playing field as much as possible, creating the opportunity for e-government to become more vital to the public in coming years.

• Standardise web sites, and create 'seamless searching' across government, with links, if necessary, between sites, if relevant information is held on another site. Web sites should be attractive, well laid out, and quick and easy to navigate, and provide easy-to-read content. In essence, a web site that meets such criteria encourages use, and draws people to the site.
• Provide more information on content, and annotate headings and links so that the public can quickly determine relevance to their information need.
• Ensure that all government web sites include contact information (names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses) of relevant personnel.
• Ensure that web pages provide the date of revision and that the date is current.
• Promote a policy of multi-channel communication between citizens and government, recognising that e-government only comprises one channel, and that there are other channels that are as important (or more important). Channels permitting human interaction remain very important.
• Monitor compliance with the New Zealand Government Web Guidelines [http://www.e-government.govt.nz/docs/web-guidelines-2-1/index.html.] more pro-actively, to ensure that those with limited bandwidth for Internet access, or special needs (such as the needs and requirements of people with disabilities) have equitable participation in government on the Internet, allowing all to enter web sites from the 'front door'. This is not just a matter of ensuring that the criteria listed in the Guidelines are 'checked off'; it is also a matter of complying with the spirit as well as the letter of the law.
• Ensure that online assistance is available to users of government web sites, and find ways to assist the public in gaining the necessary Internet and search skills to maximise their use of government on the Internet.
• Following the example of some departments and agencies, encourage agencies to invite the public to receive e-mail updates and announcements.
• Set standards for response times to e-mail enquiries and submissions. These should be timely and when someone sends government an e-mail message, that message should be promptly acknowledged and responded to in a timely manner.
• Improve online forms, enabling the public to complete and return them electronically without problems.
• Promote the concept of e-government, explaining its components and how different sectors of the public might use them. Ensure that web addresses are included in both the blue and white pages of the telephone book. Any promotion must show the value of government on the Internet, seeking to alter information-gathering behaviours. That dialogue should take place around the country, with government going to the people (and doing so with the absence of jargon). Specific audiences might be the targets of promotion, and government web sites might segment information for those different groups to promote ease of use.
• Revisit the purpose of the government portal and improve the portal's functionality to enhance searching for government on the Internet. Priorities in how information is presented on the portal, and limits to actual information provided (as opposed to live links to departmental web pages) should be investigated. Links on the portal to government web pages should be effectively annotated (perhaps with pop-up explanations) so that the public can better determine each department's mission, purpose, and relevance to their information need. Given that so many people use the search engine Google to find information, government might explore a relationship with that search engine (and perhaps with others). Consideration should be given to the development of further specialty portals such as one dealing exclusively with science.
• Create ways for the public to tap into government on the Internet without those having computers and Internet connectivity having to pay. Provide acceptable and free access use of some form of Internet 0800 number.
• Develop kiosk access in supervised public places, to support access to government on the Internet for those without computers and Internet connections, and make the 0800 free government access facility accessible from libraries and cyber cafés.
• Provide incentives for online use and e-compliance.
• Acknowledge and reward government web sites that are outstanding for their quality, ease of use, and service.

A focus on service quality

The literature on the effectiveness and efficiency of government web sites tends to focus on 'performance metrics' that are output based (focus on productivity, including the number served) and outcomes based (typically here the focus is on results). A type of outcome considers customer satisfaction. The marketing literature is focused extensively on service quality, which often examines the match between customer expectations and the service actually provided. Attention to service quality should be a central concern when government evaluates the effectiveness of its services, including the dissemination of information and services through the Internet.

A key tenet of service quality is the need to understand and respond to the different markets, or audiences, for a product or service. In the case of e-government, as well as the expressed preferences of the majority of respondents, the role(s) they play in society is the primary determinant of their use of government on the Internet. High quality e-government information and services will increasingly depend on an understanding of these roles.