The United Nations E-Government Survey is produced every two years by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. It is the only report in the world that assesses the e-government development status of all United Nations Member States. It serves as a tool for decision-makers to identify their areas of strength and challenges in e-government and to guide e-government policies and strategies. The publication also highlights emerging e-government trends, issues and innovative practices, as well as challenges and opportunities of e-government development. Each chapter provides an analysis of the Survey’s data, as well as highlights strategies, challenges and opportunities so as to provide policy options.

The E-Government Development Index presents the state of E-Government Development of the United Nations Member States. Along with an assessment of the website development patterns in a country, the E-Government Development index incorporates the access characteristics, such as the infrastructure and educational levels, to reflect how a country is using information technologies to promote access and inclusion of its people. The EGDI is a composite measure of three important dimensions of e-government, namely: provision of online services, telecommunication connectivity and human capacity.

Mathematically, the EGDI is a weighted average of three normalized scores on three most important dimensions of e-government, namely: (1) scope and quality of online services (Online Service Index, OSI), (2) development status of telecommunication infrastructure (Telecommunication Infrastructure Index, TII), and (3) inherent human capital (Human Capital Index, HCI). Each of these indices is a composite measure that can be extracted and analysed independently.

Prior to the normalization of the three component indicators, the Z-score standardization procedure is implemented for each component indicator to ensure that the overall EGDI is equally decided by the three component indexes, i.e. each component index presents comparable variance subsequent to the Z-score standardization. In the absence of the Z-score standardization treatment, the EGDI would mainly depend on the component index with the greatest dispersion.

After Z-score standardization, the arithmetic average sum becomes a good statistical indicator, where "equal weights" truly means "equal importance."

For standard Z-score calculation of each component indicator:

where:

x is a raw score to be standardized;

µ is the mean of the population;

σ is the standard deviation of the population.

Within the 0 to 1 range of EGDI values, countries are then grouped into four levels mathematically defined as follows: very high EGDI values range from 0.75 to 1.00 inclusive, high EGDI group values range from 0.50 to 0.7499 inclusive, middle EGDI values range from 0.25 to 0.4999 inclusive, and low EGDI values range from 0.0 to 0.2499 inclusive. In all references to these ranges in text and graphic elements, the respective values are rounded for clarity and are expressed as follows: 0.75 to 1.00, 0.50 to 0.75, 0.25 to 0.50, and 0.00 to 0.25. To gain better insight into the situation of subgroups of countries with similar levels of performance within their respective EGDI groups, each EGDI group is further divided into four equally defined intervals, or quartiles1. The rating class breakdowns within the respective EGDI groups, in descending order, are as follows: VH, V3, V2 and V1 for the very high group; HV, H3, H2 and H1 for the high group; MH, M3, M2 and M1 for the middle group; and LM, L3, L2 and L1 for the low group.

The most comprehensive update to the E-Government Survey assessment in 2022 comes in the form of a refined formula for generating the Online Service Index. The new approach introduces a standardization and normalization regimen to further align the OSI with Local Online Service Index (LOSI) by categorizing the assessment questions into 5 discrete thematic areas forming 5 subindices: institutional framework (IF), services provision (SP), content provision (CP), technology (TEC) and e-participation (EPI)—with the OSI as a whole calculated based on the normalized values for each subindex. Each of the 5 subindices of OSI are assigned a weight based on the relative proportion of questions belonging to the associated category in the OSI assessment questionnaire, as presented below:

This thirteenth edition of the United Nations E-Government Survey, released in 2024, provides a comprehensive assessment of the digital government landscape across all 193 Member States. The 2024 Survey highlights a significant upward trend in the development of digital government worldwide, with increased investment in resilient infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies. The global average value of the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) shows substantial improvement, with the proportion of the population lagging in digital government development decreasing from 45.0 per cent in 2022 to 22.4 per cent in 2024. Despite significant progress in digital government development, the EGDI averages for the African region, least developed countries, and small island developing States remain below the global average, underscoring the need for targeted efforts to bridge existing gaps.

At the local level, the Survey continues to assess city portals using the Local Online Services Index (LOSI). The LOSI findings reflect steady progress but also highlight persistent disparities between national and local e-government performance, pointing to the need for focused initiatives to strengthen digital government at the municipal level.

E-government is a new model for government agencies to conduct government administration using modern information technology, encompassing areas such as government transparency, online services, and collaborative office work.

E-government includes the centralized construction of infrastructure such as government cloud and government extranet, as well as technical support systems such as data governance and electronic authentication. Its main interaction forms are divided into four categories: intergovernmental (G2G), government-business (G2B), government-citizen (G2C), and government-employee (G2E).

E-government and government self-service kiosks are related as part of a whole, supporting and extending a system. The former is part of the overall government digitalization strategy, while the latter is a key physical terminal for implementing this strategy.

1. Promoting Digital Transformation of Government Services

E-government is a model for improving government management and service efficiency through information technology. Government self-service kiosks, as a crucial part of e-government, offer convenient and efficient public services, reducing labor costs and enhancing operational efficiency.

2. Enhancing Accessibility of Public Services

Government self-service kiosks are typically installed in government agencies, public spaces, and other locations. Citizens can complete various government tasks such as ID card applications, tax inquiries, and social security payments without needing human assistance. This self-service model increases the accessibility of government services, allowing citizens to complete tasks at any time and location.

3. Achieving Information Interoperability and Resource Sharing

E-government builds a unified information platform to break down the barriers between government departments and promote information sharing across regions and sectors. Self-service kiosks, by connecting to these platforms, can provide real-time and accurate government services, optimizing the service experience further.

4. Increasing Government Service Transparency and Intelligence

One of the core goals of e-government is to enhance transparency and intelligence in government operations. Self-service kiosks contribute to this by providing digitized and transparent services, reducing human error and intervention, and increasing citizens' trust in the government.

5. Reducing Queue and Waiting Time

The widespread use of self-service kiosks effectively reduces congestion at offline service counters, alleviating pressure on staff and improving service efficiency. This automated service method allows citizens to perform necessary tasks without long waiting times, thereby enhancing the overall service experience.

6. Aligning with Policy Directions and Public Demand

With the implementation of policies such as smart cities and digital government, self-service kiosks, as part of e-government, better meet citizens' demands for convenient and efficient services, contributing to the creation of a more efficient government service system.

In summary, government self-service kiosks, as part of e-government, serve to optimize service efficiency, increase transparency, and expand service coverage, creating a more convenient and intelligent bridge for interactions between the government and the public.

Self-service kiosks are important tentacles in the e-government system for making digital services concrete, physical, and ubiquitous. They are not simply terminal machines, but key nodes deployed on a unified digital foundation to achieve "ubiquitous" services.

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