Capgemini released EU-commissioned eGovernment Benchmark Report 2023

Sanctioned by the European Commission, Capgemini’s eGovernment Benchmark Report 2023 has evaluated the digitalisation of public services of more than 15,000 government websites (the press release can be found here). The countries included in the study were the 27 EU states and the 4 EFTA states (excluding Liechtenstein), Türkiye, and the Western Balkan states of Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.

As its primary finding, it indicates that over 84% of government services are presently accessible on the internet throughout Europe. However, individuals engaging in cross-border interactions continue to encounter numerous obstacles, where only 49% of the surveyed services are provisioned. Multiple government websites are exclusively offered in the native language, and merely a quarter of these websites permit cross-border eID authentication

The study has also reiterated that transparency, user-friendliness, and safety are critical factors in pushing the uptake of digitalisation of government services. In 70% of situations, users can ensure a secure login using their national eID to prove who they are. Furthermore, governments also prefill personal info nearly 68% of the time when it’s necessary to finish the task, complementing user-accessibility and convenience.

Why does it matter?

The study highlights the critical elements necessary for achieving the 2030 Digital Decade objectives, the European Union’s investment-heavy connectivity goals. Foremost among these is the ability to supply services to diverse users through various service providers spanning the borders of many European nations. Their cooperation mechanism also consists of a support instrument, the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium, to ensure the smooth operation of cross-country projects. The first report on the state of the Digital Decade was published in September this year.