e-Citizen &#8212 Demand For e-Government

There is unmet demand for e-Government services in England according to research carried out by the MORI Social Research Institute for the e-Citizen National Project. In particular there are two key groups of citizens who show potential interest in using e-Government services. These groups have been identified using advanced statistical analysis of data from a survey of 4,100 citizens conducted on the MORI Omnibus.

• "e-amenable progressives". These citizens are the most pro-technology. They are confident when using technology and would like greater e-communication opportunities from their council. They are likely to be male, in social grades ABC1, to be high income earners, under 55, and with high access to technology. They are one in six (16%) of the adult population aged 15+ in England and represent approximately 6 million people.
• "Contenteds". These citizens are generally happy with their council and comfortable with technology - but they have no strong views on the future of e-Government. They are likely to be male, single, with a high level of qualifications and access to technology. They are three in ten (30%) of the adult population aged 15+ in England and represent approximately 11.5 million people.

The research programme also included:

• A local authority survey to find out about local authorities' experience of using market research and marketing communications to increase e-Government take-up. It also covers their experience in using metrics to measure the effectiveness of their marketing communications in raising take-up and which e-channels (such as digital television and kiosks) they currently offer.
• A literature review, conducted by MORI Market Dynamics, which identifies best practise in the public and private sector, both from the UK and internationally. The review covers the use of market research and marketing communications to increase e-channel take-up and in metrics to measure the effectiveness of marketing communications in raising take-up. It also looks at existing research data about citizens' attitudes to the use of e-channels

To download copies of the full reports, and to find out more about the e-Citizen National Project, please visit www.e-citizen.gov.uk

Technical details

General public research: Results are based on 4,100 interviews completed face-to-face on the MORI Omnibus with adults aged 15+ across England. Fieldwork was conducted face-to-face, in-home, on three waves of the MORI Omnibus between 26-31 August, 10-14 September and 23-28 September 2004, across constituency based sampling points in England. Data are weighted to known profile for England.

Local authority research: Results are based on 131 questionnaires completed online with officer e-champions in English local authorities. Fieldwork was conducted by the MORI Social Research Institute and Opera Community Research, between 16 August and 29 September 2004. Emails were sent to all 388 English local authority officer e-champions with only one reply allowed per authority. The response rate is 34%. Data are unweighted.