Latest research shows that up to 46% of the adult population of England are ready and waiting to use local authority e-channels. This represents a significant opportunity for e-Government, with up to 17.5 million e-citizens standing by to tap into the e-enabled services being developed by the Local e-Government National Projects and local authorities.
These are the interim findings of research commissioned by the e-citizen National Project, led by Norwich City Council. The research shows that Local Authorities in England are in a good position to tap in to this potential user base and drive take-up of their e-channels. They will be able to achieve this through targeting citizens who already embrace e-commerce and e-communications.
The findings also indicate that one way for Local Authorities to bridge the digital divide is to build on effective relationships with intermediary organisations, such as the Citizen's Advice Bureau, making it as easy and efficient as possible for them to use e-channels on behalf of their less "wired" clients.
Following interviews with 4,100 adults in England, the research identified attitudinal clusters of the population that are the most likely to take up opportunities to contact their councils via e-channels early on if they are aware of the services they can access via these e-channels. Of the six clusters identified two are of particular interest:
* Cluster 1: "e-amenable progressives". The most pro-technology - confident when using technology and would like greater e-communication opportunities from their council. Likely to be Male, ABC1, high income earners, under 55, with high access to technology.
16% of the adult population aged 15+ these represent approx. 6 million people in England.
* Cluster Two: "Contenteds". Generally happy with their council and comfortable with technology - but no strong views on future rolling out of services via e-channels. Likely to be male, single, with high level qualifications and access to technology.
30% of the adult population aged 15+ these represent approx. 11.5 million people in England.
These figures represent an approximation to the 'gross' potential for take up. The net potential for take-up from these two clusters will be determined by the effectiveness of promotional campaigns to make citizens aware of services available via e-channels.
"Focusing marketing activity on uptake of the services most used by this group is likely to have the most dramatic effect on usage," says Norman Mellor, Programme Director and Head of Communications & Research at Norwich City Council. "The research suggests that the main issue with people that are already using e-commerce, and are predisposed towards the e-economy in general, is that they are not aware of local authority e-channels. Marketing communications campaigns are therefore essential at a local, and at a regional level to raise awareness and drive take up. Working with intermediaries is also a key way that local authorities can address take- up for those that are unlikely to have access to e-channels themselves in the short to medium term."
The interim findings from the Research Programme will be published on http://www.e-citizen.gov.uk on 24 March 2005, together with an Interim Executive Summary. The next step for the e-citizen National Project is to test out a variety of marketing communications campaigns on specific target audiences in individual local authorities. The complete research programme will be published in April 2005.
Note to Editors:
1 Further Information
For further information please contact Norman Mellor - Programme Director on 01603 212611, 07733 102012 or normanmellor@norwich.gov.uk
2 The Research
This is the first time there has been a comprehensive research programme to inform the national approach towards the take-up and marketing of local authority e-channels.
The interim findings highlighted in this news release cover the following research projects, commissioned by the e-citizen National Project:
* E-citizenship: What People Want, MORI, 2004 (4,100 interviews)
* E-citizenship: The Intermediaries Research, OPERA Community Research 2005
* E-citizenship: Local Authority Survey MORI 2004
* E-citizenship: Literature Review MORI 2004
3 Technical note
Results for the what people want survey are based on 4,100 interviews completed face-to-face in-home on three waves of the MORI Omnibus with adults aged 15+. Fieldwork was conducted between 26 to 31 August, 10 to 14 September and 23 to 28 September 2004, across constituency based sampling points in England. Data are weighted to the known profile of England.
Results for the local authorities survey 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
Results for the Intermediary Survey undertaken by OPERA Community Research were based on 202 telephone interviews with intermediaries around England. Intermediaries covered were in the following categories: Community Support, Health and Deprivation Support, Education & Training Support and Life stage support. The fieldwork took place between 30 November and 9 December 2004.
4. The Local e-Government National Projects
Initiated by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, the National Projects are a key part of its national strategy for local e-government. They offer councils cost-effective, proven, standards-based products, services and implementation roadmaps with which to build effective e-services tailored to their citizens and each council's own unique needs.
The 22 Projects have been created to help local authorities deliver local e-government by December 2005 - meeting their Priority Outcome requirements and helping them to respond to the recommendations of the Gershon efficiency review.
http://www.localegovnp.org.uk
