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eUser, a Europe-wide survey of citizen needs for eGovernment and other public online services, funded by the EU, finds that 55% of those who have used eGovernment services are positive. Early efforts by Member States have led to a good start. Nevertheless, a considerable proportion (33%) of users experience at least one significant obstacle when using or trying to use online government services. These include locating the relevant online service in the first place; using eGovernment efficiently; dealing with poor or patchy quality of content; and limitations in service functionality. To remedy this situation, European governments must intervene on both the supply side - tailoring services to user needs and the user side - developing eSkills and awareness of online advantages.

Key findings: EU citizens, although generally attracted by the possibility to contact public administration online, often feel that they do not derive any tangible benefits when compared to traditional delivery channels (e.g. face-to-face or via phone), according to the eUser survey. Barriers to eGovernment remain, such as the perceived need to discuss matters face-to-face with administration staff, concerns about the security and privacy of personal data submitted through the Internet as well as online services not flexible enough to allow users to adapt them to their specific situation. One in three non-users who would like to use eGovernment is held back by insufficient computer equipment. The evidence collected also indicates that, in addition to problems actually experienced, expectations of barriers often keep citizens from trying out eGovernment in the first place. This situation could be rectified through more and better marketing and promotion activities. Ensuring good quality and appropriate eGovernment services and better matching eService supply with user orientation and skills are other strategies.

The role of intermediaries: An emerging and widespread phenomenon is the fact that almost half of the eGovernment users also act as social intermediaries assisting non-users in the family or among friends in using services or actually acting on their behalf. The level of technical skills and media literacy required to use online services is considerable. There are reasons to assume that full supply of all citizens with online services can only by achieved through the use of intermediaries. The role professional intermediaries could play in this regard needs to be explored by governments. More research is needed to help understand the complexity this brings about – legally and socially.

Policy recommendations to the EU and Member States include: (1) develop educational initiatives to supply citizens with the digital literacy required for eGovernment services, (2) integrate online services fully with alternative delivery channels (multi-channel approach), (3) promote eGovernment services by letting non-users try out online services at the traditional point of delivery (e.g. city hall), (4) develop (in close interaction with citizens) eGovernment services which provide innovative solutions to real-world problems faced by citizens, (5) develop concepts for professional intermediaries which act as front-end to eGovernment services for those target groups unlikely ever to use the Internet.

"The eUser project represents the first coherent effort to address the needs of the whole population in relation to online public services of public interest. While some countries, like Denmark and the United Kingdom, have a leading edge, European leaders have not done enough to tailor services to the users. Users will demand far more in the future, and there is room for improvement", says eUser Project Manager Werner B. Korte, Empirica.

The EU-funded eUser project’s research includes a representative population survey and assessments of the supply side of online services of public interest in all 25 EU Member States. The eUser survey has data from 10 European countries on access, usage patterns and attitudes towards public services provided via the Internet. Concise country briefs for each of the EU25 countries include information on: (a) the state-of-the-art in eGovernment, eHealth and eLearning; (b) the supply and demand of public online services, and (c) public sector's readiness to provide user-oriented online services.  The country briefs are based on desk research, interviews with experts and stakeholders, as well as on secondary data from Eurostat and other Commission Services. The project also has analysed 21 good practice cases in eGovernment, eHealth and eLearning from the EU Member States.

eUser is a resource to Member States, especially to those responsible for online public services offerings. eUser’s easy-to-use user-orientation inspection tool for online service provision qualityhas already been piloted on 10 eServices across Europe. Factors like visibility, findability, perceived usefulness, and quality of the interaction are among the most important. Evaluators using this tool would assess online services starting from the basic notion that there are different types of users: (1) first-time and novice users, (2) moderately experienced users, and (3) expert users.

The freely available eUser Online Knowledge Base is found on www.euser-eu.org/ , together with additional statistics and publications, fully searchable. It is expected to become a key European resource for years to come and will be a reference model to improve the delivery, design and user experience of online public services.