Abstract

After a general introduction to concepts such as eGovernment, eDemocracy and eGovernance, a brief reflection on the situation of the Spanish public administration in relation to the internet is offered. The opportunities that information and communication technologies offer to carry out deep reforms in administrative procedures is discussed. If we do not seize these opportunities we risk “fossilizing” the administration, making only superficial changes that do not make the needed improvements in efficiency and the services to businesses and citizens.

Abstract

We present the need to evaluate and compare the development of e-government, and review benchmarking tools and practices. First we discuss the stages of e-government models that are currently in use and discuss the main characteristics and applications. The different e-government benchmarking approaches are analysed, pointing out that e-administration is the more benchmarked e-government area. A more in-depth analysis of the most relevant benchmarks is performed. Both  analyses reveal several limitations of existing studies with respect to applicability to local administration. These include the scarcity of studies focused on this area, the extent of adoption of public services and the use of models of evolution of egovernment that do not reflect the new trends in the provision of services. Finally we point out improvements to be made in future benchmarking of electronic services to increase their applicability in the field of local administration.