e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Source: OECD
Figure 4.6. Customer orientation of Stage 3 electronic services, 2002
Stage 3 e-services to citizens Stage 3 e-services to businesses Stage 3 e-services to others
217. Respondents at Stage 3, unlike those at Stages 1 and 2, were equally likely to provide electronic
services to businesses as to citizens. This suggests a number of hypotheses relative to interactive services:
x Businesses are have a greater demand for interactive services. The OECD survey found
that, with regard to electronic services, 41% of respondents reported the greatest demand
from businesses, 34% reported the greatest demand from citizens and 24% from other public
organisations.
x Businesses have a greater online presence. Businesses have stronger ICT readiness and
greater online access than citizens in general. About 98% of large businesses in Finland
(250 or more employees) reported using the Internet in 2000, while 78% of small businesses
(5-9 employees) reported having access. 39 In contrast, about 60% of citizens have access to
the Internet (see Part 2.2, “Spillover from the information society”).
x Businesses are more frequent users of government services. Several Finnish studies have
shown that private companies use the Internet when dealing with the government to a greater
extent than they do for electronic business transactions such as taking orders. In terms of
transactional services, electronic government-to-business services (G2B) are second only to
banking. The survey by Statistics Finland (Table 1 Part 3.3) showed that, on average, citizens
have two contacts a year with government. In contrast, the typical Finnish company has at
least 25 interactions a year with the tax administration alone. Citizens’ infrequent contact
with government is likely to reduce their desire to make an up-front investment in knowledge
or hardware to take advantage of online services.
x Businesses have a greater financial incentive to use e-government. Reducing the cost of
transactions and services has a direct impact on business earnings, so that demonstrating
potential savings from electronic services should increase business interest in the possibilities
39 OECD (2002), Information Technology Outlook
Provided Planned
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