E-government study puts Seoul at the top

Seoul was named the best city for electronic government services in a recent international research study backed by the United Nations. But the study said that Seoul had room for improvement in privacy protection and the convenience of services. Research centers under Sung Kyun Kwan University in Korea and the State University of New Jersey evaluated the electronic government systems of 100 cities in 100 countries from March to October. Seoul topped the chart, with a grade of just under 75 percent, the universities said yesterday. Hong Kong was second at 66 percent, followed closely by Singapore, New York and Shanghai. Rome was placed sixth and Auckland, New Zealand, seventh. The assessment was based on five major categories ― information protection, convenience of use, information content, administrative services and citizen participation. Seoul was ranked first in the categories of convenience and frequency of use, but was third in information protection, after Hong Kong and Singapore. The American Society for Public Administration and the United Nations Division for Public Administration and Development Management also took part in the research, along with 150 researchers speaking 44 languages. Based on the results of the study, the UN plans to launch a campaign to encourage governments around the world to build electronic government service sites. by Choi Hyung-kyu