E-Government

Pioneering work on internet accessibility and usage

Who uses the internet, and how? If you need to find out what makes a website more accessible and usable, if you want to understand how people use information or how the internet can be used to tackle digital and social exclusion, then you've come to the right place.

Since 2000, Ipsos MORI has established itself as the leading e-government research agency in the UK. In fact, we top the list of a Google search for "e-government research".

Our e-government research team works closely with local councils, central government, public sector bodies and private companies to provide common sense analysis on the transformational government agenda. We have carried out pioneering work for the e-citizen national project, and in the last 18 months have worked with, among others, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the Statistics Commission, Communities and Local Government, Ukonline centres, the Office for Fair Access and the Joint Information Systems Committee.

In that time e-government has changed beyond recognition. No longer is it just about transferring paper-based information to a website or tracking the proportion of the population that uses computers. We are now stepping into the Web 2.0 age of user-generated content.

The Web 2.0 age: user generated content

The difficulty for policy- and decision-makers is that user-generated content also implies a loosening of control of information. We've all seen the effect that sites like MySpace and Facebook have on public discourse - they have changed the way that people expect to find information and services online. Put more simply: Transformation requires not just ‘connecting' citizens but rethinking everything from a citizen point of view. Ultimately, this may mean completely redefining the business model and not simply re-engineering processes within an accepted business design. Angela Waite, President, Socitm, 2006. Or even more simply: The internet is much more than a technology. It's a completely different way of organising our lives. Eric Schmidt, CEO Google, 2006.  Whether you need to move from a linear, paper-based view of information to a three-dimensional online one, whether you want to test the effect that technology can have on social capital, or whether you simply want to evaluate your website we can help you navigate your way through the Web 2.0 era.What is Web 2.0?  (INSERT LINK)

Recent e-government work

• Online data accessibility for the Statistics Commission (2006/07) The Statistics Commission wanted to know how people access official statistics online and how accessibility to this data could be improved. As well as carrying out a review of departmental policies on data accessibility and dissemination, the Ipsos MORI e-government research team set up a mystery shopping exercise where members of the public and researchers were tasked with finding specific pieces of information online, either starting at search engines or on government sites. Their progress was monitored through proprietary programming which tracks their search terms, journey and time taken. The report can be found at: http://www.statscom.org.uk/uploads/files/reports/Report%2034%20Data%20on%20Demand.pdf
• Student financial information for the Office For Fair Access (2006/07) In order to assess how easy it is for prospective students to find information about fees, bursaries, grants and loans, we conducted a qualitative study for OFFA. This involved a review of existing information on HEI sites, a series of interviews with stakeholders, a focus group with first-year HEI students and filmed, usability paired-depth interviews with economically disadvantaged A-level students, their parents and their teachers. The report can be found at: http://www.offa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/1 Feb 07 OFFA Ipsos MORI good practice guidance.pdf
• E-learning in the social care sector for the Social Care Institute for Excellence (2006/07) SCIE wanted to assess the social care sector's capacity for e-learning and to identify any opportunities for encouraging e-readiness. Our e-government research team carried out an extensive research programme which included a substantial desk research project (conducted by MORI Market Dynamics), online and paper-based surveys with social care employers and staff (reaching over 500 employers and 1,000 staff members) and a series of work-based focus groups with staff. This found that there is significant capacity among social care staff for e-learning but that organisational, cultural and resource barriers currently make it difficult for employers to champion e-learning effectively.  More information can be found at: http://www.scie.org.uk