An analysis and comparison of web development between local governments and SMEs in Spain

The internet has emerged as a key channel for both firms and governments. E-government programmes are diverse, and difficult to assess and compare with e-business initiatives. There is therefore a need for a framework to allow for assessment and comparison of e-government and e-business initiatives. This paper develops a framework (applicable to both business and governments) that allows evaluation and comparison of the development of the external, public side of their websites. This framework has been applied to study differences in web development between SMEs and local governments in Spain. The results indicate that local governments have richer and more advanced websites than SMEs.