Global Trends in Digital Governance: A Longitudinal Study

This paper highlights the research findings of a digital governance survey conducted in the fall of 2009. The study replicates previous surveys of large municipalities worldwide in 2007, 2005, and 2003. This longitudinal assessment, focused on the assessment of current practices in municipal e-governance by evaluating their official websites. Specifically, the survey analyzed security, usability, content, the type of online services currently being offered, citizen response, and participation through websites established by city governments worldwide. There were significant changes in the top ranking cities when compared to previous studies. Based on the 2009 evaluation of 87 cities, Seoul, Prague, Hong Kong, New York, and Singapore represent the highest performing cities in digital governance. Moreover, there continues to be a divide in terms of digital governance throughout the world; however, this divide, which increased in 2005, decreased in 2009.