Summary of the impact

In a drive to improve efficiency and to increase user participation, local authorities have been set eGovernment targets and priorities by central Government. However, limited resources, conflicting priorities and internal political pressure have resulted in a lack of focus when it comes to implementing such changes and progress towards achieving e-Government has a) been slower than expected and b) had less impact than anticipated.

Research undertaken at Brunel broadened knowledge of e-Government and delivered these benefits:

• A stakeholder-agreed structure/framework defining all relevant e-Government issues
• Defined and agreed details of e-Government terminology
• Full recommendations for an integrated e-Government programme
• Priorities for e-Government research

The research created a body of knowledge that enabled delivery of novel and effective change and is contributing to making the UK a world leader on e-Government.

Summary of the impact

Professor Patrick Dunleavy, as Director of the LSE Public Policy Group (PPG), has led a research programme on digital era governance. The results of this programme, through published research, evidence to Parliament and direct consulting to government agencies (including the National Audit Office), have had a significant impact on the UK government's approach to the delivery of government services online. Specifically, the research has allowed the government to develop policies that have facilitated speedier and more effective digital changes, and increased the breadth and quality of public service delivery online.

Summary of the impact

While indexes exist that measure the maturity of the provision of eGovernment services from the government perspective (e.g. UN eGovernment Development Index, http://unpan3.un.org/egovkb/global_reports/12report.htm), there are no reliable standards that incorporate the citizen perspective into benchmarking of government effectiveness. Brunel research has included both government and citizen assessments and, through a more holistic approach to eGovernment evaluation, has helped Turkey and other governments to improve their e-government services.

EU funded CEES (Citizen-Oriented Evaluation of e-government Services) project delivered a new evaluation model, called COBRA (Cost, Opportunity, Benefit, Risk Analysis), for benchmarking e-government services from the citizens' perspective. CEES led to COBRA's adoption by Turksat, the Turkish central e-government service provider which has 12 million citizen users — leading to e-government service improvement and more favourable citizen attitudes. E-government service providers such as ictQATAR and OMSAR (Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform) have adopted the COBRA framework to evaluate and improve their e-government services in Qatar and Lebanon respectively. COBRA has also been used in UK and Estonia leading to similar outcomes.

This research outcome enabled the launch of a new project, called I-MEET, that is extending the COBRA framework to include governments' perspectives and is being applied to Qatar, Lebanon and the UK.

Summary of the impact

Research on software architectures and reengineering helped Portuguese IT company ATX develop automated migration tools. A report by IT research company Gartner in 2009 identified the collaboration as one of the company's key strengths. The partnership allowed ATX to sustain an innovative R&D programme and win business in a competitive market.

Impact occurred via:

• New and improved methodologies and technologies provided to customers;
• Improved R&D capacity through upskilling of staff;
• Improved profile as a leading-edge IT company, leading to new business.

The same research also helped local SME Hunter Systems to redesign their products for the Web.