The UK public sector is the only one in Europe to provide mobile-friendly websites across domains, according to research released by the European Commission.
The 12th Benchmark Measurement of European eGovernment Services, carried out by the Capgemini Group, showed that public organisations in the UK are well prepared for a rapid growth in mobile usage.
It found that the UK’s performance contrasted with the rest of Europe, where overall only one in four public sector websites are mobile friendly.
“Mobile usage went up from 10% to 25% in just a few months after the UK replaced the standard and mobile versions of Directgov with GOV.UK, which uses a responsive design to adapt to different screen sizes,” the report said.
It added that the number of mobile internet users was increasing faster (306% in two years) in the UK than the EU average (138% over the same period), and said the UK should be able to increase digitisation through work to authenticate users and improve transparency of service delivery and personal data.
On the broader European picture, the report found that users of public sector platforms still faced considerable barriers in the ease of use, but had gained better access to their personal data handled by government websites since last year.
And the authors warned that very few online transactions were possible when applying for public services in a different European Union country.
Dinand Tinholt, vice president and global EU account director at Capgemini, said: “Europe must embrace the power of modern technology to transform public services to keep up with other regions globally.
“Europe is currently in a position of potential. The key question is whether it can use that potential to truly deliver an advantage.”