The goal of Estonia in the development of public services is to provide such services fast and with the smallest possible administrative burden. The effectiveness of the agency that provides the service must also increase with the development of a public service. Previous studies of public sector e-services have focused on the number of Internet and e-service users, and the satisfaction of private individuals and enterprises. The broader social and economic impact of e-services on various target groups has generally gone unstudied. Analyses of Internet voting (i-voting) are the only positive exception here.
The objective of this analysis was to identify and prove the social and economic impact achieved with the development of public services in Estonia and the implementation of e-services. The study set out to develop the numerical indicators that could be used to plan the further development of e-services as well as to improve the marketing of Estonian e-government solutions. The study also identified the technological, legal and organisational prerequisites that have to be fulfilled for the successful implementation of e-services, and any obstacles to the achievement of greater impact. Another important objective of the study was to develop an impact assessment method that could also be used in the future.
In cooperation with the Praxis Centre for Policy Studies, Institute of Baltic Studies analysed the impact of Estonia’s e-services on three target groups: