Title: Index for comparative assessment of municipal websites

Authors: Jalaj Katare; Snigdha Banerjee

Addresses: Govindram Seksaria Institute of Management and Research, Sch. No. 54, Vijay Nagar, Near Hotel Fortune Landmark, M.R. 10, Indore, 452010, India ' School of Statistics, Devi Ahilya University, Vigyan Bhawan, Takshashila Campus, Khandwa Road, Indore, 452017, India

Abstract: Municipal corporations are important components of urban local governance. In India, these are responsible for many services including tax payments by citizens. In today's digital age, e-governance is a step towards effective utilisation of information and communication technology (ICT) for the flow of information between government and its stakeholders, delivery of public e-services and e-participation implementation. The present study proposes a detailed three-level framework municipal website quality assessment index (MWQAI) for assessment of municipal websites of India which may also be used for other developing countries. As a prototype of its use, qualities of seven municipal websites in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India are studied using MWQAI and other assessment instruments. Such a study enables comparative assessment of the websites to appraise their sophistication levels. More importantly, it provides suggestions for up-gradation of websites in the context of qualities of information provided, interactions, transactions and citizen-oriented services.

Keywords: e-governance; local government; municipal websites; assessment index; MWQAI; municipal website quality assessment index.

DOI: 10.1504/EG.2017.083942

Electronic Government, an International Journal, 2017 Vol.13 No.1, pp.49 - 68

Received: 16 Mar 2016
Accepted: 25 Jan 2017
Published online: 26 Apr 2017 *

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