Key Takeaways

• None of the countries that were researched issue a government email to its citizens.
• The countries researched are all well along the path of digitizing their interactions with their citizens.
• South Korea has won global awards, Estonia has the most advanced infrastructure and processes, and Iceland has the largest broadband penetration among its citizens, at almost 100%
• The data management strategies for centralized data management were not available.

Introduction

• This report provides information on the collection and use of personal data for government use in Iceland, New Zealand, Estonia and South Korea. A spreadsheet that organizes the information is available here.

Findings

Iceland

• Iceland has close to 100% broadband internet penetration. 
• Over 80% of Icelandic citizens use digital forms to complete and send forms to the government.
• The national register in Iceland includes people's ID numbers, gender, their names, marital status, children, where they live, citizenship, place of birth, whether people want to receive targeted mail, registration in a religious association and more.
• The National Registry does not seem to collect emails or cell phones numbers.
• A majority of Icelandic government services are now delivered through websites, including e-government portals, compulsory voting registration, and tax collection and payments.

New Zealand

• New Zealand supplies online applications for most of the personal services offered by the government. One can assume they are therefore storing contact information like cell phones and emails. It is not clear if this is in a central registry or if each ministry has its own data set.

• New Zealand supports online identities through a service called RealMe. Once verified by the government, this RealMe ID is used by government-funded agencies and many businesses.

Estonia

• Estonia provides online fillable forms for most government services. The forms collect phone numbers and private emails. It is unknown if the data is in a single common registry or if each Ministry manages its own data.
• Estonia is the world’s most digitally advanced society. Thirty percent of its people vote in elections over the internet, "births, deaths and marriages can all be registered from home" and free Wi-Fi has been ubiquitous for the last decade.

South Korea

• The Korean Digital Government has been recognized for its excellence by the following global organizations
• Ranked 1st on the E-Participation Index (EPI) and 2nd on the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) of the 2020 United Nations (UN) E-Government Survey, and
• Ranked 1st on the 2019 OECD Digital Government Index.
• Korea has recently initiated a "Public Mydata Service," that allows users to "apply for services easily by gathering, all at one time, the minimum required personal information scattered across various administrative and public institutions."

Research Methodology

• For this research on digital government practices in Iceland, New Zealand, Estonia and South Korea, we analyzed the most reputable sources of information that were available in the public domain, including the actual government websites where citizens interact, as well as government sites describing their digitization efforts.