A statistical analysis of the construction of the United Nations E-Government Development Index

There is much debate among scholars about what constitutes e-government success, what method is best for measuring it, and which variables best describe it. This lack of consensus naturally leads to disagreement about the best approach for ranking the e-government programs of different countries. This article evaluates the current standard in e-government ranking, the United Nations E-government Development Index, by performing a confirmatory factor analysis on the raw data reported in the “Data tables” section of the “Statistical annex” in the 2010 United Nations E-Government Survey. The results identify several technical issues with the index and point to the need for a statistical tool that can be used to evaluate and guide the development of e-government ranking systems. The article recommends that researchers develop a new paradigm for quantitative e-government ranking that uses factor analysis to aid in the selection of variables, the organization of aggregate constructs, and the determination of weights.

► This paper identifies several technical problems with the UN E-government Development Index.
► This paper describes a rigorous, empirical means by which to evaluate e-government ranking systems.
► Factor analysis can be used to select and group variables as well as to provide weights in e-government rankings.