Juan Carlos Barahona and Andrey Elizondo
Information quality frameworks provide a way in which to explore quality in the context of public service provision by digital means. 1 The conceptual framework proposes using quality of the information as a proxy for e‐Government capacity at the institutional level, measured by the user experience at the site where the service is provided. Quality is the result of 24 weighted factors 2 used to describe six information attributes 3: Interaction, Personalization, Relevance, Soundness, Efficiency, and Media Reliability. For communication purposes these attributes are group in three main components to describe the quality of this exchange: the quality of the interaction; the content quality and media quality( see Table 1).
Table 1: Proposed framework
Components Information Attributes Latent and observed variables
Interaction quality
Content quality
1. Interaction Presentation 1.1.1 Information on the organization(*) 1.1.2 Information on the services provided(*) 1.1.3 Contact Information(*) 1.1.4 Recent news, articles of interest(*) 1.1.5 Frequently ask questions(*) 1.1.6 Terms of Use and Privacy Policy(*) Simple Transaction 1.2.1 Online Forms(*) 1.2.2 Mechanism for consulting / requesting information(*) 1.2.3 Information on direct benefit services(*) 1.2.4 User questionnaire on services(*) 1.2.5 Provides a way to rate the services received(*) 1.2.6 Elements to promote visiting(*) Complex Transaction 1.3.1 Services are carried out completely online(*) 1.3.2 online Payment(*) 1.3.3 e‐Procurement(*) Integration 1.4.1 Does not require the user to re‐enter information the government has(*)
2. Personalization 2.1 Organization by Archetypes 2.1.1 User profile clearly identified(*) 2.2 Integration by Archetypes 2.2.1 The information the archetype can use is collected from different sources(*) 2.3 Personalization 2.3.1 Option provided for personalizing how the information will be presented on the site(*) 2.4 Intelligent Personalization 2.4.1 The site uses the information provided by the government to foresee user needs(*)
3. Relevance 3.2 Comprehensiveness 3.1.1 The information provided is extensive(**) 3.2 Accuracy 3.2.1 Accurate information(**) 3.3 Clarity 3.3.1 Information presentation is clear, easy to understand(**) 3.3.2 Simple, understandable language(**) 3.4 Applicability 3.4.1 Information useful for the user(**) 3.4.2 All the sections provide useful information(**)
4. Soundness 4.1 Concise 4.1.1 The information is concise, gets to the point, without rambling(**) 4.2 Consistent 4.2.1 Pages maintain the same design style and diagramming 1
For a discussion on information quality frameworks see( Eppler 2006). 2 Factors are weighted according to the level of complexity associated with its implementation. 3 For a detailed description of current observed variables and factor weights, see( INCAE 2012).
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