Malaysian Govt website and portal ratings see a drop

• 5-star sites drops to 20.83% of total from 24.68% in 2011; 4-stars drop to 26.24%  from 28.66%
• Sites evaluated on Content, Usability, Security, Participation and Services

THE Malaysia Government Portals and Websites Assessment (MGPWA) 2012 report saw a drop in the number of such sites with five- and four-star ratings, despite public services delivery improvement being a key part of the administration’s transformation program.
 
The total portals and websites assessed this year were 1,349, of which 81 or 6% were not accessible, a higher number than last year, the report noted, when 5.54% of such sites were not accessible (click chart to enlarge).
 
The percentage of 5-star sites dropped to 20.83% (or 281 sites) from 24.68% (285 sites) in 2011, while sites rated 4-star dropped to 26.24% (354 sites) of the total from 28.66% (331) the previous year.
 
The percentage of portals/ websites rated 3-star and above declined from 81.91% to 80.28%, but saw an increase in the number of such sites. The proportion of portals/ websites rated 2-star and below went up to 19.71% from 18.1% in 2011.
 
A total of 11 websites were ranked within the Top 5, scoring between 86 and 90. Sharing the spot for ‘Best Website’ were the Kota Baru Municipal Council and National Anti-Drugs Agency (NADA), each scoring 90 marks.
 
The ‘Best Portal’ rank was shared by the Malaysian Rubber Board and Perbadanan Putrajaya, followed by the General Administration Division, the Manjung Municipal Council and the Ministry of Finance Malaysia, which tied at second rank. A total of 240 portals were awarded 5-star rating, of which 24 portals made it into the Top 5 ranking.
 
The report, which can be downloaded here, was conducted by national ICT custodian the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), with the cooperation of the Malaysian Administrative Modernization and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovations, the Public Service Department of Malaysia and the Economic Planning Unit.
 
Also assisting were the ICT Compliance Division (BPICT) from MAMPU and the Public Complaints Bureau (PCB).
 
How they were assessed
 
The portal and websites assessed are those linked to the http://www.malaysia.gov.my/ government machinery portal, and the assessment was based on international formats and practices. Studies referred were the United Nations E-Government Survey 2012: E-Government for the People; and the Waseda University 2012 International e-Government Ranking.

The sites were categorized into Portals or Websites very simply depending on how their homepages described them – for instance, they would be categorized under Portal if their homepages used phrases such as: Official Portal, Official Web Portal, Portal Rasmi, Laman Rasmi or Web Portal Rasmi.
 
Portals were allocated 10 bonus marks. Therefore, a website score can range from 0 to 100 and a portal score range from 0 to 110. The bonus marks given to portals took into account the number of online services offered to stakeholders (G2G, G2C or G2B), e-payment facilities (online banking or FPX) and the use of digital certificates or the display of a trust mark.
 
The sites were evaluated on the same set of pillars as last year: Content, Usability, Security, Participation and Services.
 
With a total of 25 marks, Content focused on features that help users make use of information inside the portals or websites. Usability, with 45 marks, looks at the ease and user experience when utilizing these sites; while Security (5 marks only) concentrated on features that help convince users to make use of online services such as single sign-on.
 
Participation (10 marks) looked at features that allowed users to get involved or share their opinion; while Services (15 marks) looked at automated services, amongst others.
 
The MGPWA 2012 incorporated three main sections: Assessment, Strategic Achievers and Best Practices.
 
Give emphasis to citizens
 
At a seminar held in Putrajaya on Dec 12 – which also saw the release of the MGPWA 2012 report – MDeC chief executive officer Datuk Badlisham Ghazali applauded the top-ranking sites.
 
“Achievements such as these are vital in promoting a positive perception towards the government and its service delivery mechanism,” he said in a statement issued by MDeC.
 
“Commitment towards providing good service to the rakyat (citizenry) should be given more emphasis and priority so that the public are better informed and empowered,” he added.
 
MDeC said it believed that public services delivery will continue to improve as part of on-going efforts to encourage the use of government online portals and websites in providing virtual services to citizens.
 
This is in line with the Economic Transformation Program’s (ETP) Communication, Content and Infrastructure pillar, and its Entry Point Project 6 Deepening the eGovernment by 2015, which aims to increase the use and availability of online services to engage and empower citizens, MDeC said in its statement.
 

Awards for Strategic Achievers were presented to 28 agencies, whilst the portals and websites with the top 3 rankings were awarded to 15 agencies at the MGPWA 2012, which took place at the Putrajaya Marriott Hotel.
 
From the 186 qualifying agencies, only those rated 5-star were tested as Strategic Achievers. MAMPU’s BPICT looked into security incidents and did penetration tests, while the PCB checked on the number of public complaints. MDeC then focused on the review of English and its translation.
 
Disappearing act
 
Of the 81 ‘inaccessibles,’ 20 fell into the Under Construction category, followed by 19 with ‘Object Not Found’ errors. Twelve had the wrong URLs.
 
As for the 1,268 accessible portals and websites, 581 or 45.82% were from the Federal level and the remaining 54.18% were State level.
 
In terms of ministries, the Ministry of Finance topped the ranking this year with a score of 101. The Ministry of Housing and Local Government dropped to third place with 98 marks, while the second slot was taken by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.
 
The Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-Operatives and Consumerism declined by eight places and 14 marks. The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Rural and Regional Development also saw a decrease in both ranking and score.
 
Overall, in terms of scoring, 68% of the ministries improved their ranking and 60% obtained better marks as compared with last year.
 
In terms of States, Sarawak and Kelantan earned the top spot by getting 100 marks -- both portals had improved, surpassing last year’s champion Negeri Sembilan, who dropped to second spot.
 
Coming in at third place with 94 marks was Penang, which had also dropped one spot.
 
The biggest leap this year was made by the state of Sarawak, which advanced two places, and Pahang, which went up four places.
 
All in all, 38.46% of state portals and sites showed an improvement in their scores, 23.08% retained their scores (Penang, Melaka and Perak) and 38.46% saw their scores decrease.