In the context of the Dutch Digital Delta, the ICT benchmark was carried out for a second time. It showed how the Netherlands is at the forefront in the ICT sector in international terms. The benchmark study to hand describes the progress and performance of the Netherlands in the field of ICT in the public sector (subsequently: e-Government). The Netherlands’ ambitions in this respect were worked out further in the ‘Actieplan Elektronische Overheid’ (Electronic Government Action Plan) (1999) and the ‘Contract met de Toekomst’ (Contract with the Future) (2000). The aim of this benchmark was to use secondary sources to create as good a picture as possible of the state of affairs of e-Government in the Netherlands and its position with respect to other countries in the benchmark. The other countries are Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The Netherlands is not one of the international leaders in ICT in the public sector, although the target of 25% service provision at the end of 2001 was achieved. All benchmark countries have developed policy in the area of e-Government in the meantime. The fact that the Netherlands began developing policy relatively early has not yielded a leading position. The picture from the previous ICT benchmark remains unchanged as a result.

The Netherlands scores above average among the reference countries on service provision to the citizen and e-Democracy. Below average scores were found mainly for subjects such as policy and administration, preconditions, service provision to businesses and the internal functioning of the government.