eGov Kiosks a hit with CAB users
Trials of online ‘eGovernment kiosks’ in Citizen Advice Bureau waiting rooms have proved remarkably successful with helping users, eGov monitor can report.
In 70 per cent of cases, CAB clients who used the kiosks to access information resolved their problem in part or completely, says the independent advice agency.
According to an evaluation of the pilots, one in four kiosk users did not subsequently need to see an advisor. Of those who still needed to so, nearly nine of out 10 said they felt better informed.
The CAB conducted the £57,000 project to help assess the effectiveness of using kiosk technology to provide advice and assistance.
The three-month study ran across 10 Citizens Advice bureaux in England and Wales earlier this year, building on a smaller initial pilot in 2004.
“We have had some impressive results”, Malcolm Taylor, eGovernment Manager for Citizens Advice, told eGov monitor. “I am now running a project looking at locating the kiosks in other premises, such as prisons, hospitals and courts.”
Each bureau taking part in the pilot was given training materials and advised to help clients use the kiosk, as earlier research found this ‘assisted self-help’ greatly increased take-up.
The touch-screen kiosks use a navigation system which takes clients directly to CAB’s Adviceguide homepage, government websites and other online resources.
The kiosks were used on average by two people per hour in each bureau. Most users fell within the 25-34 age group and were already comfortable with computers.
Almost 40 per cent were clients commonly referred to as being “digitally excluded’, who had used the internet perhaps once or twice, if at all.
The Government’s central citizen portal, Directgov, was found to be the second most accessed website after Adviceguide.
Government sites providing benefit and tax credits information were also among the most-frequently visited.
“E-government services do work on kiosks”, says the study. “However kiosks may not be appropriate for all ‘transactional’ content on websites due to the absence of a regular keyboard and mouse.”
The work form part of wider evaluations by Citizen Advice of both the use of eGovernment services and alternative access channels for CAB clients.
Source: eGov monitor Newsdesk