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ABSTRACT
The current paper presents Iindings oI the research and survey
conducted within 'Improving the responsiveness and eIIiciency oI
public sector`s inIormation provision oI government services in
Mongolia sub-project oI DREAM IT Mega Mongolia project
supported by International Development Research Center (IDRC)
oI Canada. The survey covering 5 aimags oI Mongolia and 6
districts oI the capital city involving the total oI 1,200 citizens and
400 civil servants oI governmental administrative agencies was
conducted. The purpose oI this survey was to identiIy the
inIormation needs oI citizens related to inIormation services being
provided by governmental administrative agencies, and develop
recommendations to improving public inIormation services to
citizens.
Categories and Subject Descriptors
A.0. |General|: ConIerence proceedings
General Terms
Management, Measurement, Documentation, PerIormance,
Human Factors.
eywords
Public inIormation service, citizens, demand and needs oI citizens
inIormation service.
1. TRODUCTO
The Academy oI Management and Cabinet Secretariat oI
Mongolia jointly implemented 'Improving the responsiveness and
and eIIiciency oI public sector`s inIormation provision oI
government services in Mongolia project project looks into the
existing situation oI inIormation service provision to citizens oI
Mongolia and how responsive and eIIicient government public
inIormation service provision to citizens. The questionnaires were
distributed and collected Irom 450 civil servants (including 300
civil servants working in ministries and agencies and 150 civil
servants Irom urban areas) and over 1,200 citizens (840 citizens
Irom Bulgan, Gobi-Altai, Dornod, Umnugobi and Uvs aimags oI
Mongolia and 360 citizens Irom Ulaanbaatar), interviews with key
decision makers at Ministry oI Health, Ministry oI Social WelIare
and Labour and related agencies were conducted and observation
oI how civil servants provide inIormation services to citizens were
carried out. The results oI this survey and recommendations on
improving inIormation service provision to citizens were
presented to oIIicials Irom Cabinet Secretariat, ministries and
agencies as well as representatives oI local governor`s oIIices
during workshop on December 2009.
. RESEARCH PROBLEM
The current project was developed with the objective to determine
citizens` inIormation needs and level oI satisIaction regarding to
government activities and attempted to answer the Iollowing
questions:
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speciIic permission and/or a Iee.
ICEGOV2010, October 25-28, 2010, Beijing, China
Copyright 2010 ACM 978-1-4503-0058-2/10/10. $5.00


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4 What kind oI inIormation do the citizens want Irom
government organizations? reasons why they are looking Ior;
Ior what purpose they use those inIormation; do one-time
inIormation service meet the citizens` need; and to measure
level oI citizens` satisIaction. In addition, the Iollowing was
studied on observation at the government organizations:
content oI citizen`s opinion and requests, which are sent to
the government organization including its dates, Irequencies;
and how those requests answered or solved.
4 What kind oI obstacles do the citizens Iace when they want
inIormation service Irom government organizations?
4 How is satisIaction measured when the citizens have been
provided with inIormation service? The Iollowing was
studied and determined: sources oI inIormation the citizens
use; the quality and scope oI those source; level oI citizens`
satisIaction they have been just provided with inIormation
service.
In order to determine appropriate ways to improve inIormation
services provided by central and local government organizations,
the Iollowing areas were studied:
4 What are the ways to improve inIormation provision service
by government organizations? A survey i.e. questionnaire,
observation, interviews were conducted among civil servants
who are responsible Ior or whose job Iunctions are related to
inIormation provision service and it will determine how they
serve citizens with inIormation.
4 In which level the government websites provide inIormation
service? The Iollowing was studied: the content oI the
inIormation available on websites oI the government
organization, its public use, updates; as well as how the
inIormation online meet citizens` inIormation needs.
The current topic was studied in depth and the research project
coverage, innovation, and importance oI the project were
clariIied.
. DGS O SURVEY
The majority oI citizens involved in the survey paid signiIicance
to improving oI transparency oI inIormation, accountability and
communications skills oI civil servants oI governmental
administrative agencies. For the present study was conducted with
the Iocus on how new inIormation and communications
technologies are being used in solving the above mentioned
issues.
There is a little diIIerence in a number oI responses oI civil
servants when they responded to the question related to quality oI
inIormation services provided to citizens by governmental
administrative agencies with usage oI 'suIIicient, 'reasonable,
and 'Iair responses. Yet, among oIIicers oI ministries, a number
oI responses with 'suIIicient Ior the same question was the least,
and a number oI responses with 'reasonable was the highest. |1|
igure 1. Evaluation of information services provided by
government administrative agencies given by citizens.
When citizens involved in the survey were asked on the Irequency
oI using computers on daily basis, they responded that 3 people
out oI every 10 people do not use computers on daily basis. This
indicates that providing inIormation services with usage oI
inIormation technologies is still insuIIicient. It was observed that
usage oI computers highly depended on age and place oI
residence oI responders.

igure . Usage of age group
The above table shows that the level oI usage oI computers
declines when there is a tendency oI increase in age oI citizens,
lower educational level, and it depends on a place oI residence.
The Iollowing table shows the types oI inIormation sources which
citizens use to obtain inIormation oI governmental administrative
agencies.
3
.
2
6
4
.
5
2
5
.
8
6
.
5
1
1
5
1
.
1
3
1
.
9
6
1
2
.
8
5
1
.
3
3
2
.
1
3
.
8
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Sufficient Reasonable Fair Poor
Ministry Agency Local administrative organization
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
46 or
above
36 - 45
26 - 35
Until 25

Use
always
Use sometimes Not use at all


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Table 1. Types of sources used to obtain information related
to governmental and public activities
According to the Iindings oI the survey, Internet has become the
third largest source Ior inIormation among citizens.
When citizens were asked on challenges being Iaced in the
process oI obtaining inIormation Irom governmental
administrative agencies, they responded that they do not see the
lack oI capacity to use Internet and computers as the main
problem. But they mentioned other reasons, such as lack oI
needed inIormation, uncertainty where to obtain inIormation
Irom, and troubles by being made to come to governmental
oIIices repeatedly Ior particular inIormation.
The responders oI the survey have also given their suggestions on
how to resolve the problems and challenges being Iaced by
citizens. The Iindings oI the survey revealed that inIormation and
communications technologies are not seen as priority tools Ior
overcoming problems being Iaced in the process oI obtaining
inIormation Irom the governmental administrative agencies.
People, who do not use or do not have skills to use websites oI
governmental administrative agencies, were the ones oI older age
and the ones who did not use computers on daily basis mostly
Irom the aimags where the survey was conducted.

igure 4. Possibility of using websites of governmental
administrative agencies of needed information
Out oI people who responded that they are able to use websites oI
governmental administrative agencies, 68,6 responded that they
use sometimes, 15,5 - never use, and 12 - use regularly.
For the question to identiIy whether the websites oI governmental
administrative agencies satisIy inIormation needs or not, out oI
the citizens, who responded that they 'use websites in some
ways, 3,9 oI citizens responded 'Iully, 58,1 - 'to some
extent, and 27,4 - 'not at all.
The Iollowing table shows how the quality oI websites oI
governmental administrative agencies was evaluated.
Table . Evaluation given to websites of governmental
administrative agencies
The above table shows that 17,2 oI citizens, who use Internet,
are satisIied with the quality oI websites oI governmental
administrative agencies. For it can be said that there is an urgent
need to pay attention to the issues oI organization, uninterrupted
operations, inIormation updates and enriching.
Table . Types of forms to give information to citizens
orm City Aimag
E-Iorm (in Iile) 12,4 4,7
Document (printed) 23,6 20,0
By Internet 10,4 4,7
Meeting in person 42,0 51,3
On the telephone 10,0 12,0
Other 1,6 7,3
Other` 100 100
The survey has identiIied whether governmental administrative
agencies place inIormation needed by citizens in their websites.
62,5 oI responders said that they are able to place inIormation
needed by citizens in their websites. |2| 73,5 responded that that
they update their websites on regular basis or sometimes.
However, it conIlicts with the opinions oI citizens that the
websites oI governmental administrative agencies are not
regularly updated, Iully not operational and do not contain needed
inIormation. It brings to conclusion that the content oI inIormation
placed on the websites oI governmental administrative agencies,
and particular, oI local administrative organizations, and
insuIIiciency oI their enriching and updating is directly linked to
inIormation technology knowledge and skills oI civil servants, on
one hand, and to the level oI supply oI inIormation technology
tools, on the other hand.
4. COCLUSOS
It is obvious that the policy to provide inIormation services with
wide utilization oI e-mailing and Internet in the activities oI
governmental organizations as set Iorth by the guidelines Ior
development oI inIormation and communications technologies oI
Mongolia is not being implemented suIIiciently due to the speciIic
demands and needs oI inIormation services oI citizens.
Although civil servants believe that they have created the large
pool oI inIormation to oIIer to citizens, yet, it can be concluded
that there is not suIIicient work is done to make this pool available
Ior citizens in accordance with inIormation needs and demands oI
citizens by place it on Internet.
Source umber Percentage
Television 1033 86,1
Newspapers 642 53,5
Magazines 83 6,9
Radio/FM radio stations 276 23,0
Internet 360 30,0
Responsible oIIicer oI governmental
agency 192 16,0
Training 296 24,7
Books, booklets 125 10,4
nformation desks 74 6,

Evaluation umber Percentage
Reasonable 172 17,2
Not understandable 142 14,2
Completely not operational 206 20,6
InIormation updating is not regular 237 23,7
Needed inIormation is not available 120 12,0
don`t know 10 1,1
43%
29%
17%
11%



Yes N
o
Do not have skills to use Not use at all


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For, it is deemed that there are 2 complex measures need to be
done in Mongolia to improve inIormation services to be provided
to citizens Irom governmental administrative agencies in order to
produce tangible results as Iollows:
1. To organize special consulting services Ior citizens, to
set inIormation standards to be used in service
provision, to identiIy types oI inIormation, where and
when this inIormation can be obtained, and to make this
inIormation publicly accessible.
2. To create an integrated pool oI inIormation based on
inIormation needs and demands oI citizens at the
premises oI primary units oI governmental
administrative agencies, to place such inIormation on
websites to the possible extent and update on regular
basis, to compile and print the rest oI inIormation as
booklets, and to ensure that printed booklets are ready
Ior dissemination in the process oI inIormation
provision services

. ACOWLEDGMETS
Our thanks to DREAM IT project team, IDRC oI Canada Ior their
support on implementation oI this project and oIIicials oI Ministry
oI Health, Ministry oI Social WelIare and Labour, agencies oI
these ministries and oIIicials oI governor`s oIIices oI Bulgan,
Khovd, Gobi-Altai, Dornod and Umnugovi aimags oI Mongolia
Ior their support on conducting survey.
6. REERECES
|1| Survey among citizens on their needs and demands Ior public
inIormation services, AoM, Cabinet Secretariat, 2009.

|2| Survey among civil servants on inIormation service
provision to citizens, AoM, Cabinet Secretariat, 2009