Most provincial administration agencies have narrowly failed to pass the standard-setting evaluation to provide e-government public services due to the lack of user-friendly accessibility and outdated information on their websites.
A survey by the Electronic Government Agency (EGA), conducted during July-September among 466 of the total 532 provincial state agencies in 76 provinces, found that 88% had an average test score of 53.3 out of 100.
"These figures reflect the urgent need for state administration agencies to embark on digital transformation," said EGA president and chief executive Sak Segkhoonthod.
The survey was carried out to monitor the development of digital infrastructure and digital services among provincial state agencies to serve the government's digital economy policy.
The survey was divided into five categories: policies and regulations; e-government service content; smart back office; digital infrastructure; and human resources.
Policies and regulations entail the provincial state agencies' plans to support national centres for digital government, budget viability, and compliance with laws and regulations. The average score was 59.3.
E-government service content, including public access channels and the availability, usability and readiness of open data received an average score of 48.4.
For smart back office, which includes the digitisation of documents and content sharing among agencies as well as operational efficiency, the average score was 50.9.
Regarding digital infrastructure, which includes ICT infrastructure, cybersecurity and digital backup systems, the average score stood at 57.7.
Human resources, including the number of IT staff to serve digital transformation and digital capability, saw an average score of 54.7.
Mr Sak said even though 99% of the agencies provide public services via their websites, the survey found that 20% of the 466 agencies have outdated digital content on their websites.
In addition, 50% of the digital content does not provide open data files that can be easily opened and copied by users.
Mr Sak urged provincial state agencies to embrace open data practices and update their digital content in order to make data more accessible and useful to the public.
Central administration departments, meanwhile, have to monitor more closely the adoption of digital technologies among provincial state agencies, he added.