Trust in Digital Government

Denmark is one of the most digital countries in the world and at the same time, one of the countries with the highest level of trust in public authorities. Citizens' trust in public digital services is an important measurement for how citizens experience digital government.

Digital public services play a major role in the relationship between citizens and digital government. Today, many citizens primarily meet the public sector through digital services. Through these services, citizens are able to e.g. register a new address, get a digital driver’s license, see their medical results, order a new passport etc.

In the digital government, citizens need to trust that e.g. public digital services are working, that mail from the public sector arrives on time and that data is handled safely, and used for an appropriate purpose.

Trust in digital government is based on citizens’ digital competences, citizens’ view of authorities and their experience with public digital services. Therefore, it is essential, that public authorities demonstrate that they are capable of providing both high quality digital services and the necessary support for citizens.

Analysis on trust in digital government

In both 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Agency for Digital Government completed an extensive analysis on the Danish population’s experience with and trust in the digital public sector. The annual publications analyse the difference in trust levels across population groups and the correlation between trust and those, who have difficulty navigating the digital public sector.

The Agency for Digital Government finds it important to understand the population’s digital encounters with the public sector, in order to gain insight into how citizens’ trust is affected by public digital services. This is essential in order to provide high quality and secure services and give the right help to those, who find it difficult to be in contact with the public sector digitally.

Key findings in Trust in Digital Government 2023

The trust in Danish digital government is generally high. 78 pct. of the population between 15 and 89 years of age agree or highly agree that they generally trust public digital services. Only 6 pct. disagree or highly disagree that they trust public digital services. This is the same level of trust as 2021 and 2022.

Compared to 2022, the Danish population has a slightly more positive perception of the Danish authorities’ storage and use of data and the authorities’ skills to develop public digital services. Furthermore, more citizens agree with the statement that they have good experiences with using public digital services.

The analysis shows, that up to 24 pct. of the Danish population experience challenges when using public digital services, as they have either few digital competences, low knowledge of the public sector or both. Citizens, who experience challenges, trust public digital services less and need more help when using the services than citizens, who does not experience challenges.

The trust in the Danish digital government depends on the specific digital service being used. Between the users of different services, the level of trust varies from 73 pct. to 80 pct. Users, who does not prefer digital services, generally trust the public digital services less than users, who do prefer digital services.

About ‘Trust in Digital Government 2023'

The analysis is based on data from Statistics Denmark’s survey on it-usage in the Danish population from 2021, 2022 and 2023 as well as Epinion’s survey on user satisfaction with the public digital services provided by The Agency for Digital Government from 2023.

Epinion has developed a survey on user satisfaction with the public digital services provided by The Agency for Digital Government to the Danish citizens. The survey was done in collaboration with The Agency for Digital Government.

Statistics Denmark’s yearly survey asks Danish citizens a number of questions regarding their it-usage. The survey is developed in collaboration with Statistics Denmark, the DaneAge Association and the Agency for Digital Government. In 2023, the survey had 4.625 respondents between 15 and 89 years of age. The sample is representative for the Danish population.