From Measurement to Action: A Practical Guide to the GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) and the 2025 Online Survey

Executive summary

  • The GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) is the World Bank’s diagnostic framework for assessing public sector digital transformation across four focus areas: core government systems, public service delivery, digital citizen engagement, and enabling foundations.
  • The 2022 GTMI update grouped 198 economies from A to D, with an average score of 0.552/1, and highlighted strong service delivery progress but lagging digital citizen engagement.
  • The 2025 cycle is supported by a formal Online Survey Guidance Note (with a privacy notice, glossary, and contact email) and continues the push for consistent, evidence-backed submissions and structured data governance.
  • Policymakers can use GTMI to benchmark, set priorities, design roadmaps, and track adoption and use of shared digital public infrastructure.
  • Practical recommendations include prioritizing shared platforms (ID, payments, interoperability), strengthening performance monitoring and data governance, deepening citizen engagement, and investing in public sector skills and innovation.

What is the GTMI and why it matters

  • Definition and purpose: The GTMI provides a structured, evidence-based view of government digital transformation building blocks and outcomes. It is not a league-table ranking; it is a diagnostic to identify gaps, benchmark progress, and guide reforms. See the 2022 update overview: https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/govtech/2022-gtmi.
  • Scope: GTMI covers central governments across 198 economies (with pilot subnational participation in 2022), focusing on the maturity, availability, and use of shared platforms and services—as well as the policy and institutional scaffolding that enables them.
  • How it is used: Policymakers, reform teams, and development partners use GTMI to:
    • Benchmark against peers and regional leaders.
    • Prioritize investments in shared digital public infrastructure (digital ID, interoperability, payments).
    • Track adoption, performance, and usage—not just availability—of platforms and services.
    • Align reforms with broader development ambitions (access, inclusion, accountability, resilience).

The four focus areas and how to read them Simple explanation:

  • Core Government Systems (CGSI): The back-office machinery of government (finance, HR, procurement, case management) that must be digital, integrated, and interoperable.
  • Public Service Delivery (PSDI): Citizen- and business-facing services, typically through one-stop portals and mobile apps, ideally covering life-event journeys and measuring usage, not just availability.
  • Digital Citizen Engagement (DCEI): Two-way participation—consultations, feedback, petitions, participatory budgeting—embedded in policymaking and service improvement.
  • GovTech Enablers (GTEI): The foundations—laws, standards, data governance, cybersecurity, accessibility, institutions, and skills—that make digital transformation reliable and sustainable.

More detail (2022 results, at-a-glance):

  • Average GTMI score (198 economies): 0.552/1.
  • By index:
    • CGSI: 0.575
    • PSDI: 0.649
    • DCEI: 0.449
    • GTEI: 0.536
  • Group distribution:
    • Group A: 35%
    • Group B: 23%
    • Group C: 27%
    • Group D: 15%
  • Participation and strategies:
    • 154/198 economies (78%) launched digital government or GovTech initiatives.
    • 147/198 (74%) have relevant strategies.
  • Mobility across groups (vs. prior cycle):
    • 69% remained, 26% moved up, 5% moved down.
  • Patterns:
    • Regional disparities persist (ECA, SAR, MNA, LCR typically higher; AFR and then EAP lower).
    • Higher incomes are overrepresented in Group A (58% high-income, 26% upper-middle; only 16% of lower-middle/low-income in Group A).
    • Fragility: 86% of FCS economies sit in the bottom half for maturity.

Methodology, indicators, and scoring (based on the 2022 update)

  • Indicator model:
    • The 2022 update used 40 updated/expanded indicators across the four focus areas.
    • It also incorporated 8 external indicators (e.g., components of UN EGDI and EPI, ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Index, and selected ID4D variables) to complement measurement of outcomes and enabling conditions.
  • Data collection and validation:
    • A central government online survey (launched in 2022) collected evidence; a pilot subnational survey ran in parallel.
    • A formal validation phase was included to review clarifications and finalize scores and groupings.
  • Interpretation:
    • Composite scores are averaged across indices to assign an A–D group.
    • Emphasis is placed on both the presence and performance/utilization of platforms (to avoid “checkbox” digitization).

The 2025 GTMI Online Survey: what the guidance package provides

  • Core document and resources:
    • The 2025 Online Survey Guidance Note is available in English and multiple languages, with companion materials:
      • Guidance Note (EN): https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/18230a0f33e201615caa954f2d354891-0350052025/original/2025GTMI-Online-Survey-Guidance-Note-eng.pdf
      • GTMI Glossary (linked from the note) to harmonize terminology.
      • Privacy Notice (linked from the note) governing handling of survey data.
      • Contact: gtmi@worldbank.org (as listed in the guidance note).
  • Multilingual availability:
    • The note indicates versions in FR, PT, and ES, facilitating broader participation and consistent interpretation of terms.
  • Evidence, submission, and support:
    • The guidance package points participants to definitions and privacy standards, and provides a contact channel for clarifications.
    • While the excerpts available here do not list the step-by-step roles (e.g., national focal points, contributors) or the exact calendar of deadlines, the format and companion materials suggest a structured, evidence-backed online submission process consistent with earlier cycles.
  • What is explicit in the provided materials:
    • Formal Privacy Notice and Glossary links are embedded.
    • Official contact channel is provided for support and validation queries.
    • References to related knowledge assets (e.g., GTMI glossary, data catalog, UN and ITU references) support consistency and cross-walks.

Continuity and changes from 2022 to 2025

  • Continuities:
    • Continued emphasis on four focus areas and on evidence-backed, validated submissions.
    • Ongoing focus on monitoring not just availability but also performance and use of platforms.
    • Persistent global patterns: strong progress in service delivery, lagging citizen engagement, regional disparities, and income-linked capacity gaps.
  • What is clearly new in the 2025 package (from the available materials):
    • A consolidated, multilingual Online Survey Guidance Note with explicit links to a privacy notice, glossary, and official contact, reinforcing data governance and participant support.
  • Notes on unknowns:
    • The excerpts provided do not include explicit 2025 indicator revisions, weighting changes, named roles, or the submission calendar. If you need those specifics, consult the full Guidance Note PDF or contact gtmi@worldbank.org.

Data governance, confidentiality, and quality assurance

  • Privacy and confidentiality:
    • The 2025 Guidance Note links to a dedicated GTMI Online Survey Privacy Notice, indicating formal terms for data handling, confidentiality, and lawful processing for the survey.
  • Quality assurance:
    • The 2022 cycle incorporated a data validation phase to check submissions before scoring and grouping. While the 2025 excerpts we have do not explicitly restate the validation step, the presence of formal guidance, glossary, and a contact channel indicate a continued emphasis on quality and consistency.
  • Definitions and harmonization:
    • The GTMI Glossary supports consistent interpretation across countries and languages—crucial when evidence spans legal, institutional, and technical artifacts.

How policymakers and delivery teams can use GTMI in practice

  • Set national baselines and targets:
    • Use index- and indicator-level scores to identify the most binding constraints (e.g., interoperability gaps in CGSI vs. low DCEI).
  • Prioritize shared digital public infrastructure:
    • Invest in digital ID, payments, interoperability, and government cloud/service buses—areas repeatedly associated with gains in service delivery and whole-of-government integration.
  • Shift from “build” to “adoption and performance”:
    • Track usage, availability, uptime, and user satisfaction for portals and key services; manage to outcomes (e.g., time/cost to complete a service) rather than inputs.
  • Embed citizen engagement:
    • Institutionalize consultations, feedback loops, participatory tools, and public reporting to raise DCEI and strengthen trust.
  • Raise institutional capacity and skills:
    • Build product, data, and engineering capabilities in the public sector; leverage handbooks, toolkits, and learning resources referenced by the GTMI program.
  • Use the data catalog and dashboard:
    • Explore the GTMI dataset and dashboard to compare with peers, identify exemplars, and translate practices into roadmaps (the 2022 update references a public dataset and visualization portal).

Practical recommendations distilled from the 2022 update (still relevant)

  • Commit at senior levels and fund the priorities:
    • Close the digital divide with targeted investment in foundations (ID, payments, interoperability) and inclusive access.
  • Modernize and connect core systems:
    • Use interoperable, API-first platforms; adopt cloud/service-bus patterns to reduce duplication and increase resilience.
  • Improve online service delivery and monitor actual use:
    • Expand transactional, citizen-centric services and track adoption, reliability, and experience—particularly for life-event journeys.
  • Deepen digital citizen engagement:
    • Scale multifunctional participation platforms for feedback, co-creation, and accountability to lift DCEI performance.
  • Grow public sector digital skills and innovation:
    • Invest in training and communities of practice; create space for pilots and iterative product development.
  • Enable the ecosystem:
    • Support startups/SMEs, open data reuse, and GovTech procurement approaches that invite competition and innovation.
  • Measure what matters:
    • Monitor the performance and utilization of digital platforms; report adoption of policies/frameworks to make progress visible and actionable.

Where to find the official materials

  • 2025 GTMI Online Survey Guidance Note (EN): https://thedocs.worldbank.org/en/doc/18230a0f33e201615caa954f2d354891-0350052025/original/2025GTMI-Online-Survey-Guidance-Note-eng.pdf
  • 2022 GTMI update page (overview, findings, related materials): https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/govtech/2022-gtmi

Limitations of the excerpts provided

  • The 2025 excerpts surfaced here do not include the complete list of indicators, role definitions (e.g., national focal points, validators), precise timelines, or weighting changes—please consult the full Guidance Note or use the official contact (gtmi@worldbank.org) for authoritative operational details.

Conclusion

  • GTMI has matured into a widely used diagnostic that balances foundations, services, engagement, and enablers. The 2022 update established clear patterns—stronger service delivery progress vs. weaker engagement—and offered evidence-based recommendations that remain relevant.
  • The 2025 Online Survey Guidance Note reinforces process discipline through formal privacy terms, a shared glossary, and accessible support, helping countries submit consistent, defensible evidence.
  • The most impactful path remains the same: invest in shared platforms, measure adoption and performance, embed citizen engagement, and build institutional digital capabilities—while using GTMI data to prioritize and course-correct.

Summary of key points

  • GTMI is a diagnostic across four focus areas; 2022 data show average 0.552/1 and lagging citizen engagement.
  • 2025 provides a structured survey guidance package (privacy notice, glossary, contact).
  • Use GTMI to benchmark, prioritize shared infrastructure, and measure outcomes, not just availability.
  • Focus recommendations: leadership and funding, interoperable core systems, citizen-centric services, engagement platforms, public sector skills, startup ecosystem enablement, and performance monitoring.