The United Nations e-Government Survey is the major international benchmark for assessing e-government maturity. Conducted every two years since 2001, the survey gives a snapshot with relative rankings of all UN Member States and insights on trends among regions and countries.

The e-Government Development Index is a composite indicator measuring willingness/capacity of national administrations to use ICT for public services delivery. The index consists of three sub-indices -- Online Service Index (OSI) based on a survey of national portals, e-government portals, and government websites, Telecom Infrastructure Index (TII) and Human Capital Index (HCI). .

An additional e-Participation Index focuses on the use of online services for information sharing,  e-consultation, and decision making.

In the 2014 assessment, Qatar ranked 44 out of 193 countries -- up from 48 in 2012--  in the UN e-Government Development Index. 

Four areas of focus from international benchmarks have been incorporated into the e-government strategy and performance indicators:

e-Government content and services, including elimination of barriers to e-government usage, developing demand for services among different populations, and policies, content and e-services for expats and disadvantaged groups such as women, youth, lower income and lower skilled workers.

e-Government uptake and multichannel outreach, including social media and utilizing SMS, mobile web and mobile apps.

e-Participation and government collaboration, including assessing e-participation readiness; developing the legal framework to secure and encourage e-participation.

Open data, focusing on a demand-driven approach in publishing datasets; and centralizing data publishing in open formats through a dedicated portal.