NEWSLETTER - Breaking Barriers to eGovernment - Overcoming obstacles to improving European public services

Issue No 11. April 2007

Welcome to the eleventh edition of the newsletter of the “Breaking Barriers to eGovernment” project, funded by the European Commission’s eEurope 2005 Modinis programme.  In addition to the findings from the project’s good-practice case studies and other activities, the newsletter contains news, information and resources.  Our overall aim is to offer expert insights and practical advice on ways of overcoming obstacles to the growth of high-quality and innovative uses of eGovernment capabilities in Europe.

Project highlights

Highlights from “Fostering Innovation in eGovernment”

The fifth workshop for the Barriers Project, Fostering Innovation in eGovernment was held in collaboration with IN3, on the 9th of March 2007 at the Open University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain.
The workshop focused on the ways in which innovation can be and has been achieved in eGovernment to improve governance in the information age. It explored how the widespread diffusion of the Internet and Web may enable governments to transform not only the delivery of public services but also approaches to governance. A key aim of the workshop was to consider approaches for overcoming barriers to innovation, including but not limited to legislative, technological, citizen-centric and organizational solutions. The event consisted of a diverse range of speakers from academia and practice to discuss these issues from a variety of perspectives. Presentations included:

• The conflicts of eGovernance - Professor Manuel Castells, Open University of Catalonia, Spain and University of Southern California, USA
• Innovation in eGovernment in Catalonia - Ms Marta Continente, Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain
• Innovation in eGovernment: The Use of Geo-information - Dr Sjaak Nouwt, Tilburg Institute for Law Technology and Society (TILT), University of Tilburg, Netherlands
• Online Job Search in the EU: The potential of Web 2.0 - Dr Rebecca Eynon and Professor Helen Margetts, Oxford Internet Institute (OII), University of Oxford, UK
• The New Identity Management Infrastructure: Helping Governments Serve Citizens - Dr Mary Rundle Fellow, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard Law School and Non-Resident Fellow, Center for Internet and Society, Stanford Law School
• Electronic Signatures - Dr Miquel Peguera and Dr Agustí Cerrillo, Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), Open University of Catalonia, Spain
• Data Protection Best Practices in eGovernment: Real Experiences - Mr Francisco J. López Carmona, Consultancy and Registry Unit, Data Protection Agency of Madrid, Spain

In total, 41 people attended the event from academia, industry and government who were from Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, UK and the USA.
More information on the event, including the full agenda and presentations, is available at: http://www.egovbarriers.org/?view=Events&type=pastevents&EventID=5

British Council launches new Info@UK website for international developments in the Information Society
In April 2007, the British Council launched a new Info@UK web site, designed to share information about projects and activities that contribute to the knowledge economy, especially where these activities cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries.
The content includes:

• Latest news on knowledge economy developments in the UK and internationally
• Important initiatives and reports
• Resources listed by theme (government transformation, knowledge economy and international frameworks)
• Case studies/projects
• Core briefs
• Forthcoming events
• Knowledge economy dictionary
• A section for  non-experts that might have questions about the knowledge economy

More information is available at: http://www.britishcouncil.org/info@uk.htm

New research paper published on “Mobile” eGovernment Options: Between Technology-driven and User-centric
This paper is about exploring mobile eGovernment issues by analysing their historical evolution and illustrating some concrete activities, first in the initial phase, then through more recent projects, with the idea of capturing some attributes of its development trend. The objective is to propose a view on mGovernment, which can be both compatible with fieldwork findings and overall information and communication technology dynamics. The authors thus suggest a remapping of the mGovernment domain, so as to establish key priorities, eventually helping improve policy-planning capabilities in this area. The main hypothesis is that mGovernment should not be too specific an area of eGovernment (limited to the notion of mobile access), but on the contrary take upon the current dominant movement in favour of mobile technology usages, and steer experiments and initiatives in a way that ultimately benefits, and even empowers the users and citizens in their various flexibility needs.
More information available at: http://www.ejeg.com/volume-4/vol4-iss2/Rossel_et_al.pdf

The “Strategic Plan for development of the Region of Murcia 2007-13” has among its objectives the move toward an accessible administration, with citizens at the centre of all administrative action. For this reason, the Murcian Government has implemented a modern and flexible eGovernment platform, which is focused on service quality and on interoperability with internal back-office systems and with other public administrations or organizations.

Principal objectives

The main goal is to bring the administration to the citizens, committing decisively to the development of “eServices” that are available through more channels and at any time. This includes the following objectives:
Providing the services most in demand with the appropriate level of quality
Improving customer focus using eGovernment
Achieving a good ‘look and feel’ for the services (presentation, style, content, etc.)
Preparing indicators that measure efficiency and use of the services
Collaboration involving the whole organization
Developing reusable and sustainable software components

Main milestones of the project

In the middle of 2004 the Region of Murcia began to develop an eGovernment platform, according to an integration model based on a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). The adopted solution allows the interaction of:
The citizens using web pages of the Murcian Government
Internal back-office systems that request the execution of an available service
External systems (for example, from a town council) that collaborate on the execution of an administrative procedure with the regional Government
Some of the services currently provided by the eGovernment platform are:

• Authentication with public key certificates
• Digital signature
• Official online registry for applications
• Online payment
• Online notifications and communications

Additionally, in order to make it easier for citizens to use online services, a web application (called “Tramitador”) has been developed with the objective of standardizing the presentation layer, providing assistance in the way the services must be used, and guiding the applicant in the different stages of the online procedure.

During 2005 the Region of Murcia started a project for obtaining, updating and refining Electronic Services Directory, in order to make it accessible to citizens using the administrative web portal www.carm.es. The objectives of this directory are:

• To show a complete and unified view of the services that the Murcian Government provides to the citizens, companies and employees
• To establish an access point for the electronic processing of the online service content in the directory

Once the eGovernment platform was implemented - and there were over 900 procedures and services uploaded in the Electronic Services Directory - several online services were developed and put at the public’s disposal via the web portal. These online services include a digital signature for application forms, registration of the form in the official online Registry, and its submission to the back-office system of the regional ministries that manage the request. Currently, there are more than 100 fillable electronic forms, with 45 online services that involve 10 regional ministries.

Some of the online services that the citizens can find visiting www.carm.es are:

• Registration in the donor registry
• Request for vaccination history
• Request for disability certificate
• Citizens complaints and suggestions
• Report for starting (or restarting) a company
• Request for periodical revision of industrial instruments and machines

What were the barriers?
At the beginning, the main difficulties had to do with the technological decisions about the implementation of the eGovernment platform. In the Murcian Government, as in other administrations, there are many department software applications that are strongly focused on solving the specific problems of each business department, but not designed for interoperability and collaboration with other applications.
The selection of a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) has allowed the Region of Murcia to offer to the regional ministries a list of scalable and sustainable services, which are easily used independently of technology. This model of architecture, specifically the use of Web Services, has made it possible to define and establish specific “usage rules” of the services provided by the eGovernment platform. Without doubt, this framework has helped the fast expansion and increased the use of these services on the part of the regional ministries.

Another barrier to eGovernment projects relates to digital signatures. Currently, it is unusual for citizens to have a public key certificate, which is essential for guaranteeing the principles of authentication, confidentiality, integrity and non-repudiation in electronic transactions. This is a problem that should soon be solved thanks to the gradual delivery of the electronic DNI (eDNI) – Spanish identity card – to the whole population.
Finally, there was the challenge of obtaining the “look and feel” of the online services (graphical user interface, way of use, etc) independently of the department in charge of the procedure. This objective was achieved by centralizing an electronic forms service, and the development of a web application called “Tramitador”, which standardizes the presentation layer and provides assistance with online services.
More information is available at: www.carm.es

• 9 - 11 May 2007, More Trust in Content: the Potential of Co- and Self-regulation in the Digital Media, Leipzig, Germany. Within the context of the German EU-Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media is organising an expert conference on the topic of European media policy with the support of the European Commission. This conference continues the series of seminars and conferences under previous presidencies, examining the topic of media "content" from various angles. http://www.leipzig-eu2007.de/en/index.asp
• 10 May 2007, EU-US eHealth Policy Workshop, Brussels, Belgium. This workshop will focus on interoperability, certification and improving patient safety and healthcare quality through IT. Panellists and open discussions will focus on those areas where transatlantic collaboration could prove mutually beneficial. High-level speakers from EU institutions and Member State governments, the US government, academia and industry will address issues related to standardization and best practices, lessons learned, and policy harmonization. Registration is limited and the deadline is 1 May 2007. http://useu.usmission.gov/Dossiers/Public_Health/eHealth_Workshop_May2007.asp
• 14 - 15 May 2007, Broadband Gap 2007, Brussels, Belgium. The Information Society offers enormous benefits to Europe's less developed regions and rural and isolated areas, yet commercial investment in broadband infrastructure for these areas is problematic. Launched by four European Commissioners, this Conference and Exhibition will investigate how the strategic use of ICT can support regional and local development, ease infrastructure and geographical handicaps and make these areas more attractive to business and individuals alike.   http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/events/broadband_gap_2007/index_en.htm
• 15 May 2007, Workshop on Future eInclusion Themes for ICT PSP, Brussels, Belgium. This workshop will bring together a number of relevant stakeholders to discuss possible eInclusion themes within the Work Programme for ICT Policy Support deployment programme. ICT PSP is a component of the CIP (Competitiveness and Innovation) Framework. This event is by invitation only. If you wish to be considered, contact: einclusion@ec.europa.eu.  http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/accessibility/eincl/deploy/index_en.htm
• 17 May 2007, eGovernment Conference – Internet Governance & Security: Exploring Global & National Solutions, Washington DC. The International Symposium on Internet Governance and Internet Security will explore the relationship between global and national solutions to problems of cyber crime and cyber security, focusing on the tensions and complementarities between global and national policy-making for issues related to the security and privacy of commerce and communication on the Internet.  Three academic institutions are cooperating to define the program: Syracuse University School of Information Studies; the George Mason University Law School’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Program; and the Ecole Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne. http://egov.epfl.ch/default.aspx?id=55&subof=41&mid=56
• 21 - 22 May 2007, Cross-border eHealth in the Baltic Sea Region, Stockholm, Sweden. The conference, supported by the European Union and the International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), is hosted by the two eHealth projects within the Baltic Sea Region: Baltic eHealth and eHealth for Regions. Over 20 partners, representing almost the whole Baltic Sea area, are participating in the two projects. Speakers from 10 countries will demonstrate their projects in terms of challenges, strategies, results and visions for future projects. The aim of the conference is to bring together persons from the health sectors that are involved in health processes in the closest sense, but the conference also targets persons from the fields of IT, business, policy, administration, spatial planning and education. http://www.ehealthconference.info/
• 21 May 2007, ICT for Environmental Management and Energy Efficiency: Information event on the forthcoming ICT call for proposals, Prague, Czech Republic. The event, organised by the European Commission with support of the Ministry of the Environment and the Technology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, will give information on the five research topics related to environmental sustainability and energy efficiency that will be called for in the second ICT call in 2007. This will provide a good occasion for proposers, including those from the New Member States, to meet and share their project ideas during the networking part of the event. Participation to the event is free but prior registration is required.  http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ict/programme/events6-20070521_en.html
• 24 - 25 May 2007, Continuity, Collaboration, Communication: Challenges for Healthcare and Opportunities for eHealth, Rome, Italy. The conference explores the concrete issues on "3C" (Continuity, Collaboration, Communication) and their influence on the eHealth infostructure (e.g. dissemination and customisation of clinical pathways, clinical datasets, reference terminologies vs. value sets, patient summaries).  http://www.strategiestm.com/ehtel_conferences/07/continuity_3c/
• 28 - 30 May 2007, eLearning Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. This event focuses on ICT for development, education and training in Africa. It will establish a network of decision makers from governments and administrations with universities, schools, governmental and private training providers, industry, and important partners in development cooperation. This year's edition focuses on "Building Infrastructures and Capacities to reach out to the Whole of Africa", reflecting the significant efforts of African countries to set up their national and regional ICT infrastructures to create access to education, training and services for all. The conference will be accompanied by an exhibition. http://www.elearning-africa.com/
• 30 May - 1 June 2007, European Forum on Electronic Signature 2007, Międzyzdroje, Poland. This forum aims to provide participants with the latest Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technologies and solutions, today’s legal status, experience and plans to implement solutions facilitating the dynamic and smooth development of eBusiness in Poland, Europe and in the World. http://www.efpe.eu/efpe/efpe,enindex_en.xml

If you would like to get involved here are a few ways how:
Let us interview you!
The project is looking for senior eGovernment leaders to interview for upcoming newsletters. If you would like to express your views regarding the barriers to eGovernment (or you know someone who would), please contact Elizabeth Muller at: elizabeth.muller@gov3.net 
EC Project knowledge keeps improving
This project keeps improving and evolving. If you would like to contribute articles or web directory items to our continuously updated website and newsletter, please contact: rebecca.eynon@oii.ox.ac.uk
Join the debate
Discuss your experiences of barriers to eGovernment; share ideas, good practice and case studies on our forum at: http://forum.egovbarriers.org/forum11.html
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This newsletter is published under contract with the European Commission, eGovernment Unit, DG Information Society and Media. It may be copied, distributed and used for educational purposes. The views expressed may not in any circumstances be regarded as stating an official position of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use that might be made of the information provided.