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

Issue No 8. October 2006

Welcome to the eighth 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.

Background on the OECD eGovernment Project
The OECD eGovernment Project works with 30 countries around the world regarding how governments can best exploit information and communication technologies to embed good governance principles and achieve public policy goals.

Major challenges over the next few years
Two of the biggest challenges facing governments right now are interoperability and benefits realisation.  Interoperability is difficult because technical solutions have arisen largely organically, based around specific organisational needs, values and cultures.  For example, some countries have specifically forbidden the use of single ID numbers for citizens, due to historic concerns about government control. It’s not just a question of finding technical standards, but also meeting cultural expectations and fears.

Benefits realisation is a second major challenge, as governments are moving from the benchmarking of supply (e.g. number of services online) to measuring value for investment.  While many countries now recognise the importance of this shift in theory, it is much more difficult to change the organisational culture and the way of thinking.

Major challenges with regard to Barriers to eGovernment include the following:

• Leadership Failures - There is no single leadership model, and the term “leadership” refers to many different things.  Leadership is often used to describe a top-down approach, which is useful for reaching specific targets such as putting services online.  However, another model is needed for embedding change and sustaining initiatives over the longer term throughout government.

• Financial Inhibitors - There will always be financial barriers to eGovernment; very few countries have the resources they need to implement major change initiatives.  Therefore the issue needs to be framed in terms of achieving efficiency gains through eGovernment to reinvest on innovation, not finding more funding.

• Digital Divide - There is still a significant digital divide in many countries, but even in countries that have high levels of access to the Internet there is still the issue of uptake and use of eGovernment.  People in all countries will move to online channels only when they provide a real value proposition.

• Poor Coordination - Poor coordination is perhaps one of the greatest barriers to eGovernment.  The nature of joined up government, or “networked” government requires some type of coordination.  Yet this does not necessarily mean adding another layer of government.  Technical coordination can allow countries to work more effectively, and even allow them to further decentralise certain responsibilities.  When there is no official body for coordination, agencies tend to fill the void through informal networks to deal with implementation issues.  Major public service providers in the Netherlands, for example, have an informal eGovernment network.

• Inflexibility - Government institutions are not yet effectively using the new working methods that have become more common in the private sector over the past few years.  This is not just about technology, but about performance measurement and providing the right incentives.  In many government organisations there is a mismatch between what staff are asked to do, and the incentives they are given.  In this sense, eGovernment really is more about government than about “e”.

• Lack of Trust - Individuals within government may not trust the changes that come with eGovernment, because they are afraid that their jobs will be made redundant.  There is not enough training and re-skilling, and the reality is that moving people from one type of job, e.g. back office processing, to a very different type, e.g. front line service provision, is extremely difficult.  To a certain extent there is also a generational gap, with the new generation more able to deal with the requirements of eGovernment.  There is also the issue of citizen trust in government, and their willingness to use online services.  Most people who don’t want to give the government personal information online (e.g. eTax) are the same people who do not want to give out their credit card number online for eCommerce services.  There is an opportunity here for public private partnerships to work on developing security solutions, and also building trust.

• Poor Technical Design - The issue is not so much about the lack of poor technology, but rather lack of user-centric design.  Users have different requirements when it comes to eGovernment, and a “one size fits all” solution is unlikely to work well.  Technology that allows for the better understanding of users, and the segmentation by user profile, will allow for a better user experience.

More information on the OECD eGovernment Project: http://webdomino1.oecd.org/COMNET/PUM/egovproweb.nsf

The Breaking Barriers to eGovernment workshop has been accepted for inclusion at IST 2006 in November.  Our scheduled slot is on 22 November from 16:00 to 17:30.  Details of our session, From Barriers to Benefits: Efficiency and effectiveness of eGovernment, can be found here: http://www.egovbarriers.org/?view=events

Since the last newsletter, there have been several relevant developments with regard to eGovernment in the international / European community:

• The international conference on The Impact of eGovernment was held in Helsinki on 13 September.  The objective of the conference was to track the process towards visible impact of the eGovernment Action Plan and check the status of national and regional impact frameworks and explore partnership with industry. http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/egovernment_research/doc/highlights/e&e_agenda.pdf

• The European Commission has intensified its Good Practice Exchange.  Closing date for the call for tenders ‘Service contract for good practice services’ is 30 October 2006 at 16:00 (Brussels local time). http://europa.eu.int/egovernment_research

• The CCeGOV study launched a set of think papers (see http://www.ccegov.eu/), including titles on:
  • Is Citizen-centric the same as Customer-centric?
  • What is the scope for organisational change in the public sector in Europe?
  • Customer-centric, citizen centric. Should Government learn directly from business?

• The eUser project on "User Orientation of Public Online Services" has recently been completed and now offers a wealth of evidence-based information in an online Knowledge Base.  eUser is a resource to Member States, especially to those responsible for online public services offerings: http://www.euser-eu.org

• The eChallenges e-2006 Conference takes place 25-27 October in Barcelona, Spain. This is the sixteenth in a series of annual conferences supported by the European Commission, which bring together over 600 delegates from leading commercial, government and research organisations around the world to bridge the Digital Divide by sharing knowledge, experience, lessons learnt and good practice in thematic areas including Networked Business, eGovernment and eDemocracy, Technology Enhanced Learning, Collaborative Working Environments, eHealth, GRID, Knowledge Management, Smart & Virtual Organisation and International IST Collaboration. http://www.echallenges.org/e2006/ 

• 7-8 November 2006, CCeGOV Workshop, Warsaw, Finland - CCeGOV has its First Workshop, with a new concept for EC type events: "A 24-hour event exploring concepts, strategies and practical approaches to citizen centricity".  The event will be a mixture of plenary and break-out sessions, with short presentations and cases, and will also use small group activities (including some open-space type work) to unpick problems, share experiences, develop understanding and identify common issues.  http://www.ccegov.eu/

• 9 November 2006, Future Opportunities for Research and Standardisation, Brussels, Belgium - INTEREST is an EU-sponsored project that looks at the interface between research and standardisation. Specifically, it aims at identifying the barriers that stand in the way of a beneficial knowledge transfer between the two act ivy areas, and at devising ways how to overcome them. The project will hold its final Workshop, for which participation is free. Registration will be on a first-come-first-served basis. http://www.interest-fp6.org/

• 21-23 November 2006, IST Event 2006, Helsinki, Finland - The IST conference is the main networking event and showcase covering research and development in information society technologies (IST). The event is organised by the European Commission in cooperation with the Finnish Presidency of the European Union, and will coincide with the launch of the EU's Seventh Framework R&D Programme. http://europa.eu.int/information_society/istevent/2006/index_en.htm

• 22-24 November 2006, 1st European Summit on Interoperability in the iGovernment, Valencia, Spain - The new i2010 eGovernment Action Plan launched earlier this year by the European Commission stresses that interoperability is a key enabler for the provision of modern public eServices. The plan underlines the need to ensure that eGovernment does not lead to new barriers in the single market due to fragmentation and lack of interoperability. The event will offer a platform to discuss these issues and to reach relevant conclusions on the priorities to achieve effective interoperability. http://www.esiig.gva.es/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1&lang=en

• 27-28 November 2006, The European Legal Framework for eBusiness and Innovation, Brussels, Belgium - This event, organised by the European Commission, will bring together high-level policy makers in Europe, Member States representatives, legal experts and practitioners with the objective to debate how eBusiness and innovation can be facilitated by a more favourable legal environment. The conference will present the results of recent projects in these fields and the outcome of the ICT task force's working group on "IPR for competitiveness and innovation". http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/ict/policy/legal/bxl2006/index.htm

If would like to get involved here are a few ways how:

New! 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. Find our continuously updated website and newsletter here. If you would like to contribute articles or web directory items, please contact mailto: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.