'Innovative and unique' e-Government scheme

A conference in Brussels was told that an "innovative and unique" e-Government scheme has the potential to be replicated in Europe and elsewhere.

The European Commission has said that 38% of the EU-28 population is defined as ‘non-believer’, that is, those with a "systematic distrust" of the public administrative structure, which, says the executive, has "failed" in delivering efficient and transparent public services to the citizens.

The conference on e-Government on Wednesday heard that one example of "good practice" is a pioneering scheme in Azerbaijan where an e-Government scheme has proved a "huge success" with a satisfaction rate of over 90%.

The World Bank defines ‘e-Government’ as “the use by government agencies of information technologies that have the ability to transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government."

It says: "These technologies can serve a variety of different ends: better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to information, or more efficient government management."

However, the conference, organized by le Centre d’Informatique pour la Région Bruxelloise (CIRB), was told that the ability to use technological means in public administration and in the delivery of public services is "not yet consolidated" and "it seems that in Europe “ICT has lost some of its steam."

One solution, it was said, is the "digitilization" of public services which might help bridge the "digital divide".

The meeting heard that some people are still mistrustful of so-called "e-government" services, preferring personal contact when filling in forms and carrying out other formalities.

However, the success of some schemes designed to promote "digitilization" of services could help make the delivery of public administration "more efficient and transparent," it was said.

Francesco Grillo, of the Italian think tank "Vision", which has conducted an in-depth study  into current e-Government schemes throughout Europe, told the conference, "There is enormous potential for this and it is something all governments should consider."

The meeting, at the headquarters of CIRB, was presented with the findings of the study by Vision which covers several countries,including Belgium which, it was said, hopes to become a "smart city" leader by 2019.

It was told that the ability to use technological means in public administration and in the delivery of public services is "not yet consolidated" and "it seems that in Europe “ICT has lost some of its steam."

The report drafted by Vision , an independent charity, states, "At the same time, the sentiment of mistrust in public institutions throughout Europe has been dramatically increasing in recent years."

The European Commission has said that 38% of the EU-28 population is defined as ‘non-believer’, that is, those with a "systematic distrust" of the public administrative structure, which has failed in delivering efficient and transparent public services to the citizens.

It was said that the "Azerbaijani State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations" (ASAN) initiative, a hub for ten government ministries, has "served as a very successful tool to increase the transparency of public administration and the efficiency of public services delivery."

As part of the scheme, introduced in 2012, there are nine "one stop" centres in the country delivering a whole range of public services from financial advice to information about renewing  a driving licence or ID card.

The scheme, described at the conference as "innovative and unique", includes a "mobile service" which has benefited more than 135,000 citizens, many in outlying areas, up to now.

The conference was told that the one-stop-shop ASAN  scheme "simplifies, streamlines, speeds up and opens up" public services ranging from passport renewals to tax inquires and company set-ups.

The ASAN scheme has also been commended by several international organizations, including the OECD and the European Commission, which recognized its importance ‘as a visible measure against corruption and to increase transparency.’

Today (2 April), ASAN centres operate in the Baku region and its surroundings and more than four million citizens have taken advantage of around 240 types of public services provided in them.

The report said, "What’s even more impressive is the fact that the time of average service delivery at these centers was estimated at 11 minutes."

The scheme is typical of one which might possibly be replicated in other countries, including EU member states, said, Azad Jafarli, director of international relations for ASAN.

"The introduction of more efficient measures in delivering public services not only helps to increase trust in the public administration but it also reduce economic costs through modernisation of delivery methods," he said.

"There is low trust in public administration in some countries and this is something we have tried to tackle. Certainly, it has improved transparency and also been effective in tackling corruption.

"The idea has been to simplify services for the public and make them more efficient. There are improvements still to be made but I think we have succeeded in that."

To tackle the relative underdevelopment of e-Government services in Europe and also reinvigorate the EU economy by increased use of such digital technologies, the workshop heard that the European Commission has created the so-called European Digital Agenda, one of the seven initiatives contained in the Strategy Europe 2020.

Efficient use of e-Government is  among these targets and is gauged in the Digital Agenda Scoreboard on e-Government published by the Commission in 2014.

The objective of the Agenda is to ensure that half of the population (50%) will be able to use e-Government and 25% of population will be able to return forms electronically by 2015.

In 2013, the percentage of the population in Europe using e-Government had reached 41.5%, down from 44% in 2012.

Only nine out of 28 countries (Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, France, Lithuania, Austria, Slovenia and Belgium) are currently above the 2015 target of 50%.

In Romania, Italy Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary, online services are used by less than a quarter of the population.

In Italy, Poland, Germany and the UK, the Vision report says  a "very slow change or even a decrease" in the usage of e-Government has been registered during the last year.

The conclusion of the Digital Agenda Scoreboard of 2013 on the use of e-Government in European countries says that “e-Government take-up by citizens is growing more slowly than any other online applications and is indeed stagnating in a number of countries.

"Clearly, neither the potential savings in administration costs nor the potential benefits to citizens are fully exploited."

The Vision report said that the first 17 world e-Government development leaders are also among the top 20 less corrupt countries (Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden and Norway occupy the highest positions in both.

"Thus, the general trend shows that there is a negative correlation between e-Government development and the level of corruption," it concludes.

The comments are broadly echoed by Kamran Agasi, director of the innovation centre at ASAN, who said that many in his country now leaned "naturally" towards the services it provides.

"We do not pretend that it is a solution for everything but it has become so successful, a hub if you like, that we are now taking on board other services, such as public utilities, mobile phone companies and even tourism services."

Fuad Isgandarov, Azerbaijani ambassador to the EU, told the conference that its successful ASAN initiative can also help "improve" the image of the country to the outside world.

He said: "This is very important. We want to give a positive impression of our country and create something new for the future."

Vision in its study also looked at e-Government usage in other countries, including the UK and Italy.

It says that the level of e-Government is "more developed, more widely used and more available" in the UK than in Italy.

In 2013, it said 21% of Italians made use of the Internet for e-Government services. This shows an increase from the 19% in 2012 but it still remains much below the EU average of 41%. 10% of citizens submitted completed forms; up from 8% in 2012 but considerably below the EU average.

On the other side, the British results are "at square", it says, with the EU average.

"In fact, in the UK, the percentage of citizens who used e-Government services and of citizens who sent filled forms in 2013 (41 and 22, respectively) is distinctly close to the EU average (41 and 21, respectively)."

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