The Four-Stage eGov Indicators of the 2002 eEurope Action Plan
Olov Östberg
The European Union and its 15 Member States are committed to the roll out of the eEurope Action Plan 2002. With regard to Government services, a set of basic public services available on-line will be traced using a four-stage eGov indicator system.
The roll-out of EU's eGov action planBetween 1 January and 30 June 2001, Sweden holds the Presidency of the European Union Council of Ministers -the EU's principal decision-making body. This means that Sweden will plan and lead the work at different levels of the Council of Ministers, which comprises representatives of the 15 Member States.
The main task of the Presidency is to move the issues on the EU agenda forward. In a circle consisting of 15 countries, all have their own individual interests. A successful presidency therefore requires both sensitivity and firmness in pursuing clearly defined objectives. For example, it is important to be able to reach common positions and adopt Council conclusions to issues on the agenda.
Among the many things to do for Sweden, this involves the providing of a Member State forum so as to move ahead with the eEurope initiative.
The focus of eEurope is to firmly put Europe on-line. This comprehensive initiative aims to accelerate the uptake of
digital technologies across Europe and ensure that all Europeans have the necessary skills to use them. The key objectives are:- Bringing every citizen, home, school, business and administration on-line,
- Creating a digitally literate and entrepreneurial Europe,
- Ensuring a socially inclusive information society
As spelled out in the eEurope Action Plan 2002, which was adopted in June 2000, the focus for the next two eGov years will be to:- Improve access, dissemination and exploitation of public sector information,
- Ensure that citizens have easy access to essential public data,
- Promote on-line interaction between citizens and government,
- Re-think the internal organisation and of electronic exchanges between institutions.
Applying the open method of co-ordination and benchmarkingAt the time of the adoption of the Action Plan, the self assessed national starting points were as described in Public Strategies for the Information Society in thMember States of the European Union. The following summarising points are listed in an independent, critical outside view of the state of the art (Europe's readiness for e-government):- Countries outside Scandinavia face a huge challenge in providing the
levels of transaction promised in the eEurope targets.
- The first big challenge is to publish worthwhile information, using the Internet to create open government.
- Interaction with e-government will require new skills from public servants.
- Governments can offer to interact, but there's no guarantee people will do so.
- We may need new rights before we are ready for e-government.
- ID cards and registers help e-government, so sceptics who dislike them need to say clearly why.
- Governments need a robust privacy and security architecture before anything else.
- Countries that don't discuss and plan large scale structural and human changes in government are not yet ready for e-government.
There are in many ways noticeable differences between the Member States when it comes to the size of the public sector, how it is organised, to what extent it is being trusted, etc. One factor of particular importance for the adherence to the eGov targets is the wide spread in IT investments, se Figure 1.
Figure 1. Expenditures per capita on public sector computerisation in 2000.(Heath, W., Computing the cost. Government Computing, p. 28, January 2001)
It would appear that Europe's eGov targets can only be achieved if the Member States, the European Parliament and the European Commis-sion are ready to commit themselves to the Action Plan and to the reassessment of priorities which it will imply. None can afford to relax, no matter how advanced they may be relative to others. A 'two speed eEurope' must be avoided. Each Member State must be ready to set new priorities, to provide adequate funding and to remove obstacles to achieve the targets. Each will have to draw the attention of citizens to the emerging possibilities of digital technologies to help to ensure a truly inclusive information society. Only through positive action now can info-exclusion be avoided at European level.
It is the general view of the EU, that benchmarking is an essential policy instrument in developing high quality and effective public services. Accordingly, at the 15 December 2000 meeting of the Member States' eGov representatives, it was decided that an open method of co-ordination and benchmarking will be applied to ensure that actions are carried out efficiently, have the intended impact and achieve the required high profile in all Member States. This process will be fully co-ordinated with the general benchmarking linked to the special European Council each spring.
The benchmarking will cover basic public services available online. One of the main challenges of the benchmarking exercise will obviously be to define that concept so as to achieve comparable results amongst all Member States. A high degree of comparability of data is necessary. This implies a homogeneous approach, i.e. common definitions would apply to all Member States. Arriving at those common definitions is what is referred to as the open method.
Different traditions and administrative systems in the Member States will need to be taken into account. A pragmatic way forward consists of listing say fifteen public services for citizens and ten for businesses. Such a list would indicate what each Member State considers to be the basic public services available online to be traced in a biannual benchmarking.
On the basis of the discussions and the written input from each Member State, the Swedish Presidency and the Commission will work out a common core list for approval at the meeting the Member States' eGov representatives on 22 February 2001.
Measuring the depth of eGovernment: The four stage modelHaving finalised the common top-25 list of basic public services available online - the core list - the next step would be to assess to what degree the various services in the various countries are successful eGov manifestations.
Commissioned by the Government, The Swedish Agency for Public Management recently defined a set of criteria on how to grade the level of sophistication of eGov services. This work is intertwined with the determination of the Swedish Government to provide information and services in a user-friendly way and accessible independent of time of day and geography. Accordingly the report is entitled "The 24/7 Agency: Criteria for 24/7 Agencies in the Networked Public Administration".
Other countries are usinga similar approach, that is, a four- stage model based onthe eprocesses involved inthe delivery of informationand services to citizens and businesses (see Figure 2). |
Figure 2 |
Sweden's top-25 eGov servicesThe four-stage models adopted by Sweden and the European Union, respectively, are almost identical. It was therefore a quite straight forward process to define Sweden's input to the selection of a top-25 list common for all EU Member states.
The 64 most service intense agencies were asked to suggest services suitable for inclusion in the Swedish proposal for top-25 basic services. Replies were obtained from 48 agencies. The below list is the proposal of the Swedish government. The listed services emanate from all together 19 state agencies.
Figure 3. Sweden's top-25 list of basic public services available online, proposed on 19 January 2001. The list is Sweden's input to the process of defining a top-25 list common to all EU Member States.
It should be observed that the above list of proposed basic services has been developed with the view that similar services would be identified in other EU Member States. Not listed above are for example services provided by the Swedish National Board of Student Aid (www.csn.se) and the Swedish National Premium Pension Authority (www.ppm.nu).
The continuos development of Swedish eGov servicesThe Swedish eGov Action Plan lists the following main action lines:- 24/7 services
- service charters
- single entrance to public information
- information tailored to SMEs
- service co-operation between state and local government
- secured transmission of electronic documents and messages
- implementation of electronic signatures
- basic databases
The top item is the 24/7 concept, which is far more ambitious than merely providing round-the-clock availability for the agency's most popular services. It involves the whole agency and being part of a networked family of agencies. For benchmarking purposes within Sweden, the following qualifiers will help decide to what degree an agency, on the whole, is a 24/7 agency:
a) Quantity and quality of the transaction-related information provided (employing progressively increasing interactivity).
b) Quantity and quality of the general information provided (displaying information about the agency and its duties).
c) Quantity and quality of the general information presentation (including joint eGov requirement).
In the late Autumn of year 2000, the 90 largest of the 280 state agencies, some of which are very small, were asked to use the qualifier set and make self assessments of their respective positions, as a whole, according to the aforementioned four-stage development model. They were also asked to project their positions two years down the road. The results are displayed in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Self assessments of the 90 largest Swedish state agencies using to the four-stage eGov model. The assessments were to be made on the entire agency rather than on the most advanced agency service.
It should be observed that the assessments displayed in Figure 4 are the results of agencies' self-assessments of their entire eGov agenda. The positions on the four-stage abscissa are thus tokens of how advanced the agencies are on average with regard to all their eGov dealings with citizens, enterprises, and other public authorities.
The following cases are examples of some of the more advanced eGov services presently offered (and widely used) in Sweden.
The Customs' Stairway The Customs' primary goal is to be a gatekeeper for export and import operators. This does not mean that the operators shall be kept or interfered with at the gate between Sweden and non-Sweden. Quite the contrary. There are certain procedures and regulations that must be adhered to, for sure, but the duty of today's Customs is to see to it that this works as smoothly and predictably as possible.
Figure 5. The Stairway® is a 24/7 Customer Relations Management concept developed by the Swedish Customs for improved service, quality and efficiency in the customs procedures.
For the last three years, some 80 per cent of all export and import declarations are submitted electronically by means of Smart Card secured and highly structured Computer-to-Computer information exchange (EDI). It was therefore natural for the Customs early on to set the ambitious target that by 2005, at the latest, 100 per cent of the declarations shall be (voluntarily) supplied via web-based EDI, and that 90 per cent hereof shall be dealt with automatically. On top of that, at the Virtual Customs Office, the traders will be supplied with all tools and information needed. Already by the end of 2000, the Stairway® for paperless and quality-rich customs procedures are quite impressive (Figure 5).
The higher the quality and competence exhibited in the customs declaration operations of a Trader/Operator, the lower the level of interference will be from the Customs. At the highest quality and competence level, this mutual trust between the Operator and the Customs is carried over to all co-operating countries.
The Stairway system was initially developed in co-operation with the European Commission, the Netherlands, and Australia. Among the next wave of co-operating countries are Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Russia. For a more detailed explanation, a slideshow presentation is available at http://www.tullverket.se/samverkan/Portugal/presentations/stairway.pps
The Road Administrations' Vehicle Database Except for its Vehicle Database, the National Swedish Road Administration as a whole does not have a prominent position in Figure 4. However, the self-service phone number of the Vehicle Database is the most dialled number within Sweden, and an upgraded web enabled version will short be released. The call distribution is displayed in Figure 6.
Figure 6. The time-of-day distribution for the telephony self-service access to the Swedish Vehicle Database.
Figure 7. The Swedish National Road Administration provides secure 24/7 self-service to car dealers equipped with trusted smart eID cards.
Among the services provided by the Vehicle Database, the one servicing the car dealers is truly outstanding. It is a secure 24/7 services allowing car dealers to handle all registration businesses directly with the database. In this way, some 80 per cent of all car ownership are entered electronically by the car dealers themselves. The business process is shown in Figure 7.
The Virtual Employment Office The National Labour Market Board (AMS) has for many years been computerising their databases for vacant jobs and job-seekers. This has facilitated for their counsellors to help people find the right jobs. But now people will be able to find their jobs themselves.
For five years now employment services have been offered on-line, through the Internet. This means that AMS can deliver services to the citizens directly to their homes and their work-places. There are six different jobs database services. The by far most important are:- Job vacancies Visitors can access all job vacancies reported to the Employment Service. If the employer has an e-mail address, this can be linked to a ready-made application form, which the applicant can complete and e-mail to the employer directly. Employers also have the possibility of adding their own logotype and a link to
their own home page, as well as presenting the enterprise, the workplace and/or the working unit concerned in words and pictures.
- Job vacancy advertising is free of charge to employers. An employer can follow on-line how many times the ad has been read. Tens of thousands of job opportunities all over Sweden are posted each day, and AMS also offers links to private job-sites as well as to the web-sites of the public employment services in Europe and North America.
- CV Database Everyone wishing to look for a new job can register his or her CV at the AMS web-site. By creating a search-profile employers can find suitable applicants without difficulty and contact them directly. Job-seekers present their qualifications by means of an occupational nomenclature and search words. A complete list of qualifications is vital in order for the employer to obtain an accurate picture of the individual, and the CVs should be regularly updated.
- The job-seekers also add a personal letter to potential employers, where they are able to give a more personal presentation of themselves. For the enhancement of information quality, the CVs are subject to minimum requirements concerning content and accessibility. However, to protect the integrity of the candidates, they are able to keep their names and their current employer anonymous - this is an option very few use, though.
The services of the virtual employment office have in fact been so successful that the National Labour Market Board in 2000 declared that "Self-service via Internet is Service #1. Traditional manual services will be used as a back up and support." This Labour Market Board saga is the results of an approach were a governmental giant agency has made about face to focus on servicing the market per se. Employers, job-seekers, niche-operators, head-hunters, Temp shops ... everyone is welcome to use the ever more useful tools ... (Figure 8).
Figure 8. Symbolic illustration of the fact that the National Labour Market Board provides infrastructure, concept transparency, tools, databases, etc., to make all the labour market run smoothly.
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