e-Government actions in Europe Best European e
Transcription
e-Government actions in Europe Best European e
e-Government actions in Europe Best European e-practices e-Governance Academy Tallinn, Estonia December 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive summary ................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction................................................................................................................................ 5 About INTERREG IIIC......................................................................................................... 5 About this report.................................................................................................................... 5 Topic 1: e-management systems for city administrators (including infrastructure) .................. 7 Trends and observations ...................................................................................................... 11 Best practices overview....................................................................................................... 12 1. EU IDABC e-Identity and e-Security web:............................................................ 12 2. Estonian ID-card..................................................................................................... 13 3. The Vaasa City Card (Finland)............................................................................... 16 4. Indjija (Serbia) – system48..................................................................................... 19 5. Simplification of the process application from disabled people, for benefits and medical (Belgium)........................................................................................................... 20 6. Localegov - The National Strategy for Local e-Government in England .............. 22 7. eTampere 2001-2005 (Finland).............................................................................. 24 8. LEPIDA: the broadband private network of Emilia-Romagna Public Administration (Italy) ..................................................................................................... 27 9. Digital document management system GoPro in Tartu City Government (Estonia) 29 Topic 2: Online public services for citizens ............................................................................ 32 Trends and observations ...................................................................................................... 32 Best practices overview....................................................................................................... 34 1. South Yorkshire e-services (United Kingdom) ...................................................... 34 2. Eastserve Getting the local community on-line in East Manchester (United Kingdom) ........................................................................................................................ 35 3. Benefit Express in Halton Borough Council (United Kingdom) .......................... 37 4. E-procurement in Piemonte (Italy)......................................................................... 39 5. Public e-Procurement (Norway)............................................................................ 41 Topic 3: e-Participation ........................................................................................................... 43 Trends and observations ...................................................................................................... 43 Best practices overview....................................................................................................... 44 1. Today I decide: TOM portal (Estonia) .................................................................. 45 2. Local e-Democracy Project (United Kingdom) ..................................................... 47 3. e-Voting Pilots (United Kingdom) ......................................................................... 49 4. Smart|connect - Sheffield (United Kingdom)......................................................... 53 Topic 4: Awareness raising on e-government and e-participation in a local setting ............... 55 Trends and observations ...................................................................................................... 55 Best practices overview....................................................................................................... 57 1. Manchester advice – online adviser – www.advicekit.info (United Kingdom) ..... 57 2. Konekta Zaitez Ciudadan@ - Basque Country (Spain).......................................... 59 3. The Geneva internet voting application (Switzerland)........................................... 60 4. HamburgGateway - The digital gate to the city (Germany) ................................... 61 5. e@SY Connects Digital Interactive Television Service (United Kingdom) .......... 62 6. VisionAIR: Bari (Italy), Amaroussion (Greece), Bremen (Germany) and Eindhoven (The Netherlands). ........................................................................................ 64 7. NettiNysse internet bus in Tampere (Finland) ....................................................... 65 8. Cultural events portal – Tartu (Estonia) ................................................................. 68 9. Latvia@World (Latvia) .......................................................................................... 69 10. The Business Web Portal of Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukraine) ................................... 70 11. Networks for the exchange of experiences ........................................................ 72 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Executive summary The present study on eGovernment actions in Europe, made under the EU INTERREG III C programme as part of the project 4N00841 "Challenge of eCitizen Promoting eGovernment Actions in European Cities”, reports on the 4 basic focus areas of the eCitizen project: - eManagement systems for city administrators (including infrastructure); online public services for citizens with web-based and mobile applications; new eParticipation services with interactive consultation applications; awareness raising on eGovernment and eParticipation activities carried out by cities and municipalities, or carried out on the national level when closely related to and supporting regional level eGovernment actions. The best practice examples included in this study were gathered from very different sources – web pages of best practices, conference reports, discussions during field visits and research publications. The list is by no means exhaustive, as the topic is very popular and many similar best practice reports are available. Development in this field is very fast and the situation is changing rapidly. In spite of this, some general trends and developments are identified. Firstly, it is clear that the misunderstanding that eGovernment (be it on a local or other level) mainly revolves around technological issues, still prevails. In reality, the development of the Information Society (which includes both eGovernment and eDemocracy) is mainly a story of political will, organizational reforms, legal framework adaptation, work processes reengineering, etc. Questions about technology that come up when discussing this issue are at best instrumental, and by no means critical. Likewise, from the financing side, the main expenses are related not to technology but to organization, reforms of processes, and the implementation of tools. Secondly, and closely related to the previous issue, it is observed from many examples that the development of best practices is very closely depending on the driving power of top management of the organizations, both political and administrative. The same best practice technical and organizational solutions that work for one local entity ends up in failure for another. Even neighbouring municipalities working within a similar political and legislative reality are not able to show similar results in using the same technical environment. Eliminating all other factors, this can only be explained by a difference in “sponsorship” and political action. These conclusions are complemented by the results of another recent survey made by the e-Governance Academy. This survey assessed the development of Estonian local governments on the technical level, the organizational capacity and the willingness to use and offer different e-services. It showed that, in most cases, the relevant infrastructure and also quite often the necessary communication tools are already available. In many cases, however, top managers do not yet realise that this infrastructure needed for communication and for building eServices is present (and Page 3 of 3 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe widely in use by the younger generation). Success on a political level is more and more related to the communication ability of managers in e-world., a conclusion which is true not only in an Estonian setting. The lesson learned from this is that it is almost impossible to copy one technical solution from one public sector organization to another. This is true not only on an international level but also in the national context. Therefore, the best practice solutions in this study cannot be copied, but should be used as inspiration to develop own ideas, concepts and models, keeping in mind that the development of relevant technical solutions to implement these ideas is, in most cases, only a minor issue. Several development trends are described in this report. Many of the issues discussed form part of the “priority list” of the EU i2010 agenda. One example of an issue where many national governments have clear strategies and plans is the development of electronic identification. In making strategic decisions, local governments are advised to take these developments into account. Notwithstanding the limited scope of this study (both in time and in content), many important issues are identified. The reader is advised to keep in mind that the main aim of the report is to give a short and “snapshot style” overview of some of the topics relevant to the information society and to eGovernment development of the local governments, and that the most valuable part of this study lies in the ideas and development trends put forward, and not in the technical solutions that are used to implement these ideas. Page 4 of 4 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Introduction The present Study of eGovernment actions in Europe is made under the EU INTERREG III C programme as part of the project 4N00841 "Challenge of eCitizen Promoting eGovernment Actions in European Cities”. The leading partner in this project was The Baltic Institute of Finland. The partners were Cites of Tampere, Turku and Vaasa (Finland), Tartu (Estonia), IS Fyn (County of Fyn, City of Odense - Denmark), Bologna and Trento (Italy), Sheffield (United Kingdom), Kaunas and Vilnius (Lithuania) and St. Petersburg (Russia). About INTERREG IIIC INTERREG IIIC is an EU-funded programme that helps Europe’s regions form partnerships to work together on common projects. It is one of the three strands of the European Community Initiative INTERREG III, which is designed to strengthen economic and social cohesion in the European Union (EU) by promoting cross-border (strand A), trans-national (strand B) and interregional (strand C) co-operation. With INTERREG IIIC, interregional co-operation between regional and other public authorities across the entire EU territory and neighbouring countries is promoted. It allows regions without joint borders to work together in common projects and develop networks of co-operation. The co-operations under INTERREG IIIC give access to experience of other actors involved in regional development policy and create synergies between "best practice" projects and the Structural Fund’s mainstream programmes. The overall aim is to improve the effectiveness of regional development policies and instruments through large-scale information exchange and sharing of experience (networks) in a structured way. The INTERREG IIIC programme is financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), as part of the Structural Funds, and co-financed by national project partners. About this report The scope of this study is to describe best European practices and experiences in each of the 4 focus areas of the eCitizen project: - eManagement systems for city administrators (including infrastructure); online public services for citizens with web-based and mobile applications; new eParticipation services with interactive consultation applications; Page 5 of 5 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project - eGovernment Actions in Europe awareness raising on eGovernment and eParticipation activities carried out by cities and municipalities, or carried out on the national level when closely related to and supporting regional level eGovernment actions. To gather information about best practices, the e-Governance Academy performed a study of available, relevant and recent sources, gathered through its network of experts and through the involvement of partner organisations. The leading partner from eCitizen project in this study was IS Fyn. Also all other partners in the project contributed to the report and shared their best available knowledge. The e-Governance Academy team preparing this report includes Arvo Ott, Hannes Astok and Steven Segaert. Examples of good practices have further been selected on the basis of accessibility (both concerning language and content), representative value, availability of additional information and relevance to identified developments and trends. Rather than an encyclopaedic overview, the sample of good practices is to be used as a collection of examples and ideas. The selection of examples is not exhaustive, nor does it provide a full overview of developments. It is, by nature, a snapshot made in the autumn of 2006 of projects and services that are in place and documented. Projects that are in the phase of development are not included. Page 6 of 6 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Topic 1: e-management systems for city administrators (including infrastructure) A technological model for municipalities consists of two basic parts: • • IT- infrastructure; Information systems; Concerning both subjects, there are some differences depending on size and organisation of a local entity – a city-type municipality is for example different than a small rural municipalities. These differences are however relatively minor and will be dealt with within the text. STRATEGY: E-LOCAL AGENDAS In establishing an IT framework for local governments, the emphasis lies on four important tasks: • • • • To increase efficiency in administration, benefiting both the business sector and the citizens of the local government in everyday life – activity, directed to the external dimension; To increase efficiency and transparency (questions about anticorruption, etc.) of the business of the local government itself – this activity is focused to the internal dimension, to improve back-office processes; To support democratic processes through the tools of eDemocracy - focused to the external processes; To increase access to Internet and public information. Questions about eInclusion, broadband strategy. Typically the best e-agendas have a similar structure: Digital Local Agenda 1. 2. 3. 4. Main objective Strategic objectives Action plan Projects The action plan may consist (based on the sample of Digital Local Agenda Bilbao 2012): Public Services ICT use for providing services in more efficient way and therefore get a more participative Administration, transparent and accessible for all the citizens. Public Space & Public Access Page 7 of 7 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Implementation of the Information and Communication Technologies in the public space. Infrastructure & Regulation City Council actions, from an infrastructure and regulation point of view, to support actions within the Plan of Action: o Infrastructure and service map o Policies for the e-accessibility. o E-Rights. o Regulation of the city portal. Training Basic computer training and minimum knowledge needs that facilitate the correct use of systems and services (people’s attitude and ability). ICT Dissemination Facilitate the development in the municipality of enterprises and industries related to ICTs (possible development of ICT cluster) o Cooperation with business parks and business incubators o Cooperation with universities research institutions Dissemination Programme development, dissemination and communication actions in the municipality. o eAgenda communication plan o Marketing plan for local portal o Actions to promote the Plan projects. o Information Society benchmarking and observatory. Strategic Alliances Search and development alliances and relations with public and/or private entities, in order to assure the attainment of the objectives of the plan. Cooperation Local – National – International cooperation projects development, in order to develop the Information Society. eInclusion and eDemocracy Development and promotion of the tools of eDemocracy and eInclusion. EQUIPMENT The IT infrastructure of the local government is the material part of its e-model. The equipment and the connectivity, whether wired or wireless, are the backbone of information exchange both within and between local governments, also with other institutions. IT infrastructure consists of personal computers, local area network(s) and basic software. To ensure the uninterrupted flow of data, which is a precondition of data Page 8 of 8 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe exchange between administrations, one needs to have a broadband Internet connection in every local authority. Since the need for such a connection this is often shared by the central government, creating it is often subject to a centrally launched and financed project. Such a layout sets the basis for sustainable functioning and development of municipal IT systems. INFORMATION SYSTEMS Information systems for local governments are determined by the functions they have to fulfil, both to streamline their own work and to provide data for the state registries. Typically, they include the following components: • A Document Management System (DMS). Document management processes are deeply connected to the core duties of the municipality. In big city-type municipalities document management with approval/digital signature mechanism is the core information system. Document management systems should follow the basics of state IT-architecture and document semantics, and need to be able to communicate with state IT basic infrastructure; • E-mail systems. There is a wide variety of commercially available e-mail systems, including open-source solutions. In several good-practice cases, the e-mail system is integrated to the document management and resource planning system; • Finance and personnel management systems. Basic finance and personnel management information systems are often seen functioning together, with unified interfaces that simplify data transfer to the central institutions, the creation of statistics, etc; • Web pages of municipalities, eDemocracy and eParticipation tools. There are several good practices available on the level of state IT-architecture, which are setting standards for web development. Several open source tools are available to manage local information on the web. In several countries, a Public Information Act regulates the list of information that all municipalities should make available on their own websites. Basic tools for eDemocracy and eParticipation are most reasonably developed by several local entities together under the “umbrella” of a local government association or a similar institution; • State registers. Most functions related to the registration of population, real estate, businesses and cars are centralized at the level of state registers. At the same time, different local authorities have different information needs. It is often discussed to what extent the enlargement of existing state register data sets should prompt local governments to enlarge their registers. There are possible IT-mechanisms that allow integrating datasets of state registers and local registers, with added value and re-using the same data. Best practice examples demonstrate that a clear understanding about ownership of data and the cross-use of data by central and local government (use of data for analysis, privacy concerns, financial issues, etc.) are key factors for success. Page 9 of 9 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe SYSTEMS FOR AUTHENTICATION AND IDENTIFICATION OF CITIZENS User identification and authorization systems form other crucial parts of IT infrastructure1. On an international level, electronic identification (eID) of citizens is becoming one of the most important and strategically crucial issues. A key question is whether we, on the national level, one single identification mechanism or rather multiple electronic mechanisms for accessing public e-services will emerge. Where a national eID is in most cases based on national identity numbers, a local level eID might be based on other grounds. Different countries and entities use different means of storing Electronic Identity, without any clear trends. For example: data it is stored in tokens such as smart cards (Belgium, Estonia and Taiwan), in host computers (Singapore), in client computers (Malta), in a combination of both host computers and tokens (Austria and Finland), etc. When tokens are used, they typically are smart cards. More simple mechanisms for authentication and authorization of citizens are however also used. In some cases, local entities issue special user names and access codes for every citizen of the region, and use post and bank offices as distribution channels of these access codes. In other examples, a re-use of the electronic authentication services from banks is observed, using authentication mechanisms that are created for Internet banking (PIN calculators, code tables, etc.). The question as to the mechanism for authentication that is needed is closely dependant on the security needs of the applications offered. In this regard, e-services offered by municipality should be analysed taking into account the needs for data security and basics of personal data protection. A recent ICA survey found that in most countries, the electronic ID system is based on national ID numbers. The use of national ID numbers however requires acceptance and co-operation. Key motivating factors for having such an identification number are: • • • an enhanced security and integrity in the delivery of services; accurate means to uniquely identify individuals, leading to more efficient and effective inter-administrative exchange of data; facilitation of public service delivery, leading to easier access and greater convenience to individuals. Most of the EU Member States already have some form of citizens’ electronic authentication system, several are planning to implement such a system in the near future and only small minority has no concrete plans. 1 For the following description, unpublished recent World Bank and ICA (International Council for IT in Government Administration) surveys were used. Page 10 of 10 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Trends and observations As the opportunity to use eID’s emanating from a national level (instead of using local systems) is on the increase, more and more local e-services will make use of national eID mechanisms. Although this offers unified mechanism for authentication and authorization, the use of municipality level and thematic instruments (students cards, library users cards etc.) remains popular. Examples of other types of eIDs issued include: an eID card for children (Belgium), Public PIN-codes and a unique code from banks (Denmark), Internet banking ID and Mobile-ID (Estonia), civil servants’ ID cards (Finland), student identity cards and profession-based cards (Hungary). Another possible direction to be taken is to see the eID as a component of wider interoperability architecture. In most case this is a competency of the central national government, but again some municipality and regional level examples exist (Bremenon-line). As in the 4 level e-services model there are clear needs for a system for digital signatures, eID is often handled together with and as the part of a Public Key Infrastructure. The most commonly cited key issues and challenges encountered in the course of planning and implementing a National Electronic Identification Systems are: • • • • • • • eID Applications - such as the need for sufficient and or “magic” killer applications, and user-friendliness of the system; Value Proposition/Cost - such as justifying the business case, designing a cost-effective solution; Legislation and Data Protection - such as the creation of a legal framework to support such services, overcoming the barriers of data protection; Integration/Interoperability Issues - such as integration of different existing systems, integration of the eID solution with other processes/systems, international interoperability issues; Promotion and Adoption of eID Solution - such as country-wide communication and training the public to use a new system, increasing the take-up rate of the eIDs; and Technical Issues - such as system security, scalability of the system, building a large system from scratch; Other Implementation Issues - such as commitment from participating agencies, daily management for identification and authentication of organizations. Page 11 of 11 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Best practices overview 1. EU IDABC e-Identity and e-Security web: ABSTRACT IDABC stands for Interoperable Delivery of European eGovernment Services to public Administrations, Business and Citizens. It takes advantage of the opportunities offered by information and communication technologies: -to encourage and support the delivery of cross-border public sector services to citizens and enterprises in Europe, -to improve efficiency and collaboration between European public administrations and, -to contribute to making Europe an attractive place to live, work and invest. To achieve its objectives, IDABC issues recommendations, develops solutions and provides services that enable national and European administrations to communicate electronically while offering modern public services to businesses and citizens in Europe. The programme also provides financing to projects addressing European policy requirements, thus improving cooperation between administrations across Europe. National public sector policy-makers are represented in the IDABC programme's management committee and in many expert groups. This makes of the programme a unique forum for the coordination of national e-government policies. By using state-of-the-art information and communication technologies, developing common solutions and services and by finally, providing a platform for the exchange of good practice between public administrations, IDABC contributes to the eEurope objective of modernising the European public sector. IDABC is a Community Page 12 of 12 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe programme managed by the European Commission's Enterprise and Industry Directorate General. One of the initiatives under the IDABC Programme is the eGovernment Observatory. It provides valuable insight into eGovernment strategies, initiatives and projects in Europe and beyond. Next to factsheets, case studies and information on events, the Observatory also publishes news by topic. The news listings under the topic eIdentity and eSecurity is a valuable resource and offers a concise overview of the developments in this field. http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/chapter/355 2. Estonian ID-card ABSTRACT The purpose of Estonian ID-card project was to use a nation-wide electronic identity system and develop a new personal identification card that would be a generally accepted identification document and would contain both visually and electronically accessible information. On December 18, 2001 the parliament established ID-card as a compulsory identity document, leaving the Estonian passport needed only as an international travel document. On January 28, 2002 the first ID-cards were issued to Estonian citizens. Page 13 of 13 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe There have been different opinions and political debates over the ID-card, partly brought forward by the fact that the ID-card is not obviously seen as a component of the public key infrastructure. It is primarily an application of the Digital Signatures Act and a common infrastructure established for this act. While many similar projects exist in other countries (Belgium, Finland, Italy, etc.), the widespread use of ID-card services is rather unique to Estonia. To date, more then 1.000.000 ID cards are issued2. The Estonian ID-card project focused on the digital signature, which is made legally equivalent to the hand-written signature. At the same time the technologies and standards for creating digital signature are made uniform in the whole country. The signature identifies a person directly, which eases the verification of signatures without additional contacts. To achieve this aim, the Identity Documents Act as well as the Digital Signatures Act was adjusted, which resulted in the following: - The certificate inserted in the ID-card includes the personal identification code, which enables to identify the individual at once. A certificate, which enables to sign documents according to the Digital Signatures Act, is inserted in the ID-card chip. Certificates inserted in the ID-card lack field of use restrictions and can therefore be applied in the public as well as private sector, and also in the context of mutual relations between individuals. The primary purpose of information on the ID-card chip is to allow the unambiguous digital identification of the individual and the creation of the digital signature. The certificate includes only minimum information about the individual - names and the personal identification code. A firm decision was made from the start not to add additional information to the ID-card, not to mention information that requires updating. The ID-card is used in a general context wherever a person needs to be authenticated or when documents have to be signed. This means that the ID-card has not been created only for a certain service or application. The authentication with an ID-card is secure, and is convenient to use wherever user names, passwords, code cards etc. have so far been used: the card can be used wherever identification is necessary, be it for Internet banking services, internal applications of a company, intranets or public portals. Its convenience is apparent because, on the one hand, the system administrators need not bother themselves about the administration of user names and passwords and, on the other hand, a person needs not to deal with the multiple passwords and password cards. It is secure because a person can check whether his/her passwords (secret keys) are under control - whether the ID-card is still in his/her possession. In case the card is lost its usability can be blocked with one single phone call. The application of the authentication function is quite easy; the user account based access to information systems has to be transferred to a personal identification code 2 Situation on December 11th, 2006. Page 14 of 14 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe based application (i.e. the personal identification code included in the certificate has to be connected to the user account). An application allowing ID-card based authentication in Windows computer workplaces has been completed as well. The ID-card can be used also for signing and encrypting e-mails. Every authentication certificate includes the person’s standard e-mail address forename.surname_XXXX@eesti.ee (XXXX is a random four-digit number assigned to the person). The person can register his/her daily e-mail address in the mail server and respective mails will be forwarded to that address. This service is elaborated together with a portal that facilitates sending and receiving digitally signed documents. http://www.id.ee/pages.php/0303 Page 15 of 15 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 3. eGovernment Actions in Europe The Vaasa City Card (Finland)3 The City of Vaasa (Finland) has developed and used a city card system for ten years. The functions of this system can be divided in six groups. (1) Transport for disabled persons and city officials The Vaasa City Card has been used as a “smart ID card” for disabled persons who are entitled to a certain number of taxi journeys per month, on the basis of the legislation relating to social services in Finland. These journeys are registered in the ID smart card by a taxi transport application in the social centre of the city. A disabled person can use this card to pay for the journey. City officials use the same application for taxi journeys that are paid by the city. In the near future, other means of transport will be connected to the application. Additionally, an electronic form is being planned for citizens from different communes. The applications will be stored in a common database used by the city’s social workers. (2) Electronic purse The city card is used as a pre-charged payment card for payments of small services such as parking fees, museum fees, and small payments in the library. A new generation of applications is planned for e.g. contact-less smart card payments. 3 The authors thank the component 3 group of e-Citizen in Vaasa for this description. Page 16 of 16 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe (3) Electronic form for ordering train tickets This application is based on several databases in different phases. A certification centre verifies the ticket applications ordered by the city officials. The tickets are printed and handed out, and the transaction is stored. This system will be used also in other services for citizens. (4) Meals City personnel use the Vaasa City Card as an ID card for credit payments that are deducted from their salary. This is already a second-generation application and smart card for this function. The meals invoiced by the city are also registered. A new kind of prepaid series tickets will come into use, first by the city staff, later also by citizens in any service point maintained by the city. This so-called “prepaid smart card” payment application of series tickets will be used in other services as well. (5) Swimming hall A contact-less payment system for swimming hall customers has been in use for a year. It consists of a bracelet with a contact-less zip. This bracelet can also be used to open the cabins in the swimming hall. Page 17 of 17 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe (6) Applications for city officials City officials use the Vaasa City Card - as an ID card with the name, the department and the picture printed on it. as a card for opening and undoing doors and alarm systems as a card for registering working hours as a card for meals, charged by different means of paying as a card for taxi journeys as a card for parking as an electronic form used for booking railway tickets as an electronic form used for the application of the personnel city cards The Vaasa City Card is also used as a single sign on solution for the city’s IT infrastructure. It can be used to authenticate users when they sign in to the city´s different administrational applications. The first stage in this development is a certificate for signing on to the Microsoft Active Directory. Further in the process, other applications that demand authentication services will be taken into consideration, and other tokens for the certificates will be investigated. Page 18 of 18 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 4. eGovernment Actions in Europe Indjija (Serbia) – system48 System48 Garbage collection, public lighting, traffic lights, parking, water supply, dumps, wild dogs, streets cleaning, maintenance of cemeteries, etc CITIZENS Requests, Appeals Questions, etc Answer within 48 h PHONE NUMBER FOR ALL REQUESTS 555-588 DIRECTION FOR MUNICIPALITY DEVELOPMENT COMMUNAL ENTERPRISE WATER SUPPLY AND SEVRAGE ENT BEFORE SYSTEM48 WALKING FROM SIDE TO SIDE ONLY FOR ONE PROBLEM INSPECTIONS ABSTRACT The city of Indjija (Serbia) has developed accessible and convenient administrative services for citizens and businesses alike. The Citizens’ Assistance Centre is an integrated part of Indjija’s municipal administration designed to provide easy access to the most important municipal services, and is the first in it’s kind in Serbia. Indjija is the only municipality in Serbia offering comprehensive eGovernment services accessible through its website, ranging from issuing basic registry documents to providing licenses and permits. The system is a good example of an e-Management system for the city administration, as the provided services are made possible via a thorough connection of all municipal services and decision-levels. As such, it supports the management and political leadership of the Mayor of the City. http://www.indjija.net/ Page 19 of 19 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 5. eGovernment Actions in Europe Simplification of the process application from disabled people, for benefits and medical (Belgium) ABSTRACT An example of a service from the central government to the local government in its role of intermediary can be found in Belgium, where a the process through which disabled persons could apply for benefits and medical recognition was simplified through a streamlined back-office procedure. One of the roles of the Disabled Persons Directorate-General of the Federal Public Service (Service Public Fédéral - S.P.F.) of Social Security is to accurately and promptly process applications from disabled people for benefits for disabled persons or medical recognition. The regulations require applications for benefits to be made through the municipality council where the disabled person has his main residence. The objective of the project is to give municipalities access to the computerized applications used by the federal service that needs to process the applications. In that way, the application process is rationalised and the application data is immediately electronically available, for further processing. Municipal case-workers can: - enter benefit applications directly into the computer system of the S.P.F. Social Security, by no longer having to send social data of a personal nature Page 20 of 20 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe that are already in the social security network, as they are automatically made available via the Crossroad Bank for Social Security; - receive, in return, an acknowledgement of receipt of the application and the administrative and medical forms (pre-completed with identification data), which can be given immediately to the person concerned; The application uses the new electronic identity card to identify users and the civil servant LDAP (managed by the independent Crossroad Bank for Social Security) to provide access to users. https: //professional.socialsecurity.be http://www.socialsecurity.be, http://www.ksz.fgov.be/En/CBSS.htm Page 21 of 21 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 6. eGovernment Actions in Europe Localegov - The National Strategy for Local e-Government in England CONTACT DETAILS Name: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Contact: Mr. Julian Bowrey Address: Eland House, Zone 3/C6, Bressenden Place, SW1E 5DU London, UK Phone: +(44)-((0)20)-(79444218) Fax: +(44)-((0)20)-(79444994) e-Mail: julian.bowrey@odpm.gsi.gov.uk ABSTRACT 'Localegov' the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's (ODPM) National Strategy for Local e-Government was published on 27 November 2002 following consultation with stakeholders. It sets out a vision, implementation framework and model for local e-government designed to transform the quality of services and the organizations that deliver them. A bottom-up approach to delivery of the program was adopted from the outset in order to build the capacity of councils to help themselves. To date, this has transformed the e-enablement of council services, from 26% in March 2002 to 79% by March 2005, whilst 98% of councils expect to achieve the 100% target by 2005. Page 22 of 22 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe The program has also overseen the successful delivery of 22 National Projects, run by councils for councils and based on a 'build once share many times' philosophy. The outputs from the National Projects offer councils in England (and beyond) proven, cost effective, standard products, services and implementation roadmaps with which to build effective e-services tailored to their citizens and each council's own unique needs. In over 100 councils in England, citizens can already go online to submit planning applications, check their council tax balance and calculate their benefits entitlement, whilst councils themselves expect to deliver? 8 billion in efficiency gains by 2007/08 directly as a result of e-Government investment. Such progress has been made possible through a strong and effective partnership between local and central government to bring about the improvements aimed at by the end of 2005. www.localegov.gov.uk www.localegovnp.org www.govconnect.gov.uk www.direct.gov.uk/Topics/HomeAndCommunity/fs/en Page 23 of 23 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 7. eGovernment Actions in Europe eTampere 2001-2005 (Finland) ABSTRACT eTampere 2001-2005 was an innovative cooperation programme that combined the expertise and developmental input of the region’s educational and research establishments, business life, administrative bodies, organizations, communities and citizens. The activities were coordinated by the eTampere Office. Objective The objective was to make Tampere a spearhead city of information society development by strengthening the knowledge base, creating new business and developing new services for citizens. The aims included: • forwarding the growth of the ICT and communication clusters so that they multiply 2.5- and 1.8-fold respectively; • making Tampere an internationally recognized and esteemed centre of research and study related to information society and eEconomy; • transforming Tampere into the world’s most notable city-scale information society piloting environment; • developing Tampere’s public administration online services into a comprehensive and advanced entity which is in widespread use; Page 24 of 24 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project • • • eGovernment Actions in Europe enabling online access for all citizens and strengthening their competence as users of public online services; using data networks to forward citizens’ opportunities to influence decisions concerning them and participate in the development of their hometown; to secure balanced and equal information society development activity. The eTampere programme targeted a simultaneous development of the information society’s three dimensions – technological, economic and social – through widereaching cooperation. Due to this approach and the diversity of the parties involved, the nature of eTampere and the structure of its activities were unique in Finland and beyond. The programme’s focal area was need-oriented services based on technological innovation, whose objective was to achieve an active, participating and influential citizenship, develop companies’ business and deepen international cooperation. Activities The programme’s activity was arranged through six sub-programmes: • • • • • • Infocity Technology Engine programmes eBusiness Research Center, eBRC Information Society Institute, ISI Research and Evaluation Laboratory, RELab eAccelerator Results • • • • • • • • employment in the ICT sector increased, unlike in other growth centres in Finland; the most followed information society programme both nationally and internationally; tools were created for programme-based development; the first stimulus for cooperation between the city, business life and universities; a total of 420 projects, 62 of which international; total project volume 131 million euros, exceeding the target; more than 400 researchers and developers and over 300 companies participated in the projects, 60% were research projects; 80 national networks and seminars. Project funding • • • • The City of Tampere, the University of Tampere and Tampere University of Technology 18%; other public domestic funding 28%; public international funding 13%; business life 39%; Page 25 of 25 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project • eGovernment Actions in Europe other 2%. In Tampere, programme-based development policy based on cooperation between various parties has proven a cost-efficient and effective way of forwarding business growth and renewal in addition to developing education, research and their respective operating environments. Continuity The eTampere information society programme completed its term at the end of 2005, the BioneXt Tampere biotechnology programme will continue until 2010, and an economic development policy programme set to run until 2011. Creative Tampere, is about to begin. Links to evaluations of the eTampere programme can be found at http://www.etampere.fi /English - Research, Analyses. http://www.etampere.fi/english Page 26 of 26 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 8. eGovernment Actions in Europe LEPIDA: the broadband private network of Emilia-Romagna Public Administration (Italy) CONTACT DETAILS Name: Regione Emilia-Romagna Contact: Gaudenzio Garavini Address: Viale Aldo Moro 18, 40127 Bologna Italy Tel.: +(39)-(051)-(639)-(7617) Fax: +(39)-(051)-(639)-(7810) e-Mail: ggaravini@regione.emilia-romagna.it ABSTRACT : Lepida is a broadband infrastructure, for its most part exploiting fibre optics technology to interconnect over 400 public administrations throughout the Region of Emilia-Romagna. Lepida is also the “highway” through which to distribute eGovernment applications to businesses and citizens. The investment needed to develop Lepida is shared by public administration and private companies, which make use of part of the infrastructure to provide broadband connectivity services to the private market. The public investment has two main targets: Page 27 of 27 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project • • eGovernment Actions in Europe to interconnect all public administration; and to bring broadband investment to areas where it would not have been considered profitable by the incumbent or other telecom operators based on a pure market-driven perspective, contrasting the geographical digital divide; To date, Lepida has been in operation for over a year and has reached about 50% of targeted public administrations, that use it to distribute e-Government applications for agriculture, health care, labour, geographical information systems, e-Procurement, urban safety, research and Voice over IP. The initiative aims to provide a homogeneous development and introduced and passed a law regulating the infrastructure, its ownership, the role of the various partners and the governance model. The public-private partnership organization model outsources network deployment and operations to the local public utilities, which provide and maintain network node equipment and deliver network services according to service level agreement defined and monitored by the public administration. The overall investment for the implementation of the network is over 120 million Euros, 50 of which will come from the public administration. It has been estimated by a cost/benefit analysis that the break-even point can be reached within 9 years4. http://www.regionedigitale.net/wcm/erdigitale/infrastrutture/banda_larga.htm 4 This case has been submitted for the e-Europe award theme “The Right Environment”. Page 28 of 28 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 9. eGovernment Actions in Europe Digital document management system GoPro in Tartu City Government (Estonia) CONTACT DETAILS Name: City of Tartu Contact: Aune Visnapuu Address: Raekoda, 50089 Tartu, Estonia Tel.: +372 7361150 Fax: +372 7361106 e-Mail: aune.visnapuu@raad.tartu.ee ABSTRACT: Until the year 2001 document management in Tartu City Government was handled by traditional methods. Documents were in registers, even in paper databases, or in separate database in computer. Documents moving from one department to another were re-entered in multiple registers. According to the Public Information Act (2002), issued by the national government of Estonia, all public institutions should publish on their web pages a registry of incoming and out coming mail, all legislation (approved documents and drafts, except protected personal data), results of researches, etc. Next to that the “Common Page 29 of 29 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe regulations for procedures”, into force since March 1st 2001, requires that registers of the documents must be handled digitally. Already in May 2001, a working group in the Tartu city office formulated the objective that “The Tartu City Government needs to implement new digital document management system to have faster, secure and easily accessible governance”. After an analysis of the existing situation, the following requirements were set to the solution: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ease of creating new documents and cases ease of creating new legislative acts fast flow of documents accessible from city government computer network, but as well through the Internet an automatic publication of documents in city web page digital archiving tool unique registry possibilities to create different views: by client, by case, by office worker, by institution, etc automatic reminders and other control tools over the workflow pre-design of workflow city government and city council meeting tools permanent commissions and ad-hoc workgroups working tools scalable (possibility to add to the same system city institutions) in Estonian language time frame and scope: total implementation in 12 months with 250 persons The software, IBM Lotus GoPro, is a complex and secure document, case and contact management program. It can be used either through Lotus Notes client or via a web browser. It offers the following basic functions: • • • • • • • • • • • Contact management Case management Mail management Archiving Group letters Document approving system Reminders Document follow-up Scanning of the documents Out of office function Log and history of actions Since the implementation of this system, Tartu City Government and Tartu City Council have a digital document, cases and contact management system, which fully Page 30 of 30 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe responds to the needs of the organisation and the requirements of legislation, increases performance of the organisation and makes the decision-making process faster, secure and transparent. The performance of city officials was increased greatly. Officials can use online document and cases database; have different views - by client, by case, by office worker, by institution, etc. The speed of the workflow has dramatically increased. Earlier an approval took approximately one day, now it is common that 5 to 6 approvals are given in 1-2 days. It is easy to monitor the status of the document or case. Use of the system with full functionality from a distance is possible at any time and from any location using an Internet connection. http://www.tartu.ee/?lang_id=1&menu_id=2&page_id=1208 Page 31 of 31 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Topic 2: Online public services for citizens The European Commission has defined a list of twenty basic public services, for which progress is measured. Twelve of these services are aimed at citizens, while the other eight have businesses in mind5. In order to measure the availability of these public services online, a four-stage framework has been defined and is widely adopted. Next to being a tool for measuring, the framework provides basic guidelines on how to proceed with the development of various services. The four stages are: • Stage 1 - Information The information necessary to start the procedure to obtain this public service is available on-line; • Stage 2 - One-way Interaction The publicly accessible website offers the possibility to obtain in a non-electronic way (by downloading forms) the paper form to start the procedure to obtain this service. An electronic form to order a nonelectronic form is also considered as stage 2; • Stage 3 - Two-way Interaction The publicly accessible website offers the possibility of an electronic intake with an official electronic form to start the procedure to obtain this service. This implies that there must be a form of authentication of the person (physical or juridical) requesting the services in order to reach stage 3; • Stage 4 - Full electronic case handling The publicly accessible website offers the possibility to completely treat the public service via the website, including decision and delivery. No other formal procedure is necessary for the applicant via "paperwork". Trends and observations In the EU Information Society Strategy, special attention was given to the wider development of ICT enabled public services. It is no secret that the bulk of the available e-services for citizens are offered by municipalities and local governments. As local entities are closer to the citizens they 5 The twelve services aimed at citizens are income taxes, job search, social security benefits, personal documents, car registration, application for building permission, declaration to the police, public libraries, birth and marriage certificates, enrolment in higher education, announcement of moving and health-related services. The eight services aimed at businesses are social contribution to employees, corporate tax, VAT, registration of a new company, submission of data to the statistical office, customs declarations, environment-related permits and public procurement. Page 32 of 32 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe serve, they are better placed to be aware of needs and to benefit both economically and politically. The general picture of state of public on-line services, defined by EU Commission is relatively positive. A good overview of EU level projects and implemented services was made in the process of e-Gov awards which results were announced in Manchester in 20056. Moreover, there is wide range of e-services in existence which are not mentioned in this list, and new ones appear every day. It is important to note that the most important and most used service for citizens and businesses alike is simple information provision. By using its own website a local entity can and should provide information both on its own organisation, setup and activities, as well as on various other relevant information that concerns the locality. In deciding how this information will be presented, attention should be given to the fact that websites are rapidly becoming the front windows or gateways for not only the local population and businesses, but also for people and businesses from other localities and tourists seeking information. It is often the case that the twenty services identified are developed and implemented on the level of central government, rather then by municipalities or local governments. This however does not exclude the local level from playing an important role, as municipalities in many cases use and support these services. When offered on the local level, a precondition for the development of e-services is, in most cases, the existence of well-functioning back-office systems on that level as well as the existence of operational central state registers. 6 See http://www.egov2005conference.gov.uk/e_awards/index.asp. Similar Award processes are going on in many countries (e.g. in Ireland and the UK - http://www.irishegovernmentawards.ie/winnersshortlist2006.htm, http://www.e-governmentawards.co.uk/index.php) A good overview of on-line services, offered in public administrations in the EU is available via http://www.capgemini.com/resources/thought_leadership/2006_online_availability_of_public_ser vices. Page 33 of 33 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Best practices overview 1. South Yorkshire e-services (United Kingdom) CONTACT DETAILS Name: e@SY Connects Contact: Gary Simpson - e@SY Programme Manager Address: Mexborough Business Centre, College Road, Mexborough, South Yorkshire, S64 9JP United Kingdom Phone: +44 (01709)-591214 e-Mail: garysimpson@barnsley.gov.uk ABSTRACT e@SY Connects Online has evolved from the original award-winning SYCOP (South Yorkshire Communities Online Project) system. A system designed to give the citizen and business access to qualified information and interactive services by a myriad of electronic devices and channels. The aim of the program is to ensure that innovative means of access to specific public information and services is made as easy as possible for all, but particularly for those in the greatest need. Initially for South Yorkshire (Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield) but now e@SY’s experience and developed services are being used nationally and internationally. This has allowed agencies, both public and private, to Page 34 of 34 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe identify and meet more effectively the needs of the people and businesses they serve across existing boundaries. Today following services are online: • • • Doctor appointment. As result, the rate of not used visits to the doctors has decreased from 13% to 0.5%; Job hotline on TV and internet; Local air quality checks. www.easyconnects.org.uk 2. Eastserve Getting the local community on-line in East Manchester (United Kingdom) CONTACT DETAILS Name: Eastserve Contact: Andy McBeath Address: 1 Stilton Drive, M11 3SB Manchester United Kingdom Tel.: +(44)-(161)-(231)-(9580) Fax: +(44)-(161)-(231)-(3632) e-Mail: a.mcbeath@eastserve.com Page 35 of 35 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe ABSTRACT Getting the local community on-line has been a major success story in East Manchester. The Eastserve project was set up in 2000, funded through the Beacons for a Brighter Future Initiative - the program that is managing the New Deal for Communities and Single Regeneration Budget regeneration funds for the Beswick, Openshaw and Clayton neighbourhoods of East Manchester – and the Department for Education and Skills Wired up Communities program. Since then it has extended across the wider New East Manchester area and provided a model of best practice for the development of the City’s e government agenda. The project has provided PCs, basic ICT training, community help and support, access to online services and local information and low cost wireless broadband Internet access where previously this did not exist. PCs were heavily subsidized - a new computer with all the peripheral equipment cost just £200 against the full cost of £1,000, and attending a 3 hour training course in a local venue was part of the deal. Customer Services are provided from a local shop Unit by paid staff and technical and non-technical volunteers. A community portal (www.eastserve.com) has also been developed, designed specifically for the local community through intensive consultation and providing access to local services and news about the area. The Eastserve site provides information and interactive services from City Council Departments particularly housing and street based services, employment agencies, the Police and community networks. It aims to be fast and convenient and is organized to reflect the needs of the residents rather than the structure of agencies or organizations. Eastserve Broadband has been established to address the issue of a quarter of residents being unable to access the Internet at home and to provide high speed, affordable links to the Internet from homes, community locations, schools and businesses. The third phase of the project has now received funding from the North West Development Agency to further develop the project and lead it to becoming a selfsustaining viable enterprise by 2007. http://www.eastserve.com Page 36 of 36 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 3. eGovernment Actions in Europe Benefit Express in Halton Borough Council (United Kingdom) CONTACT DETAILS Name: Halton Borough Council Contact: Mr Peter McCann Address: Catalyst House, Catalyst Trade Park, Sankey Street, WA8 0GH Widnes, Cheshire United Kingdom Phone: +(44)-(151)-(4717430) Fax: +(44)-(151)-(4717308) e-Mail: peter.mccann@halton.gov.uk ABSTRACT Halton residents are currently reaping the benefits of a truly groundbreaking initiative, which is using the readily available technology to deliver services in real time to its customers. Working within the local community the service provides a direct link from the customers’ home to the Benefit Office alleviating many of the problems that the community had highlighted as problems when claiming benefit. The award-winning initiative has led to a 75% drop in correspondence, a reduction in turnaround times for Benefit Express customers from 6 weeks to an average of 2 days, a massive increase in customer satisfaction and a significant rise in benefits take up. Page 37 of 37 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Centred on a Benefits Bus and backed up by a team of visiting officers this pioneering mobile outreach service uses technology to make a real difference to the Council’s benefit customers because it is truly mobile and instant. The visiting team, armed with laptops, linked directly to the Council’s benefit system via GPRS technology, have real time on-line access, allowing claims to be updated from clients’ homes. The Benefits Express hit the headlines after it was highly acclaimed by Government Ministers and was used by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to highlight an outstanding example of using Neighbourhood Renewal Funding. www.halton.gov.uk http://www2.halton.gov.uk/content/socialcareandhealth/socialbenefits/benefitsexpress Page 38 of 38 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 4. eGovernment Actions in Europe E-procurement in Piemonte (Italy) CONTACT DETAILS Name: Regione Piemonte- Direzione Organizzazione, Pianificazione, Sviluppo e Gestione delle Contact: Sergio Crescimanno Address: Corso Regina Margherita 174, 10152 Torino Italy Tel.: +(39)-(011)-(432)-(1358) Fax: +(39)-(011)-(432)-(3836) e-Mail: Direzione07@regione.piemonte.it ABSTRACT In 2003, the Piedmont Region undertook a project to create a platform of eprocurement for the management of IT calls for tender, electronic marketplaces and agreements between bodies, and to place it at the disposal of all the regional offices of the Public Administration. The project, managed in collaboration with CSI-Piemonte, led to the creation of a website: https://eproc.sistemapiemonte.it/home.jsp, a single access point via Internet to functions of e-procurement. Page 39 of 39 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe The e-procurement project is geared to the following goals: • • • • to optimize expenditure by reducing costs and using simpler, more rapid and transparent procedures; to improve communications between Public Administration and the business world (in particular SMEs); to generate a fair market for SMEs in which they can compete on an equal footing; to expand supplier markets and to make them more efficient, enhancing the value of the industrial structure of the Piedmont System through the promotion of technological innovation. E-procurement thus enhances the potential of a continuously evolving market, and the use of the network makes electronic procedures and computer applications available in support of procurement processes. The portal offers web applications with specific functions, permitting the offices to purchase by means of Internet bidding, the electronic marketplace and agreements, that is, contracts between bodies. In addition to the service of e-procurement with the aforementioned functions, the portal offers other complementary services such as: - - - consultation services (need analysis, cost analysis, analysis of different categories of goods, analysis of the purchasing process in the sphere of computerized procedures, analysis of integration with the legacy systems of the office, physical and virtual protection of the activity); information services and interactive services accessible from the portal (reference regulations, community services, best practices, forums, events, newsletters, etc.); assistance and help desk services (at the disposal of the organizations and suppliers, consisting of a toll-free telephone number for assistance); training services also via e-learning tools. www.acquisti.sistemapiemonte.it, https://eproc.sistemapiemonte.it/home.jsp Page 40 of 40 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 5. eGovernment Actions in Europe Public e-Procurement (Norway) CONTACT DETAILS Name: Ministry of Modernisation, e-Procurement Secretariat Contact: André Hoddevik Address: P.O.Box 8129 Dep. N-0032 Oslo Norway Tel.: +(47)-(22)-(249667) Fax: +(47)-(22)-(249595) e-Mail: andre.hoddevik@ehandel.no ABSTRACT The Norwegian Government has established a fully operational tool for electronic public procurement. The electronic Marketplace “ehandel.no” is operated by a private e-procurement service provider (IBX AS). The main goal of the initiative has been to lower the threshold for taking e-procurement in use, both for public sector entities and their suppliers. The most important instrument to achieve this has been the establishment of an operational electronic tool for public procurement - the Marketplace “ehandel.no”. As a total policy for a more modern and effective public sector this is a major step in the right direction which receives strong political support from the Minister of Modernisation. Page 41 of 41 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe A second important goal was to achieve cost reduction in the area of procurement, both on prices from suppliers and on more effective procurement processes. The need for more knowledge and competence on new ICT-based procurement tools was overwhelming, both in the private and the public sector. Approved by the cabinet in 1999, the Marketplace “ehandel.no“ has been operational since June 2002 and is available for all public sector entities at local, regional and national level. The program for Electronic Commerce in the Norwegian Public Sector was established for the period 1999 to 2003 and prolonged to the end of 2004. From 2005, the initiative is organized as an e-procurement Secretariat under the Ministry of Modernisation. From 2002 to this date there are 32 public entities operational and actually using the tool for parts of their procurement activities. There are over 230 suppliers with electronic catalogues serving their customers through the Marketplace. In 2005 both the number of buying and selling entities is increasing and so are the volumes in total. The 32 public entities represent approximately 20% of the public procurement volume in Norway. The European Commission, Internal Market Directorate-General made a Impact Assessment on Action Plan on e-Public Procurement, Baseline Analysis published in December 2004 where an appendix was made on the situation for Iceland and Norway produced by Rambøll Management. The analysis shows that the initiative in Norway is among the most successful in Europe and that the focus on the value chain in procurement is the key to secure implementation of the most powerful e-procurement tools and the possibility to ensure cost cutting and more efficient processes. www.ehandel.no Page 42 of 42 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Topic 3: e-Participation This chapter takes a closer look at new e-participation services that use interactive consultation applications. Information and Communication Technologies can play an important role in helping to address new challenges in the involvement of citizens in decision-making, to cope with the increasing complexity of the legislative processes and to improve legislation. Today, more than 50% of EU citizens are Internet users, while all 25 National Parliaments of the EU Member States and the European Parliament have parts of their work accessible on the web. In a recent online e-government consultation, 65% of the respondents expect that e-participation and e-democracy can help to reduce democratic deficits. The European Commission’s Communication “i2010 eGovernment Action Plan: Accelerating eGovernment in Europe for the Benefit of All” incorporates an action on “Strengthening citizen participation and democratic decision-making in Europe”. The eGovernment Action Plan i2010 aims at harnessing the benefits of the use of ICTs for a better legislative process and for better legislation at all levels of governmental decision making, and for an enhanced public participation in such processes. It also aims at enhancing the participation of the public (citizens, businesses, socio-economic and political groups, etc) in the decision-making process, amongst others through improved interaction with decision-makers. Both legislation and public participation are relevant at a EU, Member State and local level, at all four of the stages that can be identified in the legislative process: • the legislation proposal formation stage (e.g. by Ministries and relevant institutions); • the debate on draft legislation (e.g. in Parliaments and with citizens, businesses, NGOs and other socio-economic groups); • the implementation stage; • the follow-up/monitoring of the legislation life cycle (e.g. amendments, impacts, etc). Trends and observations As policy problems grow more complex and interdependent, governments recognize that they can no longer find adequate solutions by themselves, and are turning for assistance to outside organizations. Increasingly, governments seek the help of civil society organizations to obtain broader perspectives, identify alternative approaches, tap wider sources of information, and work out more imaginative solutions in order to maximize policy effectiveness and resource efficiency. e-Democracy, and e-participation in particular, is clearly becoming an increasingly important topic in national political agendas. The use of ICT to support democratic Page 43 of 43 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe decision-making processes can be seen to be divided into two distinct areas, one addressing e-participation and the other addressing e-voting. Various forms of e-voting have been developed in many countries. At the top of this development is Estonia, which in October 2005 gave its citizens countrywide the opportunity to cast a vote over the Internet during the local elections at that time. The experiment is widely seen as a success, and e-voting in Estonia is on the way to become common practice with a repeat of the procedure in the parliamentary elections in March 20077. A number of countries have launched a variety of e-democracy initiatives such as edeliberation, e-consultation, etc. At present, websites of public institutions are the main platforms for online public participation. In this context, websites provide not only information but allow citizens to get involved and give feedback on policy issues and other areas of interest. Best practices overview The dissemination of best practice and support to experience sharing can be important catalysts in the development of e-participation. In this context, actions launched by national and local/regional authorities in the field of e-participation can be found as follows: 7 More information on e-voting in Estonia and an analysis of the results can be found on the websites of the Estonian Electoral Committee (http://www.vvk.ee/engindex.html) and the e-Governance Academy. Page 44 of 44 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 1. eGovernment Actions in Europe Today I decide: TOM portal (Estonia) CONTACT DETAILS Name: State Chancellery, Estonia Contact: Eleka Rugam-Rebane Address: Stenbocki maja, Rahukohtu 3, 15161 Tallinn, Estonia Tel.: +372 693 5744 Fax: +372 693 5707 e-Mail: tom@riigikantselei.ee; eleka.rugam-rebane@riigikantselei.ee ABSTRACT In June 2001, the Estonian government launched a direct democracy portal named “Today I decide” (known under the Estonian acronym “TOM”), in response to the request of then Prime Minister Mart Laar to create a tool that would allow people to have an impact on the government’s work and to provide them with a possibility to speak up in all spheres of political life. The portal was introduced by the State Chancellery as part of a larger e-government project under the www.riik.ee, domain as the administration was keen to solve the overall problem of political disengagement in Estonia. TOM was devised with a view to bring citizens closer to the government and to make the operation of the government more transparent to citizens. Rather than a one-way, broadcasting model Page 45 of 45 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe of information flow about the operation of the government, TOM was designed to serve interaction between citizens and the government, as well as citizen-to-citizen communication. TOM effectively provided two opportunities for citizens to become involved in policy-making and legislation. Firstly, draft laws from ministries were published on the portal. Citizens then could comment of these draft documents, which served the purpose of consultation. This function was available only for a short period of time after the portal was launched. Secondly, the tool provides for a citizen-initiated process in which any Estonian citizen (or other user of TOM) can submit their own proposals for laws or policies, and is guaranteed a motivated answer from the government. TOM is an example of an official online mechanism to turn citizens’ ideas into legislative proposals. It facilitates forms of participation that strengthen citizens’ capacity for collective action and political influence. The tool mediates between established governmental power and the public, and provides opportunities for citizens to initiate policy ideas as well as serious deliberation and debate on proposed initiatives among themselves. The portal counts some 10 to 14.000 visits per month and the number of registered users grew steadily from around 3.500 in 2002 to 6.646 in June 2006. 20 to 25% of all proposals submitted via TOM have qualified to be sent to ministries, of which approximately three percent have been either developed into legislation or acknowledged with a response that a similar proposal is already being considered by the relevant ministry. In January 2003, 371 proposals that had been submitted through TOM were processed by different government agencies, five bills based on ideas submitted through TOM were at the ratification stage (the last phase before entering into force) and 10 pieces of draft legislation were in progress in the relevant ministries. https://www.eesti.ee/tom/ideas.py/avaleht Page 46 of 46 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 2. eGovernment Actions in Europe Local e-Democracy Project (United Kingdom) CONTACT DETAILS Name: International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy, Lichfield District Council Contact: Fraser Henderson – Operations Director Address: Frog Lane, Lichfield, Staffordshire WS12 6YY Tel.: +44 (01543) 308781 e-Mail: fraser.henderson@icele.org ABSTRACT: The UK local e-Democracy National Project was launched in 2005, to explore how new technologies can change the way in which local Councils engage and work with their Citizens. The aim of the project is to deliver improved service and efficiency savings as well as helping local governments to meet their more strategic egovernment targets. The project has piloted a selection of the tools, approaches and methods available for engaging communities, citizens, councils and councillors with each other. It has looked at webcasts, blogs, text alerts, e-panels, e-consultation, committee information systems, online surgeries and many other approaches to see what works, what the benefits are and whether they should be replicated. It has developed best practice Page 47 of 47 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe guides, exemplar materials, case studies and software specifications to help an authority select the approaches that would work for them. The Project also has developed strategy guides, route maps and business case templates to help authorities develop their own strategies, whilst drawing on the Project's experiences. It has created an easily manageable format within which to sit all this knowledge and consolidated its findings on this website. The local e-Democracy National Project has provided authorities with the products and tools they need to develop effective local e-democracy strategies of their own. The project was awarded the World’s best e-Democracy Project in 2005. http://www.e-democracy.gov.uk/projects Page 48 of 48 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 3. eGovernment Actions in Europe e-Voting Pilots (United Kingdom) ABSTRACT The Sheffield City Council worked with the UK Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to develop and deliver an innovative, high-impact and scaleable election modernization pilot. Sheffield aimed to provide 21st Century Voters with greater choice and convenience and to instil widespread voter confidence in new technology. Toward this end, Sheffield deployed a multi-channel voting application and ultimately generated an across the board increase in turnout. Architecture The Web-based voting application used is built on a .Net platform and runs on the Windows 2000 Datacenter Server operating system. Microsoft Transaction Server capabilities of COM+ provides the middleware technology. The SQL server 2000 Database guarantees solution scalability and flexibility. The multi-channel voting application has front-end Access Gateways (Internet, Kiosk, Telephone, SMS, and Polling Station) that are linked to a secure central voting engine. The Secure Voting Platform communicates with each of the Access Gateways using a secure protocol and simple XML/EML calls that are based on the Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards’ newly developed election standards. Page 49 of 49 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Project Background In May 2003 over 2 million citizens in Ipswich, Norwich, Sheffield, South Somerset and St Albans were offered the choice to cast their vote in local elections using the widest range of new voting technologies ever deployed: Internet via PC or public access kiosk, telephone, phone text messaging, and pencil and paper at a polling station. The project was funded by the UK Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and was designed to modernise the election process in a manner that facilitated the UK Government’s aggressive agenda to place all public services online by 2005. At the same time, an additional key objective was to make voting more relevant to people’s daily lives and to help reverse a steep reduction in voter participation. (In 2000, turnout in local elections fell to a mere 29.6%. In 2001 turnout in the General Election dropped to the lowest level since the First World War). The 2003 e-voting pilots were part of a three-year programme to establish a migration path towards the Government’s ultimate aim of delivering an e-enabled general election in the UK after 2006. For this reason, Voter Engagement activities had to demonstrate an ability to encourage more people to vote in a cost-effective and scaleable manner. The project entailed close cooperation between Central and Local Government to ensure that the broader citizen benefits extended beyond Election Day itself. Ultimately, the pilots helped to familiarise voters with new technology and to serve as a catalyst for wider e-Democracy initiatives, including the city-wide deployment of multi-purpose Smart Cards in Sheffield and mock student elections. Voter Engagement Objectives The most robust technological product is only as good as the people and processes that implement it. Technology can be programmed, monitored and controlled. Educating, training and managing people are often more challenging. For this reason, successfully addressing the ‘people’ and ‘procedural’ issues to ensure public acceptance of a completely new and innovative voting system represented a core objective. Ultimate Voter Engagement objectives included: • • • • • Instil voter confidence in the new technology Increase voter turnout Seed long-term citizen engagement activities Deploy a cost-efficient and scalable model Ensure stakeholders’ inclusion in and ownership of the campaign Approach and Methodology Throughout the Voter Engagement campaign, Sheffield deployed a voter-centric strategy that focused on the high impact delivery of universal and bespoke messages. The strategy combined a unique blend of conventional public relations/advertising activities and ‘hands on’ community outreach. Page 50 of 50 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe The Voter Engagement Efficiency (VEE) model employed statistical analyses of voter turnout and characteristics to produce a strategy for maximising voter turnout. This model served as the basis of the campaign and was used to determine the timing and content of key campaign elements, including public relations events, media releases, radio and print advertising and reminder notices. At all time emphasis was placed on efficient and cost-effective delivery. Before and during the voting period, an exhaustive voter engagement campaign was conducted using designated events to familiarise citizens with the new voting options. Creative media campaigns using local radio and newspapers resulted in a number of positive stories explaining the new options available to voters. To raise overall awareness about the e-Voting pilots, each of the Local Authorities adopted a branding tag for the campaign. Sheffield chose ‘21st Century Voting for a 21st Century City’. The ‘21st Century’ theme was featured heavily in a city-wide advertising campaign, and was printed on all literature, and promotional material, including posters, balloons, pens, t-shirts, baseball caps, stickers and fluffy bags, relating to the pilot. All promotional material carried a free-phone help line number that citizens could call regarding any questions they might have about the new voting methods. In addition to the call centres, voter education websites were launched that were tailored for each Local Authority and designed to act as a portal to the Internet voting site. The education websites offered information about the new voting methods and the reasons why they were being introduced. In addition, the sites provided samples of poll cards, extensive Frequently Asked Questions, and a comprehensive demonstration of each new voting method. In addition to the official voting portal, Sheffield launched a smart youth website to engage the city’s large student population. The website contained a voting related ‘game’ and a heavy ‘viral’ marketing component. To reinforce the youth message and drive traffic to the site, specially designed beer mats were distributed in student unions and pubs throughout the city. The Voter Engagement Campaign was also taken into the streets by designated street teams who distributed leaflets with instructions on how to vote. The team also encouraged local businesses to distribute leaflets and display posters, and launched innovative Road shows at heavily trafficked areas such as rail stations, supermarkets and market stalls. Beyond merely informing voters about the new voting technologies at hand, the Voter Engagement campaign also strove to instil public confidence and trust in new ways of interacting with government. For this reason, those less familiar with the new technologies, such as the elderly, were specifically targeted. For example, elderly voters in numerous Local Authorities were invited to education sessions at libraries to familiarise them with the internet in general and new voting methods in particular. In Sheffield, the street teams held a special outreach event at a local MenCap Centre to provide disabled adults with the opportunity to test eVoting. Page 51 of 51 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Younger children below voting age were also encouraged to explore new and innovative ways of voting. As part of the voter education campaign, Sheffield and St Albans conducted mock e-Voting elections at local schools to encourage young people to become interested in civics and to demonstrate that voting is becoming as modern as other elements in young people’s lives. Stakeholders To ensure broad stakeholder support for e-Voting, key influencers were invited to attend special discussion and demonstration sessions. These sessions were held at the outset of the campaign and were specially designed to ensure that key concerns over the implementation of the new voting systems were addressed. Value Delivered Across all Authorities, surveys highlighted a high level of satisfaction with the eVoting pilots and top ratings for the voter engagement campaign. A leading majority of stakeholders were completely confident in the effectiveness of the solution and eager to run the pilot again. The campaign demonstrated cost-efficiency and scalability by targeting over a million voters with a small team of 7 at a cost of just .25 per voter. The historic e-Voting pilots ran smoothly in May 2003, and key stakeholders expressed broad satisfaction with the initiative. Surveys revealed that 95 to 98% of voters would vote via the new e-Voting methods. Turnout rose universally in all the local authorities in the areas covered by the pilot schemes: nearly 40% of voters in Sheffield and 42% in St Albans chose to use the new voting channels – breaking all records for adoption of new technologies. Voters chose e-Voting over postal voting by a margin of 3-1 in Sheffield and 2-1 in St Albans Page 52 of 52 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 4. eGovernment Actions in Europe Smart|connect - Sheffield (United Kingdom) SUMMARY Smart|connect is an e-consultation process designed to promote informed and deliberative consultation on local social/political issues. As part of the government's National Smart Card Project, Sheffield City Council (SCC) and Connexions Card worked together in February and March 2004 to run a pilot project in 4 Sheffield, UK schools. The scheme was part of an eLearning strategy that aims to connect young people aged 14-19 with the democratic process. Smart|connect is an online consultation that runs alongside classroom-based citizenship lessons. Students from Year 10 upwards in the participating schools were issued both a "smart card" including their unique cardholder number and a separate letter indicating a unique password. Both these numbers enabled students to log on to the smart|connect website to take part in the online debate. Students were invited to access this website through any PC (at home, school, public library, or any of Sheffield's free Public Access Kiosks located around the city). Smart|connect included 2 stages during which the students could visit this website to post their views. The first phase, which took place for a 2-week period, invited students to log on to express their opinions and have a say on the issues that affect young people. These issues were divided into several categories; on the left-hand side of the screen, participants could read information about the particular issue. On the right-hand side, students were presented with a number of questions about their own experience with that issue and their perspective on the role their leaders might play in addressing it. As part of the e-consultation, participants were asked to click on their response to each question for submission to project organisers. Page 53 of 53 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe The specific issues focused on in this project included: • • • • • Smoking - arguments for and against a ban on smoking in public places in Britain. Questions here focused on the right to smoke freely, as opposed to the right to a smoke-free environment. In addition to clicking to select among set responses, participants were asked to write freely in response to the question: "Why should Sheffield City Council ban or not ban smoking in public places?" Being Heard - how young people should be represented in Sheffield through the use of new technologies to enable people to connect with their council/government (e-voting, e-consultations, etc.). Questions here focused on how much participants felt they know about local issues, and how well they feel they are being represented. Your Area - information about activities and services (amenities) to help youth enjoy life outside school (parks, sports centres, etc.). Questions here focused on learning what young people really need, and how (or whether) the SCC could improve amenities. Participants were asked to articulate what kind of leisure facility they would most want the Council to provide, and why. Feedback - assessing each individual's e-consultation experience (e.g., "Do you feel more in touch with the Sheffield City Council and do you feel listened to?"). This section indicates that "This website is the first step for young people to have their say about local issues that affect them. The results of this consultation will be fed back to the Council and will help shape further discussion on these topics". A "Links" section offered direction for participants seeking to find out more about local issues and opportunities to become more formally involved in the democratic process by attending Area Forums and Council Committee meetings. Students were then asked to revisit the smart|connect website to vote on specific issues raised during the first stage. By taking part in smart|connect, students earned reward points for each issue they have participated in. At the end of March, the school with the highest number of points averaged out per student won a community prize. Page 54 of 54 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Topic 4: Awareness raising on e-government and eparticipation in a local setting Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are becoming key enablers of modern life. They are used at work, in day-to-day relationships, in dealing with public services as well as in culture, entertainment and leisure and for community and political participation. In this context, awareness rising and e-inclusion is basically about using ICTs to enhance social inclusion in a knowledge society, and about barrier-free ICTs that are usable by all. Going beyond access to ICT tools and services and even beyond digital literacy, an e-inclusion policy should focus on people’s empowerment and participation in the knowledge society and economy. Easy access to (ICT) is a prerequisite for participation. Facilitating this access entails, amongst others, removing barriers, making ICT tools easier for everyone to use, and encouraging people to use them by raising awareness of their economic and social benefits. Furthermore, e-inclusion also refers to the extent to which ICT helps to equalize and promote participation in society at all levels (i.e. social relationships, work, culture, political participation, etc.). Trends and observations The Riga Ministerial Declaration, signed in June 12, 2006 by ministers from EU Member States, accession and candidate countries, and EFTA/EEA countries, sets out the following specific targets: - halve the gap in internet usage by 2010 for groups at risk of exclusion, such as older people, people with disabilities, and unemployed persons, - increase broadband coverage (i.e. the availability of broadband infrastructure) in Europe to at least 90% by 2010. In 2005, broadband was available to about 60% of businesses and households in the remote and rural areas of the EU15 and to more than 90% in the urban areas), - ensure that all public websites are accessible by 2010, - by 2008, put in place actions in the field of digital literacy and skills to reduce gaps for groups at risk of exclusion by half in 2010, - by 2007, make recommendations on accessibility standards and common approaches, which could become mandatory in public procurement by 2010, and - assess the necessity for legislative measures in the field of e-Accessibility, and take account of accessibility requirements in the review of the electronic communications regulatory framework beginning in June 2006. As information and communication technologies (ICT) become more pervasive in society and the economy, so their potential impact on everyday life grows. Lack of affordability, access, accessibility, skills and motivation are all barriers for the estimated 30 to 40 percent of Europeans not benefiting from the information society. Page 55 of 55 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Despite broadband subscriptions in Europe growing by 60% in 2005 and overtaking the US for the first time, broadband penetration (or “take-up” – measured as the number of subscribers per 100 population) is still only at 13% of the EU population (or about 25% of households), with significant differences in access between rural and urban areas. The goal of the EU is to achieve a broadband penetration of at least 50% of households by 2010. In the EU, only 10% of persons over 65 use the Internet. Only around 3% of public web sites fully comply with minimum web accessibility standards – a real problem for the 15% of the EU population with disabilities. In real terms, this means that a huge percentage of the population in the EU cannot fully participate in and contribute to social and economic life. This undermines potentials for Europe's labour, goods and services markets. ICT-enabled job participation can help bring excluded groups into the job market and thus make a contribution towards Europe’s 70% labour market participation target. Page 56 of 56 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Best practices overview 1. Manchester advice – online adviser – www.advicekit.info (United Kingdom) CONTACT DETAILS Contact: Manchester Advice (part of Manchester City Council) Address: Manchester Advice, Level One, Town Hall Extension Manchester, Greater Manchester,M60 2LA Tel: 0161-234 5600 ABSTRACT AdviceKit Manchester has used innovative technology to create a new and interactive way of delivering advice services via the Internet to the residents of Manchester. By entering the website they have access to self-help information, an email advice service and private advice sessions with expert advisers. Users can also search for a local advice agency if they prefer to get advice the traditional way. Page 57 of 57 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe Manchester Advice runs the AdviceKit in partnership with the Manchester Digital Development Agency .The AdviceKit service operates on behalf of the Manchester Community Legal Services Partnership. The project aims to broaden and increase access to advice services in Manchester. In its pilot phase, it will assess the strengths, weaknesses and overall potential of delivering advice services over the Internet. The project has been funded by: • • The Legal Services Commission using money from the Partnership Innovation Budget. The Invest to Save budget (ISB4) via the Manchester Digital Development Agency. www.advicekit.info8 8 This website is speech enabled and using Browsealoud software (http://www.browsealoud.com/). Browsealoud will read out the information on AdviceKit Manchester. It can aid accessibility for people with low literacy and reading skills, people who don't use English as their first language, the dyslexic community and people with mild visual impairment. The software is free and easy to download. Page 58 of 58 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 2. eGovernment Actions in Europe Konekta Zaitez Ciudadan@ - Basque Country (Spain) CONTACT DETAILS Name: Basque Country Goverment Contact: Begoña Gutierrez Lizarralde Address: C/Donostia-San Sebastian, nº 1, 01010 Vitoria-Gazteiz, Spain Phone: +(34)-(945)-(018522) Fax: +(34)-(945)-(018522) e-Mail: b - gutierrez@ej-gv.es ABSTRACT KZC@ is a project positioned in the framework of the "Plan de Euskadi en la Sociedad de la Información" (PESI) and included in the "Internet para todos" programme, which aim it is to make aware and to promote the use of Information and Communication Technologies in the Basque society. The project consists of the creation of a network of public centres linked up to the Internet through a broadband connection, spread around the whole Basque Country. Each of the centres has qualified staff able to attend the needs, problems and doubts originated from the use of new technologies as well as of specific contents. The service is offered free of charge to housewives, retired people, unemployed and Page 59 of 59 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe immigrants, to reduce in this way the digital split caused by the advance of the Information Society, and which may end up to be source of social division. www.kzgunea.net 3. The Geneva internet voting application (Switzerland) CONTACT DETAILS Name: State of Geneva Contact: Mr Robert Hensler Address: 2, rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville, 1204 Geneva Switzerland Phone: +(41)-(22)-327 22 00 Fax: +(41)-(22)-327 04 11 ABSTRACT The State of Geneva, under guidance from the Swiss Confederation, has developed an Internet voting application in order to provide citizens with a new development of remote voting. Remote voting already exists in the form of postal voting. While postal voting had a positive impact on the turnout in referendums, it didn't impact the elections' turnout. Page 60 of 60 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe It is hoped that Internet's interactivity, the exchanges it allows with candidates and elected officials and thus the personalization of issues, will all help to increase electoral turnout. The first e-Ballot took place in January 2003; eight e-Ballots have been conducted over the last 2,5 years. https://ge-vote.geneve.ch/votations.html leads to the voting web site, which is online during ballot periods only; www.ge.ch/ge-vote leads to a demonstration web site and a collection of user information. 4. HamburgGateway - The digital gate to the city (Germany) CONTACT DETAILS Name: Ministry of Finance Contact: Dr. Ursula Dankert Address: Gänsemarkt 36, 20354 Hamburg Germany Phone: +(49)-(40)-(42823)-(1725) Fax: +(49)-(40)-(427923)-(172) e-Mail: ursula.dankert@fb.hamburg.de ABSTRACT Page 61 of 61 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe As a city and a state, Hamburg provides a wide range of services for different customers, i.e. citizens, business and administration and its employees. For most administrative tasks, existing IT-applications are already in place. However, Hamburg’s goal was to offer services online to its customers while using the existing legacy applications. With HamburgGateway, an infrastructure is created that is the access point for all customers to all online services of the city and state of Hamburg. With its strong two-level authentication, it ensures privacy and security for the customer and offers at the same time the security required for the application and the network of the Hamburg Government. As there is only one access point for the customer, the specific section of the administration or related institution dealing with the service need not be visible. More over, all sites have the same design and user interface, easing the user’s experience. www.service.hamburg.de 5. e@SY Connects Digital Interactive Television Service (United Kingdom) Page 62 of 62 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe CONTACT DETAILS Name: e@SY Connects Contact: Gary Simpson - e@SY Programme Manager Address: Mexborough Business Centre, College Road, Mexborough, South Yorkshire, S64 9JP United Kingdom Phone: +44 (01709)-591214 e-Mail: garysimpson@barnsley.gov.uk ABSTRACT Not all citizens are able to access information and services on traditional computing platforms such as the Internet. As a EU Objective 1 area, South Yorkshire has a low population of PC’s within households therefore necessitating the successful exploitation of alternative channels for delivery of e-government. e@SY Connects TV is at the forefront of digital Interactive TV exploitation for government within Europe. It provides the citizens of South Yorkshire, particularly those in greatest need, direct access to information and interactive services related to important events in their lives. The citizen in e@SY Connects is always put first by its adoption of a proactive approach to service delivery. This citizen centric thrust can only be successful by truly understanding and responding accordingly to citizen needs and expectations, using an interface they can trust and immediately understand. e@SY Connects TV is a service aimed at ALL citizens. This service responds to the need to address the social issue of the digital divide, where a large proportion of the population finds it difficult to embrace traditional computing methods. Also it provides for citizens for whom mobility may be a problem with access direct from the home where a PC may not be available to them. e@SY Connects provides a common entry point for the citizen to access information and services provided by South Yorkshire community service providers. e@SY Connects TV has innovated in terms of: 1. providing a new channel of access to e-Government services; 2. delivery of unique and socially beneficial interactive citizen services across the sub-region at lower shared costs; 3. the modules have been designed to present an easy and simple userfriendly service that interfaces to partners back office systems to allow most of the non-computer population access to 24/7 information and services using Digital TV. e@SY, winner of the UK e-Government team award 2004, is a sub-regional partnership of public service providers dedicated to innovation in public service Page 63 of 63 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe provision, in terms of citizen-centric provision, working with government at all tiers, the private sector and the voluntary sector. e@SY’s success has not only improved social inclusion within the sub-region, but the development of a blueprint for others to break down barriers and deliver workable joined-up e-government. Access instructions for Digital Interactive TV (SKY, Telewest and NTL) can be found on http://www.easyconnects.org.uk/tv/access.htm. The project website is www.easyconnects.org.uk (or www.sycop.gov.uk). 6. VisionAIR: Bari (Italy), Amaroussion (Greece), Bremen (Germany) and Eindhoven (The Netherlands). CONTACT DETAILS Contact: Vassilis Nellas, technical coordinator of VisionAIR Phone: : +30-210-6837640 e-Mail: : vnellas@inaccessnetworks.com Page 64 of 64 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe ABSTRACT Experimenting with the idea of municipal provision of sophisticated Internet services, European researchers have come up with some very promising results that were positively received by all municipalities involved in the trials. VisionAIR targeted homes (between 30 and 40 households) in each of four cities in different areas of Europe: Bari (in Puglia, Italy), Amaroussion (now well-known as an Olympic location in Greece), Bremen (Northern Germany) and Eindhoven (The Netherlands). This wide geographic spread was deliberate, and circumstances not surprisingly varied enormously between the areas concerned. The municipalities were offered a variety of services, some of which were standard, others optional: they included fast Internet access (10 Mbit/s), VoIP telephony, IPTV, Video on Demand, home automation, live municipal events, healthcare applications, online lectures, and a car sharing application. These were supported by a triple play platform, designed and developed by adapting open source software, mainly by the Technical University Eindhoven (TUE) and InAccess Networks, with contributions from the project’s technology partners. The home gateways were designed by InAccess Networks and manufactured by ANCO, and video phones were provided by Sagem and Alcatel. http://www.visionair.org/summary.html 7. NettiNysse internet bus in Tampere (Finland) CONTACT DETAILS Name: Tampere City Library Contact: Elina Harju Phone: +358 405908496 e-Mail: Elina.Harju@tt.tampere.fi, nettinysse@tampere.fi Page 65 of 65 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe ABSTRACT Netti-Nysse has put the Web on wheels and took it to the people. The purpose of this mobile service is to encourage the residents of Tampere, Finland to start using the computer and the Internet and to give them the initial guidance to be able to do that. Basic instruction is free of charge. The Netti-Nysse can be booked for groups of citizens, and individuals can sign up for open tuition groups. Clubs, societies, groups of neighbours - any group of people who wants to learn to use the computer and the Internet can book the Netti-Nysse for their use and have it come to their own neighbourhood. One group meets four times for 2 hours at a time. First, the group gets acquainted with the mouse. When the mouse has been tamed, it is time to start working on search engines. Free e-mail accounts are opened for everyone and people are helped with web banking and services. There are always two tutors to help a group of ten. Extra attention is paid to the clear language of guidance and to creating a relaxed atmosphere. The Netti-Nysse is part of the Tampere City Library and the eTampere project (www.etampere.fi). The birth and history of the Internet bus NettiNysse is a story of cooperation. An old city bus was turned into an Internet bus by local vocational schools, the City of Tampere, private companies and the eTampere project. The idea was born in January 2000 and the bus started operations in June 2001. In September 2005, the old Netti-Nysse retired and was replaced by a brand new Internet bus Netti-Nysse II. The goal of the brightly coloured, funnily named, articulated bus Netti-Nysse is to serve the people and help them in getting started with computers and the Internet. People gather together in groups of 7-10 and call to the City Library Interner Bus. Normally a package of instruction including 4 sessions of 2 hours each is offered. Normally a first group starts at 9 am and the last one is out by 8pm. Netti-Nysse tutors, the people who help the customers, are a very important part of the idea. There are five people working full time for the bus. With one group there are 2 tutors available. Individual support, having someone to ask, seems essential to the Page 66 of 66 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe people who are entering the world of computers and Internet. Tutors are experienced customer service professionals and adults with a good sense of humour. Clear, understandable language and spirit of encouragement play an important role. Tutors must be easily approachable by anyone - there is no such thing as a silly question. To help people to master the use of the computer mouse, a “Catch the mouse” tutorial on the Internet has been developed. The tutorial can be downloaded for free and is available in Finnish and in Swedish. After the mouse has been “caught”, people can start surfing on the Internet, making use of search engines, opening free e-mail accounts and studying web-banking systems. People get excited very quickly about what is on the Internet and they forget about the actual computer. During the first two years, about 200 different groups have attended the basic courses. There has been a wide range of different groups; a lot of senior people, groups of mothers, truck drivers, home aids, young unemployed people, people with hearing problems or Parkinson disease, immigrants, entrepreneurs, extended families and many different associations. It is obvious that a familiar group supports the learning experience and creates a relaxed atmosphere, and offers opportunities for social interaction and networking. About 65% of the course participants is over 56 years old; two thirds are women. More than 80% of our customers indicated that they would continue to use computers after the course, less than 20 % might use them if support and free access were available and only about 1 % still has doubts. The Netti-Nysse also has been present at various events and exhibitions and has also held open house days. Through different themes and events the threshold of the information society is lowered, bringing it closer to everyday life. Page 67 of 67 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 8. eGovernment Actions in Europe Cultural events portal – Tartu (Estonia) CONTACT DETAILS Name: Tartu City Government Contact: Rait Ress Address: Raekoja plats 12, Tartu, Estonia Phone: +372 7361355 e-Mail: admin@kultuuriaken.tartu.ee ; rait.ress@raad.tartu.ee ABSTRACT “Kultuuriaken” or “cultural window” is the main cultural events & news portal in the City of Tartu (Estonia). The main idea of the initiative is that organizers of events have an easy instrument to provide information. All the event organizers have access to the portal to set up information. As the portal in promoted by the city and easily accessible trough many portal, it is crucial for event organizers to provide free of charge correct and attractive information about the events. A web engine arranges the events by date, type and other parameters and makes information easy to browse by categories, dates, locations, etc. The same information is also used in WAP portal, accessible via mobile phone. Registered users (everybody can register as user) can subscribe to a cultural events Page 68 of 68 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe newsletter and can order reminders of events by e-mail. The portal also have RSS feature, which makes it easy for users to track changes and e informed about new events. http://kultuuriaken.tartu.ee/ 9. Latvia@World (Latvia) CONTACT DATA: Contact: Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association LIKTA Address: Stabu 47-1, Riga, LV-1011, Latvia Address: +371 7311821, 7314059 Fax: +371 7315567 e-mail: litta@dtmedia.lv ABSTRACT The Latvia@World project aims to reduce the Digital exclusion and provide the opportunity to acquire the basic e-skills for digitally illiterate people, allowing everyone to become a full member of the Information Society and facilitating business development. Page 69 of 69 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe To avoid the emergence of digital exclusion and to stimulate the development of the Information Society, the Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA) has initiated this project aimed at teaching basic computer and Internet skills for people in Latvia. It is a true PPP (Public Private Partnership) project where state and municipalities, as well as private companies and non-governmental organisations are participating in. The project is supported by the ESF EQUAL programme (focusing on training of unemployed). It aims to facilitate business development by training people and encouraging small and medium enterprises to develop their business by using ICT. www.latvijapasaule.lv 10. The Business Web Portal of Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukraine) CONTACT Organisation: SBEDIF Business Center, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine Address: 26 Dnistrovska St., Ivano-Frankivsk, 76000, UKRAINE Phone: +380 (342) 552022, 552026 Fax: +380 (342) 559156 Page 70 of 70 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe ABSTRACT The project demonstrates the use of web technologies by a regional network of organizations of support to business and community development, to innovate consulting, information and other services provided to the target groups; as well as to upscale their own . In the framework of the project two major ICT-based products were launched: the Business Web Portal of Ivano-Frankivsk and the E-Learning Center, using Saitistica platform as a corporate content and learning management system. Services and resources of partner programs, departments and organizations (members of the SBEDIF Regional Network) are streamlined into two major functions within the Business Web Portal: business development and community economic development. These resources and services serve various groups involved in business and community development in the Ivano-Frankivsk oblast. The use of ICTs provides better access for clients to traditional services; diversifies the local government portfolio; and helps to integrate with the changing environment. The project is built on a distributed model for development and use of content and services. All resources are broken down as follows. 1) Content, which clients use independently: databases, business directories, analytical materials, self-study educational materials, news, compilations of information by category, mailing lists etc. 2) Interactive services which are used with the help of the SBEDIF Regional Network staff: e-consulting, instructor led e-learning, web-based advertising and promotion services, marketing research, Internet conferencing environment etc. 3) An internal ¨Project Management¨ section with structured access rights to the back-office Content Management System, which enables partners to manage joint projects www.business.if.ua Page 71 of 71 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project 11. eGovernment Actions in Europe Networks for the exchange of experiences A wide range of networks for the exchange of experiences and best practices has emerged, of which we list some examples. a) Urbac Information Society Network (www.urbac.org/isn) • • • • • • • • • Great Brittain – Manchester and Glasgow Spain – Gijon, Aviles and Valencia Italy – Bari Germany – Gera Nederlands – Den Haag France – Tourcoing Finland – Helsinki Estonia – Tallinn Poland – Gdansk and Warssaw b) eGovernment Good Practice Framework (http://www.egov-goodpractice.org) Collected examples of well-defined e-Government cases, supported by the European Commission, DG Information Society and Media. c) eTEN projects database (http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/eten/cf/project/index.cfm) eTEN is a European Community programme providing funds to help make eservices available throughout the European Union. d) Innovative Actions Network for the Information Society (IANIS) (www.ianis.net) Networking hub for inter-regional ICT projects. e) The Prelude Challenge (http://www.prelude-portal.org/) The PRELUDE challenge is a two-year inter-regional collaboration exercise building on the results and experience achieved through PRELUDE. The follow-up initiative started in January 2005 with the participation of 20 European regions, supported by 3 European networks - Elanet, eris@ and Eurocities. The work will focus on the 7 European Clusters for Innovation that has been launched. f) Hanse Passage (http://www.hanse-passage.net) The Hanse Passage Programme is a Regional Framework Operation (RFO) implemented under the Community Initiative Programme Interreg IIIC. It has been designed to build up a strong, multinational partnership among regional actors from fifteen regions in four old and two new member states. Page 72 of 72 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe g) ELANET (http://sed.elanet.zonanet.it/j/v/839?s=52&v=9&c=692&na=1) The European Local Authorities' Telematic Network, ELANET, operates under the umbrella of the CEMR and it focuses on the deployment of Information society at regional and local level. h) Global Cities Dialogue (http://www.globalcitiesdialogue.org/) The Global Cities Dialogue is a worldwide network of cities, which are interested in creating an information society free of digital divide and based on sustainable development. i) eFORUM (http://www.eu-forum.org/) The e-Forum Association is dedicated to analysing the future needs of eGovernment in Europe, and promoting excellence in defining solutions to those needs by bringing the private and public sectors together. j) PPP: new e-Ten funded project (http://www.eu-ppp.org/) k) World e-government forum (http://www.worldegovforum.com/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=8) l) International Center of Excellence for Local eDemocracy (www.icele.org) Relevant database of British eDemocracy activities m) OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,2686,en_2649_37441_1_1_1_1_37441,00.html) OECD surveys about Information and Communication Technologies n) World summit on the Information Society (http://www.itu.int/wsis/stocktaking/scripts/search.asp?lang=en) An inventory of activities undertaken by governments and all stakeholders in implementing WSIS (the Geneva and Tunis summits) decisions o) GOV2U (http://www.gov2u.com/) The mission of the program is to assist parliaments become efficient and transparent institutions by harnessing the tools of Information and Communication Technologies and offering citizens and civil society the opportunity to participate individually and collectively in the policy-input processes of parliamentary democracy. p) Telecities (http://www.eurocities.org/main.php) Eurocities knowledge society forum Page 73 of 73 Interreg IIIC – eCitizen project eGovernment Actions in Europe q) United Nations eGovernment readiness knowledge database http://www.unpan.org/egovkb/ Knowledge Base enables to view, sort, and print information from the UN EReadiness Data Center, or download copies of the annual (2003, 2004, 2005) United Nations Global E-Readiness Report and Survey, the primary source of data for the Knowledge Base. 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