What and Whose e-Government We Want? An End-User

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What and Whose e-Government We Want? An
End-Users Dimension of e-Services and Capacity
Building in Central Eastern Europe Lessons
QuestionsWITFOR 2005 Gaborone, Botswana, 31
Aug 2 Sep 2005

• Yuri Misnikov
• Regional ICT-for-Development Regional Advisor
• Democratic Governance Programme
• UNDP Regional Centre (Europe CIS)
• Bratislava, Slovakia

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Abstract

• This presentation reviews the latest e-government
  developments in Central Eastern Europe from the
  perspective of added value for end-users. It
  argues that e-government initiatives should be
  anchored into wider ICT-enabled change of public
  sector management and service delivery, coupled
  with nurturing new locally available competencies
  and opportunities through e-governance teaching.

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Good progress but more challenges ahead

• Concluded the Final eEurope Progress Report
  presented at the European Ministerial Conference
  in February 2004 in Budapest outlining the
  advancements made by the former Acceding and
  current Candidate Countries (ACC) in the overall
  implementation of the eEurope Action Plan.
• eEurope Action Plan was an instrument of
  helping ACC to implement eEurope 2005 Action Plan
  a strategy for EU to become the worlds most
  competitive economy based on knowledge

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Facts statistics (1)

• Most EU directives in support of Information
  Society services being either under
  implementation or at the stage of draft laws.
• Number of Internet users grew during 2001-2003 by
  60 -- up to 15.
• Still far less that EU average of 40.

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Facts statistics (2)

• 80 use Internet for simple information search
• 75 -- for communication purposes
• 40 -- for downloading games/music
• 32 -- for visiting chat rooms and discussion
  forums
• 23 -- for obtaining banking services,
• 3 for financial services

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Facts statistics (3)

• e-Banking
• as low as 5-10
• Estonia -- 95 of bank transactions are conducted
  via electronic channels
• Looking for goods and services
• healthy 51
• BUT actual online purchasing 12 and less
• e-Business
• 70 of companies with Internet connection
• BUT only 39 were present on the Web
• BUT less than one-tenth received orders online

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Facts statistics (4)

• e-Services to citizens
• Grew rapidly from 1 to 20 of fully
  transactional online
• 17 interacted online with public authorities to
  obtain, e.g., official forms
• BUT only 9 returned these forms back to the
  government
• Only 16 of enterprises used the Internet to make
  social contribution for employees
• Only 11 to handle VAT declaration and
  notification.

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Facts statistics (5)

• Who are non-users?
• Over 50 of all Internet non-users in Estonia
  dont relate their lives to the Internet
• 27 are Passive People and 28 -- Blue Collars
  who dont see any reason to use the Internet and
  see no benefits in it (studies by AS Emor and
  PRAXIS Center for Policy Studies (2002).
• 2/3 of all non-users cannot specify any areas
  that could be of any use for them
• 1/3 dont know what the Internet is
• 1/4 dont know how to use a computer

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Questions ???

• What public sector policy makers and e-governance
  practitioners should make of these figures?
• How to motivate people to adapt technology and
  use benefits of the information society?

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Possible answers (1)

• From Estonia
• Putting more emphasis on social and economic
  impacts of ICT development rather than on
  measuring and encouraging technology advances
• Blue Collars group should be the main target
• Internet needs to be transformed into a channel
  for daily errands, and a broader understanding
  of the Internet for everyone needs to be
  created among the Passive People group.

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Possible answers (2)

• From Estonia
• Use web-technology to build state-level
  information systems to replace traditional user
  interface technologies to allow for new
  possibilities for the unification and integration
  of e-services.
• Move from back-office centred developments to
  front-office or unified user interface ones.
• Place workplace software of information systems
  on central servers instead of on workplace
  computers to enable each Internet-connected
  computer to serve as a terminal for many
  information systems.

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Possible answers (3)

• From Estonia
• Move away from data collection to services (in
  development of databases)
• Move away from institution-based approach to
  inter-institutional one.
• Move away from infrastructure development to that
  of information systems
• Operationalize Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) in
  synergy with ID cards for new opportunities for
  unified identification of users of e-services and
  for the use of digital signatures.

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Possible answers (4)

• From EU Report
• URGENTLY stimulate the deployment of interactive
  media-rich content to drive the broadband access
  to the Internet
• Ensure access to public sector information for a
  faster adoption of new ways of communication with
  the state
• Invest more by regional and local governments in
  Public Internet Access Points (PIAP), especially
  school-based to bring ICTs closer to people

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Possible answers (5)

• From EU
• Continue implementation of e-government
  initiatives beyond simple provision of
  information and towards fully transactional
  services focused on the needs of citizens and
  businesses
• Support innovative public-private partnerships to
  promote investment in and use of ICTs in small
  and medium enterprises.

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Possible answers (6)

• From EU
• Make available a rich and highly developed set of
  services that will motivate adoption by the
  public
• Involve sufficiently large user population that
  will motivate the business sector to invest in
  the provision of ICT-enabled services

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IT Training Strategy for Estonian Public Sector

• First seminars on IT public sector applications
  for Ministers and Heads of Offices in 1992-1993
• Systematic training almost non-existent before
  1995
• Push from the Department of State Information
  Systems - government body responsible for
  coordination of IT in public sector in 1998-1999
  as a remedy for problems
• in budgeting of IT expenses
• in public procurement of IT
• in setting the goals for IT in public sector

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Main training focus IT management in Public
Sector

• Main modules, each 2-3 days long
• IT strategic management
• IT project management
• System Analysis tools and methods
• Technology (from the managers viewpoint)
• Process analysis and re-engineering
• Telecommunication
• Target group IT managers, IT department heads in
  ministries
• Scale During 1999 2001 almost all 200 IT
  managers (decision makers) in public sector
  trained

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International cooperation

• Co-financed by Estonian Government, Baltic Sea IT
  Fund (Swedish Foreign-Aid Fund) and private IT
  company Baltic Computer Systems (BCS) - first
  PPP!
• Implementation - joint effort of Swedish
  Association of IT, Department of State
  Information Systems and BCS
• First training in May 1999

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Training Results

• Change in thinking of general managers and IT
  managers
• Critical mass! Small-scale project-based
  approach!
• Changes in budgeting and goal-setting procedures
  in public sector
• Importance of training was recognised!

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Regional context Need for Capacity Development

• BASELINE Internationally agreed principles of
  building the information society (WSIS Bucharest
  process, especially Pan European Regional WSIS
  Conference in 2002)
• Develop human capacity though education and
  training
• Promote e-Government more efficient and more
  accountable
• Develop national e-Strategies by benefiting from
  existing knowledge and experience on best
  practices and learning from one another

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E-Governance context Need for Good Governance
(1)

• Governance practices the key to a successful
  Information Society for all
• How the society is organized and governed (public
  administration, civil services, self-governance,
  corporate governance, access to information and
  justice, role of parliaments)
• Good Governance the key to democratic practices
  
• Whether people have opportunity and means to
  participate in decision-making
• Whether economic development is equitable and its
  fruits are available for all

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E-Governance context Need for Good Governance (2)

• e-Governance is part of the wider Good Governance
  concept
• But not neutral to various governance practices
  and methods while different governance settings
  not neutral to harnessing ICT potential
• With focus on improving governance practices by
  employing ICT means
• Includes Government-citizen communication,
• Is about public participation and empowerment

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Regions successes

• EU eEurope and eEurope 2005 Action Plans
• Has been revised and will be replaced by i2010
  initiative
• Electronic South East Europe (Western Balkans)
  eSEEurope Agenda Initiative
• To emulate eEurope for EU accession and
  candidate countries
• All six participating members states will have by
  end 2005 have their national e-strategies
  formally adopted as a result of common regional
  approach
• Estonia, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic

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Regions problems (1)

• Lack of policies
• In formulation and implementation of national
  e-strategies
• In establishing agencies/institutions in charge
  of the information society
• In benchmarking of progress in building the
  information society
• In access to public information
• There are successful examples
• eEurope and eEurope
• Electronic South East Europe (eSEEurope Agenda)

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Regions problems (2)

• Lack of real strong commitment to make the
  information society a development priority of
• Governments and legislatures
• Political elites information society is not on
  the agenda of major political party in the region
• General public
• Lack of effective and replicable public-private
  partnership models and strategies
• As a tool for gaining tangible economic benefits
  from the use of ICTs
• Lack of transparent governance practices in
  telecom sector (limited public access, high
  prices, little investment telecom sector can be
  a powerful engine of economic growth)

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UNDP Strategy for Europe and the CIS

• In partnerships with all other interested
  partners
• Build capacity through e-governance training,
  policy advice, networking and knowledge transfer
  to facilitate change
• Help shape up national and common regional
  policies and strategies
• Develop guidelines for formulation,
  implementation and benchmarking of information
  society, including setting up cabinet-level
  bodies in charge of information society
• Promote access to ICT at the grassroots level
  through community-based public access as part of
  local sustainable development strategies
• Promote public-private partnerships and
  investment
• Promote virtual activism though digital and
  online content management and professional
  networking

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Response e-Governance Academy - eGA

• WHY Promote e-governance as e-democracy tool to
  support democratic governance practices and open
  information society in the former Soviet Union
  and South Eastern Europe
• WHAT Training services, research and networking
  in e-governance drawing on Estonian experience
  and in future other EU accession countries
• HOW Transfer of knowledge through training,
  research, annual conference, as well as through
  listservs.

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What is eGA (1)

• Venue
• Tallinn, Estonia
• Partners
• UNDP, OSI, Government of Estonia (MFA, Ministry
  of Economy and Finance)
• Clients
• Public sector policy makers and ICT specialists
  in Europe and the SEE

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What is eGA (2)

• Accomplishments
• Over 400 participants trained from over 20
  countries in the CIS and SEE
• Dozens consultancy missions
• Listserv and mailing lists
• Projects in e-Transparency and Anti-corruption
• Workshops on e-Democracy and iLaws

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Expected Impacts

• Changed attitudes and minds among public
  officials and their counterparts
• Improved regional exchanges and networking
• Improved opportunities for common regional and
  sub-regional policies
• Generation and diffusion of new knowledge

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What is eGA Training Programme (1)

• A standard policy and practice five-day training
  course
• Day 1 Introduction ICT Public Sector
  Orientation, Expectations, Formation of ICT
  Policy, Legal framework for ICT regulation
• Day 2 ICT situation in Estonia ICT Education,
  Role of the Third Sector, ICT Penetration and
  Access, Telecom situation, Private Initiatives
• Day 3 ICT Management in Theory and Practice
  Development of e-strategies in Public and Private
  Sector, E-citizen, Management, Coordination and
  Auditing of Public Sector IT Projects, e-Tax

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What is eGA Training Programme (2)

• A standard five-day training course
• Day 4 ICT in Public Sector E-government in
  Estonia in Practice. E-services technologies
  Government Session System Digital Document
  Management System of ICT E-government Scorecard
• Day 5 IDcard, Digital Signature, Coordination
  International Cooperation, Workgroup Seminar,
  QA, Evaluation

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Participants Priority Topics (1)

• Bestsellers
• Digital Signature ID-Cards
• E-Documents and e-Government
• United Service Layer for National/Sectoral
  Registers and Databases
• IT Strategies in Private and Public sectors
• Legal Frameworks and Regulation
• National ICT Policy

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Participants Priority Topics (2)

• Strong Interest
• Coordination in Public Sector
• Telecom situation
• ICT penetration
• International cooperation
• Land registration
• ICT private sector and big capital investment

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Future

• Specialized course on Local e-Governance
• Specialized course on Gender and ICT and PPP
• More Advisory missions and consultancies
• More research and publications
• More replication of good practices
• Assistance in establishing e-Governance training
  curricula in other countries on demand, jointly
  with the Network of Public Administraiton Schools
  and Institutions in Central Eastern Europe
  (NISPAcee)

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END

• THANK YOU!
• Contact details yuri.misnikov_at_undp.org