Main activities of the Working Group during the Italian Presidency Department for Innovation and Technologies Department of Public Administration

The Italian Presidency plans to organize two meetings 9-10 July 2003 Immediately following the e-Government international conference held in Como To discuss the results from the conference (three themes …) Presentations and discussions could be organized with some best-practices presented in the conference The study/report about “Central-local relations in e-government” will be launched

13-14 November 2003 (to be held in a place to be defined) Meetings 13-14 November 2003 (to be held in a place to be defined) Presentation and discussion of the results of the report/study on “Central-Local relations in e-Government” Presentation and discussion of the OECD/PUMA report of the e-government project: “The e-government imperative” Possibly, the results of the study on government back-office reorganization from European Commission could be presented In both the meetings presentations from member states are welcomed

The theme of Central-Local relations In Italy the theme of Central-Local relations is particularly important Italy is moving toward a form of federal state More and more responsibilities and competences are given to the different local levels Regions (mainly) Provinces Municipalities

Different dimensions of the “problem” The relations Central-Local in e-government can be viewed by (at least) three different perspective (not completely independent) The collaboration at policy making and implementation level (coordination and collaboration among the different level of government and agencies) The cooperation at service delivery level (architecture of the systems for integrated service delivery) The coordination at financial/economic provision level (coordination of different funding sources and systems)

The collaboration at policy level Roles of the different level of government and coordination/collaboration mechanisms in the policy making and in the implementation of e-government How to balance autonomy and need of ensure coherent development of e-government across the national territory Which use of ICT to support the need for collaboration/coordination? How avoid duplication and ensure coherent action at both central and local level? Connections with the funding process

The cooperation at service delivery level The architectures to enable the different roles in e-government services development Central (technical policy and standards) Regional (control and budget) Provincial and Local (delivery of services) Frameworks to facilitate interoperability of different “local” systems Reuse of good practices Role of standards

The coordination at financial provision level Which approach in funding the e-government initiative? Coordination of the resources available at the different levels of government How to use central funds to promote the coherent development of e-government initiative across the national territory Transfer of funds versus competitive approach (call for tenders at central level)

Other problems A large part of municipalities are not adequately equipped Lack of collaboration of many central and local administrations Technological barriers (legacy systems, shared infrastructure) Legislative and regulatory barriers (in terms of recognition of e-processes, complexity of regulation, collaboration frameworks, privacy and security) Budgetary barriers