Erkki Liikanen Member of the European Commission, Enterprise Policy and Information Society IDEA Conference on eDemocracy, Stockholm 29 June 2001 e Government - Providing better public service and participation for citizens

eGovernmenteGovernment What is eGovernment and for whom? eEurope and eGovernment Bridging the Digital Divide Essentials of eGoverment Agenda 2

What is eGovernment and for whom? A necessity, not a matter of choice ! 3

What is eGovernment and for whom?  Simple government interface  One-stop-shop for all public services  Cross-agency approach: interoperability  Trust and confidence  Security in transactions with government  Electronic signatures, smart cards  Accessibility  Services available to all (also disadvantaged)  Bridge the Digital Divide inside and between the countries  Provide easy-to-use applications The prerequisites for success 4

eEurope and eGovernment  Action on eGovernment in all Member States  Modernising government: improving access to electronic public services, one-stop portals...  but progress is uneven - too often we are “broad in vision, short in action”  eGovernment not only supply of services...  …but also re-engineering the government:  reorganisation of back-offices  simplification of the services Where does Europe stand in eGovernment? 5

What happens in the Member States? 6

eEurope and eGovernment  Essential public data online (2002)  Main basic public services online (2002/3)  Administrative procedures for businesses online (2002)  Public sector information (2000)  Pan-European portals of interactive public services (mid 2001)  Open source software in public sector (2001)  All basic transactions with the European Commission online (2001) eEurope2002 Action Plan - targets for eGovernment: 7

Benchmarking eGovernment The 3-stage model of eGovermnent  Stage 1 Information: online information on public services  Stage 2 Interaction: downloading forms (one-way) and processing of forms, including authentication (two-way)  Stage 3 Transaction: case handling; decision and delivery (payment) 8

eGovernment - next steps  Show benefits of electronic public services  Illustrate where Europe currently stands  Draw lessons from current applications  Stimulate dissemination of best practices  Provide input beyond eEurope 2002  Involve the Candidate countries: eEurope+ EU Conference on eGovernment, November 2001 in Brussels - Objectives: 9

ConclusionConclusion Essentials of eGovernment  Interactive enhancing effective government and democracy joining-up services to support one-stop interface  Inclusive preventing digital divide, support special needs promote public Internet & multimedia access points.  Entrepreneurial supplying online transactions for business supporting public/private partnerships  Multilingual/Multicultural promoting cross-border use of services & information encouraging services in more than one language 10

eEurope and eGovernment on the web   click on “Action Plan”  click on “e-government” 11