Select Committee on European Scrutiny Thirtieth Report


6 eGovernment in Europe

(27451)

8688/06

+ ADD1

COM(06) 173

Commission Communication; i2010 eGovernment Action Plan: Accelerated eGovernment in Europe for the Benefit of All

Legal base
Document originated25 April 2006
Deposited in Parliament2 May 2006
DepartmentCabinet Office
Basis of considerationEM of 22 May 2006
Previous Committee ReportNone; but see HC 34-xxiii (2005-06), para 12 (29 March 2006)
To be discussed in CouncilJune 2006 Telecommunications Council
Committee's assessmentPolitically important
Committee's decisionCleared

Background

6.1 According to the Cabinet Office website, the Prime Minister has set information technology (IT) professionals in Government the mission of "ensuring that IT supports the business transformation of Government itself so that we can provide better, more efficient, public services", with the Cabinet Office e-Government Unit (eGU) taking the lead. Now the largest unit in the Cabinet Office, eGU is responsible for

  • formulating IT strategy and policy;
  • developing common IT components for use across government;
  • promoting best practice across government; and
  • delivering citizen-centred online services.

6.2 It gives its mission as: "ensuring that IT supports the business transformation of Government itself so that we can provide better, more efficient, public services". At the instigation of the Prime Minister (to whom the mission statement is attributed), it has developed a strategy — "Transformational Government—Enabled by Technology" — which it says "is about transforming public services as citizens receive them and demonstrating how technology can improve the corporate services of government so more resources can be released to deliver 'frontline' services".[18]

6.3 According to the Commission website, IDABC stands for "Interoperable Delivery of European eGovernment Services to public Administrations, Businesses and Citizens", and "uses 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".[19] It goes on to explain that, 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 co-operation 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[20] objective of modernising the European public sector."

6.4 The IDABC programme includes both Projects of Common Interest, which implement European eGovernment services in specific policy areas (e.g. education) and Horizontal Measures (HMs), which implement infrastructure services and European eGovernment services not linked to specific policy areas and perform strategic and support activities. HMs are grouped under four main headings:

Technology Solutions: addressing basic, common requirements of many European eGovernment projects: currently network and hosting services, middleware, security and interoperability guidelines;

Business Applications: providing specific solutions for the particular needs or "business" of different policy areas, including eProcurement, Interactive Policy Making and the "Your Europe" portal to Services of Public Administrations;

Spreading Good Practice: including the eGovernment Observatory and Promoting Open Source Software and OSS-related activities; and

Programme Management: activities aimed at improving the execution of the IDA I and II programmes and preparing the successor IADBC.

6.5 The Commission explains that the legislative framework for electronic public procurement adopted in 2004 will enter into force in 2006, at which time "procurement entities in Europe should be ready to perform procurement procedures electronically". It says that IDABC will contribute to:

  • achieving interoperability in electronic public procurement;
  • facilitating electronic public procurement by providing functional requirements, common tools or generic services for the contracting authorities; and
  • promoting the use of eProcurement in Europe by creating awareness of transborder eProcurement benefits and opportunities.

6.6 A Ministerial eGovernment Conference took place in Manchester on 24-25 November 2005, co-organised by the UK Presidency and the Commission.[21] One of the outcomes was a Ministerial Declaration with two objectives, for achievement by 2010:

  • all public administrations across Europe to have the capability of carrying out 100% of their procurement electronically, where legally permissible; and
  • at least 50% of public procurement above the EU public procurement threshold will be carried out electronically.

6.7 In his 22 May 2006 Explanatory Memorandum, the Parliamentary Secretary at the Cabinet Office (Mr Pat McFadden) recalls that the policy for eGovernment in Europe falls under the i2010 programme, which he summarises as an initiative developed from the Lisbon Strategy to "create an open and competitive single market for information society and media services within the EU, to increase EU investment in research on information and communication technologies, and to promote an inclusive European information society".[22]

6.8 He says that eGovernment plays a key role in making this agenda a reality, and that this Communication on the eGovernment Action Plan is the next step in achieving the goals set out in the Manchester Ministerial Declaration. The Minister says that the Manchester Declaration differs from previous ones (Brussels in 2001, Como in 2003) "both in the rigorous development process under the steer of the UK Presidency and its aims to set out concrete, measurable objectives, underpinned by the need to connect common efforts in order to achieve wider impact and promote take-up around the four key eGovernment policy priorities". It was approved by the Telecoms Council in December 2005.

The Commission Communication

6.9 The Minister explains that, during the UK Presidency, the eGovernment Unit worked with the Commission's Information Society and Media Directorate-General and Member States' eGovernment policy officials to agree the new political direction of European eGovernment policy, resulting in agreement that the focus of eGovernment policy for the next five years should be on four areas:

  • Inclusive eGovernment;
  • Efficient and Effective eGovernment;
  • High Impact Services; and
  • Key Enablers.

6.10 The Action Plan, outlined in this Communication, formally commits the Commission to the goals outlined in the Manchester Ministerial Declaration. It has five major objectives for eGovernment in 2010:

  • No citizens left behind - Advancing inclusion through eGovernment so that by 2010 all citizens benefit from trusted, innovative services and easy access for all;
  • Making efficiency and effectiveness a reality - Significantly contributing, by 2010, to high user satisfaction, transparency and accountability, a lighter administrative burden and efficiency gains;
  • Implementing High impact services for citizens and businesses - By 2010, 100% of public procurement will be available electronically, with 20% actual usage, with agreement on co-operation on further high-impact online services;
  • Putting key enablers in place - Enabling citizens and businesses to benefit, by 2010, from convenient, secure and interoperable authentication across Europe to public services; and
  • Strengthening participation and democratic decision-making - Demonstrating, by 2010, tools for effective public debate and participation in democratic decision-making.

6.11 The Action Plan outlines practical ways forward by means of roadmaps and strategic monitoring in the five priority areas, providing focal points for Commission programmes, initiatives and policy making for the next four years and emphasises the importance of collaborative working between Member States and the Commission. The Minister says that the Action Plan will be monitored and evaluated by the eGovernment Subgroup (where the eGovernment Unit will represent HMG and the devolved administrations), which will in turn give advice and report on implementation to the i2010 High Level Group[23] (where the Department of Trade and Industry will represent HMG and the devolved administrations). He says that "the Subgroup has already proved to be an effective mechanism through which strong political support has been secured (Bloomsday Recommendations,[24] CoBrA Recommendations,[25] Signposts, and the Manchester Declaration) and it has proved to be a very effective framework for European co-operation".

The Government's view

6.12 The Minister says:

"In collaboration and consultation with other UK departments, the Cabinet Office eGovernment Unit, under the UK Presidency, worked hard to get the right balance of achievable targets and goals in these areas and continues to be an active participant in the developments of the i2010 eGovernment initiative. The UK has earned favour with the European Commission and our European colleagues as a result of its hard work under the UK Presidency and it continues to be a strong and active participant".

6.13 He hopes to see the Action Plan endorsed in the Conclusions of the June 2006 Telecommunications Council, and goes on to say that:

"Plans for UK and European eGovernment policies appear to be highly compatible. The UK Government's Transformational Government Strategy and subsequent Implementation Plan along with a range of devolved administration strategies have natural parallels with the spirit of the Manchester Declaration and the European eGovernment Action Plan with the direction of i2010; by focusing on the delivery of good, efficient services driven by IT and with the transformation of public services at its core, the UK Government and the devolved administrations strategies will be a continuing contributing factor in forthcoming European eGovernment policy decisions that evolve from this Action Plan. We are committed to working in partnership with UK Government Departments and Devolved Administrations to ensure that the significant work already underway across the UK is fully taken into account as we move to address the more challenging cross border areas".

6.14 Finally, the Minister says that although the Cabinet Office is responsible for leading and supporting the transformation of government, enabled by the use of Information Technology across the public sector, the objectives outlined in the European eGovernment Action Plan have implications for other areas of public sector, including those in the Devolved Administrations, whose officials have been consulted in the preparation of this Explanatory Memorandum.

Conclusion

6.15 When we considered the earlier Communication on the interoperability of pan-European e-Government services, we noted that eGovernment will become increasingly central to the efficient, effective and economical delivery of both national and European policies and services, and will increasingly touch everyone's business and private lives; with the picture, in the UK at least, mixed, and in a context where improving delivery will be crucial to the attainment both of governments' aspirations and business plans and of customer satisfaction.[26]

6.16 This Communication is likewise a "next step" rather than a radical departure, which we are also reporting to the House because of the intrinsic importance of its subject matter.

6.17 We look forward to scrutinising the i2010 annual reports, in the hope that the Minister will be able to report the successful attainment of the Action Plan targets. In the meantime, we clear the document.





18   See http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government/strategy/ for further details. Back

19   http://europa.eu.int/idabc/en/chapter/3. Back

20   For further details of eEurope, see http://europa.eu.int/information_society/index_en.htm. Back

21   http://www.egov2005conference.gov.uk/. Back

22   "i2010: European Information Society 2010" aims to foster growth and jobs in the information society and media industries and is described by the Commission as "a comprehensive strategy for modernising and deploying all EU policy instruments to encourage the development of the digital economy: regulatory instruments, research and partnerships with industry", within which the Commission will "in particular promote high-speed and secure broadband networks offering rich and diverse content in Europe". Back

23   With the adoption of the Commission Communication on i2010, the Commission set up a High Level Group of Member States representatives, at Director General level, meeting thrice-yearly to monitor and advise the Commission on the implementation and development of the i2010 Strategy. Back

24   Recommendations of the eGovernment subgroup of the eEurope Advisory Group following the meeting hosted by the Irish Presidency on 16 June 2004 in Dublin. Back

25   Recommendations put forward by the eGovernment subgroup of leaders or representatives of the national eGovernment initiatives to the eEurope Advisory Group following the meeting hosted by the Dutch Presidency on 27-28 September 2004 in Amsterdam at the CoBrA museum and two previous meetings in Brussels and Dublin. Back

26   See head note. Back


 
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