how to develop citizen centric e-services: a european perspective
DESCRIPTION
While it is easy to criticize governments for not knowing their citizens well enough, public service delivery is actually quite hard. Sharing best practice is therefore of paramount importance. I gave this presentation at Strategy Park Local Government in St. Albans, UK on 29 April 2008, at the invite-only event arranged by Management Events Co. UK ltd. They have a fabulous concept, by the way, participants really get engaged...and the wine course afterwards is great, too.TRANSCRIPT
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How To Develop Citizen Centric e-ServicesA European Perspective
By Trond Arne Undheim, PhD
Strategy Park Local Government, St. Albans, UK, 29 April 2008
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Historical Sweep
• eEurope policy – An information society for all - 2002: Getting governments online- 2005: Broadband roll-out
• i2010 policy (2006-2010) – Openness and Standards- Single European information space- Innovation and investments in ICT research- Inclusion, better public services and quality of life
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Sophisticating E-services
• Online One-way Two-way• Transactional Personalised Proactive Automatic
• What’s next?
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Europe’s Frontrunners
• 7th EU27+ 2007 benchmarking (31 countries)- 76% of EU27+ services are transactional - Two-way interaction is the norm - 56% of services are available online
• Case 1 – Austria (100% availability – 99% sophistication) - open standards strategy
• Case 2 – Horeca1 – Amsterdam, the Netherlands- Re-structuring available information
Local government champions – 1000 cases on epractice.eu
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Maurice Van ErvenHoreca1, City of Amsterdam
“It is important to spend a considerable time in knowledge transfer,
training and explaining. Make your project their
project.”
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Online sophistication Fully availability Online sophistication EU27+ Fully availability EU27+
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The User Gap
• Online services are still used by a minority- 22% in EU25 obtained eGov web information and- 6% used two-way services (Eurostat, 2005)
• User centricity scores are very low- Bulgaria, Norway and Austria > 30% (EU 2007)- 4% access portals through front door (Brown 2007)
• 12 EU27+ countries report high user satisfaction- No common approach exists (EU 2007)
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Tony, UKTypical user
“I am in charge”
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User Centricity Average of EU27+
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Three Trend “Drivers”
• Face-to-face - The most intense way we communicate (in public)
• Trust- in government- in citizens
• Peer to Peer - Networks, technologies or people share resources- Defy authoritarian and centralised structures - Based on open standards
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Trust Is The Differentiator
• Citizen Centric eGovernment survey (EU, 2007) - If citizens trust government and if government trusts citizens,
investments are more efficient (Scandinavia and Estonia)- Constant customer focus monitor needs- Flexible design
• Trust is "hard to build, easy to destroy”
Trust is a path, not a one-off achievement
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Future “E-service” Paradigms
• Ad-hoc- Top down (a problem must be solved)
» 10 costly “energy actions” to save the planet - On demand (something a constituency wants)
» “24h feedback guarantee from government”
• Targeted - High pain areas (queues, $, frustration)- Towards specific groups (fly-fishing tourists,
terrorists)
• Distributed - P2P (private sector, users, volunteers)- F2F Intermediaries (family, agents, freelancers)
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Best Practice in E-services?
• Start with a visionary idea- Consider policy context- Consult best practice – readjust- Achieve buy-in top-down and bottom-up
• Design your solution as simple and open as possible
• Use metrics – but not too many• Gain momentum – withstand criticism• Ensure sustainability
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Conclusion
• Openness pays off • Metrics can help• People matter more than technology
• Public services are on-demand (or, they won’t exist)
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References
• ePractice.eu http://www.epractice.eu • 2007 European Ministerial Declaration on eGovernment http://www.
epractice.eu/document/3928 • The five 2007 European eGovernment Award winners http://www.
epractice.eu/document/3917 • 7th EU27+ benchmarking report (2007) http://www.epractice.eu
/document/3929 • Taking stock of eGovernment from 2005 to 2007 (in EU27+) http://www.
epractice.eu/document/3927 • EU27+ National Progress report
http://www.epractice.eu/document/3915 • eGovernment in the European Commission
http://ec.europa.eu/egovernment • Economist e-readiness 2007 survey http://www.eiu.com/site_info.asp?info_name=
eiu_2007_e_readiness_rankings&rf=0