The results of the 9th European Commission eGovernment Benchmarking exercise, Digitising Public Services in Europe: Putting ambition into action ranks Ireland in first place for the provision and sophistication of online services to businesses and citizens, for the provision of eProcurement services, and for the integration of services as “life events”.
Ireland was ranked in 17th place in 2007, causing the Government to introduce a range of new measures in 2008 to renew focus on eGovernment. A new eGovernment Strategy was approved in 2009.
The Minister for Finance, Mr Brian Lenihan said that, “it proves that the renewed focus by the Government on eGovernment in 2008 has yielded dividends in raising Ireland to the top of such an influential international benchmark.” The Minister commended the efforts of staff across the public services that helped achieve this result.
The Minister added that, “while this is a very positive result for Ireland, we cannot rest on our laurels. We view this very much as a starting point. As part of the Croke Park Agreement we have set out a vision for an increasingly integrated Public service which is leaner and more effective, the eGovernment strategy is a key element of this Transforming Public Service Programme and the report today shows the Government’s actions are working.
As set out in the National Recovery Plan 2011- 2014 the Government has identified eGovernment as a priority and I want to see Departments and public bodies continuing to pursue this agenda with vigour. There will be a greater focus on integrating the back-end systems of public bodies, on the use of shared ICT approaches and cloud computing, on publishing public service data, on implementing measures to secure greater take-up of online and digital services and applications, and on providing online facilities for increased collaboration and feedback with customers.”
The Minister concluded by saying, “my officials will continue working with Departments and public bodies in implementing eGovernment measures to ensure the highest levels of efficiency and effectiveness in public service delivery”.
The European Commission has conducted benchmarks of eGovernment since 2000. The benchmark is now conducted over 32 countries and is generally considered to be one of the most comprehensive eGovernment benchmarks conducted globally.
The average availability of online public services in the EU increased from 69pc to 82pc from 2009 to 2010. The European Commission encourage putting more Government services online as it helps cut costs for public administrations and also reduces red tape for businesses and citizens.
The full benchmarking report of the EU Commission is available on the web at http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/document.cfm?action=display&doc_id=747
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Quelle/Source: Business &Leadership, 21.02.2011
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