Main strategic objectives and principles

Last updated: December 2011

A Two-Tier Approach towards Modern Administrations

Virtually all European governments and most of European Union’s public authorities at local, regional, national and European levels are engaged in modernising and even transforming themselves, with emphasis on eGovernment. The European Commission itself is promoting and following this track in order to support European integration in the most efficient manner. For the support of the integration process, a series of ICT-related actions have already been put in place. Several data exchange programmes between public administrations, established in the eighties, as well as the IDA, IDABC and currently the ISA programme have significantly contributed to the European integration and most of its policies.

Thereby, the European Commission follows a two-tier approach. At a political level, the Europe 2020 economic strategy and the Digital Agenda for Europe flagship initiative aim to deliver sustainable economic and social benefits from a digital single market based on fast and ultra fast Internet and interoperable applications.

At an operational level, the Commission needs to tackle two challenges: modernising its own 'internal' administration and operating professional trans-European services. Concerning the modernisation of its administration, the Commission in 2005 renewed its commitment to the e-Commission initiative which aimed at delivering better quality and more transparent services for staff and external stakeholders by 2010. This guarantees security of information, including protection of personal data, based on streamlined processes and interoperable information systems supported by a cost-effective, resilient and high performing ICT infrastructure.

Furthermore, special attention has been paid to the operation of trans-European services that support the implementation of EU legislation, from internal market regulations to consumer and health policies. Efficient operation of these services relies on online information services between public administrations across Europe, namely, those supported by the ISA programme.

ISA (Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations) programme

ISA (Interoperability Solutions for European Public Administrations) provides a framework that allows Member States to work together to create efficient and effective electronic cross-border public services. The programme supports and maintains the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) and contains actions on:

• trust and security of information exchange;
• interoperability architecture;
• ICT implication assessment;
• accompanying measures, such as communication activities, evaluation of progress in implementing the programme, and, among measures, the new action on the ISA collaboration platform, which has resulted in the creation of the Joinup portal focusing on eGovernment, semantic interoperability and Open Source Software (OSS).

e-Commission

e-Commission 2006-2010

Adopted on 23 November 2005, the strategic framework 'e-Commission 2006-2010' laid down the European Commission’s approach to modernise its own administrative processes via ICT. The strategy was inline with the objectives of the i2010 initiative and was guided by two principles, namely efficiency and transparency and two dimensions, namely the external, for services to citizens, businesses and partner administrations and the internal, for services to its own staff.

Implementation along the external dimension was expected to affect areas such as the electronic management of the Taxation and Customs Union, the trading of greenhouse gas emissions, the structural funds and the internal market. Citizens would also benefit from a more interactive and user-friendly Europa site. The corresponding internal dimension would bring benefits such as modernised support systems for human resources, savings in paper, and effective financial, document and decision management. The Commission’s staff would also enjoy a better work-life balance thanks to teleworking and videoconferencing facilities.

To assess maturity achieved or encompassed, a four-level eGovernment maturity model was employed by the framework:

• Level 1 - Simple website, where only information is provided online on public policies and administrative procedures.
• Level 2 - Online government, where, in addition, simple electronic interaction mechanisms are implemented (such as e-mail or web-based forms).
• Level 3 - Integrated government, where parts (but not all) of the administrative activity are automated. The services offered should not be based on simply revamped existing procedures, but they should be the product of genuine integration between interaction channels, back office information systems and administrative processes.
• Level 4 - Transformed government, where no paper forms are filled in and the administrative activity is automated end-to-end, crossing organisational boundaries. Services are built up from the viewpoint of internal and external users, rather than based on the structure of the particular organisation.

At the start of the framework (November 2005), the Commission was, on average, considered to have reached level 2 of the scale. The objective of the e-Commission strategy was to proceed to level 3 by 2010, i.e. to implement an integrated Commission.

e-Commission 2006-2010 mid-term review

The e-Commission 2006-2010 mid-term review, adopted in 2008, acknowledged homogeneous progress, with accomplishments in both external and internal dimensions, complemented by those in the organisational enablers' area; in particular in the ICT governance and methodological fields, as well as in the technical enablers' field (e.g. the provision of collaborative internet tools to support communication on European affairs). Progress towards all of the eight primary objectives of the initiative was observed, namely with respect to: better quality services, more transparent services, security of information, streamlined processes, interoperability, cost-effective infrastructure, resilient infrastructure, and highly performing infrastructure. Two areas required special attention in the period 2009-2010: interoperability and the streamlining of processes, for which specific additional actions were recommended.

Regarding the external dimension, in specific domains supported by information systems and their associated processes, the Commission may be considered to have reached maturity levels 3 or 4 of the model. For instance, the New Computerised Transit System (NCTS) which supports customs transit operations among the Member States is a fine example of maturity at level 4. However, as integration among such systems is still largely missing, the major challenge is to progress towards further integration of information systems and associated processes, within the limits defined by the existing legal provisions, so as to ensure the consistency of services provided to partner administrations, businesses and citizens.

In 2009 and 2010, the e-Commission initiative focused on completing identified actions, such as fostering collaborative work with staff, citizens, national administrations and businesses through new Internet technologies (Web 2.0 tools including blogs, wikis, forums and portals). On 1 September 2010, as the e-Commission 2006-2010 initiative was approaching its end, the Directorate General of Informatics (DIGIT) of the European Commission launched an external survey to assess the progress achieved and to shape the new e-Commission 2011-2015.

e-Commission strategy for 2011-2015

The new e-Commission strategy for 2011-2015, has not appeared as yet, but preliminary comments by Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for inter-institutional relations and administration, at the  opening of the conference on 'Administrative Reform' in Vienna, 10 November 2011, suggest that this will be centred around three guiding principles:

• harmonisation and convergence of business processes;
• reusability and interoperability of information systems and components;
• sharing of secure, resilient and consolidated, high quality services and IT infrastructure.