The European Commission call for good practice cases in the field of eGovernment closed on 12 June 2009. The call received a total of 259 submissions which will now compete in four categories for the prestigious European eGovernment Awards title.

The European eGovernment Awards, organised every two years, support the implementation of European eGovernment policy and action plans within the wider framework of information society policies and strategies (i2010) and the overall objectives of the Lisbon Agenda to promote growth and jobs in the European Union. In this context, the awards play a major role in the European Commission's good practice exchange initiative in the field of eGovernment.

This year, 259 cases from 31 of the 34 eligible European countries (*) were received by the call deadline.

The start of the evaluation phase

Following an eligibility screening, a panel of independent experts will evaluate the applications in order to select 52 finalists (short-listed cases). Experts from a variety of backgrounds are drawn from across Europe to ensure the broadest possible coverage in terms of geographical balance and specialist knowledge. Submissions will be evaluated using the following criteria:

• Relevance (10 points)
• Impact (25 points)
• Innovation (20 points)
• Potential for sharing good practice (25 points)
• Management approach (10 points)
• Communication and dissemination approach (10 points)

All eligible cases will be assessed exclusively on the basis of the information provided by the case owner(s) according to the six evaluation criteria above. Scores are weighted in relation to their relevance. The total maximum score that can be achieved is 100.

All applicants will receive electronic notification of the outcome of the evaluation by mid-August at the latest, i.e. once the short-list of finalists has been established in accordance with the first two steps of the evaluation process described above. The selected finalists will receive invitations to exhibit at the 5th Ministerial eGovernment Conference, to be held from 19 to 20 November 2009 in Malmö (SE).

Public prize

In addition to the four winners selected by the jury, a public prize will be awarded to the case that receives the most votes by ePractice.eu members. This category was introduced during the 2007 edition of the awards and consists of a vote by ePractice.eu members on the best case among the 52 short-listed finalists. All registered members of the ePractice portal can vote and submit comments. The online voting rules will be published on the ePractice.eu portal in due course.

Further information: 

• European eGovernment Awards website 
• Guidance notes for submission 

(*) Applicants from the following countries are eligible: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.