The process of digitalisation of public administration is part of a strategy that aims to improve the access to goods and services throughout Europe, both for citizens and businesses, but also aims to exploit the potential of ICT technologies to promote innovation, sustainability, economic growth and progress.
Thanks to the promotion of digital citizenship’s rights and the adoption of an open government model, digital technology offers innumerable possibilities both for the organisation of administrations and for relations among citizens, enterprises and administrations.
An efficient and innovative public administration must ensure fast and high-quality services for citizens. This means reconsidering and redefining procedures and services in a digital perspective and providing other administrations and, as far as possible, also civil society the free access to data and services.
Several administrations already use contract registers and have digitalised tender procedures. The use of electronic signatures, the digital release of documents and information, or the electronic invoicing (both in the public sector and in the private sector) are no longer news. Nowadays, citizens can actively participate in the life of society through online tools, and it represents the digital transformation of citizenship. Considering the importance of this issue, it is necessary to educate people to digital citizenship.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP?
The “digital citizenship”, a set of rights and duties connected to the digital realm, aims to simplify the relationship among citizens, businesses and public administration through digital technology. By digital citizenship, the right of citizens and businesses to access all data, documents and services that interest them in digital mode is established, in order to guarantee a simplification in access to services.
The elements that distinguish digital citizenship are the following:
- digital access: first of all, for digital citizenship it is necessary supporting free access to technologies
- digital rights and duties: on the one hand there are rights connected, inter alia, to privacy, data processing and freedom of expression, on the other hand there are duties and responsibilities that involve an appropriate use of the technology, in respect of the legislation
- digital skills: technology is constantly evolving and the labour market increasingly requires innovative digital skills
- digital communication: thanks to new technologies, everyone has the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with anyone, from anywhere and at any time
- digital commerce: now the market is digital and online purchases are increasingly common, thus it is necessary to establish rules to protect digital consumers
- digital health and wellbeing: new technologies can bring benefits also in the health sector (for example the electronic patient record or digital prescription)
To achieve digital citizenship, it is necessary the computerisation of the public administration, which is called e-government (that means digital administration).
WHAT IS E-GOVERNMENT?
The notion of e-government has evolved, due to fast changes in the Information Technology field.
The European Commission in a communication of September 26th 2003 (with the title “The Role of e-Government for Europe’s Future”), defined e-government as: “the use of information and communication technologies in public administrations combined with organisational change and new skills in order to improve public services and democratic processes and strengthen support to public policies.”
In another communication, n.179/2016 of April 19th 2016, the European Commission established the basic principles on which the action for e-government must be based for the period 2016/2020. The action plan was defined as follows: “By 2020, public administrations and public institutions in the European Union should be open, efficient and inclusive, providing borderless, personalised, user-friendly, end-to-end digital public services to all citizens and businesses in the EU. Innovative approaches are used to design and deliver better services in line with the needs and demands of citizens and businesses. Public administrations use the opportunities offered by the new digital environment to facilitate their interactions with stakeholders and with each other”.
DESI: EUROPE’S DIGITAL PERFORMANCE
The DESI report (The Digital Economy and Society Index) is the instrument by which the European Commission annually monitors the digital competitiveness of the Member States since 2015.
The thematic chapters present an analysis at European level of broadband connectivity, digital skills, internet use, the digitalisation of businesses, digital public services, the ITC sector and related R&D expenses, as well as the use of Horizon 2020 funding by the Member States.
THE EUROPEAN SITUATION
Online services reduce the time spent in Public Administration offices. Given the noteworthy time saving, people are more willing to use digital services.
In 2019 the countries that obtained the highest score in the European ranking are Finland, Sweden, Holland and Denmark, becoming leaders of digitalisation, with over 90% of digital users (from 16 to 74 years of age). These countries are followed by the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Ireland, Estonia and Belgium. Instead, the countries with the worst score are: Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Poland.
The indicators taken into consideration for the DESI assessment are the following:
- e-government Users: percentage of users who use Internet to fill out and send forms to the Public Administration
- pre-filled forms: percentage of forms received by the Public Administration by Internet
- completeness level of online services
- public digital services for companies
- open data: transparency index of the Public Administration, considering the access to the information that it possesses (to the extent that access can be guaranteed)
- digital health services: percentage of people who benefited from health services and online assistance
- exchange of medical data: measurement of the use of electronic networks for the exchange of data between health professionals and experts in the health sector
- digital prescriptions: percentage of use of electronic networks to transfer prescriptions to pharmacists
THE ITALIAN SITUATION
In 2019 Italy ranks 24th among the 28 EU Member States in the European Commission’s digitisation index for the economy and society (DESI).
In terms of digital public services, Italy ranks 18th among EU Member States, with good results in open data and digital health services. Instead, it still presents a low level of online interaction between public authorities and citizens: only 37% of Italian users send online forms.
Italian results improve in the areas of open data and digital health services. Italy is, in fact, the fourth EU country in terms of open data, with a score of 80%. It ranks eighth in the EU in digital health services: 24% of Italians benefit from online health and assistance and care services. 32% of primary care physicians use digital prescriptions.
Digital Italian Agency (AgID) and Digital Transformation Team coordinate the public services digitalisation, highlighting the key aspects necessary to implement the digital transformation and indicating the perimeter within which the Administration must plan its digitalisation process.
On 11th March 2019, the AgID published the “Three-year Plan 2019-2021 for IT in the Public Administration”, in continuity with the previous plan (2017-2019 two-year period). The project is divided into 90 lines of action bundled in the following macro-areas:
- infrastructures: the fulfilment of "Public Administration Cloud model, the adaptation of the connectivity model to the cloud paradigm, the rationalisation and consolidation of data centres, in order to reduce IT infrastructure management costs” is expected
- interoperability model: the main aim is to create an "Information System of the Public Administration" that ensures the interaction and exchange of information, but also that guarantees the internal dialogue of the single ecosystems and between one ecosystem and another and which finally ensures, in respecting the privacy, access to public administration data also to third parties
- public administration data: it is necessary to distinguish between data of national interest, exchanged between administrations, and open data, which enable the re-use of data by anyone (except in the case of restrictions such as state secrets or constraints of protection)
- platforms: they are digital solutions that help in the digitalisation of administrative processes, aligning methods of providing
- ecosystems: they are the areas of sectoral and homogeneous intervention in which the action of public administrations takes place (from health to agriculture, from school to cultural heritage) and in which services are provided to citizens and businesses by digital technologies
- computer security: the objective is to guarantee not only the availability, integrity and confidentiality of information in the Public Administration Information System, but also the resilience of the complex administrative machine
- tools for creation and dissemination of digital services: the digital transformation requires strong government support and adequate involvement of an active community
- governance: the governance of digital transformation passes through some issues, such as simplifying, reorganising processes and strengthening skills
CCA’s STRATEGY
According to the CCA’s strategy, the necessary elements to start the digital transformation are: Centralisation, Citizens and Accountability.
The digital transformation of Public Administration will ensure noteworthy saving of public spending resources. Not only the administration would benefit from this saving, but also the citizens. In fact, public expenditures burden on citizens through taxation.
Digital4Executive, in an article dated May 24th 2012, presented an estimate made by the Observatory on Electronic Invoicing and Dematerialisation of the Politecnico of Milan School of Management, titled: “By digitisation, 200 billion euros can be saved per year in Italy”. The estimate referred to both the Public Administration market (for a total of 40 billion), and the private companies’ market (for a total of 160 billion). Since 2012 until the present day there has been much talk about digital transformation, but many European countries, including Italy, still have a long way to go. For this reason, Agenda Digitale, the newspaper on the Italian digital agenda, proposes the CCA’s strategy.
It is necessary to centralize functions and programming within a single subject. There is the need and the urgency, to recruit excellent staff who ensures the necessary expertise, without neglecting training of existing staff, that must adapt to the European Union standards. It is also necessary to invest in accountability, that means standardising for the whole Public Administration list of shared rules, in order to report in real time performance, progress and savings of the digital transition of the Public Administration.
It is chiefly necessary to put citizens, with their needs and daily difficulties at the centre of the Public Administration’s strategies. This means transforming all services for the citizen into digital format, focusing on easing access and use, on the inclusiveness and usefulness of digital services, to improve the quality of citizens’ life.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS: TWI2050
The United Nations Organisation in September 2015 drafted and promoted 17 development goals, to be achieved by 2030. Their progress is described in TWI2050 report, titled Transformations to achieve sustainable development goals.
The World in 2050 (TWI2050) is a global research initiative in support of the successful and correct implementation of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, launched by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and other partners. This document aims to develop science-based transformational and equitable pathways for the sustainable development and to provide necessary information and guidelines to the political leaders of each country. Sustainable goals touch different social, economic and environmental areas. The focus of these goals is the “digital revolution”. It is now clear that technological evolution has become the driving force of the social transformation.
Digital transformation will radically change all the dimensions of societies and global economies and, as a consequence, also the very interpretation of the sustainability paradigm. Digitalisation is not only the tool to solve the sustainability challenges, but it is above all the engine of this extraordinary change.
The TWI2050 report outlines the necessary conditions for a successful digital transformation, such as prosperity, social inclusion, environment, sustainability and good governance. It also outlines some of the social implications associated with the increasingly digital future and develops reflections and considerations on aspects related to governance.
The second TWI2050 report provides nine key messages to achieve sustainable digital development:
- a new era in human history is emerging! After Neolithic and Industrial, the Digital Revolution is the next era
- digital technologies can enable an explosive evolution toward a Sustainable Development
- governance is urgently needed! The disruptive dynamics of digitalisation are challenging the absorptive capacities of our societies and threaten to erode social cohesion
- the digital revolution opens the door to a quantum leap for human civilisation
- human enhancement and augmentation present an uncertain future for our species! Homo sapiens is being transformed into Homo digitalis
- we need to understand and overcome the retarding moments” of innovation breakthrough
- we need to build responsible knowledge societies capable of moving toward sustainability in the Digital Age
- clock is ticking toward 2030 – we have only 10 years to meet our Sustainable Development Goals
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SUSTAINABILITY AND DIGITALISATION OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
In 2050 about 2/3 of the population will live in urban areas and therefore it will be necessary to guarantee integrated connectivity services, smart infrastructures and reduced environmental impact in these areas.
“The processes of innovation and digitalisation of the country system and the local communities touch upon technological, economic, social, ethical, managerial and logics of cooperation aspects” (IIASA, 2018, p. 8).
The urban infrastructure should, for example, have an efficient transport system; guarantee universal access to a reliable and low-cost electricity network; ensure safe water and sewage; provide for sustainable management of the waste collection and recycling system; offer fast, broadband and low-cost connectivity to support businesses and the provision of public services.
All these objectives can be reached more easily thanks to new technologies and the digitalisation of the Public Administration.
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