[open-government] Kroes speech

Wed Dec 15 13:13:29 UTC 2010

kroes mentions an eu-wide data.gov

On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 12:33:10PM +0100, André sent:
> http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/10/752&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
> 
> Neelie Kroes Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for
> the Digital Agenda My vision for eGovernment, and how to make it real
> "Lift-Off towards Open Government" conference Brussels, 15 December 2010
> Reference: SPEECH/10/752 Date: 15/12/2010
> 
> SPEECH/10/752
> 
> Neelie Kroes
> 
> Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda
> 
> My vision for eGovernment, and how to make it real
> 
> "Lift-Off towards Open Government" conference
> 
> Brussels, 15 December 2010
> 
> Potential of eGovernment: for the economy and society
> 
> I think we are all aware that the economic crisis and demographic
> changes are forcing Governments to rethink how they operate. At the same
> time hundreds of millions of citizens not only depend on public
> services, they also want a new and more interactive relationship with
> their governments. These dual pressures make it inevitable that
> governments must make smarter use of ICT; the real question is how and when.
> 
> Our job is to make it known that smarter spending does not have to mean
> getting less. ICT can actually transform and improve public services
> while materially reducing government debt burdens. The role of the
> Digital Agenda is to support this holistically by getting rid of
> barriers to successful eGovernment.
> 
> Indeed, within the Digital Agenda, our eGovernment objectives should be
> amongst the lowest-hanging fruit. I say should because eGovernment is
> one of the few policy domains where governments and civil servants are
> truly in control. This is about the business of governments, and their
> decisions determine progress in this field. Here in Belgium, Minister
> Van Quickenborne has shown us what happens when there is political will.
> Projects like the Belgian e-ID are difficult but visionary, and they
> only succeed when people like the Minister take the lead.
> 
> This is about more than good government. Effective and efficient public
> administration is the first pillar of the broader competitiveness Europe
> needs. We see this in the competitiveness scorecards. These scorecards
> consistently give top marks to countries that rank highly on
> public-sector openness and efficiency, and eGovernment readiness.
> 
> Across Europe the level of eGovernment readiness has increased; our
> Member States are frequently in the top ten globally. But is it enough?
> Online take-up is often still low. Sophistication remains limited. In
> other words, the hype of eGovernment has not always matched the reality.
> Europe’s eGovernment lead is therefore relative.
> 
> More must be done to tap the efficiency and empowerment potential of the
> technologies out there. Otherwise, the untapped potential may start
> causing problems. Let me illustrate with two examples.
> 
> First, uncoordinated development of eProcurement platforms and
> e-identity systems may be creating a pointless barrier to the Digital
> Single Market. Business wanting to trade, to register for licences and
> permits, to pay VAT or establish branches across borders may experience
> problems. I am speaking about compliance problems and incompatible
> national systems. Citizens seeking to study, receive healthcare
> services, reside or retire in another country may find duplicated
> digital systems more difficult to negotiate than paper ones. This is absurd.
> 
> Both citizens and businesses must be able to benefit from on-line
> services everywhere in Europe regardless of their country of origin.
> 
> Secondly, if administrations are reluctant to embrace emerging
> technologies they risk alienating the younger generations – the digital
> natives. That is neither good for democracy nor for innovation in
> government.
> 
> If public administrations fail to keep up with the times, they risk
> irrelevance or even worse. They risk becoming an obstacle for
> competitiveness and civic engagement. They will be missing out on a
> massive pool of skills and talent that can help them improve the way
> services are designed and delivered.
> 
> Our new Action Plan for eGovernment
> 
> Today I am proud to launch an Action Plan for eGovernment which provides
> the framework we need for capturing the potential of the technology and
> the people Europe has at its disposal.
> 
> The proposition is simple: Governments that want to serve their people
> best, need to serve them efficiently. We must get the most out of every
> euro we invest.
> 
> So this Action Plan is not about incremental change, nor is it empty
> hype. It is practical and aimed at significantly improving the quality,
> stability, and effectiveness of the public sector in Europe.
> 
> In understanding the role of this Action Plan and our collective efforts
> in European policy, we must remember that eGovernment is not a niche; it
> is the main game in public service delivery in coming years.
> 
> This Action Plan will propose concrete measures to achieve the four
> political priorities of the 2009 Malmö Ministerial declaration, which
> are well known to all of you in this room by now.
> 
> The point I want you to take away today is that ideal eGovernment is
> where the users – citizens and businesses - are always at the centre,
> and often in the driving seat.
> 
> eGovernment is growing up to be weGovernment.
> 
> This second generation of eGovernment services and application is
> Europe’s best chance to create a socially, economically and
> environmentally sustainable public sector.
> 
> Take the example of public sector information – possibly a €30 billion
> market in Europe. I have said it before, and I say it again: yes to open
> data! I want to see more citizens and businesses making use of more open
> – machine readable – data. By involving third parties we can both
> improve services and be more transparent. That would be the definition
> of weGov.
> 
> At this event you’ll hear views from Mr Vivek Kundra, the US Government
> CIO. He can testify about the impact of his adminstration's Open.gov
> initiative.
> 
> Simple apps like Buitenbeter, in my own country, The Netherlands show us
> how it can be done. Here citizens have built an inventory of potholes
> and broken street lamps, for example, that allow government to more
> easily visit and fix. The technology and the citizen enthusiasm are the
> easy bit. The real challenge is in changing the mindset of public
> officials to catch and ride this digital wave.
> 
> It is a similar story with cloud computing services, which the US and UK
> governments are embracing – bringing savings up to 20% of costs. Other
> governments would be crazy to ignore such opportunities.
> 
> Profound impact
> 
> In urging us all to move quickly and progressively, let me acknowledge
> that the Commission has been a slow adopter until now. My commitment,
> and that of my colleague Vice President Maroš Šefčovič, is to
> demonstrate that we will not ask of national, regional and local
> authorities what we are not prepared to do ourselves. This means the
> Commission will:
> 
> *
> 
> use eProcurement
> *
> 
> rationalise our web presence and ICT back office
> *
> 
> adopt an open data strategy, and look at setting up a portal for EU open
> data – to encourage others to match and beat us in the effort to open up
> data; and
> *
> 
> take steps towards going paperless.
> 
> Significantly, we will promote and help Member States develop a
> comprehensive policy on electronic identity management, based on the
> results and experiences from our ongoing large scale pilots. The whole
> point of the European Union is that borders should not be a barrier. But
> borderless access to online public services depends on being able to
> identify oneself digitally. When your children travel or study abroad,
> or you retire to a different climate, it should be conveniently and with
> peace of mind.
> 
> Because they provide real cross border services, these large scale
> pilots are really exciting. They also develop preconditions that can be
> reused for developing new services. If we get these Large Scale Pilots
> right, we will witness many other interoperability successes. Just last
> week I was able to see the progress at the German national IT summit in
> Dresden. With a German ID card one can access another government's
> portal – in my case it was Estonia - and access their public services.
> 
> Thanks to another pilot, soon eProcurement will work across borders, so
> that an Italian manufacturer will easily be able to tender for an
> Amsterdam municipal contract with a few clicks.
> 
> I hope we can build on the experiences of these large scale pilots. We
> need to match this success in new areas like eJustice and
> eParticipation, whilst at the same time ensuring effective follow up to
> the pilots I have just mentioned .
> 
> In these pilots Member States have demonstrated their willingness and
> ability to join forces and crack some of the hardest interoperability
> problems. I congratulate the Member States involved on their achievements;
> 
> And finally, I cannot wait to find on my desk the first EU-wide ICT
> supported petition. Enabled by the Lisbon Treaty, this has the potential
> to really change how the EU relates to citizens.
> 
> Conclusion
> 
> In conclusion, Europe should be the world’s laboratory for innovation in
> the public sector. We have the talent, the imperative and the
> technologies. We must be very concrete. Find the real problems in our
> pilots and experiences and deal with them. That is the recipe for
> getting Every European Digital.
> 
> 
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