Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Executive Summary
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Project Title:<br />
«The use of Information and<br />
Communication Technologies<br />
in the Public Sector<br />
(eGovernment)»<br />
Deliverable D7:<br />
«<strong>Executive</strong> <strong>Summary</strong>»
Project Title: «The use of Information and Communication<br />
Technologies in the Public Sector (eGovernment)»<br />
Deliverable: «D7: <strong>Executive</strong> <strong>Summary</strong>»<br />
Prepared for: Observatory for the Greek Information<br />
Society<br />
Prepared by: TREK Consulting<br />
Version: 1.0<br />
Date: April 20, 2007<br />
Comments: Observatory for the Greek Information<br />
Society<br />
The Observatory for the Greek Information Society is 75 % cofunded<br />
by the European Regional Development Fund and 25% by<br />
national funds and operates within the framework of the Operational<br />
Programme "Information Society" (OPIS).
P7: <strong>Executive</strong> <strong>Summary</strong><br />
TABLE OF CONTENTS<br />
1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................5<br />
2 Goals and Objectives of the Projects ...................................................................6<br />
3 Implementation Methodology ..............................................................................7<br />
4 Problems Occurred During the Implementation of the Project ..........................9<br />
5 Project Results “The use of Information and Communication Technologies in<br />
the Public Sector (eGovernment)” ........................................................................... 10<br />
5.1 Conclusions deriving from the Recording of the Existing Situation in<br />
Greece regarding the texts about Strategy and Relevant Studies........................ 10<br />
5.1.1 Conclusions.............................................................................................. 11<br />
5.1.2 Recommendations ................................................................................... 12<br />
5.2 Conclusions deriving from the Understanding of the Existing Situation in<br />
Greece regarding Back Office ........................................................................................ 13<br />
5.2.1 Conclusions.............................................................................................. 13<br />
5.2.2 Recommendations ................................................................................... 16<br />
5.3 Conclusions drawn from the recording of the Existing Situation in Europe<br />
and Internationally and recording of Best Practices................................................. 17<br />
5.3.1 Best Practices Transfer in Greece........................................................... 19<br />
5.4 Conclusions drawn from the research in the skills of Civil Servants in<br />
using ICT ............................................................................................................................ 23<br />
5.4.1 Conclusions.............................................................................................. 25<br />
5.4.2 Recommendations ................................................................................... 28<br />
5.5 Conclusions drawn from Indicators for the quantification of the Public<br />
Administration & eGovernment Secretariat General objectives with regard to<br />
eGovernment..................................................................................................................... 29<br />
5.5.1 Conclusions.............................................................................................. 30<br />
5.5.2 Recommendations ................................................................................... 30<br />
6 eGovernment Opportunities and Lessons Learned ........................................... 32<br />
6.1 SWOT Analysis...................................................................................................... 33<br />
6.2 Useful conclusions drawn from the implementation of complementary<br />
deliverables........................................................................................................................ 34<br />
6.3 Opinion Leaders views ........................................................................................ 35<br />
6.3.1 Different eState development speed...................................................... 35<br />
6.3.2 Interoperability: the key to success....................................................... 35<br />
6.3.3 Process Re-engineering: With the introduction of new eGovernment<br />
services work procedures change...................................................................... 35<br />
6.3.4 Motives: encourage all parties to take part in the effort ...................... 36<br />
6.3.5 High Level Position for IT <strong>Executive</strong>s ..................................................... 36<br />
6.3.6 eSkills Development of Human Capital .................................................. 36<br />
7 Proposals – Next Steps for the development of eGovernment in Greece........ 37<br />
7.1 GROUP 1: Actions Concerning Strategic Convergence and Publicity........ 37<br />
7.1.1 Action 1: Enactment of Publicity Rules concerning eGovernment<br />
Projects ............................................................................................................... 37<br />
7.1.2 Action 2: Formation of Contracts and Studies Repositoty in all Public<br />
Sector Institutions. ............................................................................................. 38<br />
7.1.3 Action 3: Formation of Central Repository concerning eGovernment<br />
Studies ................................................................................................................ 39<br />
7.1.4 Action 4: Delimitation of Public Authority Model Guide......................... 39<br />
7.2 GROUP 2: Actions Concerning Human Resource Development................. 40<br />
7.2.1 Action 5: Motivation to Human Resources to develop skills for ICT<br />
usage 40<br />
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7.2.2 Action 6: Measurement of e-skills and creation of skills profile for<br />
Public Servants ................................................................................................... 41<br />
7.2.3 Action 7: Development of Skills (Training) of Human Resources ......... 41<br />
7.2.4 Action 8: Development of Professional Profile for Information<br />
Technology (IT) Departments ............................................................................ 42<br />
7.3 GROUP 3: Actions Concerning the Development of Infrastructure that<br />
Supports eGovernment ................................................................................................... 43<br />
7.3.1 Action 9: Five year Plan for the replacement of Proprietary Applications<br />
43<br />
7.3.2 Action 10: Digital Content Creation........................................................ 44<br />
7.3.3 Action 11: Enrichment of Back-office systems with additional modules<br />
44<br />
7.3.4 Action 12: Development of Human Resource Management Systems<br />
(HRMS)................................................................................................................ 45<br />
7.3.5 Action 13: Development of national user authentication system (eID)45<br />
7.3.6 Action 14: Development of eProcurement System for Local<br />
Governments....................................................................................................... 46<br />
7.4 GROUP 4: Horizontal (Parallel) Actions........................................................... 47<br />
7.4.1 Action 15: Measurement of the Initial Indicators Value of the<br />
Measurement Framework................................................................................... 47<br />
7.4.2 Action 16: Set of Target for the entire Public Sector – Roadmap to<br />
eGovernment ...................................................................................................... 48<br />
7.4.3 Action 17: Review of the initial Measurement framework (Version 2).49<br />
7.4.4 Action 18: Crisis Management and Disaster Recovery Plan.................. 50<br />
7.5 Hierarchy of Actions ............................................................................................ 51<br />
7.6 Proposal Framework Objectives........................................................................ 52<br />
7.6.1 Growth of Competitiveness in Greece .................................................... 52<br />
7.6.2 Growth of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ............................................. 53<br />
7.6.3 Improvement of the performance of Greece in international<br />
measurements .................................................................................................... 53<br />
7.6.4 Improvement of Administrative Capacity of Public Administration ...... 53<br />
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1 Introduction<br />
The present deliverable under the title “<strong>Executive</strong> <strong>Summary</strong>” is implemented in the<br />
framework project supported by the Observatory for the Greek Information Society with the<br />
title «The use of Information and Communication technologies in the Public Sector<br />
(eGovernment)».<br />
The objective of the present deliverable is the formation of a synopsis concerning the results<br />
of the study as an executive summary and the formation of proposed actions for the<br />
development of eGovernment in Greece. In the framework of the present deliverable, a<br />
creative synthesis and presentation of the most significant findings that arouse from the<br />
implementation of the previous stages – phases of the project are presented.<br />
In Section two (2) of the present deliverable its objectives and Purpose are described, while<br />
in Section three (3) the deliverable’s implementation methodology is described.<br />
In Section four (4), problems that encountered during implementation of the project are<br />
summarized.<br />
In section five (5) there is reference to the conclusions organized in each deliverable of the<br />
project. It includes a short description, conclusions and proposed actions for each deliverable.<br />
In section six (6) opportunities and lessons learned throughout the implementation of the<br />
project are presented.<br />
Finally, in section seven (7) proposed actions are represented for the implementation of<br />
actions with regard to the development of eGovernment in Greece.<br />
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2 Goals and Objectives of the Projects<br />
eGovernment is the means in order for Public Administration to become:<br />
• Extrovert and transparent, by encouraging the participation of all parties (citizens<br />
and businesses) to democratic procedures<br />
• More focused to services, by providing individualized and complete services to each<br />
citizen.<br />
• Productive, by distributing the maximum benefit from the contributions of tax payers<br />
The aim of the present project was to contribute creatively to the configuration of the<br />
development framework of eGovernment up to the level of Central Public Administration and<br />
contribution to the implementation of actions that promote the goals of the above axes.<br />
The objectives of the project are summarized in the following points:<br />
1. Complete presentation of the present status of Public Administration in Greece in Central<br />
level, in the strategic level as well as in the level of recording projects concerning the<br />
development of back-office systems<br />
2. Review of European and International environment concerning the progress indicated in<br />
eGovernment<br />
3. Collection of Best Practices and appointment of the main priority sectors internationally<br />
concerning eGovernment actions and at the same time comparison with the aims of<br />
eGovernment in Greece.<br />
4. Conduction of survey for the impression of e-skills of public servants in order to make<br />
known the areas where State actions have to be focused. These results will assist the<br />
procedure of staffing Public Sector with servants able to cope with Information Society<br />
demands and ready to function effectively in the upcoming digital environment.<br />
5. Configuration of complete, efficient and well-aimed measurement framework for the<br />
quantification of the national strategic objectives on eGovernment, as well as observation<br />
of the implications of eGovernment to the society and to economy.<br />
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3 Implementation Methodology<br />
The implementation of the present deliverable was achieved through the exploitation of<br />
the results of the overall work of deliverables and through the opinions and<br />
experience of opinion leaders in the ICT (Information and Communication<br />
Technology) Market, whose perception on matters regarding eGovernment is<br />
important.<br />
The main topic areas included in the implementation process of the executive summary are:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Deliverable Results Analysis<br />
Analysis of Best Practices and of the International Environment<br />
Interview Conduct with opinion leaders and results analysis<br />
Conclusion Shaping<br />
Organization of Actions and Proposals<br />
Interrelation of Action – taking with Best Practices and International Environment<br />
The above process is outlined in the following figure:<br />
Figure 1: Methodology of Deliverable Elaboration<br />
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In summary, the starting point of the works undertaken of results development as well as the<br />
proposal and action development in the aim of further development of eGovernment in<br />
Greece is the exploitation of the deliverables of the project. The successive steps taken are<br />
based on the analysis carried out with regards to the international environment, the best<br />
practices, the deliverables of the project and results coming from the collection<br />
and analysis of interviews and opinions from the part of opinion Leaders in the<br />
Greek ICT Market.<br />
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4 Problems Occurred During the Implementation of the Project<br />
Within the framework of the project implementation, a wealth of problems was dealt with,<br />
different ones in each phase of the project. More specifically, the following problems<br />
occurred:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Incapacity to find strategic text and study material which would be available either in<br />
a certain authority or in an internet site. Information is dispersed and this is why the<br />
general public has no easy access to it.<br />
Difficulty in finding the executives in charge, who would be ready to provide valid<br />
answers regarding matters which concerned the overall project (e.g. the availability<br />
of strategic text and study material, the main problems in Public Administration etc.).<br />
Mostly, the main problem was that the executives could not allocate the necessary<br />
time in order to make a thorough and meticulous appreciation of the issues dealt with<br />
within the project frame.<br />
Delayed response of officials with which the Contractor came in touch in order to<br />
receive the information required (e.g. texts- studies)<br />
Difficulty in applying a uniform process in the collection of data and information<br />
Lack of data and knowledge on behalf of the executives in charge of Authorities for<br />
the body of the applications / systems existing in their Authority.<br />
All the above mentioned points should be conceived as everyday problems in the Public<br />
Sector and as such it would be advisable that they be dealt with according to a total copingplan.<br />
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5 Project Results “The use of Information and Communication<br />
Technologies in the Public Sector (eGovernment)”<br />
5.1 Conclusions deriving from the Recording of the Existing Situation in Greece<br />
regarding the texts about Strategy and Relevant Studies<br />
In this unit, texts about strategies and relevant studies have been collected which were<br />
implemented and concern eGovernment as well as the modernization of Public<br />
Administration.<br />
Six texts on Strategy were collected, namely:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
The Operational Programme «POLITEIA»<br />
The Operational Programme «Information Society»<br />
The Operational Programme «Digital Convergence», Ministry of Economy and Finance<br />
The Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative Capacity of public<br />
Administration 2007-2013», Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and<br />
Decentralization<br />
o «Broadband Access to Information Society» (version 1)<br />
This text presents the network of the strategic choices of the country throughout the year<br />
and depicts the existing switch from the sterile and obsolete dedication to the use of<br />
Information and Communication Technology to the sphericity with which the issue of<br />
eGovernment is dealt with currently, taking into consideration not only the technological<br />
dimension of the issue but also the modernization – reengineering of the operational<br />
processes in the Public Administration.<br />
The above mentioned texts are analytically presented in Deliverable D1: “Report on the<br />
existing situation in Greece- Collection of strategic and relevant study texts”<br />
In the same deliverable, 22 studies were collected, a figure relatively small in relation to the<br />
research work produced in other European Union countries or compared to the number of<br />
studies carried out in Greece which concern in various ways eGovernment. This “basket”<br />
containing the 22 studies has the following characteristics:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
At a substantially important degree, the object of part of the studies is overlapped,<br />
without any connection made between these studies (updating, references to<br />
previous studies etc.)<br />
It is evident, from the mere evaluation of the studies, that there is no strategic<br />
targeting in their context. In other words, they were not conducted aiming at<br />
specialising towards strategic directions, nor their context is associated to strategic<br />
directions which should be posed and should form the basis for every study related to<br />
eGovernment.<br />
A big part of these studies has a recording character which means that the<br />
research conducted has not contributed satisfactorily to the forming of proposals,<br />
policies and strategies.<br />
There are studies concerning specific sectors of Public Administration (e.g. use of<br />
smart cards in the sector of Social Insurance), but at the same time there are not<br />
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such studies concerning Public Administration as a whole or at least the sectors in<br />
which the use of similar technologies would be possible.<br />
5.1.1 Conclusions<br />
In order to collect the material required for the studies (deliverable D1), despite the effort to<br />
apply a more structured and definitely organised methodological frame, it was required to<br />
deal with each Authority using a different approach, as a result of the different way of dealing<br />
with the “studies archive” in each one of them. Indeed, using the term “studies archive” is<br />
risky, since an overwhelming majority of these studies are dispersed in the records of<br />
different Organizational Units and sometimes even in the personal records of the Authority<br />
executives.<br />
In total, six strategic texts and twenty - two studies were collected. The studies involve the<br />
evolution of the sector ICT (1), Information Society (9), eGovernment (8), eBusiness (2),<br />
Systems Security (1) and Digital Health (1).<br />
Graph1. Distribution of Studies per Subject<br />
Digital Health: 1<br />
System Security: 1 Evolution of ICT<br />
Market: 1<br />
e-business: 2<br />
Information Socierty:<br />
9<br />
eGovernment: 8<br />
The majority of these studies were conducted during the year 2004, which means that there<br />
is substantial delay in current research work.<br />
Graph 2. Recording of Studies per year of implementation<br />
Year 2003: 4<br />
Year 2000: 1<br />
Year 2005: 4<br />
Year 2004: 13<br />
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Apart from the studies collected, the existence of an important number of studies (not<br />
widespread) was verifies (mainly application studies for small and medium eGovernment<br />
projects), whose tracking down was not particularly easy. Despite their low budget and the<br />
relatively limited publicity they have received, these studies consist of a research work which<br />
is retained as important/ crucial given the fact that they bear a direct relationship and effect<br />
to the quality and the characteristics of eGovernment in our country. This is due to the fact<br />
that these studies determine the requirements of eGovernment systems in Greece (e.g.<br />
studies concerning the planning of the projects mentioned in invitation 114 in the context of<br />
ACTION LINE 2.2: «eGovernment for Citizen services», Operational Programme «Information<br />
Society») which are developed or going to be developed in Greece over the next two (2)<br />
years.<br />
Despite the fact that the strategic direction for “openness” and “citizen information”<br />
concerns Public Administration and its activities as a whole, in many sectors the concept of<br />
“limited publicity” is permanent with regards to the research work conducted by them. The<br />
concept that any study conducted involves only the Authority the former derives from and<br />
that it is the Authority’s “property” which should not be publicised, is still present in the<br />
mind of many officials (at all grades of Managerial Hierarchy). Typical of this attitude is the<br />
fact that during the conduction of the present deliverable, the project team faced incidents<br />
where the officials were reluctant to give out the necessary data they were asked due to all<br />
the above mentioned reasons.<br />
As mentioned above, the studies described in the deliverable were not conducted in order to<br />
specialise strategic directions, their context is not associated to strategic directions, nor<br />
do they exploit the results of previous studies. These studies constitute ad hoc efforts of<br />
the Contractors.<br />
The corpus of these studies is neither updated nor repeated regularly, so after a certain<br />
period of time their context may not be exploitable.<br />
5.1.2 Recommendations<br />
it is essential to establish a Repository for texts and studies which concern eGovernment.<br />
Except for the collection of the existing studies, it is recommendable to oblige the Authorities<br />
to inform this Repository about the studies they conduct and their results as well as to<br />
publicize their deliverables. An example of a similar effort is the creation of a digital library by<br />
the Observatory for the Greek Information Society, a body that could perfectly constitute the<br />
previously mentioned reference point (Repository). Along with the Repository recommended,<br />
the foundation of decentralized repositories is evaluated, perhaps for every Authority, for the<br />
eGovernment studies and projects conducted or underway.<br />
Is should be noted and fully understood that an eGovernment project is not a process which<br />
involves solely the Contractor, but the whole Society and its citizens. Based on the experience<br />
acquired after the implementation of the project, it is recommended to conduct, legislate and<br />
comply with publicity guidelines (presentations, seminars etc.) for all eGovernment projects<br />
(be they studies or projects of systems development).<br />
Lastly, the enactment and planning of revision of certain important studies will back up<br />
among others the better exploitation of their results, the prevention of tendering similar<br />
projects – studies which may produce uncertain results and the updating of useful data which<br />
could be used for assessment over time.<br />
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5.2 Conclusions deriving from the Understanding of the Existing Situation in<br />
Greece regarding Back Office<br />
The tracing of the present situation regarding the Back Office systems involve systems which<br />
are in operation currently.<br />
More specifically, in deliverable D2: “Report on Back Office systems of Public Administration<br />
Authorities” 28 systems of public authorities are recorded which are in operation productively<br />
and there is reference to 18 management systems / applications.<br />
Graph 3. Systems and Application Concernng Organization , Operation and<br />
Communication<br />
Document Management<br />
Digital Register<br />
Total Number of Agencies<br />
0 5 10 15 20 25 30<br />
In addition, reference is being made to the Legislative Framework which permeates<br />
important sectors of Information Society relevant to eGovernment. The presentation concerns<br />
the Greek Legislative and Institutional Framework as well as the relevant EU guidelines with<br />
which the Greek Legislation complies.<br />
5.2.1 Conclusions<br />
The most widespread systems applied in the public sectors are the Office Automation<br />
Systems and e-mail clients which are used – where available – to cater for the basic needs<br />
of the authorities such as the drafting and format of documents, account sheets for financial<br />
reports, e-mail etc.<br />
At the same time, in several of the recorded authorities (over 50%), the registration system is<br />
digital, nonetheless, none of the authorities make use of the Document Management and<br />
Workflow Management systems – despite the fact that research pinpointed the existence of<br />
such installed commercial systems.<br />
The effort to communicate with the IT Managers involved in the task of registering was<br />
perhaps the most difficult part in the conduction of the corresponding deliverable. It was<br />
clear that the tracking down of the IT Managers (no matter which title they bore) is a timeconsuming<br />
procedure, of small validity percentage in the answers provided. It takes a lot of<br />
effort and constant communication by telephone in order to track down the executive who<br />
would provide valid answers. In many cases, (almost 1/3 of them), the manager did not<br />
respond either on the phone or by setting an appointment, which resulted in incapacity of<br />
registering the entity of the systems.<br />
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Graph 4. Communication with IT Managers<br />
Uncomplete<br />
communication: 12<br />
Communication<br />
completed: 28<br />
Graph 5. Completed Communication with IT Managers<br />
Telephone: 15<br />
Meeting: 13<br />
From the records it was evident that in many cases the IT Managers had no knowledge and<br />
no easy access to the contract data (of implementation or support) of the Information<br />
systems undertaken by the Authority they work for. Furthermore, it was not rare for the IT<br />
Managers not to have the knowledge required (not on an official basis at least) about the IT<br />
work carried out within their department.<br />
Taking one step further, due to the non- consistent and systematic development of the IT<br />
infrastructure of Public Sector, nowadays there are proprietary systems (especially in MS<br />
Access and MS Excel) which are ignored and not officially supported by the IT Department.<br />
There is also a great number of systems which have been internally developed, without<br />
fulfilling terms of interoperability, open architecture, scalability, demand recording,<br />
documentation, support, etc.<br />
A result of the unorganised and unstructured IT infrastructure development is the existence<br />
of a great number of systems in Access and Excel, developed by the employees themselves,<br />
which operate along with Back Office systems or in several cases substitute the functions<br />
which should normally be incorporated in them.<br />
Last but not least, the mentality of “working in the shadows” within the framework of a team<br />
or service is still evident and it has a negative impact on the operation of the Authority and in<br />
general of Public Administration.<br />
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Graph 6. Proprietary Applications<br />
25<br />
20<br />
15<br />
10<br />
5<br />
0<br />
Applications Developed in Access Applications Developed in Excel Applications Developed Applications in Developed Cobol in Cobol and they have<br />
The registration has shown that the systems are interconnected at a very low percentage. In<br />
each Authority there are few systems interconnected from the inside. Interconnection cases<br />
concern mainly portals which receive data from the Authority Information system.<br />
Interconnections with exterior systems are rare and mainly concern the interconnection of<br />
banking systems (e.g. DIAS).<br />
Graph 7. System Interoperability<br />
Internal<br />
communication with<br />
other systems: 13,03%<br />
Systems<br />
interconnected: 18,07%<br />
Stand Alone: 68,91%<br />
There is a great number of systems (this reference concerns systems developed by<br />
Contracting Companies) for which there are no valid support contracts. Additionally, the<br />
systems supported via SLAs (Service Level Agreement) are few and mainly systems<br />
developed over the last few years. It is evident that the implications either in the financial<br />
planning or the cost for the support of the system are quite important.<br />
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Graph 8. Systems Support<br />
Systems that are<br />
supported (contract<br />
exists): 20,59%<br />
SLAs: 1,68%<br />
Systems that are not<br />
supported (no<br />
contract): 77,73%<br />
5.2.2 Recommendations<br />
The establishment of the Repository in every Authority which will include all the data<br />
involving information systems developed by the Authority, the relevant contracts of<br />
implementation and support and the support contracts seems to be required. The filling<br />
in of the most important data in an information system could prove to be particularly useful<br />
for the total control and planning of each Authority and the Public Administration in general.<br />
The information system with the contract data could be interconnected to similar applications<br />
of the e-Procurement project in course, providing cohesive information at a focal level.<br />
The structured way of observing either the implementation of information technology<br />
projects or the Service Level Agreement (or SLAs) from the IT department constitutes an<br />
important feature of every Authority. The reengineering of the processes of an authority and<br />
the confrontation of the issue at a central – political – level is required.<br />
The improvement and development of the officials professional status is identified<br />
in the upgrading of their roles (described in the previous paragraph). The personnel<br />
qualification on issues of project management, knowledge management etc. as well as the<br />
legislation of IT departments will contribute towards the direction of improving and<br />
developing their professional profile, solving the same time problems presented in the present<br />
analysis.<br />
The substitution of proprietary systems developed by employees with modules of Back<br />
Office systems developed by each Authority, is demanded, if the target is to apply a strategic<br />
direction in the technological upgrading of the Authorities of Public Administration,<br />
organisational reengineering, interoperability and, finally, providing of complete<br />
eGovernment services to the citizens and businesses.<br />
The interconnection of the systems in the Authorities has to be studied upon and realized<br />
within the wider frame of interoperability and collaboration in Public Administration. For<br />
this reason, a total plan of system interoperability has to be developed, which will create the<br />
suitable conditions for the interconnection of the systems in a second phase.<br />
Finally, the implementation of a Guide for the exemplary Ministry – General Secretariat<br />
concerning IT infrastructure and organizational support systems could become a very useful<br />
tool for the implementation of the Strategic Planning of the Government<br />
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5.3 Conclusions drawn from the recording of the Existing Situation in Europe<br />
and Internationally and recording of Best Practices<br />
Deliverables D4: “Review of the International Environment” and D5: “Recording and<br />
Evaluation of Best Practices” include:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
A review of the international environment in the eGovernment sector aiming at<br />
collecting and assessing data which concern the strategy and business planning, the<br />
organisational structures and their results among E.U. countries.<br />
Recording and evaluation of the Best Practices in eGovernment sector in order to<br />
pinpoint the top developments at a European and International level, their critical<br />
assessment and the examination of the possibilities and the most fruitful method for<br />
their exploitation in our country.<br />
In total, 72 Best Practices were collected. In the following Graphs their allocation is<br />
presented in terms of topic unit and country of origin.<br />
Graph 9. Best Practices shorted per category<br />
eProcurement: 6<br />
Digital Documents/<br />
Digital IDs: 14<br />
Services; 50<br />
Digital Democracy/<br />
Digital Participation:<br />
2<br />
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Graph 10. Best Practices per Country of Origin<br />
Singapore<br />
Brazi<br />
Australia<br />
Finland<br />
Chech Republic<br />
Slovakia<br />
Poland<br />
Hungary<br />
Luxembourg<br />
Lithuania<br />
Cyprus<br />
Spain<br />
United Kingdom<br />
Greece<br />
Germany<br />
USA<br />
Canada<br />
Slovenia<br />
Holland<br />
Malta<br />
Latvia<br />
Ireland<br />
Esthonia<br />
Belgium<br />
Austria<br />
Korea<br />
Sweden<br />
Portugal<br />
Italy<br />
Danmark<br />
France<br />
0 0,5 1 1,5 2 2,5 3 3, 5<br />
From this study and the collection of data for the conduct of Deliverables D4 and D5 it was<br />
observed that there are some dominant tendencies regarding eGovernment in Europe, which<br />
are:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Interoperability: The interoperability of the systems is at the core of the countries’<br />
interest as it is a basic requirement for the development of eGovernment. At a system<br />
level or at a level of interoperability model development, the interconnection and data<br />
exchange for the IT systems constitutes the main strategic goal at a European level.<br />
Security: the security of transactions is an issue that worries all the people involved<br />
in eGovernment. It goes without saying that as eGovernment service users increase<br />
so will the attacks at portals and IT systems, a fact that necessitates the application<br />
of high security systems. What’s more, is the focus on digital signature from the<br />
Public Sector.<br />
Infrastructure: Many countries, which do not have the infrastructure required in IT<br />
systems and telecommunications, undertake demanding projects, like the one<br />
undertaken by the National Network of Public Administration “SYZEFXIS” carried out<br />
in Greece.<br />
Change Management & Organizational Change: the Change Management is<br />
particularly considered which derives from the eGovernment entrance in the<br />
operation and organisation of the Public Authorities and in the adaptation of citizens<br />
to the new e-State and their familiarisation to the new technologies developed. Of<br />
course, this transition does not only remain at a technological level (substitution of<br />
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o<br />
o<br />
the physical presence of the citizen in the Public Department with an “electronic<br />
visit”- communication) but also creates chain-changes in either the organisation or<br />
the skills of civil servants. This is why there is particular interest in changes of<br />
organisational and operational levels in the Public Authorities as well as in<br />
cooperation issues and inter- service functions.<br />
Increase of the services provided by eGovernment: all over Europe and at an<br />
international level, eGovernment projects are developed and designed on a large<br />
scale, projects which involve either the provision of new services (of a greater digital<br />
integration degree- online sophistication) or surpass the limited borders of proprietary<br />
Authorities and concern Security, Interoperability, Model Creation etc.<br />
Support Structures: the study on Best Practices has shown that in almost every<br />
country, State Structures have been developed which are involved in eGovernment.<br />
These structures support eGovernment at a Strategic level, at an implementation<br />
level as well as at a level of support and security.<br />
We should note at this point that the complete study text is electronically available at:<br />
http://www.observatory.gr/page/default.asp?1a=1&id=22&pl=110&pk=292&ap=101.<br />
5.3.1 Best Practices Transfer in Greece<br />
Having located and enhanced the progress made in Europe and in developed countries<br />
around the world in the sector of eGovernment, one has the possibility to compare the<br />
progress made in these countries and the progress made in Greece and choose among<br />
Practices which could be adopted in Greece. These practices could function as models for the<br />
improvement of infrastructures and high impact services.<br />
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Taking into consideration all the data coming from Best Practices included in deliverable D5,<br />
eight (8) of them were chosen and are recommended, which could be incorporated in the<br />
Greek reality (with the implementation of similar action) and would create the necessary<br />
conditions for further development of eGovernment. These Best Practices are:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Best Practice for Infrastructure<br />
Development<br />
Personal ID (Belgium)<br />
Communication infrastructures for<br />
intergovernmental collaboration<br />
(Ireland)<br />
Permanent maintenance of electronic<br />
files (S. Korea)<br />
Governmental Site Builder (Germany)<br />
Best Practice for Service Development<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Electronic Invoicing System<br />
(Denmark)<br />
Business Link (United Kingdom)<br />
Retirement prediction in real time<br />
(United Kingdom)<br />
Work research services and<br />
personnel recruitment from the<br />
National Workmarket Council<br />
(Sweden)<br />
In the following extracts, apart from an overall reference to each of the Best Practice<br />
mentioned above, reference is being made to the objectives and benefits from their adoption<br />
in Greece.<br />
Personal ID (Belgium)<br />
The Personal ID is an electronic identity card which facilitates the<br />
Belgian citizens to access eGovernment services.<br />
The card has the size of an ordinary bank card and contains, among<br />
over identification data, a photo of the holder and his/her national<br />
register number. These data are printed on the card and<br />
incorporated in the form of an electronic chip in the inside. The chip<br />
contains two electronic key groups, which aid in the identification of<br />
the holder and the use of legally valid electronic signature.<br />
Respectively, the creation of a Greek e-card for electronic transactions would offer easy<br />
identification of the holder (one of the biggest problems which prevent the development of<br />
eGovernment services), it would prevent the use of various and diverse identification data in<br />
Public Services and it would function as an incentive for Public Authorities in order to develop<br />
services where the citizen will be able to use his/her card) and for the citizens who will realise<br />
that the use of eGovernment services in Greece is rapidly developing. The first attempt to<br />
create a National User Identification System (Subproject 9 concerning the realization of Public<br />
Key Infrastructure and electronic signatures from the National Network of Public<br />
Administration “SYZEFXIS”), has been designed and its realization is expected to start in the<br />
second semester of 2007.<br />
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Communication Infrastructures for intergovernmental collaboration (Ireland)<br />
Through the creation of an official authority for the<br />
improvement and the completion of services for<br />
clients/citizens of Public Sector services, Ireland<br />
developed the IAMS to support the electronic data<br />
exchange. The IAMS has originally allowed the<br />
electronic data exchange concerning citizens’ dates of<br />
birth, between the Registry Office (GRO) and the<br />
Ministry of Social Services and the Central Statistic<br />
Organisation (CSO).<br />
It is obvious that one of the most important points which is also a serious obstacle to the<br />
development of cohesive eGovernment services, is the inability of Public Services to<br />
collaborate and exchange data which are common. Indeed, different social services keep<br />
records with the same data, instead of collaborating and sharing them. Such an initiative<br />
would facilitate the creation of Databases, while at the same time it would reduce the bulk of<br />
data maintained and managed by each Authority, bringing substantial benefits in terms of<br />
productiveness and efficiency.<br />
Permanent Maintenance of Electronic Files (S. Korea)<br />
For the assurance of access, confidentiality and<br />
integrity of the electronic files (even after some<br />
decades), in any technology infrastructure<br />
environment (hardware & software), the Archives and<br />
Register National Service in Korea has promoted the<br />
development of permanent maintenance of electronic<br />
files, producing the adequate software. In this way<br />
various electronic files are permanently maintained<br />
without running the risk of being altered or changed in<br />
any way.<br />
With the creation (adoption) of similar technologies, access, confidentiality and integrity of<br />
electronic data throughout Public Administration will be ensured, as well as the use and<br />
exploitation of all the electronic files, even in case of transformation of information systems<br />
(and technologies). This could be a demand included in the design of the total of information<br />
systems which will be developed for Public Authorities.<br />
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Governmental Site Builder (Germany)<br />
The Governmental Site Builder (GSB) is a Content<br />
Management System (CMS) for the activities of the<br />
German Federal Government in the Internet, Intranet<br />
and Extranet. The GSB contains integral subsystem<br />
models for all the standard operations of a CMS. These<br />
subsystems can be adopted in their present form, be<br />
specially developed or supplement one of the already<br />
existent operations according to the needs of the service<br />
The adoption of such a software from the Greek Public Administration, will support in the best<br />
possible way the procedures of citizen service (creation of one-stop-shop in Public services,<br />
Citizen Service Centres etc.) while at the same time it will greatly contribute to the creation<br />
and provision of uniform eGovernment services.<br />
Electronic Invoicing System (Denmark)<br />
Since February 2005 all the public authorities in<br />
Denmark are obliged to receive providers’ invoices only<br />
in electronic form. In this way, all public sectors had to<br />
modify their systems and administrative procedures in<br />
order to make the transition from the handwritten to<br />
the digital management of invoices, credits and other<br />
similar transactions with the respective public<br />
providers. This specific change concerns in total 15 millions of invoices per year<br />
approximately and involves all the spectrum of public sector, from state ministries to<br />
kindergartens.<br />
The application- adoption of this system will save huge sums of money in the public sector, it<br />
will decrease the transaction time requires and will contribute in the simplification of internal<br />
procedures of the authorities, it will increase the digital content diminishing at the same time<br />
paper files. Its mandatory status guarantees the obligatory updating of public systems with<br />
the simultaneous reorganisation of administrative procedures. The adoption of this Best<br />
Practice can be associated to the realization framework set by the National System of<br />
Electronic Public Procurements.<br />
Επιχειρησιακός Σύνδεσμος (Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο)<br />
The Business Link provides small companies with full<br />
access services to the public authorities. The main goals<br />
of this link are: 1) to provide a collective source of<br />
practical advice and information for businesses<br />
(especially mass media), 2)to provide a central match<br />
point between mass media and government services.<br />
The creation of a kind of “digital citizen service centre”<br />
for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) will aid the<br />
development of entrepreneurship; will reduce the cost and time of transactions between the<br />
SMEs and the Public Services, boosting business competitiveness.<br />
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It is worth mentioning that CSCs already offer certain eServices to businesses, which are<br />
limited, however, in informative capacity.<br />
Retirement Prediction in Real Time (United Kingdom)<br />
By using this electronic service, the British citizens, after<br />
adequate identification, can come in touch with the<br />
Pension Department of the Ministry of Labour & Pensions,<br />
and electronically submit their application for IPF in case of<br />
premature retirement and receive an electronic reply of the<br />
real-time calculation.<br />
The calculation of retirement allows the citizen to reflect<br />
upon and decide the precise retirement time. It gives<br />
everyone the opportunity to have access to the same piece of information, it reduces the<br />
number of citizens who resort to public services, it increases service levels and allows the<br />
future pensioner to prepare a complete file with all the necessary data required for his<br />
retirement. In this way, mistakes made during the procedure of the issuing of the pension are<br />
eliminated.<br />
Work research services and personnel recruitment from the National<br />
Workmarket Council (Sweden)<br />
The «Job vacancy Bank» is a site through which all the vacancies<br />
which exist in the Offices of Occupational Information in Sweden,<br />
are published on the Internet. The publication of vacancies is<br />
accompanied by a series of extra interactive electronic services<br />
which concern either unemployed people or those who wish to<br />
change their career.<br />
The creation of a personnel research service via Internet gives the<br />
chance to all the interested parties (employers, employees,<br />
unemployed etc.) to communicate. The goal of this service is to reduce bureaucracy and to<br />
promote equality among the interested parties.<br />
5.4 Conclusions drawn from the research in the skills of Civil Servants in using<br />
ICT<br />
Deliverable D3: “Research in the skills of civil servants in the use of ICT” refers to the<br />
conclusions from the research done to define the level of skills of the human capital that<br />
works for Public Administration (PA) regarding ICT skills.<br />
The aim of this research was to shed light on the existing readiness of the human capital in<br />
PA in terms of ICT skills, in order to determine the number of individuals that have to be<br />
trained, the sectors in which their training should focus on, as well as the training pace<br />
required in order for the existing and new public systems to be promptly and sufficiently<br />
supported.<br />
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The research on the ICT skills of civil servants took place between December 2006 and<br />
March 2007, after a pilot study in 80 employees, 15 Information Technology<br />
<strong>Executive</strong>s and 5 Managers between 08/11 and 27/11/06.<br />
The data collection procedure was carried out using the “drop & collect” method which<br />
involves:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Telephone communication with the sample group in order to meet one specific<br />
person from the sample group<br />
Visit of the researcher to the Service in order to hand out the questionnaires to fill<br />
in and to arrange the date of submission<br />
Second visit of the researcher to the Service for the collection of the answered<br />
questionnaires<br />
The research was divided into three sub studies which referred to a different sample frame<br />
and the number of filled-in questionnaires is presented in the table that follows.<br />
Study 1<br />
Study 2<br />
Study 3<br />
Categories<br />
General Managers<br />
(Ministries and General<br />
Secretariats)<br />
It <strong>Executive</strong>s<br />
(Tax Offices, Urban Planning<br />
Offices, Ministries and General<br />
Secretariats)<br />
Servants<br />
(Tax Offices, Urban Planning<br />
Offices, Ministries and General<br />
Secretariats)<br />
Number of<br />
Answered<br />
Questionnaires<br />
43<br />
215<br />
1919<br />
With regards to the Research carried out among the employees, the distribution pattern of<br />
the participants in the different services is the one shown in the graph that follows.<br />
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77% of the sample comes from the Attica region while 23% from the rest of Greece, with<br />
Central Macedonia participating in 7% of the sample. 57% of the sample was women, 91%<br />
of whom were between 25 and 54 years old. The academic level of the sample, as shown in<br />
the following diagram, was mainly of Higher Education.<br />
5.4.1 Conclusions<br />
Despite the fact that infrastructures in information technology are at a satisfactory level, they<br />
are not extensively used by the employees. The use of such technologies is basically limited<br />
to the use of computers, necessary for the conduction of their duties. The study has proved<br />
that, (with the exception of the employees working for the Services of Tax Offices who resort<br />
to the software of the department rather than the overall facilities provided by information<br />
technologies), the use of computers is not required for the great majority of employees.<br />
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At this point, we should refer to the imminent distribution of 50.000 digital certificates<br />
(signatures) by the Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization (MIPAD)<br />
over the next few months, which may change the ways of operation and communication of<br />
Public Services. In order to realise this venture successfully, there should be a substantial<br />
number of employees with special skills in ICT, something which is quite difficult for the time<br />
being.<br />
More specifically, the study has shown that there is a certain sufficiency regarding the<br />
employees’ skills in the basic usage of a computer, of course there is a margin of<br />
improvement especially about the skills of level II (text copy, use of Word Processor for text<br />
format and writing, Internet Navigation and searching for information, sending and receiving<br />
e-mails, save – retrieve – copy and moving around files) (the median arises from a five-levels<br />
scale where 1 = «bad» and 5 = «excellent».<br />
Users e-skills per level<br />
Median Range<br />
Skills Level Ι 4.28 0.66<br />
Skills Level ΙΙ 3.99 1.61<br />
Skills Level ΙΙΙ 2.63 1.59<br />
Skills Level ΙV 2.29 1.62<br />
Σύνολο 3.30 1.02<br />
Moreover, the study has shown that there is an important deficiency in the level of Public<br />
Sector employees’ education. Several users- employees have never been taught how to use<br />
a computer, while for many of them the most significant form of education is the organisation<br />
of seminars by their service, the quality of which is doubtful.<br />
The study shows that employees are trained in order to acquire skills, without these<br />
programs to aim to a specific objective and without being part of any Strategic direction of<br />
Public Sector employees’ training effort.<br />
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An important finding of the research is the diffusion of ICT within the Public Sector, which is<br />
associated with two motives, a positive and a negative one. The positive motivation is a<br />
combination of the employees’ skills in the usage of computers as the well as of the frequency<br />
they use them. On the contrary, the negative motivation is a combination of the existing<br />
bureaucracy within the Public Sector, which reinforces mistrust towards organisational<br />
changes. This mistrust is a counter- motive in the ICT skill development, as the employees<br />
regard these skills as possible threats. It should be highlighted that any of the skills<br />
employees have remain unexploited within the general negative attitude towards ICTs.<br />
At IT Department <strong>Executive</strong>s, a crucial percentage has been noted that states that:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
They do not know/have not been taught how to use computers<br />
They do not use a computer when performing their tasks<br />
IT Department <strong>Executive</strong>s have a higher skill level than the other users, but they seem to be<br />
unable to provide sufficient technical support to the users and information systems, to connect<br />
a computer to a network as well as take some basic action such as form a presentation, use<br />
Excel sheets, etc. Furthermore, according to the study evidence, one out of two IT executives<br />
has not updated his skills in 2006 because of lack of time. Behind this answer we can realize<br />
that executives deny to leave their the everyday work for seminars that they do not<br />
appreciate.<br />
This image is not particularly representative as it depicts an important obstacle in the effort of<br />
expanding the diffusion degrr of ICTs in Public Administration. More specifically, a current<br />
information official is to operate simultaneously as:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Information Intermediate Knot for the services similar to the one he works for.<br />
This means that any problems faced by the users within a service department, but<br />
especially the way of solving these problems, is to be communicated to the users of<br />
other corresponding services, through IT <strong>Executive</strong>s, so that the Public Sector is not<br />
obliged to “reinvent itself” and<br />
Information Transmitter to the headquarters which have the comprehensive duty<br />
of maintenance and desigh of systems and applications, in order to facilitate the<br />
effort to develop user- friendly and efficient systems and applications.<br />
However, without the necessary skills, many IT <strong>Executive</strong>s do not contribute to but prevent<br />
the ICT diffusion process, which- it goes without saying- has multiple consequences.<br />
Lastly, regarding the General Managers, probably the most important conclusion that can be<br />
drawn is that the skills they have in information technologies compared to the ones of simple<br />
users at all levels are somewhat inferior. The study has shown that the General Managers’<br />
skills in ICT have not been certified. This is somewhat expected since General Managers are<br />
usually older than the average age of Public Sector employees (over 50 years of age 71% of<br />
them). (We have to state here that the small number of remarks we collected might not give<br />
us a representative picture).<br />
In addition, despite the fact they acknowledge how important computers are in everyday work,<br />
and they urge their subordinates to use computers, they do not assess highly the importance<br />
of computer skills for their career. We must state here that a big number of General Managers<br />
consider that their Service is focused towards citizens, assist in complains and problems<br />
solving and believe that his Service is positive toward organizational and administrative<br />
changes.<br />
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5.4.2 Recommendations<br />
According to the conclusions of the study the formation of adequate conditions which will<br />
favour the adoption of ICTs by the employees is totally required.<br />
This can be achieved firstly, with the prompt participation of information official in the design<br />
of new and exploitation of the existing systems. At a second level, it is essential to involve civil<br />
employees in the benefits that can be obtained by the extensive use of information<br />
technologies and how the latter can contribute to attaining the aims of their country’s Digital<br />
Convergence.<br />
However, in the effort of diffusing ICTs a number of issues comes up which have to be dealt<br />
with seriously, even if they have a higher degree of difficulty.<br />
The first priority in this particular measure group has to be the cultural re- orientation, a quite<br />
difficult task for any organisation, much more for the Public Sector. An overwhelming majority<br />
of contemporary studies in business administration conclude that an efficient organisation has<br />
to have strong traits from all sectors of business culture. Greek Public Sector, seems to miss<br />
business culture as an organization and is propose to be developed elements of:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
The Bureaucratic culture – that is the existence of named procedures of action<br />
taking and design to face unexpected/ unpredicted events through a complete<br />
operational plan- the so- called “operations blueprinting” and<br />
The efficiency culture – evaluation of efficiency through standard productivity,<br />
efficiency targets and the assumption of repair measures in cases of target deviation.<br />
The second direction towards which the Public Sector is recommended to move is the<br />
assurance of the appropriate training of its employees. Even if the selection should be made<br />
among people who are familiar with ICTs and have the necessary skills, these employees<br />
should be regularly trained as required by the continuous updates in ICTs.<br />
Finally, an important decision, that should be made on political level, is the selection and<br />
training of those employees which are going to cover executive positions in the IT Sector of<br />
Public Administration. This selection should be make thoughout people who have knowledge<br />
of ICT and have all the necessary qualifications in order to deserve these positions.<br />
Furthermore, these people have to be trained systematically since the constant changes in<br />
ICT demand continuous refreshment of knowledge.<br />
It would be advisable to include fragments of the above recommendations (which couldbbe a<br />
project for developing a management system of the training process and of the training<br />
material, targeting the upgrade of Public Administration through the support of training<br />
programs implemented by the “National Centre of Public Administration and Local<br />
Governments” in the framework of a blended learning model) of for specialized training<br />
programs, in order to achieve the best possible result.<br />
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5.5 Conclusions drawn from Indicators for the quantification of the Public<br />
Administration & eGovernment Secretariat General objectives with regard to<br />
eGovernment<br />
The aim of deliverable D6 : “Indicators for the quantification of the Public Administration<br />
& eGovernment Secretariat General Objectives with regard to eGovernment” was the<br />
formation of a measurement framework for the quantification of the national strategic<br />
objectives, as they are defined in Operation Programme “Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013” for the 4th Programme Period. The ulterior<br />
aim was that the proposed measurement framework to constitute an official measurement<br />
and evaluation tool of these strategic objectives, seen within the framework of eGovernment<br />
as a basic pattern for the modernization of Public Administration.<br />
The proposed measurement framework is relevant to the measurement framework included<br />
in “Digital Strategy 2006 – 2013”, the indicators analyzed in “i2010 eGovernment Action<br />
Plan: Accelerating eGovernment in Europe for the Benefit of All” as well as with the<br />
proposed indicators of the project evaluating impact of eGovernment “eGovernment<br />
Economics Project “ (eGEP).<br />
the measurement framework is innovative because:<br />
A. a person in charge for observing each indicator is designated<br />
B. Indicators measure impacts and benefits (and not input / output that the vast<br />
majority was measuring till todat)<br />
C. The Measurement Framework includes Indicators focused on citizens and<br />
businesses.<br />
The Measurement Framework was drawn, on the basis of six (6) axes, which on one side<br />
create the outline of Public Sector’s ‘Administrative Capacity’ and on the other side describe<br />
the basic framework of the State’s modernization. These six (6) axes are:<br />
1. Openness<br />
2. Services to Citizens<br />
3. Services to Businesses<br />
4. Services for Public Administration<br />
5. Human Capital<br />
6. Improvement of Organizational and Technological Architectures<br />
For the creation of the measurement framework for quantification of the GSPA objectives<br />
with regard to eGovernment, principal and secondary indicators were set. In particular,<br />
indicators of A, B and C levels were set:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Α’ Level Indicators: These are complex indicators, few in their numbers and they<br />
usually demonstrate impact/ benefit. For their estimation, B’ level indicators<br />
estimation is required. The A’ level indicators have great significance mainly at<br />
strategic level and have particular ‘political significance’ since their measurement<br />
concerns the general political planning of Public Administration.<br />
Β’ Level Indicators: These indicators are complex in their majority and come from<br />
the estimation of C’ level indicators. Most of them express % and the outcome of<br />
their measurement is particularly useful in the design of Governmental policies.<br />
C’ Level Indicators: These are simple indicators that come directly from the<br />
analysis of primary researches’ results. Most of them express quantity and the<br />
outcome of their measurement is used for the estimation of B’ Level Indicators. On<br />
their own, they are not of strategic importance, therefore for most of them the place<br />
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of value-objective is meaningless, but they are the necessary structural elements of<br />
A’ and B’ level indicators.<br />
Η ποσοτικοποίηση των εθνικών στρατηγικών στόχων αναφορικά με το eGovernment και η<br />
μέτρησή τους (μέσω του συστήματος δεικτών) συμβάλει στην ανάπτυξη και παρακολούθηση<br />
της εξέλιξης της Ηλεκτρονικής Διακυβέρνησης στην Ελλάδα, καθώς:<br />
The quantification of the National Strategic Objectives with regard to eGovernment (via the<br />
measurement framework) contributes to the development and observation of eGovernment<br />
evolution in Greece, as:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
It enhances the deficiency areas in Public Administration and contributes to action<br />
design for the acceleration in the development of eGovernment in Greece.<br />
It informs in a overall, cohesive and coherent way all the interested parties-<br />
Authorities<br />
It allows comparisons on eGovernement development issues between Greece and<br />
the other European Countries<br />
It measures the national strategy concerning eGovernment producing results which<br />
are visible in the measurement framework.<br />
The progress of Public Administration is monitored in the sectors related to<br />
eGovernment and its performance is then compared in relation to the financing it<br />
receives for similar actions.<br />
5.5.1 Conclusions<br />
The Measurement Framework which is recommended is actually the first structured attempt<br />
to measure eGovernment Strategic Objectives in Greece. The exigencies of this system for<br />
data concerning the whole of Public Administration are such that require the realisation of<br />
adequate action for their fulfilment. Given the fact that, Public Administration does not dispose<br />
of data collection mechanisms or most of the data available are not updated regularly, action<br />
taking is required in this sector.<br />
Till today, there was no clear view of the development of eGovernment in Greece, the user<br />
acceptance, its effectiveness and quality. The Measurement Framework, besides the<br />
quantification of the Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
strategic objectives, covers the absence of a monitoring system observing eGovernment<br />
progress in Greece. It is a systematic effort to create a clear picture regarding eGovernment,<br />
the use of eGovernment services from citizens and businesses, eGovernment contribution to<br />
Governmental policies concerning quality of life, improvement of productivity and<br />
competitiveness of businesses, development of Public Administrations’ Human Resources etc.<br />
5.5.2 Recommendations<br />
For the measurement of indicators, a collection of data is needed, data that today<br />
does not exist (at least as complete as it is required by a measurement framework). This<br />
implies that for the finding of the base values and the monitoring of indicators, in time, at<br />
least the following actions have to be taken:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Measurement of the transaction time and cost between citizens/businesses and Public<br />
Administration, as well as between public Agencies.<br />
Update of Public Administration’s quantified data<br />
Update of Human Resource’s Data<br />
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The proposed processes are shown and analysed in chapter 7 of the correspondent<br />
deliverable.<br />
Setting as a Secretariat General Objective the reinforcement of transparency and without<br />
ignoring the effort made in this sector, the certified publication on the Internet of the complete<br />
organizational chart of all Authorities defining duties and communication details for each<br />
public servant is absolutely required (there is a relevant Indicator for the quantification of the<br />
Public Administration & eGovernment Secretariat General Objectives with regard to<br />
eGovernment). Taking a step further, the creation of a personnel catalogue in every Public<br />
Authority is important, defining the employee’s position and a brief duty description.<br />
Lastly, due to the extent of the system, it is recommended its pilot operation in a Sector if<br />
Public Administration<br />
where a) there is a bulk of crucial data available and b) in short time<br />
small- scale actions will be implemented from which data will be collected not available<br />
presently.<br />
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6 eGovernment Opportunities and Lessons Learned<br />
The Project ”The use of Information and Communication Technologies in the Public<br />
Sector (eGovernment)” tries to chart a quite significant part of infrastructures for<br />
eGovernment development in Greece, which include Back office systems, human capital e-<br />
skills in the Public Sector, availability of Strategic Design. At the same time, it is innovative as<br />
for the first time:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
A study is carried out for skill measurement in information technology within public<br />
sector employees (in depth and precision)<br />
A cohesive and coherent measurement framework system is designed for the<br />
quantification of national secretariat general objectives regarding eGovernment<br />
An attempt to depict the current situation is made concerning the systems and the<br />
applications of Back office in a subgroup of Public Sector Authorities<br />
In order to express the recommendations and the steps to be taken so as to develop<br />
eGovernment in Greece, it is advisable to collect more data, apart from the deliverables<br />
conclusions. Specifically in the next paragraphs, evidence concerning eGovernment<br />
dynamics in Greece are presented according to the SWOT analysis method: strong points are<br />
highlighted, weak points are spotted so as to be improved, opportunities and threats are<br />
assessed.<br />
In conclusion, the recommendations concerning eGovernment in Greece are made after<br />
careful consideration of the data collected during the implementation of the deliverables as<br />
well as the examination of Opinion Leaders views.<br />
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6.1 SWOT Analysis<br />
In this paragraph, we try to analyse eGovernment impact in Greece by using the SWOT<br />
analysis method (Analysis of Strong points, Weak points, Opportunities and Threats).<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Strong points<br />
Management of the Public Sector ICT<br />
Projects by the same Contracting<br />
Authority<br />
Active participation of “Observatory<br />
for Information Society in Greece” in<br />
the Strategy development regarding<br />
eGovernment<br />
o Existence of Public Sector<br />
executiveswith e-skills and sufficiency<br />
in design and development<br />
eGovernment in Greece<br />
o Political will for eGovernment<br />
development in Greece<br />
Opportunities<br />
o Exploitation of international<br />
experience- there is no need to<br />
reinvent the wheel<br />
o<br />
Exploitation of European Financing in<br />
eGovernment development<br />
o Exploitation of technologically<br />
advanced systems for development<br />
of eGovernment applications<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Weak points<br />
Legislative Framework that has not<br />
been adopted to eGovernment needs<br />
Lack of coordination between Public<br />
Sector Authorities for the<br />
implementation of projects which<br />
follow common strategy<br />
Design of Project not concerning the<br />
Public Administration routine<br />
o Receptive culture to adopt<br />
eGovernment in the Public Sector<br />
o<br />
The necessary skills are not available<br />
among public sector employees<br />
regarding ICT use<br />
Threats<br />
o Long timeplans of eGovernment<br />
projects<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Resistance of the existing system to<br />
the changes brought upon with<br />
eGovernment<br />
development<br />
(Resistance to change)<br />
Implementation of projects based on<br />
pompous plans which do no keep<br />
pace with the existing resources in<br />
skills and infrastructures as well as<br />
with the general culture of Public<br />
Sector Authorities<br />
SWOT Analysis Table<br />
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6.2 Useful conclusions drawn from the implementation of complementary<br />
deliverables<br />
Apart from the conclusions and the data occurring after the implementation and conduction<br />
of deliverables, some “lessons learned” derive from them concerning issues not exclusively<br />
related to the core of the project, but to its environment (such as culture, authorities<br />
organization etc.). This information has been fragmentally noted down and is presented in<br />
this unit. It has been proved that:<br />
► The country’s policies have not yet reached the public employees level<br />
One of the basic parameters for successful administration in any kind of Institution (Private of<br />
Public) is objectives diffusion, strategic choices and the Authority’s targeting to the personnel<br />
working within it. They should be aware of the objectives and the common vision. In fact, the<br />
objectives and strategic choices of an Authority or a business involve all the people working<br />
for them and not only <strong>Executive</strong>s. If the personnel within an Authority is not aware of all the<br />
above, then they work in a sterile environment, they do not take part in the effort and a<br />
negative attitude is developed towards any change attempt.<br />
One of the main points observed was the fact that public employees are not aware of their<br />
country’s strategy and the way in which they can take part in its implementation. Specifically,<br />
it was noted that they were ignorant of the “The Operational Programme «Strengthening the<br />
Administrative Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013”, one of the most important texts<br />
of Public Sector strategy. This means, that those that have to work and contribute to the<br />
implementation of the specific Operational Programme have no idea about its content.<br />
► There is no organized records about Back Office systems in Public<br />
Authority Authorities<br />
During the implementation of the project the recording of the progress achieved regarding the<br />
modernization of Public Administration was attempted, in relation to Back Office systems and<br />
applications.<br />
It was noted that there was no systematic and organised recording of the data concerning<br />
Back Office Systems. The recording of data is mainly based on experience and general<br />
knowledge of some executives. In some cases, there were maintenance contracts, system<br />
contracts and application description contracts. Even in these cases, the recording was<br />
neither complete nor updated.<br />
► Each Authority is advancing autonomously<br />
During the implementation of the project it was noticed that every Authority of the Public<br />
Sector constitutes an “islet” of autonomous development in infrastructures and human<br />
resources without a central design and planning<br />
This observation derives from the fact that both Back Office applications and personnel<br />
eSkills vary significantly in terms of quality and completion from one Public Sector Authority to<br />
the other. In no case was there an Authority to submit a plan on which to base its course of<br />
action for development of Back Office systems and training. Consequently, this is the main<br />
reason why authorities are not controlled as to whether or not it has achieved the goals set.<br />
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► Lack of communication for the acquisition of data from public sector<br />
executives<br />
Lastly, during the implementation of the project, the Contractor came in touch with a number<br />
of executives, for back office recording reasons or the conduction of the study for public<br />
employees’ eSkills. The fact that, in order to arrange an appointment so as to ask for some<br />
information, the communication attempts were more than six, while in most cases<br />
communication was not possible, is typical of the situation.<br />
6.3 Opinion Leaders views<br />
Within the process of recommendation planning for eGovernment Development in Greece, we<br />
came in touch with a series of public and private senior executives who are prominent in the<br />
field of production and implementation of strategic targeting concerning eGovernment<br />
Development in Greece.<br />
Their views are incorporated in the content of the next chapter. In the following paragraphs<br />
there is extensive reference to the general guidelines considered to be the most important<br />
ones in order to achieve the modernization of the Public Sector.<br />
6.3.1 Different eState development speed<br />
Electronic services in Greece are developed at a frantic pace, depending on the executives’<br />
skills in each Authority, their Administration will and in general their environment.<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Initiative assumption regarding the convergence of the realised projects is<br />
required aiming to the systematic development of eGovernment services in relation<br />
to infrastructures development.<br />
Careful steps must be made, even if their results are not spectacular, which will<br />
contribute greatly to eGovernment Development in Greece.<br />
6.3.2 Interoperability: the key to success<br />
The main factor of all efforts in eGovernment Development is interoperability of systems and<br />
applications. The development of interoperability level is the milestone for eGovernment. The<br />
system interaction and data exchange, the creation of common databases and in general the<br />
initiatives taken on the interoperability of the systems is the key to the development of<br />
eGovernment services.<br />
6.3.3 Process Re-engineering: With the introduction of new eGovernment<br />
services work procedures change<br />
Systems and application development and services supply is the first of eGovernment<br />
Development features. The second is the change of the traditional work model and its<br />
adaptation to the new demands created by the new attitude in the workplace through the<br />
implementation of eGovernment Services. So, the main prerequisite for the systems to<br />
function after their development is to produce the expected benefits, is to redesign the<br />
procedures and not to attempt to adapt the already existent to a technological environment.<br />
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6.3.4 Motives: encourage all parties to take part in the effort<br />
Motivation should be given to all interested parties (employees, citizens, businesses) to<br />
assume an active role in the effort to develop eGovernment and not to remain passive<br />
receivers of what is happening.<br />
Such incentives could be: the financing of computer acquisition by the citizens, the disposal of<br />
e-mail accounts, awards to the most friendly-user public services, reduction of the<br />
transactions cost when conducted via eGovernment Services.<br />
6.3.5 High Level Position for IT <strong>Executive</strong>s<br />
Hierarchy in Public Administration suffers the lack of IT <strong>Executive</strong>s in high level positions. The<br />
creation of such positions will attribute a special dynamic in the effort to develop<br />
eGovernment, since in this way political will is going to be supported by technological means.<br />
In parallel, knowledge Kernels could be established in every Authority in order to admit ICT in<br />
Public Sector. A position of a Managing Information Director to every authority, as well as<br />
selective position which will come under the Minister is an example of the drastic changes<br />
that must be made in Public Administration.<br />
6.3.6 eSkills Development of Human Capital<br />
The development of eSkills within the human capital is the single way towards eGovernment<br />
Development in Greece. The combination of motivation, training and the association of<br />
promotion with knowledge will improve Human Capital Skills, which is one of the main factors<br />
of eGovernment development, given the fact that people are the users of the systems and<br />
they can provide citizen and business services.<br />
Private Sector Participation<br />
The incapacity of Public Sector to function in a direct, flexible and prompt way, for the reasons<br />
previously mentioned, poses a number of obstacles in eGovernment Development in Greece.<br />
For this reason, cooperation with private authorities is recommended (in the form of Public-<br />
Private Partnership) for eGovernment Projects implementation. Such projects may concern<br />
the support of data centres which are required for the creation and management of digital<br />
data, the development, management and maintenance of portals etc.<br />
Private Participation will act in the interest of everybody since in this way Public<br />
Administration:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Takes advantage of the accumulated knowledge and the advanced skills available in<br />
the private sector, without having to “reinvent the wheel”<br />
Does not invest in infrastructures, but makes use of infrastructures and means<br />
available in the private sector (and thus avoids maintenance and replacement costs<br />
etc.)<br />
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7 Proposals – Next Steps for the development of eGovernment in<br />
Greece<br />
Based on the conclusions and proposals of the above paragraphs, an “action map” is shaped<br />
and proposed, related to the development of eGovernment in Greece. This map includes<br />
actions grouped in four categories:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Group 1: Actions Concerning Strategic Convergence and Publicity<br />
Group 2: Actions Concerning Human Resource Development<br />
Group 3: Actions Concerning the Development of Infrastructure that Supports<br />
eGovernment<br />
Group 4: Horizontal (Parallel) Actions<br />
7.1 GROUP 1: Actions Concerning Strategic Convergence and Publicity<br />
The Strategic Convergence of eGovernment actions is a fundamental component of the<br />
development of eGovernment in national level. It is time that actions concerning<br />
eGovernment should follow the National Strategy and not isolated / fragmentary development<br />
choices of eGovernment services by each Body. These actions will empower:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
The diffusions of knowledge, originated by the studies implemented for Public Sector<br />
Τη διαμόρφωση πλαισίου ευθυγράμμισης με την εθνική στρατηγική για την<br />
Ηλεκτρονική Διακυβέρνηση<br />
The introduction of a framework of alignment with the National Strategy about<br />
eGovernment<br />
The actions which are included in Group 1, are analyzed in the following paragraphs.<br />
7.1.1 Action 1: Enactment of Publicity Rules concerning eGovernment Projects<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Enactment of Publicity Rules concerning eGovernment<br />
Projects<br />
Enforcement of transparency and reporting of Public<br />
Administration.<br />
IT <strong>Executive</strong>s working in Public Sector<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
MIPAD (through the new Operational Program which as been form respectively to the 4 th<br />
Programme Period) sets as a main objective the advancement of Openess through the<br />
reinforcement of transparency and reporting within the actions of public authorities, the<br />
promotion of the active participation of citizens and social agreement on the decision of<br />
Public Administration Bodies concerning public interest, on ensuring a fair and equal<br />
treatment of citizen and business from the Public Administration in its range.<br />
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eGovernment project that are implemented, contributing to the objective of openness.<br />
The results of these project do not concern only the Public Authority that implemented<br />
the project, but the whole community including citizens and its businesses. In order to<br />
succeed on active participation from citizens, it is proposed to introduce and maintain<br />
publicity rules for all eGovernment project (studies or Information Systems development).<br />
Activities that should be included in this action are:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Decision of the Government and notification to the interested Institutions<br />
Introduction and standardization of publicity rules (depending on the type of<br />
project, the budget, breadth of final beneficiaries etc). Appointment of the<br />
Institution (Depository) that will be in charge for the observation of publicity<br />
rules. The Observatory for Information Society is an Organization which<br />
could undertake this role.<br />
7.1.2 Action 2: Formation of Contracts and Studies Repositoty in all Public Sector<br />
Institutions.<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Formation of Contracts and Studies Repository in all<br />
Public Sector Institutions<br />
Enforcement of transparency and reporting of Public<br />
Administration.<br />
IT <strong>Executive</strong>s working in Public Sector<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
In the effort for increase of transparency but also communication of knowledge that is<br />
accumulated in each Institution of Public Sector, the formation of a Repository in each<br />
Institution is proposed, where all eGovernment studies will be gathered, the deliverables<br />
of all projects, as well as the contracts for implementation and support of all Information<br />
Technology (IT) systems.<br />
The repository can be formed without demanding large amount of revenues of Human<br />
Resource (HR) effort. Indicative, it is mentioned that a small amount of time (about 20%<br />
of the working day) of one servant and the usage of a respective application for the<br />
management<br />
of the repository is enough.<br />
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7.1.3 Action 3: Formation of Central Repository concerning eGovernment Studies<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Formation of Central Repository concerning<br />
eGovernment Studies<br />
Enforcement of transparency and reporting of Public<br />
Administration.<br />
IT <strong>Executive</strong>s working in Public Sector<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
Additionally to the previous action, is also proposed the formation of a Central<br />
Repository of Studies which are implemented on behalf of Public Sector Bodies. The<br />
action will include:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
The selection of the Institution that will function as Central Repository<br />
Design of processes that are followed between the various<br />
Administration and the Repository<br />
The design of infrastructure needed (Hardware, Software, etc)<br />
The outline of qualifications of executives that will staff the Repository<br />
Bodies of Public<br />
The Observatory for Information Society is an organization which could undertake<br />
the role of Central Repository<br />
7.1.4 Action 4: Delimitation of Public Authority Model Guide<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Delimitation of Public Authority Model Guide<br />
Re-engineering and modernization of Public Administration<br />
<strong>Executive</strong>s of General Secretariats<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
As mentioned in paragraph 6.2, every Ministry is operates and developes autonomously.<br />
This has as a result that we are driven to a Central Public Administration where<br />
Institutions functions with “different speeds”. Apart from the need of harmonization of<br />
IT systems between the Ministries, is also required the adoption of common directions<br />
in various subjects, which are called to face a lot of Institutions simultaneously.<br />
The creation of a Guide about the “Exemplary Ministry” in organizational, operational and<br />
technological<br />
level, will offer a very important tool to Public Administration which will be<br />
used on order to re-organize and modernize Public Sector Institutions. Such a Guide<br />
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sho uld include among other:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
basic principle for structuring and the degree of analysis of the flow chart of a<br />
Ministry<br />
Process Description<br />
Job Descriptions<br />
The minimum requirements for ICT infrastructure together with the basic back –<br />
office systems that are required<br />
Topics concerning the way of providing services citizens and businesses<br />
For the creation of the Guide, it is required to exploit the European and International<br />
experience, regarding structures, organization, the degree of process standardization etc.<br />
A similar Guide would have been helpful to be created for other Institutions for example<br />
Hospitals, schools etc.<br />
7.2 GROUP 2: Actions Concerning Human Resource Development<br />
7.2.1 Action 5: Motivation to Human Resources to develop skills for ICT usage<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Motivation to Human Resources to develop skills for ICT<br />
usage<br />
Increase of the percentage of the personnel that uses ICT.<br />
<strong>Executive</strong>s of General Secretariats, Ministry of Interior, Public<br />
Administration and Decentralization (MIPAD)<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), National Center for Public Administration and Local<br />
Government<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
Motivation of Human Resources to develop skills for ICT usage does not stop to the<br />
designing and implementation of training programs. It would be positive if the public<br />
servants would be motivated in order to start using Information Technology (IT) and they<br />
would realize the importance of IT role today, so they would change their attitude<br />
towards IT and use IT in their duties extensively.<br />
In this way they will realize, they will develop and they will maintain the skills that they<br />
have already acquire. Indicative, is proposed the use of official e-mail in their every day<br />
flow of duties for all public servants in Public Sector (for getting<br />
updates, announcements,<br />
requesting days off etc) which will constitute a motive for the use of ICT. In this way<br />
public servants will become “participants” of digital society.<br />
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7.2.2 Action 6: Measurement of e-skills and creation of skills profile for Public<br />
Servants<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Measurement of e-skills and creation of skills profile for<br />
Public Servants<br />
Connection of skills and job needs.<br />
<strong>Executive</strong>s of General Secretariats, Ministry of Interior, Public<br />
Administration and Decentralization (MIPAD)<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), National Center for Public Administration and Local<br />
Government<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
The creation of profiles concerning skills means that every servant, depending on his<br />
job and his duties, must have a minimum of certified skills in ICT usage (e-skills). For this<br />
purpose, it is proposed to create profiles, which in conjunction with the survey for the<br />
measurement of servants’ current skills, will bring out the necessary elements for the<br />
design of actions concerning training programs.<br />
It is also mentioned here that e-skills measurement will give data for the corresponding<br />
indicators which are included in the proposed measurement framework (Deliverable P6).<br />
7.2.3 Action 7: Development of Skills (Training) of Human Resources<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Development of Skills (Training) of Human Resources<br />
The continues development of ICT skills of Human Resources<br />
<strong>Executive</strong>s of General Secretariats, Ministry of Interior, Public<br />
Administration and Decentralization (MIPAD)<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), National Center for Public Administration and Local<br />
Government, General Secretariats<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
The development of Public Servants skills through the design and implementation of<br />
appropriate training programs is an important parameter for eGovernment development<br />
in Greece. Training programmas have to be designed in such a way that will cover<br />
completely the needs for skills in the next 3 years. In combination with action 6<br />
(Measurement of e-skills and creation of skills profile for Public Servants) the right<br />
training programs have to be designed the objective of which will be the acquirement of<br />
the right skills from Public Servants in relation with their professional profile. Te above,<br />
have to be implemented is collaboration with the “National Center for Public<br />
Administration and Local Government”, which implements projects that are related with<br />
the actions described in this paragraph.<br />
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7.2.4 Action 8: Development of Professional Profile for Information Technology<br />
(IT) Departments<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Development of Professional Profile for Information<br />
Technology (IT) Departments<br />
The continuous development of ICT skills of IT Departments<br />
executives<br />
IT <strong>Executive</strong>s of Ministries and General Secretariats<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), National Center for Public Administration and Local<br />
Government, General Secretariats<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
The development of professional profile of IT departments, is identified with the upgrade<br />
of their role. Training of the personnel, in Project Management, Information Management<br />
etc, as well as the upgrade of the role of IT Departments will contribute to the<br />
improvement and development of their professional profile.<br />
For this purpose interventions are required in legislation, structures and processes of<br />
Public Sector Bodies, as well as the implementation of training programs which can be<br />
placed between the training programs that will be implemented in the framework of<br />
Action 9.<br />
The executives of the Superior structures of Public Sector Bodies, with IT executives is<br />
essential. The enactment of IT executive positions in the superior hierarchy (e.g.<br />
positions directly under the Minister) and the corresponding development of structures in<br />
the hierarchy, will allow to the Political Authority (which is willing to proceed with the<br />
development of eGovernment) to talk in a formal way with Policy Makers which are able<br />
to support eGovernment development.<br />
The enactment of positions which will be staffed by executives of IT Department (e.g.<br />
Chief Information Officer and General IT Manager) will cover the organizational gap that<br />
exist today (participation of executives that have the responsibility to develop IT<br />
infrastructure of Public Sector Bodies) and will assist the development of “digital culture”,<br />
the design and programming of IT projects etc.<br />
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7.3 GROUP 3: Actions Concerning the Development of Infrastructure that<br />
Supports eGovernment<br />
7.3.1 Action 9: Five year Plan for the replacement of Proprietary Applications<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Five year Plan for the replacement of Proprietary<br />
Applications<br />
Modernization of Information Systems (IS)<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Operational Programme «Digital Convergence»<br />
The development of eGovernment systems demands a cohesive and modern<br />
technological background in all Bodies where systems will interconnect, not only between<br />
them, but also with other external systems. It is well known that the re-engineering of<br />
back-office systems is extremely important not only internaly to Public Sector<br />
Organization (reduction of cost, increase of productivity and flexibility, simplification of<br />
organizational structures, increase of interoperability, improvement of working conditions<br />
in Public Sector) but also in communication with users (decrease of actual presence of<br />
citizens, faster, cheaper and easy to access services, decrease of the number of errors,<br />
increase of transparence and Public Sector openness, increase of development<br />
opportunities). The proposed actions (Action 4: “Delimitation of Public Authority Model<br />
Guide” and Action 11 “Enrichment of Back-office systems with additional modules”) shows<br />
the importance of Information system usage in organizational support of Public Sector<br />
Bodies.<br />
In this action, because of the large number of proprietary applications that still operate<br />
and cover a variety of need in Public Sector Institutions, a number of replacement<br />
activities are proposed in order these applications to be incorporated in Back-office<br />
systems.<br />
In particular, it is proposed that each Body (and especially Ministries) must be obliged to<br />
elaborate a five year plan for the replacement of all proprietary applications.<br />
This action, includes among other:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
complete and analytical recording of all systems operating in each Public Sector<br />
Body<br />
The configuration of alternative proposals for the replacement and incorporation<br />
of proprietary application in back-office systems<br />
The cost and time of replacement<br />
Replacement Actionsof proprietary application<br />
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7.3.2 Action 10: Digital Content Creation<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Digital Content Creation<br />
Improvement of services provided from Public Administrations’<br />
Portals<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Operational Programme «Digital Convergence»<br />
One of the most important problems that Bodies face when they attempt to provide<br />
eGovernment services is the limited amount of digital content which is also of pure<br />
quality. The development of eGovernment demands the existence of digital content which<br />
today does not exist, or it is very limited.<br />
The content of this action is the creation of multilingual content. It is assumed that<br />
content in Greek and English must be published in portals and the translation in other<br />
languages given the special peculiarities of services.<br />
The content which will be created must be also available through the special pages which<br />
are addressed to people with special needs and they are compatible with W3C standard.<br />
The content of Portals is created, is revised and evaluated constantly. All portals should<br />
evaluated in annual basis about their content (is it updated? Is it exhaustive?)<br />
7.3.3 Action 11: Enrichment of Back-office systems with additional modules<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Enrichment of Back-office systems with additional<br />
modules<br />
Modernization of Information Systems<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Operational Programme «Digital Convergence»<br />
Back office systems that are operating today, concern mainly the financial management<br />
of the Institutions, since the specialized applications concern the integration of the day to<br />
day work of public servants. Given the above as a fact, the development of additional<br />
modules supporting eGovernment services. These systems are CRM Systems (Citizen<br />
Relationship Management), HRMS (Human Resource Managmenet) Systems, Workflow<br />
Management (WMS) Systems, Document Management (DMS) Systems etc<br />
The use of CRM Systems allows Public Administration to provide urgent and reliable<br />
services to citizens and businesses, since public servants can use all the relative<br />
information that is needed in order to deal with requests.<br />
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The use of HRMS systems allows Public Administration Bodies to manage all information<br />
concerning their Human Resources (like compensation, training, promotions etc)<br />
Finally, the use of WMS and DMS Systems, allows the organized, methodological and<br />
efficient search, gathering and distribution of the digital content of the organization.<br />
The action includes the study of the necessity of the development of Back office systems<br />
and the design of the associated projects.<br />
7.3.4 Action 12: Development of Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS)<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Development of Human Resource Management Systems<br />
(HRMS)<br />
Modernization of Information Systems<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Operational Programme «Digital Convergence»<br />
The development and installation of HRMS systems, offers an important tool for the<br />
development and management of Human Resources in Public Sector. HRMS Systems,<br />
beside the management capabilities of the daily routine of Human Resource<br />
(compensation, access control etc) comprises an important tool concerning the<br />
management of development and training of Human Resources (see also actions 5 and<br />
7). The operation of HRMS systems will create the basis for better management of<br />
training programs of public servants, management of skills profiles, objectives etc<br />
7.3.5 Action 13: Development of national user authentication system (eID)<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Development of national user authentication system<br />
(eID)<br />
Improvement of Citizens and Businesses Accessibility to<br />
eGovernment<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), Citizens, Businesses<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD)<br />
Operational Programme «Digital Convergence»<br />
Today, in the framework of eGovernment empowerment, a national user authentication<br />
system is developed The systems will allow the State from the one side and citizens and<br />
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businesses from the other to carry out transactions within a secure user authentication<br />
environment.<br />
The development of this system, is not a guarantee for the success of this attempt. The<br />
authentication system is something new in the everyday reconciliation of citizens and<br />
businesses with the State. It demands the creation of a positive climate in order citizens,<br />
businesses and public servants to adopt it.<br />
The promotion of the system (advertisements, training of public servants etc), the<br />
establishment of conditions that promote the usage of the system (e.g. compulsory usage<br />
of the system for transactions between Public Administration Bodies) and also the<br />
continuous support and upgrating of the service will comprise the basic supporting and<br />
adopting pylons.<br />
7.3.6 Action 14: Development of eProcurement System for Local Governments<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Development of eProcurement System for Local<br />
Governments<br />
The reinforcement of transparency in Public Administration<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), Local Governments<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD)<br />
Operational Programme «Digital Convergence»<br />
The implementation of the project “Development of the Nationals eProcurement Systems”<br />
bring to completion one of the most important eGovernment projects in Greece. The<br />
implementation of this projects changes “everything” in a very important sector of Public<br />
Administration.<br />
After the implementation of this system, the development of a corresponding system for<br />
Local Governments considered advisable. In this way we will have:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
IT support of the tendering procedures for Local Government targeting to speedup<br />
and simplify the whole procedure.<br />
Support for new practices in Public Sector Procurement (framework agreements,<br />
e-auctions).<br />
The improvement of IT infrastructure of Local Authorities and the adoption of<br />
new technologies and practices.<br />
The creation of an “open” procurement system, accessible from all participants in<br />
the procurement process<br />
The improvement of communication between Local Authorities and suppliers<br />
concerning public procurements.<br />
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7.4 GROUP 4: Horizontal (Parallel) Actions<br />
7.4.1 Action 15: Measurement of the Initial Indicators Value of the Measurement<br />
Framework<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Measurement of the Initial Indicators Value of the<br />
Measurement Framework<br />
Reinforcement of the effectiveness of Public Administration<br />
throughout the adoption of a Measurement Framework<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD)<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD)<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
Calculation of Transaction Time (G2C, G2B, G2G)<br />
This action includes the calculation of transaction time between citizens, businesses Public<br />
Administration Bodies, with other Public Administration Bodies. Ti project will be<br />
implemented for a number of critical transaction which concern services provided to<br />
citizens and businesses and are provided both the electronic and classic way. This action<br />
includes:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Mapping of transactions which will are included in calculations<br />
Calculation of transaction time the service is provided using the classic way<br />
Calculation of transaction time the service is provided using electronic means<br />
Measurement of Quantitative Data concerning Public Administration<br />
This action concerns the recording of quantitative elements which are included in the<br />
measurement framework for the measurement of the national strategic objectives<br />
concerning eGovernment. These elements are:<br />
o<br />
Total value of procurements that are entirely carried out online concerning the entire<br />
Public Sector (Ministries, General Secretariats, Regions, First and Second level of<br />
Local Authorities etc)<br />
o Total Number of Public Administration’s Processes and Number of Public<br />
Administration’s Processes that are fully traceable on the web<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Number of policy drafts and Number of policy drafts online for consultation<br />
Number of Governmental websites providing platform for digital interaction and<br />
consultation (online forum, e-petitioning etc)<br />
Number of public agencies publishing online full organizational chart with indication of<br />
responsibility and contact information for each public servant<br />
Number of Law available online<br />
Number of citizens’ recorded complaints<br />
Total number of<br />
Public Sector’s services for citizens and number of Services which<br />
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o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
available online<br />
Number of Public Administration web sites which are compliant with W3C<br />
standard<br />
Number of businesses that use the internet for complete online transactions with<br />
Public Afministration hence saving time<br />
Number of PCs that Public Sector’s Agencies obtained during the last year<br />
Total Number of PCs in Public Sector’s Agencies<br />
Number of Bodies that support the use of Electronic Identification (eID)<br />
Measurement of Human Resource Data<br />
The project concerns the recording of human resource elements which are included in the<br />
measurement framework for the measurement of the national strategic objectives<br />
concerning eGovernment. These elements are:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Total number of public servants<br />
Management <strong>Executive</strong>s/ IT Managers’/ Employees average level of IT skills (See<br />
also action 9)<br />
Number of employees that are trained<br />
Number of Public Servants with access to a personal computer<br />
Number of Public Servants with internet access<br />
Number of Public Servants with a personal electronic mail account (e-mail) from<br />
their Service<br />
7.4.2<br />
Action 16: Set of Target for the entire Public Sector – Roadmap to<br />
eGovernment<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Set of Target for the entire Public Sector – Roadmap to<br />
eGovernment<br />
Support of eGovernment development in Greece<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD), General Secretariats<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD)<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
Η δράση αυτή αφορά στη θέση στόχων, προτεραιοτήτων και σχεδιασμό των διαδικασιών<br />
μέσω των οποίων θα υλοποιηθεί η στρατηγική της χώρας για το eGovernment. Στο<br />
σχεδιασμό του Οδικού Χάρτη για το eGovernment συμμετέχουν Ο Λ Ο Ι οι εταίροι<br />
(Δημόσιος Τομέας, αγορ ά πληροφορικής, πολίτες, επιχειρήσεις). Στόχο ς είναι ο<br />
σχεδιασμός των διαδικασιών, η θέση στόχων και η παρακολούθηση της πορεία ανάπτυξης<br />
του eGovernment στην Ελλάδα με κοινή δέσμευση και προσπάθεια. Η δράση<br />
περιλαμβάνει:<br />
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This action is about setting objectives and priorities, and designing of processes<br />
throughout which the national strategy for eGovernment will be implemented. In the<br />
process of designing the Roadmap for eGovernment, A L L partners participate (Public<br />
Sector, IT market, citizens, businesses). The aim is to design processes, to set objectives<br />
for following the development process of eGovernment in Greece with mutual agreement<br />
and effort. This action includes:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Organization of design process of the Roadmap<br />
Roadmap creation<br />
Calculation of Roadmap progress (connection with measurement framework)<br />
7.4.3 Action 17: Review of the initial Measurement framework (Version 2)<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Review of the initial Measurement framework (Version<br />
2)<br />
Improvement of measurement methodology of administrative<br />
capacity of public administration and adjustment of the<br />
measurement framework to the constantly changing demands<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD)<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD)<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
The measurement framework for the quantification of national strategic objective<br />
concerning eGovernment is the first attempt to design a complete measurement<br />
framework about eGovernment in Greece.<br />
Besides the fact that the system is complete, it is certain that after the implementation of<br />
the measurement framework, the necessity for revision will appear both for making<br />
corrective actions and to be adjust to the latest developments in Greek and International<br />
environment (progress of eGovernment Roadmap). The action incorporates:<br />
o Revision of the measurement framework<br />
o Introduction of weights in the measurement process<br />
o Adaption to the demands of following the “eGovernment Roadmap”<br />
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7.4.4 Action 18: Crisis Management and Disaster Recovery Plan<br />
Action Title:<br />
Objective:<br />
Receivers:<br />
Suggested<br />
Implementaton<br />
Bodies:<br />
Financing Source:<br />
<strong>Summary</strong>:<br />
Crisis Management and Disaster Recovery Plan<br />
Modernization of IT infrastructure<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD)<br />
Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization<br />
(MIPAD)<br />
Operational Programme «Strengthening the Administrative<br />
Capacity of public Administration 2007-2013»<br />
Crisis Management is a relatively new sector of Management. Deals with forcasting<br />
possible crisis (e.g. Hacking on the Information System of a Public Administration Agency)<br />
and the designing of actions to deal with them These action are not limited to the<br />
technical and organizational action plans, but also facing subjects like communication and<br />
public relations.<br />
Respectively, the Disaster Recovery Plan is a complex process which involve all sectors of<br />
Public Administration. Important part is playing the recording of present situation, but<br />
more important is the maintenance of these plans as well as the readiness at any time.<br />
The cost of such a plan is significant, since it includes backup systems, personnel,<br />
telecommunications and inspections in daily basis.<br />
It is obvious that in order someone to claim that Public Administration in Greece offers<br />
eGovernment services of the same level with the services provided by the advanced<br />
countries in eGovernment, must deal seriously with crisis management as well as with the<br />
des ign of disaster recovery of the Public Administrations’ systems. It is desirable that<br />
Public Administration will compose and maintain<br />
o<br />
o<br />
Disaster Rocovery plan (which<br />
will include the study, the implementation of<br />
backup systems, the design of processes etc)<br />
A Crisis Management Guide<br />
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7.5 Hierarchy of Actions<br />
In the graph that follows, the proposed actions which are describes in paragraph 7.2 are<br />
presented in relation with the maturity level and the priorities in implementation.<br />
Figure 2: Hierarchy of Actions<br />
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7.6 Proposal Framework Objectives<br />
The efficient operation of Public Sector and the improvement of financial dimensions which<br />
are secured through the offering and usage of eGovernment, reduces inefficiency of Public<br />
Administration and create the right conditions for development and competitiveness growth.<br />
The speed-up of the development of eGovernment, will correspond to a number of challenges<br />
and claims:<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
o<br />
modernize and establish effective public services<br />
provide better and more secure services to citizens<br />
cover demands from businesses that would like to find less bureaucracy and more<br />
efficiency in Public Sectors’ Agencies<br />
To ensure international continuity of public services, which is necessary in order to<br />
support mobility around Europe<br />
The proposed framework corresponds to the challenges and contributes to the improvement<br />
of sectors like the growth of competitiveness, the increase of GDP, the improvement of the<br />
performance of Greece in international measurements for the improvement of Administrative<br />
Capacity of Public Administration.<br />
7.6.1 Growth of Competitiveness in Greece<br />
Since the Lisbon Strategy set out to make Europe the most competitive and dynamic<br />
economy in the world, competitiveness has become one of the political priorities of the<br />
European Union. National industry needs to be competitive if it is to achieve its economic,<br />
social and environmental goals and thus ensure an improving quality of life for citizens. In its<br />
efforts to promote competitiveness, Greece also seeks to adapt the economy to structural<br />
change, relocation of industrial activity to emerging economies, redeployment of jobs and<br />
resources to new industrial sectors and the risk of a process of deindustrialisation.<br />
National competitiveness is determined by productivity growth and thus depends on the<br />
performance and the future of Greek industry, an especially on its capacity for structural<br />
adjustment. To be competitive, Greece must outperform in terms of research and innovation,<br />
information and communication technologies, entrepreneurship, competition, education and<br />
training.<br />
In order competitiveness to grow, it is essential Greek industry to show demands of the<br />
sector they operate in and the State to reduce the cost and time of time-consuming and<br />
bureaucratic processes.<br />
The development of eGovernment services originate the appropriate environment where<br />
businesses can invest time, cost and resources concerning their core activities, having as a<br />
fact the low cost and the prompt transaction with Public Administration. It is obvious, that the<br />
growth in competitiveness does not require action from the side of businesses only, but also<br />
from the Public Administration which as to become more flexible, has to adopt the legislation<br />
and processes, has to put out obstacles which are placed by bureaucratic processes and also<br />
to provide a clear framework of rules and regulations for the operation of businesses and<br />
finally quality services.<br />
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7.6.2 Growth of GDP (Gross Domestic Product)<br />
The growth of GDP is achieved directly and indirectly, through the development of<br />
eGovernment for the provision of services to citizens and businesses.<br />
The direct repercussion that eGovernment development has is the growth of GDP which<br />
comes from the increase in investments, the increase in spending for Information Technology<br />
and Communications (ICT), as well as investments in research and development.<br />
The growth of GDP, is achieved through the development of eGovernment. The improvement<br />
of productivity in Public Sector, but also in businesses that deal with Public Administration,<br />
has as a result the growth of GDO (better services, expenditure catbacks etc). The reduction<br />
of administrative obstacles and the provision of better services (basic parameters for the<br />
increase of GDP) are achieved through the increase of productivity, which is feasible through<br />
the re-engineering of Public Administration processes, training and introduction of ICT, which<br />
actually means the development of eGovernment.<br />
7.6.3 Improvement of the performance of Greece in international measurements<br />
The improvement of the performance of Greece in international measurements, is linked with<br />
the development of eGovernment services. Holding NRI as an example, we ding out that<br />
most of the lower level indicators which are uses for the measurement of NRI are affected by<br />
eGovernment progress.<br />
More analytically, NRI indicator is affective (positive or negative) from:<br />
State readiness in ICT. This indicator measures the priority that the State give to the<br />
development of IT for the future, together with digital participation and digital readiness of<br />
the state.<br />
The usage of ICT from the State. This indicator measures the penetration of ICT in Public<br />
Sector through specific parameters (operation of ePtocurement system, deposit of tax etc)<br />
Political and Legislative Framework. This indicator measures the existence of laws which<br />
promote and support ICT (laws concerning e-business, digital signature etc).<br />
It is obvious that the development of eGovernment will improve the impression about Greece<br />
abroad, since as it appears from the above paragraphs, international organization lay weight<br />
to the measurement of progess in the introduction of eGovernment.<br />
7.6.4 Improvement of Administrative Capacity of Public Administration<br />
The development of eGovernment services contribute to the improvement of Administrative<br />
Capacity of Public Administration. According to the results of eGovernment Economics Project<br />
(eGep), eGovenment development leads to the improvement of productivity consequently<br />
contributes to a number of results, one of which is the Improvement of Administrative<br />
Capacity of Public Administration<br />
Besides, it is obvious, tha the introduction of information and communication technologies<br />
improves Administrative Capacity of Public Administration. The access to databases, the<br />
communication through the usage of e-mail, the exchange of documents in the digital way,<br />
the simplification of processes, the increase of transparency in the transactions between<br />
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P7: <strong>Executive</strong> <strong>Summary</strong><br />
Public Administration and Citizens and businesses are a few examples though which the<br />
above are validated.<br />
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