Accenture's fifth annual global e-government study

Spain
2004 Rank: 15 (joint)
2003 Rank: 14
2002 Rank: 15
Vision introduced: 2003
Vision title:
Electronic Administration
for Spain
Vision summary:
The Electronic Administration is a route to advance
toward the development of better government,
in which the technology is fundamentally a
means and not an end in itself. The vision of the
Electronic Administration for Spain must tend
toward an integrated model, centered on the user.
Regular Internet Users (percent of population):
17.54 percent
Regular Internet users who have ever visited an
eGovernment site: 78 percent
Spain
Spain made moderate progress in 2003, but not
enough to allow it to maintain its position in the
rankings. It slipped one place to a joint-15th ranking
with Norway, not so much because it stalled, but
because other countries have moved ahead at a
faster pace. The country introduced some new
publish-level services and two services improved to
a transact level, but with the large cluster of countries
around the 50 percent to 60 percent overall
maturity level, these improvements had little impact
on the ranking.
The year 2003 was one of transition for the country,
in which it reflected on what it had achieved and
what it needed to change to be more effective. A
new head of the country’s eGovernment program
was appointed in August, under the Ministry of
Science and Technology, with responsibility for
implementing the eGovernment recommendations
of the España.es Initiative. España.es was initiated
on the recommendation of a special commission
in April 2003—the result of the country’s decided
determination to move ahead.
España.es outlines six areas of action, one of which
is Administración.es (Electronic Administration).
The associated action plan for implementing the
Electronic Administration is structured around four
priorities, with a number of projects that will be carried
out during the next four years. The four priorities
include facilitating public access for users (through
electronic ID cards and public and free Internet
access points); promoting the development of services
for users (payment via Internet, electronic services
cards and perfecting the citizen portal); promoting
the development of eEurope basic public electronic
services; and providing support for the internal
reorganization of public authorities. The new action
plan has created a mechanism for monitoring
progress and the Government Delegate Commission
for Economic Affairs is responsible for reporting
weekly to the Council of Ministers, via the management
office set up in the Ministry of Science
and Technology and in the Ministry of Public
Administration.
During 2003, Spain made a number of changes
to its existing portal, www.administración.es. This
portal is organized into four categories: Ciudadano
(focused on citizens), Empresa/Profesional (focused
on enterprises), Organización Pública (focused on
public employees) and a newly added Administración
in Internet category, which contains government
resources on the Internet. A new section for each
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