Report “Towards faster implementation and uptake of open government” by the European Commission

According to the data provided by the European Commission, the re-use of big data in the 23 largest EU countries could reduce administrative costs by 15-20%. In addition, the re-use of public services by other administrations, companies and citizens makes possible the development of personalized and innovative services adapted to the needs of the population. After all, the use of digital technologies as an integral part of government strategies entails great economic and social benefits for Europe as a whole.

Aware of this, the European Commission approved last year the Action Plan for eGovernment 2016-2020, which aims to modernize public administration with ICTs, enable cross-border mobility with interoperable digital public services and facilitate digital interaction among the Administrations and citizens/companies to have high quality public services. In support of this plan, a report has recently been published which provides an overview of the initiatives related to open and collaborative government in the European Union, which aims to provide advice on how to make the new eGovernment Action Plan more open while citizens are invited to participate  in the process.

This report consists of four main sections. First, it includes an analysis of the current open government ecosystem in Europe according to the definition shown below. To this end, approximately 400 of the existing initiatives have been studied in detail. In addition, this initial section compiles a set of best practices on government issues and identifies the digital catalysts as well as the fourteen barriers that hinder this progress.

From all this information, the report concludes that nowadays all EU member states have open government practices, most of them carried out by the public administrations of each country, covering all government sectors. However, most practices are related to the openness of public services, including open data portals or programs aimed at improving interoperability among the different public administrations. And to a lesser extent, with the openness of the political processes that suppose a greater commitment, citizen participation and transparency.

Then, a set of 13 recommendations for an effective policy mix to increase open governance practices across Europe is included; all structured according to the following high-level political objectives:

• A more transparent functioning of government.
• Better policy making via enhanced participation.
• Better (digital) public services via enhanced collaboration.
• Unlocking the economic potential of government assets.
• Supporting the update of open government in general.

The third section of the report includes a methodology to support the processes included in the Action Plan, including the mechanisms and tools necessary for stakeholders to share and discuss their needs with the Administration through the Futurium-eGovernment4EU consultation platform.

It is important to note that the methodology involves collaboration among the European administrations at regional and national level, which will result in the exchange of experiences, good practices and lessons regarding eGovernment. Finally, the methodology offers recommendations for the assessment of the eGovernment Action Plan, enabling the establishment of objectives and their evolution year by year.

As the finishing touch, a report on the design of a participation and communication plan that describes how to inform different stakeholders and raise awareness to bring them to the consultation platform is included.

Under the heading "Towards faster implementation and uptake of open government", this document calls for a more transparent proceeding of the government; a greater participation in the development of effective policies and a closer collaboration to improve digital public services.

This would require to apply a single principle, the use of ICT standards and specifications as well as open methodologies for the design of collaborative public services and the construction of shared infrastructures for reusable digital services based on open standards. In this way, it would be possible to unblock the economic potential of government assets and support new data ecosystems that also increase the acceptance of open government in general.