e-Democracy: Toward a New Model of (Inter)active Society 3030015955, 9783030015954

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Alfredo M. Ronchi

e-Democracy Toward a New Model of (Inter)active Society

e-Democracy

Alfredo M. Ronchi

e-Democracy Toward a New Model of (Inter)active Society

Alfredo M. Ronchi Politecnico di Milano Milano, Italy

ISBN 978-3-030-01595-4 ISBN 978-3-030-01596-1 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01596-1

(eBook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018961011 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover Photograph: Pëtr Il’ič Čajkovskij Statue in Moscow / Pantheon Dome Rome, © 2018 The Author This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

This volume explores the main elements of e-Democracy, as is usually termed the implementation of democratic government processes through electronic means. This “e” approach was initiated some years ago, and it is still under development. Starting from the middle of the 1990s, the rapid diffusion of online content and services ignited a true revolution in many sectors, including the interaction between citizens and their government. The pervasive role of “cyber” technology is stimulating changes in the way most people earn their incomes, varying the balance between our roles as consumers and producers, changing the way we educate succeeding generations and train ourselves, changing the fruition of the world’s cultural heritage, transforming the delivery of health care, altering the way we govern ourselves, changing the way we form communities, varying the way we obtain and communicate information, contributing to bridge some cultural or physical gaps, modifying patterns of activity among the elderly and perhaps contributing to a greener world. This is not a complete list of changes, but highlights some of the most prominent and important effects of ICT on our society. This book is part of a collection of books devoted to the added value use of ICTs for citizens; the first volume introduces the fundamentals of technology and human factors in e-Citizenship; following volumes are devoted to a specific set of aspects and services targeting citizens. They present a view of a society changing under the influence of advanced information technology. Computers have been around for about half a century, and their social effects have been described under many headings. The purpose of these books is to help in drawing and understanding a realistic scenario of what we can term e-Citizenry even if, as stated many times, “prediction is difficult, especially if it involves the future!1” Sometimes this term simply identifies members of the network, Internet users. These books identify as “e-Citizen” a

1

Quote from Neils Bohr, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics. v

vi

Preface

Citizen surrounded by private or public administration’s digital services and the transition from his traditional role and behaviour to the new ones. The major part of the population has already started this journey from Citizens to e-Citizens; they already ask and receive certificates online, book a medical service and receive the feedbacks online or pay taxes and vote in this way. Anyway, this is a critical process involving opportunities and threats, benefits and drawbacks. In addition, there is still a gap to be bridged due to cultural behaviours, age and education. Starting from the first decade of the twenty-first century, a relevant number of governmental agencies, institutions and private enterprises spread all over the world in both industrialised and developing countries invested time and resources on e-Services. We are now in a position to draw some conclusions about this preliminary phase. Are such investments effectively useful and appreciated by citizens? Apart from technology what are the most relevant factors influencing their success or failure? Governments, institutions and citizens are ready and willing e-Services? Are e-Services a real “tsunami” for governmental institutions and agencies? Are citizens concerned about privacy issues and “cyber” security? This volume provides an insight about the main technological and human issues to governance, government, participation, inclusion, empowerment and procurement, all of them not forgetting ethical and privacy issues. These last aspects are undoubtedly relevant; everyone experienced in “ICT-based innovation” knows that “it is not only a matter of technology”. The main aim of this work is to bridge the gap between technological solutions and successful implementation and fruitful utilisation of the main set of e-Services totally or partially care of governments. Different parameters are actively influencing the success or failure of e-Services: cultural aspects, organisational issues, bureaucracy and workflow, infrastructure and technology in general, users’ habits, literacy, capacity or merely interaction design. This includes having a significant population of citizens willing and able to adopt and use online services and developing the managerial and technical capability to implement applications to meet the needs of citizens. A selection of success stories and failures, duly commented on, will help the reader in identifying the right approach to innovation in governmental e-Services. This volume is part of a collection of books; the first three volumes are e-Citizens: Toward a New Model of (Inter)active Citizenry, e-Democracy: Toward a New Model of (Inter)active Society and e-Services: Toward a New Model of (Inter)active Community, all of them published by Springer International 2019. Target Audience Public authorities, decision-makers, stakeholders, solution developers, university students. Prerequisite Knowledge of Audience Informed on e-Content and e-Services, basics on technology side. Milano, Italy

Alfredo M. Ronchi

Contents

1

Being Human in the Digital Age: e-Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 The Betrayed IT Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 2

2

Governance and e-Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Governance and e-Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Governance and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 e-Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.1 Core Components of e-Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.2 Models of e-Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.3 Governance: The Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.4 Network Neutrality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.5 Final Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .

5 6

. . . . . . . .

7 8 10 11 12 21 24 25

3

e-Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 e-Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 e-Participation in Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 e-Participation in the United Nations Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 Direct Democracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . .

27 28 28 51 53 58

4

e-Inclusion & e-Empowerment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 e-Inclusion and e-Empowerment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

61 62 92

5

e-Government: Background, Today’s Implementation and Future Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 What Do We Term e-Government? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Stages of e-Government Evolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Connectivity as a Public Good . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 Public Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. 93 . 94 . 97 . 99 . 106 . 108 vii

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Contents

5.6 5.7 5.8

6

Multi Channel and Cross Channels Access to the Services . . . . . . Internet Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Different Parameters Influencing e-Government Success or Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8.1 Cultural Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8.2 Social Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8.3 Bureaucracy and Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.9 Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.10 Interoperability of Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.10.1 Habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.11 Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.11.1 Security and Privacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.12 Privacy and Personal Data Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.13 Measuring Performance and Ranking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.14 How to Rank ICT Development, e-Government Readiness and Measure Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.14.1 ICT Indexes: DAI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.14.2 ICT Indexes: ICT-OI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.14.3 ICT Indexes: DOI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.14.4 ICT Indexes: IDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.14.5 Benchmarking e-Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.15 e-Government Readiness Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.16 Unsuccessful Stories: Some Reasons Why . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.17 Some Recommendations and Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.18 e-Government in a Long-Term Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.19 The Rationale Behind Digital Preservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.20 Selection of Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.20.1 Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.20.2 e-Services Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

132 132 133 134 136 138 140 144 149 150 153 155 168 176 194

e-Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 Public Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 e-Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 e-Catalogues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.1 Tagging and Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 e-Catalogues Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 UBL Universal Business Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.6 Cooperation Between OASIS and UN/CEFACT . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.7 UBL Key Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8 c-Catalogue (UN/EDIFACT–eBESWorkshop) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.8.1 EEG1 : Procurement and Supply Chain Management . . 6.9 Cross-Industry Catalogue Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.9.1 eBES Key Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

197 198 199 201 208 209 211 214 214 215 217 220 220

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

109 110 113 113 114 117 118 121 125 127 128 129 130

Contents

ix

6.10

221 221 224 224 226 226 228 229 230 232 232 233 234

Other Standards Relevant to e-Catalogues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.10.1 ebXML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.10.2 ebXML Key Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.11 The “Procurement” Effect of the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.12 e-Procurement in Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.12.1 The Scale of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.12.2 Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.12.3 Implementation/Contract Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.13 PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) . . . . . . . . . . 6.13.1 EU-Wide Interoperability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.13.2 PEPPOL Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.13.3 About OpenPEPPOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.13.4 Long-Term Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.13.5 OpenPEPPOL to Guarantee High Level Governance and Long-Term Sustainability of the PEPPOL Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.14 Interoperability in the Field of e-Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.14.1 Public Procurement in the European Union . . . . . . . . . . 6.14.2 Directive on Services in the Internal Market . . . . . . . . . . 6.15 Some Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

234 235 235 236 236 237

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239

List of Abbreviations

AAAA AfDB App B-2-B B-2-C B-2-G BRS C-2-G CA CARICOM CBA CCTS CDO CEN/ISSS CIDX CIO CPI CPV CS DESA DPADM DPS DUNS ebXML EC ECCMA EDIFACT EEA

Addis Ababa Action Agenda African Development Bank Software Applications Business to Business Business to Consumer Business to Government Business Requirements Specification Consumer to Government Contracting authority Caribbean Community and Common Market Cost-Benefit Analysis Core Data Technical Specification Chief Data Officer European Committee for Standardisation/Information Society Standardisation System Chemical Industry Data eXchange Chief Information Officer Corruption Perceptions Index Common Procurement Vocabulary Classification Scheme Department of Economic and Social Affairs Division for Public Administration and Development Management Dynamic Purchasing System Data Universal Numbering System Electronic Business Extensible Markup Language European Commission Electronic Commerce Code Management Association Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport European Economic Area xi

xii

EEA EFTA EGDI EIA eOTD EPI ePDC ERP EU FA FOI FOIAs G2G GCC GFW GIS GLN GNI GODAN GPC GPS HCI HCI HTML HTTP/HTTPS ICT ICTs ID IDRC ILO INTOSAI IoT ITU LCD LDC LVL MAMA MDGs MEAT MENA METEP MFI MYS

List of Abbreviations

European Environment Agency European Free Trade Association e-Government Development Index Environmental Impact Assessment ECCMA Open Technical Dictionary e-Participation Index electronic Product Description and Classification Enterprise Resource Planning European Union Framework Agreement Freedom of Information Freedom of Information Acts Government-to-Government Gulf Cooperation Council Global Forest Watch Geographic Information System Global Location Number Gross National Income Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition Global Product Classification Global Positioning System Human Capital Index Human–Computer Interface Hypertext Markup Language HyperText Transfer Protocol/HyperText Transfer Protocol (SSL) Information and Communication Technology Information and Communication Technologies Identification International Development Research Centre International Labour Organization International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions Internet of Things International Telecommunication Union Liquid Crystal Display Least Developed Country Latvia Lat Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action Millennium Development Goals Most Economically Advantageous Tender Middle East and North America Measurement and Evaluation Tool for Engagement and e-Participation Micro Finance Institutions Mean Years of Schooling

List of Abbreviations

NEPAD NES NGO OASIS ODETTE OECD OGD OSI OSM PPPP PRICAT PRODAT RFQ RSS SDGs SIDS SKU SME SMS SWOT TGEG TII UBL UGC UML UMM UN/CEFACT UN/ECE or UNECE UNCTAD UNDG UNDP UNECA UNECLAC UNEP UNESCAP UNESCO UNESCWA

xiii

New Partnership for Africa’s Development Northern European UBL 2.0 Subset Working Group Non-governmental Organisation Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards Organisation for Data Exchange by Tele Transmission in Europe Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Open Government Data Online Service Index Open Street Map Public–Private–People Partnerships Price/Sales Catalogue Product Data Request for Quotation Really Simple Syndication Sustainable Development Goals Small Island Developing States Stock Keeping Unit Small and Medium Enterprise Short Message Service Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Task Group on e-Government Telecommunication Infrastructure Index Universal Business Language User-Generated Content Unifying Modelling Language Universal Modelling Methodology United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business United Nations Economic Commission for Europe United Nations Conference on Trade and Development United Nations Development Group United Nations Development Programme United Nations Economic Commission for Africa United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean United Nations Environment Programme United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

xiv

UN-OHRLLS

UNPOG UNSC UNSPSC UNU-IAS URL UTC VAT VDA VIES W3C WOG WRI WSIS xCBL XML

List of Abbreviations

United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States United Nations Project Office on Governance United Nations Statistical Commission United Nations/Standard Products and Services Codes United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability Uniform Resource Locator Coordinated Universal Time Value Added Tax DA Verband der Automobilindustrie (German, translating to “German Automotive Association”) VAT Information Exchange System World Wide Web Consortium Whole of Government World Resources Institute World Summit on the Information Society XML Common Business Library eXtendable Markup Language

Chapter 1

Being Human in the Digital Age: e-Democracy

Brill [Gene Hackman]: The government’s been in bed with the entire telecommunications industry since the forties. They’ve infected everything. They get into your bank statements, computer files, email, listen to your phone calls. . . Every wire, every airwave. The more technology used, the easier it is for them to keep tabs on you. It’s a brave new world out there. At least it’d better be. . . ... Thomas Reynolds [Jon Voight]: Ten-year-olds go on the Net, downloading encryption we can barely break, not to mention instructions on how to make a low-yield nuclear device. Privacy’s been dead for years because we can’t risk it. The only privacy that’s left is the inside of your head. Maybe that’s enough. You think we’re the enemy of democracy, you and I? I think we’re democracy’s last hope. [ENEMY OF THE STATE IS A 1998 AMERICAN CONSPIRACY-THRILLER FILM TONY SCOTT AND STARRING GENE HACKMAN, WILL SMITH, AND JON VOIGHT.]

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 A. M. Ronchi, e-Democracy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01596-1_1

DIRECTED BY

1

2

1 Being Human in the Digital Age: e-Democracy

This is one of the famous and quoted sentences kept from one of the American conspiracy-thriller movies from the 1990s, The Enemy of the State. The leitmotiv of the movie is the deep intrusion of technologies in our private life, the concept of privacy is nowadays evaporating under the effects of digital technologies. Our feeling is to live in a society very close to the one depicted by the movie. There are a number of science and technology fiction-movies depicting our lifestyle, from John Badham’s War Games (1983) to Daniel Caruso’s Eagle Eye (2008), passing through The Net1 (1995). Why do we refer to fiction in order to introduce serious topics like e-Citizenry? Because fiction sometimes anticipates a reasonable scenario of future society and lifestyles. “The Net” for instance draws a not completely unreal scenario of identity theft. This movie outlines, if needed, the potential fragility of our identity-based services and systems: police, banks, state archives, social security, ownership, personal data, etc.; they all rely on digital technology and are in some way exposed to hackers. As already outlined, the purpose of this book is to help in drawing and understanding a realistic scenario of what we can term e-Citizenry even if, as stated many times, “prediction is difficult, especially if it involves the future!2” Sometimes this term simply identifies members of the network, Internet users. This book identifies as “e-Citizen” a Citizen surrounded by public administration’s digital services and the transition from his traditional role and behaviour to the new ones. Of course, we cannot forget the huge set of services provided by private organisations as the completion of the scenario. Anyway, this is a critical process involving opportunities and threats, benefits and drawbacks. In addition, there is still a gap to be bridged due to cultural behaviours, age and education.

1.1

The Betrayed IT Revolution3

As sometimes happens after revolutions, revolutionaries wonder if what they have got is actually what they were hoping for. The original idea of computer scientists in the “hippies” counterculture era was aimed to empower citizens and provide them much freedom. Almost 50 years later, after the chimera of the “happy cyber-world”, some of us have started thinking that the foreseen “19844” has simply come true

1 The Net directed by Irwin Winkler (Sandra Bullock, Jeremy Northam), Columbia Pictures Industries Inc. 2 Quote from Neils Bohr, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics. 3 Ranjit Makkuni, Director, Sacred World Design Laboratory, Musician. 4 “1984” the famous novel by George Orwell, Eric Arthur Blair’s pen name, English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. Most well-known novels: Animal Farm (1945), Nineteen EightyFour (1949).

1.1 The Betrayed IT Revolution

3

10, 15 years later: globalisation, always on devices, position tracking systems, CRMs and users’ profiles, CCTVs and IoT; are those technologies framing citizens? Ranjit Makkuni, Director of the Sacred World Design Laboratory, decided to use this title to express his feeling many years after his key activity at Xerox PARC in the most fruitful period of computing. Quoting Makkuni he dedicates his paper “For those of us who have missed the IT revolution, consider yourselves lucky, we may not have missed a thing!” Makkuni introduces his vision on the evolution of digital technology as follows: “When the original vision of the Dynabook (later to become the laptop) was conceived by Alan Kay’s team at Xerox PARC in the 1980s, computational tools were envisioned as a tool for creativity and leisure. Indeed the first slides of the Dynabook showed people freeing themselves from the shackles of their offices, lying in sprawling natural landscapes, pursuing their artistic creativity. Nearly 50 years later that vision has become a nightmare, with deep impacts on society: at levels of connection, health, psychological well-being, and deep questions to privacy and fundamental freedoms and “Truth” loom and await answers. While in the past decade, social media addressed the human being re-“presented” as a collection of measurable and rapidly transportable artefacts (i.e., “non material” computational files such as images, videos, text blurbs). But the idea of deep connection, palpable localized connection, in situ connection still haven’t been addressed or have been ignored. Almost all of the world’s civilizations have discovered or invented, after 1000s of years of “traditional” social media innovation, the recognition of concepts such as site based power places, sacred geography, and places of geomantic power, places of direct communion between Man and Natural forces. Many 1000s of years of observation, reflection and creativity, reflections of solar and lunar cycles, the motions of the planet earth around stars and its relative position with respect to planets, gave rise to a rich space and experience of rituals, fairs and festivals. The collective participation of physically present individuals in groups, large and small, situated in “places” have never been addressed in modern media, except through the homogenized, limited formats of “glass” computational screens. Indeed, social media forces people to disembody the world around themselves, become dislocated in order to access the benefits of access to large amounts of information. However the benefits of Information access come at the risk of health and psychological issues. Indeed one could summarize the energy invested in virtual connection could be proportional to match the pain of societal alienation and ill health that result from people’s primary communications with devices. Contentment and calm have been replaced by anxiety and constant displacement! With the rising power of evolving information technology, rapid changes that are taking place (with changes in 30 years being equivalent to changes in 300 years and more), smart cities exist with data-smart but emotionally un-smart, unhappy citizens.

4

1 Being Human in the Digital Age: e-Democracy

With rise of robotics and intelligent thinking machines, nations which have struggled with unemployment and poverty and who have just barely managed to remove poverty are suddenly confronted with the challenges of new unemployment resulting from automation, and confronted with new ways to reinvent themselves in an era of unpredictability and never ending change. These nations feel shortchanged by the IT revolution because they have traded their ecological resources and traditional social capital in terms of harmonious communities and eco systems, in the promise of a “smartness” revolution that has never delivered. The question for us, as humanity, is to ask, when can we catch our breath and “just be?” Add to this, governments in debt, honing the data powers of track individual’s activities, widening tax nets by making banks into “sensors and retinas”, and the resulting invasion of privacy, the resulting questions of private property in the era of ubiquitous computing are open for reflection, discussion and new action. Fundamental questions on individual freedoms, that have been painstakingly achieved through spilling of blood and revolution seems to have gone in vain, especially considering that “freedom” has been snatched away under the guise of surveillance. Amidst this new whirlwind of the IT revolution, new media, news, opinions presented on homogenized devices that “occupy” peoples’ eyes, hands, homes and offices, the minds of people can be easily manipulated. Not to mention the links between new media communication and the clutter of advertisements that occupy people’s subconscious minds. Indeed we will need to rediscover Descartes’ notion of “I [need to re-] think, [in order to be who] I am”. My paper asks the question, despite the positive advances of technology that have undoubtedly contributed to many dimensions in our lives, but, given the tremendous negative impact of people’s health and well-being, and rooted-ness, are we at a tipping point where we would need to rethink innovation afresh? Just as, in the past, across many cultures, people returning back into the solitude in the forests, connecting with local communities and sacred geography was an important ritual for renewal, can we, as an information society, re-learn perennial and fundamental values once again?” [Ranjit Makkuni, March 2018]

Chapter 2

Governance and e-Governance

Governance—In the sense of “set of principles, ways of procedures for the management and control of companies, institutions, or complex phenomena generating significant social consequences”, it is more than evident that this term is one of the keywords in e-Citizenry. Governance and e-Governance are in some way to be embedded in Internet applications so we will find not only e-Governance in e-Government, e-Learning, e-Health but even Internet Governance.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 A. M. Ronchi, e-Democracy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01596-1_2

5

6

2.1

2 Governance and e-Governance

Governance and e-Governance

At the time of ancient Greeks, who invented democracy «δημoκρατία (dēmokratía)», the idea to govern the res publica thanks to the direct contribution of citizens was the ultimate goal. The term democracy itself means people «δ~ ημoς (démos)» and power «κράτoς (cràtos)» so the concept is to leave or give power to the citizens, rule of the people. This was the ruling system in the Greek city-states, like Athens, in the fifth century BC. Since that time the idea to let the people govern the state represented one of the potential ruling systems in contrast with monarchy,1 aristocracy,2 oligarchy3 and many other ruling structures. Through the centuries, many centuries from the ancient Greeks, people studied many different forms of implementation of democracy; among them two major forms arose; direct democracy and representative democracy. Of course, the ideal concept of a power structure ruled by citizens, direct democracy, is hard to implement even in the Internet era; the usual way to solve the problem is to elect a representative structure in order to mediate between citizens and the political power. This structure is usually termed representative democracy. The concept of representative democracy arose largely from ideas and institutions that developed during the European Middle Ages, the Age of Enlightenment, and later on was further developed during the French and American Revolutions. More countries than ever before are working to build democratic governance. Their challenge is to develop institutions and processes that are more responsive to the needs of ordinary citizens, including the poor, and that promote development. Nowadays a large number of states are ruled by representative democracy, structured in different manners, always structured on different layers of representative bodies directly or indirectly elected by citizens: town government, regional or county governments, etc. Sometimes this “interface” between citizens’ wills and expectations and everyday life generates a bad feeling and sentiment about bureaucracy and government. Here comes the need to clarify what we mean with the term governance and government. Governance: the way that a city, company, etc., is controlled by the people who run it (Merriam Webster Dictionary) 1) Lawful control over the affairs of a political unit (as a nation) 2) The act or activity of looking after and making decisions about something

μoνάρχης, monárkhēs—from monos, μóνoς, “one/singular,” and ἄρχω, árkhō, “to rule”. ἀριστoκρατία “rule of an elite”. 3 ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía); from ὀλίγoς (olígos), meaning “a few”. 1 2

2.2 Governance and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

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Definition of governance—noun [mass noun] 1) The action or manner of governing a state, organization, etc.: a more responsive system of governance will be required 2) Archaic rule; control: what, shall King Henry be a pupil still, under the surly Gloucester’s governance? (Oxford Dictionaries) In the following part of this chapter we term governance the decision-making process that defines the guidelines of the government, we term government the implementation of the decisions and guidelines and the infrastructure of interaction with citizens. We will explore the “e” side of governance; the use of ICT to support democratic decision-making in order to enhance democratic institutions and democratic processes is referred to as e-Democracy. e-Democracy encompasses several online activities, such as e-Governance, e-Government, e-Parliament, e-Initiative, e-Voting, e-Campaigning, e-Participation and many more. It is important to stress that e-Democracy “is not meant to replace traditional forms of representative democracy but rather to complement them by adding elements of citizen empowerment and direct democracy4”. From this point of view, e-Democracy is not meant to be something new; it simply means that the use of ICT is expected to make democratic institutions more efficient and productive.

2.2

Governance and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)5 helps countries strengthen electoral and legislative systems, improve access to justice and public administration and develop a greater capacity to deliver basic services to those most in need. Through its programmes, UNDP brings people together within nations and around the world, fostering partnerships and sharing ways to promote participation, accountability and effectiveness at all levels. The organization aims to build effective and capable states that are accountable and transparent, inclusive and responsive from elections to participation of women, youth and the poor.

4

Elisa Bruno (2015), Co-Deciding with Citizens: Towards Digital Democracy at EU Level, ECAS. Available at: http://www.ecas.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ECAS-Publication-online-version. pdf, last accessed February 2019. 5 http://www.undp.org, last accessed February 2019.

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Governance in the European Community The study of the European Union (EU) has moved on from the (some-what artificial) International Relations (IR) vs. comparative politics/comparative public policy controversy of the early 1990s.6 But a general comparative politics/public policy approach has not emerged as the new dominant programme. A popular view is that comparative politics and IR need to be combined to understand the ‘new governance’ of the EU.7 This label is not directly attributable to any single scholar. Rather, it encompasses a variety of perspectives that share some common conceptions, assumptions, and research strategies. From this new governance perspective, for example, the EU may be more than an international organization, but it will not replicate a state. Governance within this new polity is sui generis: through a unique set of multi-level, non-hierarchical and regulatory institutions, and a hybrid mix of state and non-state actors. Comparative politics/public policy is inadequate because it is rooted in the study of domestic states. Instead of replacing IR with an “old agenda”, therefore, the task is to develop a new theoretical and normative programme. Echoing Dahl’s (1961) famous ‘epitaph to the successful protest’ by the behavioural school, this ‘new governance’ perspective welcomes the comparativist critique of IR, but argues that it is time to sail on to new waters.

2.3

e-Governance8

What is e-Governance good for? The notion of e-Governance has its roots in attempts in many countries to ‘modernise’ government in response to perceived citizen dissatisfaction or disengagement. The manner of this disengagement varies, but has been reflected in many countries in falling voter numbers, and particularly in the ‘Anglo Saxon’ democracies, in a perception that public services are failing and of poor quality. This can result in ‘opting out’ on the part of the more affluent in favour of privately provided services including education and healthcare, with a consequent fracturing of the social consensus on the provision of these services. Although information and communications technologies (ICTs) have been used in government for the last 50 years and technologies such as the Internet or the world-wide web were both the result of work in publicly-funded or government institutions, the notion of e-Governance is more recent. In the UK, the idea was born

6

E.g. Hix [2, 3], Rhodes and Mazey [4], and Risse-Kappen [5]. Hurrell and Menon [6] and Jachtenfuchs [7]. 8 https://rm.coe.int/0900001680787a2d, last accessed February 2019. 7

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out of work on ‘Modernising Government,’ which was associated with the New Labour Administration,9 elected in 1997. This notion of ‘modernisation’ was intimately connected with what was sometimes called ‘joined up’ or ‘holistic’ government. The benefits of this were felt to be twofold: it was an attempt to reconstruct government in the interests of the citizens, rather than the producers, moving away from ‘departments’ and ‘silos’ towards ‘personalization’ and ‘life events’. Secondly, there is widespread agreement that many social problems, from crime to poor educational performance, are the result of multiple interactions and the only way to tackle these issues more effectively is to understand these interactions better. And this means ‘joining up’ the information that we have—so that, for example, if we know that much petty crime is committed by children who play truant from school, we can identify truants at an earlier stage (or even the behaviour that leads to truancy) and hopefully prevent some crime. This means having an integrated view of the information that is held on citizens, a sort of social “knowledge management”, that was impossible before the advent of widespread ICTs. This means basically a fully integrated information system collecting data from different sources, including real-time information from sensors and Internet of Things. Another driver for e-Governance is the belief that the widespread adoption of digital technologies is vital to national competitiveness in the future. Although the evidence on this is surprisingly weak, all governments are concerned that if they cannot get citizens to use new technology effectively and to develop the skills increasingly required by employers then living standards will be threatened. As stated by the Council of Europe there are four primary reasons why e-Governance is important and has captured the imagination of many in government: 1) It encourages the take-up of digital technologies that are crucial to economic competitiveness; 2) It allows government to redefine its role and become more citizen-focused; 3) It enables us to ‘join-up’ information and hence govern more effectively, and; 4) It can reduce the cost while not compromising the quality of public services. All of these drivers are important, but a valid criticism of e-Governance so far is that it remains supply-side driven, understanding of public demand in this area is under-developed and there is a real danger that many countries will meet their ‘targets’ for online public services, yet this will be greeted with mass indifference. If e-Governance is to succeed in transforming the citizens’ experience of both public services and of decision-making it needs to pay greater attention to demand rather than supply-side issues.

9

Gordon Brown, Prime Minister 2007–2010, New Labour because Britain deserves better—Britain will be better with new Labour—“New Labour is a party of ideas and ideals but not of outdated ideology. What counts is what works. The objectives are radical. The means will be modern.” http://www.labour-party.org.uk/manifestos/1997/1997-labour-manifesto.shtml, last accessed February 2019.

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ICTs can help public administrations and civil society engage more closely and establish open dialogue, promote better interaction and strengthen networks and networking to promote the achievement of internationally agreed development goals and the enhancement of democratic governance. In a nutshell the e-Governance approach has three main objectives: • Increase the efficiency, transparency and accountability of public institutions; • Enhance information access and provision of basic services to the overall population, in particular the poor and most vulnerable; • Promote citizen and stakeholder participation in decision- and policy-making processes, particularly among the poor and marginalized, women and youth.

2.3.1

Core Components of e-Governance

e-Administration Public investment in ICTs to foster transparency and accountability within both national and local public institutions, to improve their functioning and effectiveness; e-Service Delivery Public investment in ICTs to foster the delivery of public services to all; e-Participation Public investment in ICTs to foster interaction between public institutions and citizens to promote better policies, services and public operations. e-Participation has three levels: information provision to citizens, consultation with citizens, and dialogue between government and citizens. This component is usually linked to voice and accountability, civil society strengthening, and parliamentary development. In the next section, we will look at the different models of e-Governance that seem to be developing world-wide and at how they reflect citizens’ needs and aspirations in different contexts. Evidence for the impact of these changes is currently weak, partly because it is fairly early in the process and partly because many governmental systems are more adept at measuring internal processes than external effects. This aspect was already pointed out in the paragraph devoted to the Council of Europe approach and focuses mainly on the supply side. We will look briefly at the notion of ‘e-Governance’, which we see as part of broader efforts to modernise government. We use the terms ‘e-Governance,’ rather than ‘e-Government’, to capture the notion of changed institutional relationships and the involvement of partners, from both civil society and business, in e-Governance. e-Government refers more narrowly to processes of national, local or regional government. In the following paragraphs we will identify three ‘models’ of e-Governance that are currently operating; nevertheless we accept that national e-Governance efforts may combine elements from one or more models. We will then look at examples of public service delivery and at how e-Governance is

2.3 e-Governance

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changing, or has the potential to change, the democratic landscape. In conclusion, we will look at the weaknesses in the current approach and at how it may change in future.

2.3.2

Models of e-Governance

Just as ‘governance’ varies from place to place, so does e-Governance and we are mistaken if we view the technology as ‘neutral’ or take too deterministic a view of e-Governance. e-Governance will be different in Australia, Italy or France or Malaysia, just as it will be different at the local level—in Inner London or rural Scotland for example. The technological processes may be similar, but the norms, assumptions, and political drivers will vary hugely. We can say that there are at least three main models of e-Governance currently operating: The ‘new economy’ model—this stresses the similarities between e-Government and e-Business, is focused on delivering high-quality public services and on moving to a more ‘self-service’ citizenship, which over time will shrink the size of the state. e-Governance is seen as a response to the demands both of businesses and of citizens used to dealing with e-Businesses and hence stresses convenience, 24-h access and so on. It is also seen as a regional and local tool for economic development; the development of e-Governance will help attract high-technology businesses to an area perceived as technology-friendly. In this model, the development of infrastructure tends to follow the market, with a consequent ‘digital divide’. The US is the best example of this, but other countries such as New Zealand or the UK have adopted elements of this model. The ‘e-Community model’—more favoured in continental European societies, particularly those such as the Netherlands or Scandinavias which have a strong tradition of civil society and freedom of information, high levels of education and technology penetration and a relatively even distribution of wealth. Civic networks and public access have always been of importance in this model and where digital divides exist, there is often local-level public intervention to mitigate the worst aspects. This model stresses potential social innovations resulting from widespread access and the role of citizens as co-producers of services. The planned economy model—used in countries such as Singapore or Malaysia, which traditionally use interventionist public sector tools to drive and shape private sector activity and investment. As in the ‘new economy’ model, economic development is very much a driver, but the development of infrastructure and the skills to use it seen as a government responsibility, with heavy subsidies for the construction of (particularly broadband) networks. As commented earlier, national models do not fall neatly into these categories and the UK for example contains elements of all three. The early rhetoric was very much about the ‘new economy’ model, but the dotcom bust and subsequent scepticism

12

2 Governance and e-Governance

about new technology hype has led to a redressing of this rhetoric. A good example of this can be seen in the 2005 targets, initiated by Prime Minister Tony Blair. These have been widely criticised for measuring availability, rather than take-up or benefits, and later on, attempts have been made to switch the focus of these targets to those services which will have a measurable social or economic benefit. In addition, while broadband deployment had been left largely to the market, concerns about slow take-up and uneven economic development have prompted moves for public intervention in broadband deployment. Although the models vary widely, all three can perhaps be criticised for sometimes being too ‘top down’ or supplier-driven. The first model responds to the needs of businesses, but not those of less affluent citizens. The third is paternalistic “you will have access to technology, because it’s good for you!” And even the second, which develops from a stronger ‘community’ model, privileges some types of communities (those that want to get involved) over others (those that want to be left alone). Impact analysis is vital if e-Governance is to make real differences to people and succeed in being anything more than just a collection of government websites and portals. Despite the plethora of e-Governance systems, at both local and national levels across the world, many of the results available so far point to improved administrative processes rather than to the impacts on the citizens or places. In other words, it is easy to find examples of how social services in a particular area have moved to using a handful of forms, rather than 200, to process a claim but much harder to find out the impact of this on the clients of the social services department. In the next section, we will turn to examples of e-Governance both in public service delivery and in citizens’ engagement and will hope to determine what such impacts might be and how beneficial impacts can be created.

2.3.3

Governance: The Story

As noted earlier, the promise of e-Governance is really that of “joined up” governance and the major payoffs will come when technology makes possible the linking of disparate sets of information; the sharing of information and policy processes with citizens; and the increased activity of citizens as producers, not just passive consumers of services. So far, most of the activity we have seen, in the UK and to varying degrees elsewhere, has been about the automation of certain services and the greater provision of information via websites such as open data and so on. These activities should not be derided. Very few citizens may want to read the minutes of council meetings online, but the provision of more government information is often vital to NGOs, advocacy organisations and so on. And the improvement in internal government processes—stopping civil servants in the Inland Revenue from having to type in every tax return, for example, should free up resources for more valueadded activities.

2.3 e-Governance

13

e-Government in Bahrain Shura Council’s Website; the name of this application in Arabic is ‫ﺍﻟﺸ ﻮ ﺭﻯ ﻟﻤﺠﻠ ﺲ ﺍ ﻹﻟﻜ ﺘﺮ ﻭﻧﻲ ﺍﻟﻤ ﻮﻗﻊ‬. Shura Council’s Website (1997) is a window for the rest of the world to understand the legislative system in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The website gives a variety of information about the Council as well as its members; it also posts the latest news about the Council and its current activities. It is updated daily and provides a great electronic medium that serves the community by introducing detailed information about how the Council works, the draft laws that are being discussed, as well as a historic background of the Council. The website also provides plenty of information about the members and their biographical details, as well as several methods of contacting them. The website enables the Shura Council to achieve better performance, coupled with efficiency, transparency and a shift from the prevailing typical image. The website serves the legislative function in the sense of providing premium quality services in terms of: efficient performance, accuracy, minimization of the time required to obtain information, attaining the highest degree of quality, integration and synergy with the various government agencies. The website serves as a good source of information and documentation and can be regarded as the premium reference for the Council members, civil society organizations and researchers. The website successfully achieves its objectives by virtue of the abundant supply and display of contents in an interesting manner that is easy to browse. Browsing the contents is easy and smooth and the information is easily accessible at the fingertips. The website always takes into consideration the visitors’ opinions and impressions which all contribute to giving the visitor as much as possible a pleasurable and beneficial experience. The website strives to attain excellence, quality control and ongoing improvement and aspires to meet the needs and expectations of the public and consequently earn their confidence, support and commitment for the success of the initiatives which aim at improving the performance of the legislative authority in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The website has a facility to publish all the reading materials in Braille script for the benefit of the visually-challenged individuals. The impact that the website had on the nature of the legislative business at the Shura Council is that it opened up to the public the ability to view the process of drafting laws to both Arabic and English native speakers, being the first amongst other GCC parliamentary websites to do such. (continued)

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2 Governance and e-Governance

Key features 1—Each parliament member has a username and a password to log in and browse information that s/he is authorized to see, such as the following information that needs login access includes, but is not limited to: a) The agenda for next session’s meeting; b) Research Request form (to be filled by the member who needs the General Secretariat to obtain researches); c) Ability to search database for the previous studies; d) Minutes for the most recent—not yet approved—meetings, available in MS Word documents (or .pdf); e) The member’s private page (or blog) and the ability to add/edit/view posts on it; f) Latest committee news, relevant to the committee(s) that s/he’s involved in; g) Committee reports, for the committee(s) s/he is a member in. Key features 2—A database for the approved minutes of meeting, searchable by date, content, and session number. These approved minutes are available for the public. Key features 3—Each member has a page (blog), or a number of pages, that include his CV, his contacts, and any comments, participations, or articles he or she wishes to share with the public. A member is able to edit his page, by logging in. Some information is imported from other pages on the portal, so integration is a key component. Key features 4—The Council News page, which is updated daily by the specified department, and ultimately approved by the IT department; it is also automatically created in an RSS style sheet to provide subscribers with up-todate news about the Council; Key features 5—Comments form which could be filled out by the public and sent to the member. Other static information that is available at almost any parliament website, like the constitution of Bahrain, election law, and the parliament regulations; Key features 6—A Secure Blogging section, that can be controlled and monitored by the IT staff which runs on the website, to involve the public’s interaction with the members through their own pages; Key features 7—An advanced search capability (both in Arabic and English), that provides the users with several options for searching the website (search in News, Minutes of Meeting, Suggested Laws, etc.). The Shura Council actively seeks to make its electronic site easily accessible and user friendly to all groups of society. Site compatibility with the browsers: The Shura Council website is 100% compatible with the Explorer browser, version 6.0 and above. However, compatibility with Firefox and Opera browsers is minimal you may encounter certain difficulties in terms of (continued)

2.3 e-Governance

15

the form and practical functions. We recommend that the browser used be updated to the most recent version as it provides greater level of efficiency and protection. PDF files: The PDF technology has been developed by Adobe company for publication of electronically printed documents in a way that would maintain the original form of the document. It is a widely spread and ideal technology for publication of the different types of documents on the Internet, such as brochures, reports, publications and forms. To display the PDF files on the Shura Council electronic website which are required for correct filing of reports, you can download Acrobat Reader, which is free of charge, from Adobe website. Java codes: The Java codes may be activated in your web browser in order to enable you to better use the site. The main aim is to create a parliamentary electronic institution, which depends on the new modern technologies, to support the legislative functioning of members of the Shura Council, facilitate their work, and intercommunicate between the Shura Council, official institutions and regional and international organizations to activate democratic practices. Objectives: • Offer technical support for the hon. Members of the Shura Council to benefit from new technology. • Prepare the Shura Council website by making it a bank of parliamentary information, which provides to Shura members and parliamentary researchers the information about the legislative body at an appropriate time and place, with the required accuracy. • Facilitate and support legislative performance by providing integrated e-Archive for all legislative works of the Council. • Provide necessary information to members to perform their national duties. • Facilitate ways of communication between members and citizens through e-mails and blogs, and raise the level of public participation. • Link legislative and oversight performance to the opinion of the public. • Break monopoly and secrecy and promote transparency, through offering live broadcast of meetings and inclusion of the minutes on the Council’s website, allowing access to all citizens. • Act to increase awareness among citizens regarding legislative and regulatory functioning of the Shura Council. • Prepare the website of the Shura Council to make it a gateway and an interface to the work of legislative authority in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and to the regional and international forums, and a reflection of the extent of development reached by the democratic and parliamentary life. • Link the site of the Shura Council to the parliament sites of the Arab and Islamic countries, and build bridges of electronic communication between them. (continued)

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The usage of modern and attractive technologies to display latest news and events in a clear and attractive manner to attract more visitors and those interested in parliamentary affairs in the Kingdom of Bahrain and other friendly countries. On the technical side it has been designed as an optimum, yet low-risk, solution that will leverage the existing investments in the Microsoft platform. The solution is based on the strategic integration of MS SharePoint Server 2007 for Internet [1], MS .NET, MS SQL Server 2005 and the MS Office system. Since the Shura Council has standardized on MS Windows platform and Office for their desktop environment, MS Exchange for e-mail and MS SQL Server for the data storage, we are confident that our choice of technology is the best suited for the Council long-term strategy. Additionally, our solution is based on a standard open source system that can be integrated and interoperated with any solution in the future. Content Management System (CMS): MOSS [1] is used for developing the Council website. Publishing Laws/Feedback: Provide dynamic tools, for the public’s participation in law forms and legislative issues; allowing the end user to view the law and add his/her comment to it, whether anonymously or with the user having to register for a password. All previous participations and comments from users will be archived into the database for retrieval at any time. Pages Security: Provide a logging in capability which will allow users to sign in with a username and a password to view classified pages as well as their dynamic content. MOSS [1] built-in capabilities are used to provide the logging feature. Integration with Library Solution: Provide logging in to the Library Department Database. Users will be able to log in, view available researches and request for a study to be made. Events Calendar: Provide dynamic calendars that show current events going on at the Council, which communicates directly with the CMS. RSS: Enable RSS functionality in the websites, within the major areas of interest, to enable users to subscribe to news feeds and receive them on their desktops. MOSS [1] built-in capabilities are used to provide the logging feature. Website Hosting: Is hosted on servers in US. http://www.shura.bh, last accessed February 2019. In 2010 the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain released the mobile portal adding to the already existent e-Government portal10 an m-Government application. The Mobile Portal—Kingdom of Bahrain is used as a new channel in the delivery of e-Government services to the citizens and residents of (continued) 10

http://www.bahrain.bh/wps/portal/!ut/p/a1/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOI9_ A3MDI0sjLz8g90sDBwtwnzdnSzdjA3cjYEKIoEKDHAARwNC-oNT8_ TD9aPAygyMfJ0NPU2MvAx8fYF6LZyCfELcnA0MLIwIKACaA1WA2x0FuREVnpmOigCTX evX/dl5/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/, last accessed February 2019.

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17

Bahrain. The Portal includes over 45 e-Government services provided either over WAP or by SMS. All services are made available in Arabic, as well as in English. The services can be classified into three categories: (1) Information Services, such as e-Weather, doctor search, embassy contacts; (2) Interactive Services, such as mobile blogs or mobile polls; and (3) Transaction Services, such as paying electricity and water bills or traffic contraventions. The mobile portal is integrated with ministries and departments, communicating data and information to users. Given that mobile penetration in Bahrain is amongst the highest in the world, the Mobile Portal—Kingdom of Bahrain is expected to become the preferred channel by which clients and citizens access government services. One of the first e-Government on-line services provided by the Bahrainian government was the Bahrain e-Visas service (2005). The primary function of Bahrain eVisas is to provide a service for online application for, payment for and processing of visas for travel to Bahrain. The application uses connectivity to the GDNPR systems and databases to automate the processes as much as possible within policy and security constraints. Many groups of people benefit from the service: individuals who intend to visit the country, residents of Bahrain who are looking for multiple re-entry visas, and companies in Bahrain who want to interview an applicant from abroad. The system can also save biodata electronically, thereby reducing the data capture process at check-in. Different Arab countries activated their Shura Council websites and mobile apps such as: Saudi Arabia (2011), Oman (2013), . . . But the ‘big wins’ are perhaps a little further down the line and will depend on a great degree of integration of government and other public-sector systems. However, some hopeful signs of change can be seen: Decentralisation of Government Sophisticated ICT systems are leading to a greater decentralisation of government. This can be particularly observed at the local level, where neighbourhood offices, one-stop shops11 and call centres are replacing the walk to the town hall or housing benefit office. These newer forms of neighbourhood offices, or “one stop shops”, seek to provide access to a complete range of services—rather as the bank branch does to the banking network. This relies on having accurate information on citizens available across the system, but the opportunity it opens up is greater responsiveness to local needs—often at the

The idea of the “one stop shop” was one of the first innovations due to e-Government; it was in some way a reverse of the paradigm, no more to expose the internal structure of government as the direct interface with citizens but the interface with citizens shaped to better serve citizens. One single entry point (one stop shop) will provide the complete feedback/service to citizens.

11

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2 Governance and e-Governance

neighbourhood level. The closer to the ‘front end’ that decisions about service provision can be made, the closer they can reflect local needs. Liverpool City Council,12 in its joint venture with British Telecom, activated a 24/7 call centre known as “Liverpool Direct”, aiming to move around 80% of its dealing with citizens from the ‘back office’ departmental system of the town hall to these ‘front office’ call centres and one stop shops. The relatively small number of staff in each one stop shop or call centre and the closeness they have to the population they serve means that they are more likely to see themselves as advocates of citizen needs, rather than as producers of services. Users as Co-producers In order for citizens to become really active users and indeed co-producers of public services, citizens have to be increasingly involved in and aware of the information on which decisions are made. One way to develop this process is being pioneered in The Hague13 where citizens can select different public service ‘packages’ in return for revealing different levels of personal information. This is an acknowledgement that joined up government requires a large degree of information about individual citizens’ needs and preferences and that citizens can be empowered to decide what level of trade-off they want to make. Of course, there are dangers that over-personalised public services risk atomisation and reward those citizens that are easy to serve, make little demand on services and can use the Internet proficiently. In the public sector the data collected by personalisation is primarily a social resource and should be used for collective benefit. Thus, if we collect evidence that people who do X are more likely to do Y, we should be able to reduce the costs of production processes, by targeting resources more effectively—not just at individuals, but at society at large, by developing education programmes to demonstrate the benefits of doing X. A positive approach demonstrating the benefits of a particular behaviour instead of putting blocks, limits and fines is always better and provides the rationale and citizens’ cooperation. These trade-offs are likely to become even more apparent as smart card technology increases as a delivery vehicle. The utility of such cards is related to the amount of personal information they hold. Back in 1988, a group of Thomson Microelectronics engineers founded, after preliminary studies on smart cards carried out at Thomson, the Gemplus14 company with the aim to further develop “smart cards”, a thin microchip embedded in a kind of credit card. Originally marketed as gadgets to open entry doors in clubs and lounges, smart cards become a key technology in 1990 thanks to the adoption of SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards by GSM mobile phones; the contract for the first million cards was signed with France Telecom. From that time onward, smart cards flooded the market, embedded in credit cards, identity cards, voting IDs, badges, etc.

12

http://liverpool.gov.uk, last accessed on February 2019. https://www.denhaag.nl/en.htm, last accessed February 2019. 14 Gemplus is now merged with Axalto in Gemalto https://www.gemalto.com/gemplus/, last accessed February 2019. 13

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Partnerships of Place, Not Organisation Among the new organisational vehicles that are resulting from e-Government are public/private partnerships such as the Liverpool Direct and others, which bring together private sector systems and technology expertise with public sector services and values. Some of these benefits are financial—the ‘downtime’ for staff at Liverpool Direct call centre is used to chase bad debts and arrears, resulting in significant savings, while the cost savings on processing disabled parking badges has allowed the price of them to be reduced from £7 to zero. Others are reputational—people now talk about “calling Liverpool Direct”; when they want an issue addressed. Although the ‘branding’ implications of that may worry some local governments, it has been instrumental in turning around the perception of an authority that was failing and is now seen as more dynamic. Further benefits are flowing from partnerships with other public sectors or civil organisations. One aspect of being able to offer a better service is access to a significantly wider range of information, much of which sits outside the Local Authority. The London Borough of Wandsworth’s15 site is based on place, the area of Wandsworth, rather than a council and contains information on weather, tourist activities, crime rates and so on. It has pioneered online planning applications and, in liaison with the Metropolitan Police, it will notify residents of criminal activity in their area, via an email bulletin. A more sophisticated version of such sites are ‘observatories’, including the one developed for Kingston upon Hull,16 which brought together different data sets from different partners and then mapped the information in an easy to understand graphical form. The ‘neighbourhoods’ on which the information was mapped were also re-constructed to reflect where people feel they live and identify with, rather than administrative boundaries. Again, this opens up the possibilities of new forms of localism, based on richer data sets and knowledge about the places that people inhabit—not the organisational categories they are assigned to. Improved Services Services produced at a reduced cost, or made more widely available, are becoming a feature of these e-Governance experiments, but genuinely transformed services are rarer. This is partly a result of uneven access to technology and again re-enforces the point that the bigger payoffs will only come when access is at, or close to, being universal. This is because running parallel systems remains expensive and because a (virtually) universal service, like income tax, cannot be transformed in part; the whole system has to be re-engineered. Given this, it is to Scandinavia and other countries where technology adoption is far higher that we usually look for transformed systems. Since the end of the 1990s nearly 3 million Finns no longer have to file a tax return and traditional tax forms have been replaced by what is known as “tax proposals”. Instead of asking taxpayers

15 16

http://www.wandsworth.gov.uk, last accessed on February 2019. http://www.hull.gov.uk, last accessed on February 2019.

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to report their income and property, the tax authority collects the necessary data from employers, insurance companies, property registers and so on. The tax authority then compiles this information and sends a pre-filled tax form to the citizen who can supply more information if needed, or simply accept the tax proposal. The same approach has been activated in other countries; Italy adopted “tax proposals” in 2016. In the vast majority of cases, the citizen need take no action at all. All he or she then has to do is wait for the refund or pay what is owed. Since this system was introduced around 10 years ago, only 20–25% of citizens now have to submit a tax return. More importantly, such a system requires a relatively simple taxation system; exceptions are costly to deal with, and since its introduction the system has indeed been simplified. Latvia: Whole Picture The original title of this application in Latvian is “Pilna bilde”; it was released by Overly and won the World Summit Award in 2016. “At the end of 2014 Latvian parliamentary election took place and we teamed up with local magazine “Ir” to solve two problems: 1) Ir magazine will never have as huge advertising space as political parties do during the election. But we wanted as many voters as possible to know the information politicians are never going to put on their posters—their true deeds, unfulfilled promises, unadvertised connections. 2) Lately in European countries and in Latvia elections have experienced record low activity from citizens; especially uninterested in politics are young people. By delivering information in a very fun, interactive and interesting way, we wanted to raise interest in young people and other citizens in politics, parties and other topics. How we did it? We created an augmented reality app, that could recognize any election advertisement of any political party in Latvia and promoted that everyone can scan them to see the Whole Picture. When it was scanned using Overly app, it came alive. At first through augmented reality people saw a fun animated cartoon on politicians, then it was followed by facts every voter needs to know about that party. And that’s not it! Further it led to longer articles on politics or the particular party written by an “Ir” magazine journalist and even statistical data based on different election related surveys—perfect reading material on the way to work once you had scanned adverts at the tram stop! we increased the citizen engagement in politics in a completely new, innovative and unique way. During the campaign no posters were simple adverts—they were all sources of information that increased the transparency of elections and helped citizens make the right decision in the voting stand that is based on facts, not still images and advertising!” https://overlyapp.com/full-picture, last accessed on February 2019.

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Citizen Involvement The democratic potential of ICTs has long been recognized and much of the early enthusiasm for, and experimentation with, online communities reflected this. Most clearly, technologies like the Internet make more information available to more people. Governments can still bypass this and secrecy has hardly gone away, but the ability of citizens and advocacy groups to discover more about decisions that affect them and even the basis of these decisions is undoubtedly enhanced. This greater ‘transparency’ is often over-emphasised, but the ability of citizens and advocacy groups to share a common knowledge base with decision makers has huge potential. Indeed, according to research from the US, while over 60% of those who use government websites have used them to find out about public policy issues that affect them, less than 20% have used them to perform transactions such as paying taxes or applying for licences. This suggests that the re-design of public interactions with government may be a bigger incentive to use e-Governance than the re-design of public services. So far, while e-Voting seems to be falling from favour, at least in some countries (in recent UK local council elections, e-Voting only increased turnout by a small percentage), participation in everything from planning to citizens juries or panels on a wide range of issues is gaining in popularity. While there are legitimate concerns about the effects of such ‘direct democracy,’ particularly where access to technology is unevenly distributed among groups, the greater involvement of citizens in decisions that affects them is undoubtedly to be welcomed. What we need now are more sophisticated ICT tools, that can capture informal, ‘local knowledge’ that people carry in their heads, as well as the rather more formal, educated discourse that tends to dominate the content of these systems.

2.3.4

Network Neutrality

In 2002 Tim Wu, who is now a law professor at Columbia University, coined the term “Network neutrality”; in 2003 he wrote a paper entitled “Network neutrality, broadband discrimination”17 explaining his idea that internet service providers (ISPs), including cable companies like Time Warner and wireless providers like Sprint, should treat all internet traffic equally. Quoting Tim Wu, “The questions raised in discussions of open access and network neutrality are basic to both telecommunications and innovation policy. The promotion of network neutrality is no different than the challenge of promoting fair evolutionary competition in any privately owned environment, whether a telephone network, operating system, or even a retail store. Government regulation in such contexts invariably tries to help ensure that the short-term interests of the

17

Tim Wu (2003), Network Neutrality, Broadband Discrimination, Journal of Telecommunications and High Technology Law, Vol. 2, p. 141.

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owner do not prevent the best products or applications becoming available to end-users. The same interest animates the promotion of network neutrality: preserving a Darwinian competition among every conceivable use of the Internet so that the only the best survive.” This approach might be termed “Darwinian”, a concrete expression of a system of belief about innovation, one that has gained significant popularity; we can refer to it generally as the “evolutionary model”.18 Adherents view the innovation process as a survival-of-the-fittest competition among developers of new technologies, with no external private or governmental actions to guide the competition, to direct the optimal path of innovation, minimizing the excesses of innovative competition. As it has happened a number of times, it is difficult to predict in advance the most promising path of development; in addition any single prospect holder will suffer from cognitive biases19 that make it unlikely to come to the right decisions, despite even the best intentions. Following this approach, the Internet can be seen as a platform for a competition among application developers; it is therefore important that the platform be neutral to ensure the competition remains meritocratic. This means that an ISP shouldn’t be allowed to block or degrade access to certain websites or services, nor should it be allowed to set aside a “fast lane” that allows content favoured by the ISP to load more quickly than the rest and exercise other similar biases that will influence the competition. The term “Internet Neutrality” has been at the centre of the debate over internet regulation since the time it was coined. Different organisations are engaged in the defence of network neutrality; among others the Dynamic Coalition on Network Neutrality20 carries out its activities under the IGF flag (www.intgovforum.org). The concept of Dynamic Coalition and a number of coalitions were established as a result of the first United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF), held in Athens in 2006. These coalitions21 are informal,

18

John Ziman, Evolutionary Models for Technological Change, in Technological Innovation as an Evolutionary Process 3 (John Ziman ed., 2000); and Richard Nelson, Understanding Technical Change as an Evolutionary Process (1987). 19 E.g. predisposition to continue with current ways of doing business (avoiding internal competition, using proprietary standards, etc.). 20 Dynamic Coalition on Network Neutrality, http://www.networkneutrality.info/about.html, last accessed February 2019. 21 List of Active Dynamic Coalitions: Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability, Dynamic Coalition on Accountability, Dynamic Coalition on Blockchain Technologies, Dynamic Coalition on Child Online Safety, Dynamic Coalition on Community Connectivity, Dynamic Coalition on Core Internet Values, Dynamic Coalition on Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media on the Internet, Dynamic Coalition on Gender and Internet Governance, Dynamic Coalition on Innovative Approaches to Connecting the Unconnected, Dynamic Coalition on Internet and Climate Change, Dynamic Coalition on Internet Rights and Principles, Dynamic Coalition on Network Neutrality, Dynamic Coalition on Platform Responsibility, Dynamic Coalition on Public Access in Libraries, Dynamic Coalition on the Internet of Things, Youth Coalition on Internet Governance.

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issue-specific groups comprising members of various stakeholder groups. IGF Dynamic Coalitions allow collaboration with anyone interested in contributing to their discussions. The basic procedure to establish a Dynamic Coalition may be summarised: interested individuals are advised to first hold a meeting and express the need for creating their coalition. They are required to produce a written statement which should outline: the need for the dynamic coalition, an action plan, a mailing list, the contact person(s), a list of representatives from at least three stakeholder groups. Once established, coalitions must follow three basic principles of inclusiveness and transparency for carrying out their work: open membership, open mailing lists, and open archives. They should also follow further guidelines laid out in the Dynamic Coalition Coordination Group Terms of Reference, which is applicable to all Dynamic Coalitions. Coalitions will also be asked to submit a yearly report or thematic paper to the Secretariat as an update of their activities.22 In the US the Congress, the Federal Communications Commission23 (FCC), and the courts have all debated whether and how to protect network neutrality. On the “Neutrality” side advocates argue that network neutrality lowers barriers to entry online, allowing entrepreneurs to create new companies like Facebook, Dropbox, and Uber. Critics warn that regulations could be counterproductive, discouraging investment in internet infrastructure and limiting the flexibility of ISPs themselves to innovate. Reasonably the network infrastructure has to be a shared facility, this is generally the case whether it is an electrical, telephone or railway network. As a consequence, once the standard for the basic infrastructure is defined each competitor is able and encouraged to innovate on top of this. In February 2015, the FCC approved new, stronger network neutrality rules that regulate internet access like a public utility. Network neutrality supporters hailed the proposal. But Republicans in Congress say it will lead to excessive regulation of the internet. The regulations also face challenges in the courts. Multiple telecom industry groups have sued to stop the new rules, arguing that they exceed the FCC’s authority. In 2017 FCC chair Ajit Varadaraj Pai24 disclosed his plan to repeal net neutrality provisions. FCC aimed to reclassify broadband providers from “common carriers” to “information services” in an unprecedented giveaway to big broadband providers and a danger to the internet. The move would mean the FCC would have almost no oversight authority over broadband providers like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T. Leaving the sphere of FCC authority, net neutrality protection is demolished and ISPs are allowed to extract tolls from every business.

22

More information available on the IGF website: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/ dynamiccoalitions, last accessed February 2019. 23 Federal Communications Commission https://www.fcc.gov, last accessed February 2019. 24 Ajit Varadaraj Pai, attorney who serves as the Chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

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A similar problem, to operate in an almost lack of regulations environment, characterise key internet players such as Amazon, Google, Facebook, Instagram, and similar companies. They grew up in a pure Darwinian environment, an empty space without regulations; this provided useful tools to compete with already regulated environments. In some cases there was not a fair competition between regulated and unregulated environments; this led to the disappearance of potential competitors and a distortion of the market.

2.3.5

Final Remarks

The early life of e-Governance initiatives has already seen a shift in understanding, from the view that increasing access to services by putting them on the web was all that was needed, to a more sophisticated notion of a transformed public realm. ICTs of course only enable this transformation, they do not create it and hence the social and political norms in any areas will determine the outcome of the ‘e-Governance’ systems. We are now starting to see change in governmental institutions: a greater emphasis on ‘partnership working’ with citizens, businesses and third sector organisations; decentralisation and changes in working processes; more knowledge; intensive and personalised services and in some cases, greater openness and transparency of political processes. All of these trends have a long way to go and many could be stopped in their tracks, by issues of uneven access to technology or content, which alienates or patronises users. We need to develop far more sophisticated systems for capturing and measuring the impact of e-Governance, so that we can judge its success in other than just crude, ‘availability’ terms. The “human factor” is a key aspect in deploying innovating solution and obtaining innovation, that means positively impacting society. And we need to be able to judge the real impact on citizens, not just changes in production or distribution of public services that will only benefit a small portion of the society, many times the portion already benefited by cyber technologies. If this is the case e-Governance will simply increase the gap between citizens that enjoy innovation and the ones that cannot. Above all, e-Governance needs to be seen as part of governance, not as an add-on; let’s say the goal is to perfectly overlap. Decisions about technology—from use of open source to the treatment of personal data—are more and more in the political realm and this is to be welcomed. Only when we can drop the ‘e’ and return to talking about governance, can e-Governance be said to have succeeded.

References

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References 1. Hix S (1994) The study of the European community: the challenge to comparative politics. West Eur Polit 17(1):1–30 2. Hix S (1996) http://aei.pitt.edu/8992/1/hix.pdf 3. Hurrell A, Menon A (1996) Politics like any other? Comparative politics, international relations and the study of the EU. West Eur Polit 19(2):386–402 4. Jachtenfuchs M (1995) Theoretical perspectives on European governance. Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0386.1995.tb00010.x 5. MOSS (2007) https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/3773/understanding-wss-3-and-moss2007/; https://www.cmswire.com/cms/cms-reviews/sharepoint-2007-review-six-pillars-ofmoss-000922.php 6. Rhodes C, Mazey S (1995) The state of the European union, vol 3: building a European polity? Lynne Rienner, Boulder, CO 7. Risse-Kappen T (1996) Exploring the nature of the beast: international relations theory and comparative policy analysis meet the European Union. J Common Mark Stud 34(1):53–80 8. Bruno E (2015) Co-deciding with citizens: towards digital democracy at EU level. ECAS. http:// www.ecas.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ECAS-Publication-online-version.pdf. Last accessed February 2019 9. European Governance: A white paper (2001) European Commission 10. European e-Government Action Plan 2011–2015. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/ european-e-Government-action-plan-2011-2015. Last accessed February 2019 11. Hix S (1998) The study of the European Union II: the ‘New Governance’ agenda and its rival. Taylor & Francis 12. Ministerial Declaration on e-Government, Malmö, Sweden, on 18 November 2009 https://ec. europa.eu/digital-single-market/sites/digital-agenda/files/ministerial-declaration-on-e-Govern ment-malmo.pdf. Last accessed February 2019 13. Singel R (2017) FCC wants to kill net neutrality. Congress will pay the price. Wired on line magazine. https://www.wired.com/story/fcc-wants-to-kill-net-neutrality-congress-will-pay-theprice/. Last accessed February 2019 14. Wu T (2003) Network neutrality, broadband discrimination. J Telecommun High Technol Law 2:141. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id¼4388863. Last accessed February 2019 15. Ziman J (2000) Technological innovation as an evolutionary process. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-62361-8

Chapter 3

e-Participation

The nature of citizen engagement in Europe is changing. The growing distance between citizens and their governments at the local, (sub)national and European levels has led to a decline in voter turnout, a shrink in membership of political parties and a loss of interest in politics in general, especially by young people. As a reaction to this public discontent, many European countries have started exploring the potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to regain citizens’ trust and revitalise European democracy by developing a more responsive, transparent, and participatory decision-making process1 [1].

1 Excerpt from—Elisa Lironi, “Potential and challenges of e-Participation in the European Union”, European Parliament © European Union, 2016 http://www.europarl.europa.eu/supporting-ana lyses, last accessed February 2019.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 A. M. Ronchi, e-Democracy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01596-1_3

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e-Participation

Quoting the incipit of the report–Potential and challenges of e-Participation in the European Union2, “The nature of citizen engagement in Europe is changing. The growing distance between citizens and their governments at the local, (sub)national and European levels, has led to a decline in voter turnout, a shrink in membership of political parties and a loss of interest in politics in general, especially by young people. As a reaction to this public discontent, many European countries have started exploring the potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to regain citizens’ trust and revitalise European democracy by developing a more responsive, transparent, and participatory decision-making process.” One of the “ICT tools” developed to face this lack of interest in politics in general is e-Participation, some other “tools” are e-Consultation, e-Petition, e-Legislation and e-Deliberation. In this context, a significant number of national and regional authorities both within the European Union and world-wide have undertaken actions in these areas and have already launched numerous projects and initiatives with very promising results. ICTs can empower citizens to be more involved in the decision-making processes, enabling not only a better and faster decision-making process, increased transparency and accountability, but also encouraging better communication between all parties involved.

3.2

e-Participation in Europe

Promoting participation of the citizenry is the cornerstone of socially inclusive governance; ICT offers a great opportunity to improve participation through a potential wide range of tools and applications usually termed e-Participation. The goal of e-Participation initiatives should be to improve the citizens’ access to information and public services; and promote participation in public decision-making which impacts the well-being of society, in general, and the individual, in particular. The European Commission supported a rich set of Information Society Technologies research projects on e-Participation3 during the 5th and 6th Framework Programmes for Research. In June 2006, the Council of Ministers recognised “the growing interest in e-Participation and the impact of ICT on activities in the political sphere and welcomes its inclusion in the i2010 e-Government Action Plan”, while inviting the Commission and the Member States to “experiment with innovative e-Participation schemes aiming at increasing participation in democratic processes focusing on tools and addressing citizens’ demands”. The interest in e-Participation

Elisa Lironi [1] “Potential and challenges of e-Participation in the European Union”, European Parliament European Union, 2016. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/supporting-analyses, last accessed February 2019. 3 https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/e-participation-future-citizen-engagement-eu, last accessed February 2019. 2

3.2 e-Participation in Europe

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was later on renovated in the following frameworks projects, enabling, further on-field experiences and experimentation in a wide range of sectors. European citizens’ engagement has changed in the last decades; “off line” forms of participation based on street demonstrations and open air political meetings have been almost stored in historical archives. When looking for an alternative to ensure a proper “connection” between government and citizens, ICT seems to offer a good opportunity to ensure this link. Quoting the report Potential and challenges of e-Participation in the European Union: “The Internet may offer the potential to change the scope of citizens’ engagement and new possibilities for participation due to the Web’s affordability and possibility to reach out to a broader audience. This means that the Web could reduce the costs of information and exchange, facilitate collaborative and deliberative processes and ultimately lead to improved decision-making at all levels of government”. Public administrations need to adapt to keep up with the rapid transformation of our society. This is due to the increased connectivity of citizens and businesses, which leads to new expectations as regards the quality, transparency and efficiency of public services as well as access to public-figures and institutions. Recent demand for citizens participation’ in EU-level decisions increases the importance and potential of e-Participation4. e-Participation helps people engage in politics and policy-making and makes the decision-making processes easier to understand, thanks to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). An additional key aspect in Europe, but not limited to Europe, is to promote participation of young people that represent and its future in government activity and achieve a higher consensus in decision making. The European Commission contracted a survey to TNS Political & Social, the Flash Eurobarometer 3755. The primary objective of the Flash Eurobarometer survey “European Youth: Participation in Democratic Life” was to study young EU citizens’ participation in society, with special reference to attitudes towards participation in elections and intentions to participate in the European elections in 2014. Only respondents aged 15–30 were considered for this survey. The final report was issued in 2014 and included the outcomes of a number of questions posed to young Europeans, about the reasons not to vote6 in the European elections, 64% said they are not likely to vote in the 2014 European elections because they believe that their vote will not change anything7. The result of the

4

https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/european-egovernment-action-plan-2011-2015, last accessed February 2019. 5 https://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data/dataset/S1119_375, last accessed February 2019. 6 Q5A: If you are not likely to vote in the European elections in 2014, will it be because...? (1) You are not interested in politics or elections in general (2) You are not interested in European politics and elections (3) You believe that your vote will not change anything (4) You are against Europe, the European Union (5) You believe that the European Parliament does not sufficiently deal with problems that concern you (6) You believe that you are not sufficiently informed to vote 7. You never vote. 7 FLASH EUROBAROMETER 375 “European Youth: Participation in Democratic Life”, pag 35— http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/flash/fl_375_en.pdf, last accessed February 2019.

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survey on “Voting at the European elections has an impact on problems that concern me”: the countries with the lowest proportions of respondents who gave this as a reason for voting were Germany (61%), France (59%), Estonia (58%) and Croatia (58%). In addition, looking at the results of the question “Not interested in politics or elections in general”, the figure ranges between 63% and 40%. To contribute to bridging the gap between young generations and government the European Commission issued, in the same year, the call YOUNG-5b-2014, specifically addressing the engagement of the youth in the decision-making. Two projects are considered the main outcomes of this call for proposals: EUth and STEP. European Union: EUth (2015–2018) EUth Tools and Tips for mobile and digital youth participation in and across Europe. The aim of EUth is to get more young people involved in political decision-making and increase their trust in European political institutions. The contributions provided care of EUth in order to achieve this goal are: • youth-friendly digital and mobile participation tools • to set up attractive participation projects

EUth Tools and Tips for mobile and digital youth participation. Source: https://www. euthproject.eu/

(continued)

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The solution created within the EUth project is: OPIN, an all-in-one proven digital and mobile participation toolbox, ready to be embedded in the web presence of youth organisations or administrations. OPIN provides participation projects with a digital home. All stages of the project are transparent and supported by OPIN’s software: features for digital and mobile participation easy to embed participation processes on your website intelligent community management integration of offline events multimedia information about your project. Concentrated practical tips and a decision support tool help to plan and find the right tools for user purpose. The platform enables young citizens to build a professional e-Participation process without being pro. Main tools are: • • • • • •

Text review (collaborative text work) Brainstorming (collect ideas) Idea challenges (collect and ideas and vote) Agenda setting (plan meetings) Spatial tool (collect ideas regarding certain areas) Polling (customizable multi-step polls)

Five pilot programmes have been activated to test OPIN: The City of Paris, AEGEE—European Students’ Forum, A cross-border partnership between Italy and Slovenia, The Region Heart of Slovenia, UNEF-Dauphine https://www.euthproject.eu/, last accessed February 2019.

European Union: STEP (2015–2018) STEP aims to develop and pilot test a cloud e-Participation SaaS platform (step.green), enhanced with web/social media mining, gamification, machine translation, and visualisation features, which aim to promote the societal and political participation of young people in the decision-making process on environmental issues. The project employs innovative social media analytics and monitoring tools, as part of effective strategies that have been developed, in order to engage young citizens in the pilot activities and increase their motivation to participate. Five pilots in an operational environment have been selected for the deployment of STEP solution in four countries: Italy, Spain, Greece, and Turkey, with the participation of one regional authority, three municipalities, and an association of municipalities. The pilots are expected to involve testing by 8200 young users and 85 policy makers. 65 decision making procedures with an impact on the environment are expected to be tested. (continued)

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STEP a cloud e-Participation SaaS platform. Source: http://step4youth.eu

Europe’s future depends on its youth. Promoting youth participation is fundamental in the EU policy. Especially for environmental issues, the participation of young people in decision making is extremely important, as decisions taken now on matters such as climate change, the depletion of resources, and the loss of biodiversity will have long-term consequences that will affect the future generations. Young people will have to live longer with the consequences of current decisions, and have special concerns and responsibilities in relation to the environment. The concept of public participation is also a fundamental principle in environmental law, while the Aarhus Convention (signed by the European Community and its Member States in 1998) gives the public the right to obtain information on environmental issues and participate in decision-making. However, according to recent findings of the Eurobarometer, half of the young people tend to distrust the European Union. Traditional channels of representative democracy, such as voting at elections and joining political parties, only partially stimulate young people’s interest in active participation. (continued)

3.2 e-Participation in Europe

In this light, STEP aims to motivate young people to participate in decision making in environmental issues. The main component of STEP is an e-Participation platform which will facilitate the interaction between policy makers and young people, combining trend spotting and foresight with idea creation and innovation management, and will enable policy makers to analyse and discover new insights, based on well-proven analytical methods. Key Features Social media/web mining component that will provide young users with enriched information from emerging topics; Machine translation component that will enable young users to view all the available information in their own language; Text-to-Speech technology that will enable text to be read to users; Visualisation features that will present the platform content in a visually stimulating way; Social media monitoring tool that will enable public authorities to effectively plan engagement strategies for youth; Gamification features to increase youth motivation. The main objectives of STEP are: • To enable public authorities to quickly open their decision-making procedures to young people; • To enable young citizens to participate in decision-making on issues with environmental impact by: – providing them with personalised information on decisions under consultation; – giving them the opportunity to express their opinion; – informing them on what other people are saying on the specific issues of interest, filtering information from noisy content in social media and web streams, and providing it translated in their own language; – giving them the opportunity to bring issues to the attention of policy makers. • To develop engagement and motivation strategies for increasing youth participation in environmental decision making • To pilot test the services in an operational environment in terms of technical, organisational and legal feasibility, with the participation of end users (young citizens and policy makers) • To assess the usability, effectiveness and impact of the project in embedding open engagement in public sector processes, and to identify the key barriers for wide-scale deployment http://step4youth.eu, last accessed February 2019.

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Egypt: The BIOMAP Project (Monitoring and Assessing of Biodiversity of Egypt—2009) Egypt has been endowed with a unique variety of ecosystems and a corresponding variety of wildlife that ranges from Eurasian species to purely sub-Saharan species. Because of its generally dry, hot climate and arid terrain much of the fauna and flora is desert adapted and often hard to find, so the visitor may be excused for thinking that the desert is deserted! This is very far from the case. The country’s location at the north-east corner of Africa makes it a land bridge between Africa and Eurasia with the result that since the dawn of time it has been crossed and recrossed by migratory people. Inevitably many of the migrants stayed, giving Egypt one of the most diverse populations in Africa.

BIOMAP, Egyptian bio-diversity map. Source: http://www.biomapegypt.org

Along the Mediterranean coasts are the Awlad Ali, Arabs who originated in the Arabian Peninsula. The Hamitic, Bishariin and Ababda live in the southern portion of the Eastern Desert; The people of the Siwa are Berbers. There are many more. Since 2001, millions of people, both Egyptians and foreign visitors, have visited the Protected Areas. In many PAs, the infrastructure is in place to (continued)

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receive them, in other PAs it is in the process of being set up. One of the most popular occupations is diving in the Red Sea and Germany alone annually sends a nearly million divers to explore the spectacular reef system. The main aim of the BioMAP project (Monitoring and Assessing of Biodiversity of Egypt) is to create a comprehensive IT-based database of existing Egyptian biodiversity records. Linked to up-to-date data through internal and external monitoring of Egypt’s Protected Areas, the project enables an analysis to be made of changes in the status of the country’s biodiversity. The web-based information centre contains five operational sites. One of these is the Egypt’s Biodiversity website, which was authored by Image House and includes a large number of photographs and illustrations on all topics of relevance to biodiversity, enabling users of all types to access credible information, in order to inform decision-making at all levels. Producer: BioMap Egypt http://www.biomapegypt.org, last accessed February 2019. If we consider e-Participation in a broader sense including the opportunity to provide citizens’ contribution to local governments and law enforcement agencies we can include at least three applications: Egypt: HarassMap (2010) HarassMap is an award-winning volunteer-based initiative founded in late 2010. The authors are working to engage all of Egyptian society to create an environment that does not tolerate sexual harassment. HarassMap is based on the idea that if more people start taking action when sexual harassment happens in their presence, we can end this epidemic together. HarassMap is working to build a future in which neighbourhoods, schools, universities, cafes, restaurants, shops, workplaces, and eventually all of Egypt are all safe spaces that never tolerate sexual harassment and always help people when they are harassed. We support individuals and institutions to stand up to sexual harassment before or when they see it happen. By taking a collective stand against sexual harassment, re-establishing social consequences for harassers—and making role models of people who stand up to them—we believe that harassers can be deterred from harassing again. (continued)

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HarassMap aims to engage all of Egyptian society against sexual harassment. Source: http:// harassmap.org/ar/

HarassMap is a social initiative implementing an SMS system for reporting incidences of sexual harassment in Egypt. This tool gives women a way to anonymously report incidences of sexual harassment as soon as they happen, using a simple text message from their mobile phone. As Egypt’s 55 million mobile phone subscribers grow in number by an average of 10% each year, HarassMap’s use of new mobile technology and innovative marketing is changing social outreach in Egypt, while invoking an older tradition of public safety for women. By mapping SMS reports on a public website displaying location and details provided by the victim, the Advocacy Online Map creates a powerful documentation of the extent of the problem. The Assistance Information and Referral System—HM provides victims with a list of services; Police Response—HM will pinpoint hotspots to increase police presence in high harassment areas. Further projects include community outreach activities, social media awareness and blogging campaigns against sexual harassment. The entire HarassMap system acts as an advocacy, prevention, and response tool, highlighting the severity and pervasiveness of the problem, as well as offering proactive responses. Step 1 The first step towards this future is establishing people’s belief that sexual harassment is a crime that is the fault of the harasser and not the person being harassed, and creating rules for how to act when it happens. (continued)

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Step 2 Next, people must act on this belief and these rules by helping people being harassed. Individuals can intervene to help someone they see getting harassed, tell harassers to stop, and report the crime to HarassMap and/or the police. If they are part of an institution like a business or university or school, we work with them to implement and enforce anti-sexual harassment policies. Step 3 When enough people take action, harassers will find it harder and harder to harass. They will face consequences on the street, in their workplace, from friends and family and co-workers, and eventually they will choose to not harass at all. This is when we reach our goal—zero-tolerance will be the norm and sexual harassment will decrease in Egypt. Producer: Engy Ghozlan http://harassmap.org/ar/, last accessed February 2019.

Kenya: Read the Crowd: Don’t Just Get the Data. Get the Whole Story (2008) Helping people raise their voice and those who serve them to listen and respond better. Ushahidi, which translates to “testimony” in Swahili, was developed to map reports of violence in Kenya after the post-election violence in 2008. Since then, thousands have used Ushahidi crowdsourcing tools to raise their voice. Ushahidi is a technology leader in Africa, headquartered in Nairobi, with a global team. It is a social enterprise that provides software and services to numerous sectors and civil society to help improve the bottom-up flow of information. The Ushahidi team believes that “if marginalized people are able to easily communicate to those who aim to serve them... then those organizations and governments can more effectively respond to their communities’ immediate needs... while simultaneously bringing global attention to their problems through the aggregation of their voices.” A technology similar to the one used by HarassMap has been implemented in a set of applications, mainly based on mobile devices, in order to report bribery. What is corruption mapping? In the past year, we have seen a rise of corruption tracking maps or maps that include tracking corruption as part of their project. A kind of geographic information system represents the corruption map of a specific city, country, region. Corruption mapping is based on crowd contribution; each single citizen experiencing bribery can report it georeferencing the location, adding comments and annotations. (continued)

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HSHAHIDI: Read the Crowd

From mapping to crowdsourcing to new technologies, there are new methods to track and amplify the fight against corruption by empowering the public. Youth are changing tactics for anti-corruption activism. They bring a zest for mobile and new media (pictures and videos). They seamlessly activate and share with their online social networks. No longer are activists tied to fighting corruption in 50-page PDF documents. They can map, create information forensics models, do deep data dives and visualize information in new ways. However, there is great merit in combining these new methods with existing, more formal practices. As much as it is key to open our arms and minds to new tactics for corruption fighting, it is even more critical to be mindful and build response plans for the potential security and privacy risks. We need a marriage of new and youthful anti-corruption tactics with existing techniques and methodology. Mapping Corruption What can corruption mappers learn from crisis mappers? Well, they can consider the basics: • What is your map mission? What is your project plan? • A map is not an end in itself. What type of data (categories) are you collecting? Why? What will you do with the data? • How will you protect the privacy and security of those who report? • What is your planned outcome? How will you verify the information? (continued)

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The UNDP published a post by one of the featured mappers, Kallxo, entitled: “I Paid a Bribe, So what? An experience from Kosovo.” This is now mandatory reading for any new corruption mapper. Successful deployments require the five T’s: Team, Trust, Time, Training and Tenacity. Producer: Ushahidi, Inc. https://www.ushahidi.com, last accessed February 2019.

United States: Find It, Fix It—Service Request Mobile App There are different applications similar to this one developed all over the world from New Zealand to Italy (to consider the antipodes); we choose to describe Find It, Fix It as an example. “Find It, Fix It” is a smartphone app offering mobile users one more way to report selected issues to the City of Seattle. With Find It, Fix It, reporting an issue is as easy as snapping a photo with your smartphone, adding detailed information, and hitting submit. The map’s “drag and drop” feature or the phone’s own technology can be used to pinpoint the location. Android users can download the app from the Google Play Store and iPhone users can download it from the App Store. The app offers the following service request categories: • Abandoned Vehicle: report vehicles parked in a public right of way more than 3 days. • Graffiti Report: report graffiti, including what it is on—parking meter, utility pole or building—so it gets automatically routed to the appropriate department for response. • Illegal Dumping: report illegal dumping—junk, garbage or debris—on public property, including roadsides, open streets and paved alleys. • Parking Enforcement: make an inquiry regarding a parking concern. • Pothole: report a pothole. • Sign and Signal Maintenance: report damaged street signs and malfunctioning traffic signals. • Streetlight Report: report a streetlight outage or damaged streetlight. • Other Inquiry: this miscellaneous category is for making an inquiry or request not listed above, which will be processed by the City’s Customer Service Bureau. Mobile users should choose this category to provide feedback. The present types of applications fully enjoy position-aware devices, builtin cameras and on line messaging. Thanks to the App the report is directly (continued)

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routed to the specific branch of the public administration and uploaded to the list of reports. Producer: Finance & Administrative Services Department—Seattle https://www.seattle.gov/customer-service-bureau/find-it-fix-it-mobile-app, last accessed February 2019. Among the international organisations promoting e-Participation the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)8 set the principles of e-Participation9, a set of 10 principles to be applied as cross-cutting issues for successful implementation of e-Participation activities; these are: 1. Commitment–demonstration of leadership; 2. Rights—demonstration of how government institutions meet their obligation to secure citizens’ right to access information, be consulted and participate in policy development; 3. Clarity–demonstration of clarity of objectives and citizens’ roles at each phase from the very outset of the e-Participation process; 4. Time—demonstration of sufficient time allotted at each phase as early as possible to ensure that all possible policy options are considered; 5. Evaluation—demonstration of the assessment mechanism deployed by authorities to evaluate their performance at each phase of participation; 6. Objectivity—demonstration of the objective nature of information provided, its completeness and accessibility to all willing to participate in policy making; 7. Resources—demonstration of the provision of adequate and accessible resources—technical, financial, human—needed to conduct participatory activities at every stage; 8. Co-ordination—demonstration of effective inter-agency co-ordination activities across the government to exclude duplication of effort, prevent ‘participation fatigue’ on the citizens’ part; 9. Accountability—demonstration of the effective, responsible and transparent use by the government of citizens’ feedback and other participation activities for policy making as part of broader accountability mechanisms; 10. Active citizenship—demonstration of efforts aimed at encouraging civic activism by increasing capacities and skills of the citizenry to participate in policy making in a meaningful and informed manner. OECD structures on two different groups of citizens’ participation: Offline Participation and Online Participation, even if it is not uncommon that offline and online participation processes overlap and influence one another.

8 9

OECD. http://www.oecd.org, last accessed February 2019. e-Participation principles (OECD).

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The first group usually encompasses: Referenda, Public hearings/enquiries, Public opinion surveys, Negotiated rule-making, Consensus conference, Citizens’ jury/ panel, Citizen/public advisory committees, Focus groups. Typically on-line participation encompasses10: e-Campaigning, including e-Petitioning, Community building/Collaborative e-Environments, e-Consultation, Online deliberation, Information provision online, e-Polling, e-Voting. One of the first sectors experimenting with e-Participation was the town-planning sector, this even before the advent of ICT in e-Participation. Early experiences were mastered thanks to the so-called “quarter laboratories”; thanks to these physical facilities citizens can meet decision makers, be aware of new plans and open a fruitful discussion exchanging suggestions, remarks, criticism. More than 20 years later such a function was often based on the use of computer graphics and interactive virtual reality. Italy/France: Create (2003) The European Commission project named CREATE developed this concept thanks to interactive high-quality virtual reality walkthrough and interaction associated with real-time 3D sound effects. The case study was developed on a different re-arrangement of Garibaldi Square in Nice (France). Citizens can experience a dynamic walkthrough in the different project proposals, look around from different locations and hear the people talk and the noise of trams and cars passing through. Thanks, at that time, to cutting edge technological tool local government in Nice was able to collect citizen’s appreciation or remarks about the foreseen solution. The objective of supporting the dialogue and networking on e-Participation between the government and the key stakeholders at local, regional, national level. The objective is to enable the networking of key actors as a means of further collaboration in developing e-Participation, involving as well key actors worldwide e.g. North America (e.g. PoliticsOnline, Steve Clift), Latin America (e.g. Brazil, the city of Puerto Alegre), Africa, Asia and Australia (e.g. the e-Participation initiative of the State of Queensland).

10

Panopoulou, E., Tambouris, E., Tarabanis, K. (2009). eParticipation initiatives: How is Europe progressing? European Journal of ePractice, Nr. 7, March 2009 (https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/sites/ default/files/document/2014-06/ePractice%20Journal-Vol.7-March%202009.pdf, last accessed February 2019).

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Money and Politics (Maplight 2006) MAPLight.org is a ground-breaking public website. It puts the spotlight on the connection between money and politics in the United States of America. Two public databases are combined: a database of all known campaign contributions to any legislator, and a database on how legislators voted on specific bills and resolutions. Bringing the data on money and voting together provides unprecedented insight into the legislative processes in the US; the motto is “Explore our data to uncover relationships between money and politics”. The website is a treasure for journalists, NGOs, and bloggers. It helps citizens to hold legislators accountable. MAPLight.org, findings make complex research publically available in an instant and shows that public scrutiny can be also visually appealing, easy-to-use, and customizable.

MapLight revealing money’s influence on politics. Source: http://maplight.org/

An additional section, Dark Money, provide an insight on dark money that comes from groups that are not required to disclose their donors. It pays for ads and other efforts to influence elections, but voters often don’t know who is behind those efforts. http://maplight.org/, last accessed February 2019.

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Although many countries are experimenting with e-Participation, in reality, the range of different e-Participation tools in use is fairly limited. We can conduct a benchmark analysis in order to identify and to evaluate international experiences adopted for the exchange of know-how and of good practices in the e-Participation field. Choosing the right KPI11s (Key Performance Indicators) this analysis will produce a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of a specific region solution in comparison with other regions. Usually the evaluation will focus on two levels of analysis that constitutes the basics for a good exchange model practice: • Web applications; • Organizational models. Web application survey; for this purpose different portals and web platforms will be evaluated according to several parameters, such as: • Easy finding of the important information, also through a customization of the views for specific customers, according to the various informative requirements; • Level of integration/cooperation with other national and international data banks; • Interactive services; • Availability of community instruments. On the other side, organizational solutions will be contemplated in order to evaluate: • Quantitative parameters able to describe the spread of the cases between the various participant administrations; • Degree of participation of the different single countries’ institutional levels; • Modality of involvement of the participant actors (cultural events, seminars, conventions, exchanges, virtual conferences, etc. . . .). Going much more in detail about methodology, the analytical framework and evaluation tools to identify the major factors shaping e-Participation may emphasize five specific dimensions: • The Political Dimension—measuring e-Participation as a concept and set of tools to empower, activate and mobilize political and civil society actors to meet public affairs objectives, while being on top of the political agenda. Special emphasis will be placed on the EU’s democratic challenges such as the democratic deficit, trust, transparency, privacy and citizens’ engagement, as well as the ongoing need to reinforce the legitimacy and practice of representative democracy; • The Democratic Dimension—measuring e-Participation as a concept and set of tools to strengthen citizen participation in the democratic and decision-making processes and enhances representative democracy. This dimension emerges from

11

KPI—Key Performance Indicators, is a type of performance measurement.

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the C.L.E.A.R.12 Model in which people participate when they can and have the necessary resources to make their argument, and when they feel part of something, they like to participate as it is part of their sense of identity, when they are enabled to do so and directly asked for their opinion and when they experience a responsive system; • The Civic Dimension—measuring e-Participation as a concept and set of tools to inform, train and educate constituents, citizens and activists about their institutions, representatives, political processes, decision-making and governance structures; • The Economic, Competitiveness and Social Dimension—measuring e-Participation as a concept and set of tools in relation to economic (e.g. growth, fiscal burden), competitiveness (e.g. quality of public services, transparency, good governance) and social (e.g. inclusive government, digital divide, new forms of citizenship) enablers. Special emphasis will be placed on the enablers related to the revisited Lisbon Objectives and the i2020 initiative and e-Government Action Plan; • The Technological Dimension—measuring the diversity of ICT tools proposed, the use of convergent technologies, availability, performance, usability, accessibility and innovation. European Union: e-Participation.eu “Every day, local governments need to decide something, plan something and get new ideas about something. The best way to do this is to start from the very beginning, from mapping the general context and background for the decision. It is also important to map the expectations of (but also resistance from) all the target groups that this plan or decision may affect.” The web portal e-Participation.eu has been financed, among others, by the European Union, Interreg IVC and “e-Citizen II” project (2010) led by the Baltic Institute of Finland. The aim of e-Participation.eu is to support European countries in promoting e-Participation though an on line “manual” and collect success stories. The use of online environments in the communication with citizens requires specific actions. The main objective of the e-Participation.eu manual and the project is to exchange citizens’ e-Participation practices in order to increase and promote participatory opportunities within the European Union member states starting from local governments. The driving force behind the project is the growing concern about democratic deficit in the society. There are different projects and initiatives across Europe that have addressed the (continued)

12

Contract, Listen. Explore, Action, Review Model—The CLEAR model was created by Peter Hawkins in the early 1980s and has since been used extensively to train and supervise leaders with effective coaching techniques.

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citizens’ participation problem and have generated interesting tools and solutions for dealing with it. Still, there is little sharing of knowledge and experience gained from such projects among local governments in the EU member states.

Good practice exchange on e-Participation platforms among European Youth. Source: http:// e-Participation.eu

The e-Participation manual tries to fill this gap and presents a collection of cases which can be taken as models for citizens and local public authorities in using various e-Democracy tools for participation. e-Participation.eu structures these actions in five main steps; each step is illustrated with sample cases: success stories as well as stories that are valuable lessons despite being failures. The five steps foreseen by the methodology are: expectations/background, planning, action, communication, and feedback/evaluation. Expectations: accordingly, with the methodology proposed, before beginning e-Participatory decision-making the following questions should be answered: 1. What is the aim of (e-)Participation: to get feedback on the plans of the local government or generate new ideas and suggestions? What specific goals should the process help achieve? (continued)

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2. Do the organizational culture and work processes that the local government has allow participation processes to be conducted and e-Participation to be applied successfully? What changes are necessary for that? 3. In which instances should residents be consulted before decision-making? 4. How prepared are the residents to participate in the process, including via e-Channels? Planning: once the four questions are answered, if there is a general understanding that the environment is favourable and the organization is ready for participative decision making then the next step is planning; Planning means setting of concrete goals, timeframe, participants and rules. Again there are some questions to be answered to run this phase smoothly: 1. What do we want to achieve when we e-Engage somebody? 2. What is the timeframe for participation—the beginning, the phases and the end? When should the decision be made? 3. Who should be involved in the planned process? Who are the target groups whom the specific question would directly affect? Who has expert knowledge in this field? Who are the interest groups who could help reach the target groups? 4. How can the target and interest groups be reached? Is it enough to distribute information via e-Channels or should other channels be used? 5. What are the rules of participation? How will participants’ input be used and feedback be given to them? Who makes the final decision: the participants (for example, through voting) or the local government? 6. How will e-Participation be organised technologically? Which technologies will be used? Can the existing ones be used or should new ones be sought? Where will we find them? Will we use freeware or will necessary solutions have to be ordered? Action: once the environment and expectations are mapped and the whole participation process planned, it is time to distribute concrete tasks and tools. The control questions this time are the following: 1. Are the officials participating in the process aware of their tasks? Do they have enough resources for the fulfilment of these tasks? Are we prepared for potential changes during the process (someone leaving the organization, falling ill, etc.)? 2. Which additional activities/tools should be foreseen in order to support participatory decision-making? (continued)

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Communication: this phase is definitely one of the key actions of the whole participation process and it has to be part of each step. Many initiatives and actions carried out by governments fail or are not appreciated by citizens because the communication plan and actions are not properly performed. This aspect doesn’t only impact the “political” attribution of the action; many times the effects are perceived after a relevant time gap, but even more relevant is the initiative itself. In order to avoid or at least minimize this problem, we would like to highlight some aspects of communication through the following questions which should be answered: 1. Are the messages and information we convey understandable to the public? 2. How can we attract the media? How can we become noticeable so that also the traditional media could be used to reach relevant target groups? 3. Which e-Channels should be used to reach as many people as possible? Which other channels should be used to inform residents of the participation process and of the possibility to e-Participate? Which channel would allow us to most effectively reach the main target group of this specific participation process? Feedback: the last phase is the evaluation of the outcomes of the action. This phase will evaluate each key element of the action, the proper execution of the plan, the final decision and the communication process as well in the light of the feedback provided by citizens through appropriate foreseen channels. Once again, questions that should be answered on the “Feedback” phase are the following: 1. How will the final decision be made if the process has resulted in numerous disagreements? 2. Was the initial plan realised? What was altered and why? If something failed, then why did this happen? 3. How will we communicate and explain our decision? Do we have sufficient arguments for the decision (and counter-arguments for those who disagreed)? 4. Were the people involved pleased with the result? Were they pleased with the process as a whole even if the result was not the one they suggested? How can we find out what the participants thought? A rich and extensible collection of case studies is an integral part of the portal. http://e-Participation.eu, last accessed February 2019.

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The European Experience 2010–2014 e-Participation is about reconnecting ordinary people with politics and policymaking and making the decision-making processes easier to understand and follow through the use of new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). In many European countries turnouts at national and European elections have been falling. There are numerous reasons for this. Perhaps voters feel their vote will not “make a difference” or that their concerns and opinions are not being listened to or acted upon. More widely, people have higher expectations as regards the quality and efficiency of public services as well as access to public institutions and elected politicians. There is greater demand for public services and information to be customised to their needs and available at the touch of a button, or click of a mouse. Achieving this would require improvements in the way public services are provided today. Governments and the EU institutions are working with citizens to identify and test ways of giving them more of a stake in the policy-shaping process, such as through public consultations on new legislation. ICTs provide a range of tools which can give citizens easier access to information about what decisions are being taken which affect their lives and how the decisionmaking process works. They can also help foster communication and interaction between politicians and government bodies on the one side, and citizens on the other. Internet, mobile phones and interactive television can be used to channel information to citizens and canvass their views. Increasing transparency and public participation benefits democracy and should improve the quality of legislation being adopted. It is also good for the cohesion of European society because participation promotes a sense of ownership of the political process.

India: Many to One SMS Developed by Phoenix Software Solution this application uses a “Many to one SMS13”-based application to help government ministries monitor labour at National Rural Employment Government Schemes work sites. Information pertaining to labour used to be collected in a time-consuming process of phone calls and emails. Thanks to “Many to one SMS”, on the first day of the week, the secretary of every gram panchayat (local village/town government) is required to send an SMS in a prescribed format to a designated telephone number. (continued) 13

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v1⁄4T9LmDqYKLpM, last accessed February 2019.

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Many to One SMS based reporting system

The SMS is automatically transferred to an electronic database and the information is displayed on a dynamic webpage. If the information is not received, a reminder SMS is generated and sent automatically. In case an incorrect SMS is received, there is an option to edit data at the block level itself. The Many to One SMS-based reporting system assists in reducing time delays in information-gathering.

Uganda: U-Report U-report: Community-led Development through Social SMS Technology U-report is a text message programme designed to give young Ugandans a chance to voice their opinions on issues that they care about. Users opt into the programme at no cost across all networks by texting the word “JOIN” to a short code. Registration entails answering a series of demographic questions such as age, gender, how one heard about U-report, district and village. This information allows for polls to target districts, region, gender, etc. Launched in May 2011, there are 260,000+ U-reporters in Uganda with a balanced regional distribution, over one third of whom are women, average age of 24 years. Each week an SMS poll or alert is sent to all of the U-reporters soliciting opinion on a given matter, for example: “FREE vaccinations, birth certificates, antenatal care will be provided on the Family Health Days at mosques & churches on Friday & Sunday by Ministry of Health.” Or “[We] want to know what can be done for children who have dropped out of school; let us know what you think. Best answer will be shared.” (continued)

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U-Report is a free SMS social monitoring tool. Source: http://www.ureport.ug/

Combinations of quantitative and qualitative questions are used when required. Responses from each are analysed in real time by the U-report data platform. Responses are mapped to each district and aggregated to a national level. Results are then shared with all U-reporters and often the issues arising are explored further with additional questions and responses continuing the dialogue. U-report has multiple uses, such as raising awareness on certain issues, community-led development and information sharing as well as issue advocacy at a national level. This well written strong mobile app tackles the challenge of youth engagement in the simplest and most versatile way, via SMS which is accessible via any phone be it feature or smartphone. By sending out a single question to a large group of respondents, it is possible to collect information responses on almost any topic or subject. Website images give a good sense of what the app is about. The utility of U-report as an SMS application has been likened to WhatsApp. Even the feedback to its users is done through SMS. The website is just a way of reporting to the outside world what’s happening in the mobile app. U-report is an obvious force for social change—if the public, including those not wealthy enough to have access to the internet, can exchange information, then it influences governments to better serve their people. This mobile app has obvious evidence-based positive impact on grassroots participation, especially among African youth. http://www.ureport.ug/, last accessed February 2019.

3.3 e-Participation in the United Nations Vision

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e-Participation in the United Nations Vision

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) developed a tool in order to measure citizen engagement and e-Participation, the Measurement and Evaluation Tool for Citizen Engagement and e-Participation (METEP) toolkit. The UN definition of e-Participation is “e-Participation is about fostering civic engagement and open, participatory governance through Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). Growing evidence points to the rapid expansion of e-Participation as a tool for engagement and strengthened collaboration between governments and citizens. Its objective is to improve access to information and public services as well as to promote participation in policy-making, both for the empowerment of individual citizens and the benefit of society as a whole.14” The project aims to strengthen developing countries’ capacity to apply Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) for citizen engagement. METEP is based on a self-assessment questionnaire “Citizen Engagement Self-Assessment Questionnaire15” (CESAQ); governments can begin to elaborate strategies for better delivery of public services and engagement of their citizens in policymaking processes. The CESA Questionnaire is nominative and it is structured in three parts: Part A—Fact-based questions, Part B—Agency-specific questions, and Part C—Experience-based questions. Part A requires answers based on facts attesting to the existence of certain regulatory provisions (e.g. Does your country’s constitution grant citizens the right to access public information? or Does your country have any legislation or policies on Personal data protection?) that can be verified by the documented/published evidence16; Part B asks about the actual agency practices supported by known (not necessarily officially documented/published) evidence17 (e.g. Does your agency have At least one government official tasked with citizen engagement? or Does your agency engage citizens in shared implementation of solutions on issues of their interest through participation in a joint steering committee?); Part C seeks professional judgment from public officials (and specialists working for government institutions) based on (a) their personal experience gained as a result of direct participation in civic engagement initiatives or (b) the knowledge obtained

14

https://publicadministration.un.org/en/eparticipation, last accessed February 2019. CESAQ. http://workspace.unpan.org/sites/Internet/Documents/UNPAN94954.pdf, last accessed February 2019. 16 “Part A can be answered by legal, administration experts who represent government agencies responsible for national regulatory frameworks; government officials with working knowledge of these frameworks; and independent specialists knowledgeable in the functioning of the country’s legal system. In a workshop setting, this part can be collectively answered by participants from the same country.” CESAQ Guidelines. 17 “Part B can be answered by officials who work for government agencies at national, regional (sub-national) and local (municipal) levels, and who are knowledgeable about citizen engagement initiatives of the agency or seeking to make the work of their institution more participatory, transparent and accountable. In a workshop setting, this part can be collectively answered by participants from the same agency.” CESAQ Guidelines. 15

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while witnessing the implementation of such initiatives18 (e.g. Based on your experience, please rate the commitment of your country’s top-level decision makers for transparency, accountability and citizen engagement or Based on your experience, please rate legislation or policies (including constitutional provisions) on public services). The elaboration of the results of the questionnaires provides the e-Participation index (EPI). This index extends the dimension of the UN e-Government Survey, derived as a supplementary index, by focusing on the use of online services to facilitate provision of information by governments to citizens (“e-Information sharing”), interaction with stakeholders (“e-Consultation”), and engagement in decisionmaking processes (“e-Decision making”). These three sectors of the e-Participation framework are described by the UN as follows: • e-Information: Enabling participation by providing citizens with public information and access to information without or upon demand; • e-Consultation: Engaging citizens in contributions to and deliberation on public policies and services; • e-Decision-making: Empowering citizens through co-design of policy options and co-production of service components and delivery modalities. Three initial countries will apply METEP in 2014 and 2015, over the course of national workshops organized by DPADM19: Kazakhstan (October 2014); Kenya (January 2015); and Indonesia (2015)20. METEP was also administered during two additional national workshops substantively supported by DPADM, in Azerbaijan (December 2013) and Iran (March 2015). After more than 15 years from the investments on e-Participation the European Parliament report “e-Government: Using technology to improve public services and democratic participation21” summarizes the state of the art in that sector as follows: “Many other challenges and opportunities in creating true e-Government remain. Governments must do more to create a sense of security and trust. They need to encourage interoperability to support the single market. They can try to develop electronic means for citizens to participate in public life while not excluding those who do not have the means, abilities or skills to do so. They have an opportunity to exploit open government data, to collaborate more with businesses and citizens in developing enhanced services, and to make effective use of new technologies such as cloud computing.” “Part C can be answered by any government official directly or indirectly involved in the participatory activities of the government agencies under discussion.” CESAQ Guidelines. 19 United Nations—Public Administration and Development Management Department of Economic and Social Affairs: https://publicadministration.un.org/en/, last accessed February 2019. 20 METEP project Fact Sheet is available on line at http://workspace.unpan.org/sites/Internet/Docu ments/UNPAN93267.pdf, last accessed February 2019. 21 Ron Davies (2015), e-Government: Using technology to improve public services and democratic participation, ISBN 978-92-823-6814-5, DOI: 10.2861/150280 EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service. 18

3.4 Direct Democracy

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Direct Democracy

“Direct democracy, also called pure democracy, forms of direct participation of citizens in democratic decision making in contrast to indirect or representative democracy, based on the sovereignty of the people. This can happen in the form of an assembly democracy or by initiative and referendum with ballot voting, with direct voting on issues instead of for candidates or parties.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica) Mainly due to the widespread diffusion of the Internet and social web there is an increasing interest in a different model of democracy. Democracy as we may know was implemented on behalf of representatives. Citizens thanks to elections choose their representatives at different levels and in different sectors. These delegates will represent their electors within the Institution looking after the interests of their own electors. In recent times the lack of trust relationship between citizens and their delegates suggested the adoption of a different model potentially enabled by new technologies. This model is termed “direct democracy22”, no mediation between citizens’ issues and government. The idea is based on the use of social networks and direct participation in order to easily identify the feeling or will of the majority of the citizens. Switzerland’s Direct Democracy Switzerland has 7 million inhabitants; citizens’ law-making is exercised on all political levels. The country includes almost 3000 autonomous municipalities, 26 sovereign states and on the common, federal level. Swiss Direct Democracy has a long tradition: the origins of Direct Democracy can be traced back to the late Middle Ages. Archaic forms, like assemblies of the electorate discussing and deciding major political issues, have been practised in part of the country since the founding of the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1291. The origins of the Swiss system of Direct Democracy with formalized opinion polls and frequent referendums lie in the experimental phase of democracy in the nineteenth century when Switzerland was surrounded by monarchies on the European continent that showed little to no enthusiasm for democracy. Even if Switzerland embraces direct democracy, it is nevertheless still a representative democracy. Most laws are made and decided by parliament; however, the key difference between the Swiss system and the “indirect” democracy is that citizens are entitled to put almost every law decided by their representatives to a general vote if they want. To activate this procedure, members of the public need to gather 50,000 signatures (approximately 1% of the electorate) within 100 days of the publication of a new law. In the vast majority of the cases no such referendum is triggered, because the parliamentary process enjoys a very high level of (continued)

22

e.g. http://direct-democracy.geschichte-schweiz.ch, last accessed February 2019.

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legitimacy. That is because the elected lawmakers know that their work will be seriously checked by the public, so do a very good job indeed. Swiss citizens have the right to propose almost any constitutional amendment they wish. Such an amendment cannot, of course, violate international law or human rights. To activate this citizens’ initiative, they need to gather a minimum of 100,000 signatures within 18 months. To complete the framework, Swiss citizens have the last word on all constitutional changes, even those proposed by the government and parliament, as well as most international treaties. http://www.direct-democracy.geschichte-schweiz.ch, last accessed February 2019. Ideally this seems to be an improved implementation of democratic principles, a direct expression of citizens’ wills. It is important to stress that e-Democracy in this field is meant to add elements of citizen empowerment and direct democracy. Unfortunately, this is not true actually because of different problems. We can subdivide them in two main branches: technical problems and socio-political problems. On the technical side among the others we can consider the different access to similar tools due to citizens’ profiles, gender, geographical location, availability and quality of network access, digital literacy and even the will to use similar tools. The use of profiling tools on both sides, information provider and citizen, led to obtaining different outputs using different devices and different profiles (e.g. anonymous). These problems will provide a biased feedback of democratic participation. Again, on the technical side there is not a well-defined and accountable “interaction” system ensuring a “quality” of the service comparable with the traditional voting system. Cyber identity, double voting, security of digital records, anonymity and more pertain only to very well organised activities, not to usual on-line ballots and blogs. On the socio-political side an additional problem already well known on the occasion of the referendum is the need to have an in-depth knowledge of each specific problem to be solved; this duty is usually in charge to delegates that must be aware about the problems they deal with, are citizens committed to perform this duty? Such a concern is tightly connected with the independence and accountability of media and press, many times the only source of information. Fake news still represents a relevant problem in the cyber age. Mainly due to these two reasons the high risk of abuse or misuse of similar “democratic” tools is still very high. United Kingdom: DirectGov The DirectGov Cabinet released in 2005 the DirectGov website; Direct.gov.uk puts users straight through to public services without their having to understand government. People who prefer not to use the Internet can get to DirectGov through Digital interactive Television (DiTV) or 6000 public kiosks. (continued)

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GOV.UK: government services and information. Source: https://www.gov.uk/ Open Government Licence v3.0

The application uses freshly written content to form a complete, coherent picture of the central government services. It aims to make all service delivery easier, quicker and cheaper for users, to drive the take-up of the government’s online transactions, to proactively present users with other relevant services and to help de-duplicate and rationalise the government’s web provision. https://www.gov.uk/, last accessed February 2019.

Portugal: City Points Cascais The Câmara Municipal de Cascais released in 2017 the application “City points Cascais”; it is a rewards program that encourages good citizenship practices, using an APP to give the opportunity to earn points and with them get products and services. As a user performs pre-defined activities in the areas of environment, citizenship, social responsibility, mobility, etc. he gets points. By accumulating points, users will have different vouchers available that can be redeemed for prizes offered by the network of local partners. (continued)

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Based on gamification and the acknowledgment of citizens, the app induces participants to take an active role in transforming the community into a better place to live. With one City Point at a time, participants improve their engagement in the sustainable city. Led by the municipality and with a low investment, the local partnership can promote common goals for the social good, while promoting its services and products. Cascais City Points is also paving the way for a ground-breaking, activity/ profile-based, pricing of city services. https://www.cascais.pt/citypoints, last accessed February 2019.

Georgia: Budget Monitor (2017) Budget Monitor (BM) is a unique citizen engagement web-platform of State Audit Office of Georgia (SAOG), which provides comprehensive analytical information about the public finances, designed from an auditor’s perspective. BM presents key budgetary information and results of SAOG-conducted audits in an easy-to-interpret way using various data visualization tools, thus raising public awareness about how budget money is spent.

Georgian budget monitor. Source: https://budgetmonitor.ge/en

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BM is a two-way communication platform. On the one hand, it equips citizens with sufficient information for external public scrutiny and empowers their participation in government decision making. On the other hand, it enables them to engage constructively throughout the audit cycle. By sending audit requests and proposals, citizens are able to inform SAOG about the deficiencies in public spending. Thus, people can have profound impact on improving PFM through their participation in SAOG’s audit works and following up the government responses on audit recommendations. Producer: State Audit Office of Georgia https://budgetmonitor.ge/en, last accessed February 2019.

Ireland: Local Authority Finances (2015) A resource for Irish people to find out about how local authorities source and spend their money. Facilitates decision making by individuals, businesses, and policy makers. The application will reply to this basic question: How Is Your Money Spent? Choose Your Local Authority: Citizens can choose their local authority from the list below and the application will show the current year budget breakdown, how it compares to the national average, and how it compares to other councils. Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork City, Cork County, Donegal, Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, Galway City, Galway County, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, South Dublin, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow. If we choose Dublin City we obtain: Dublin City In 2017 Dublin City Council has a budget of 862.6 million euros or 1559 € per person. Plus the detailed list of expenses subdivided by typology and compared with national average. Producer: Publicpolicy.ie http://localauthorityfinances.com/, last accessed February 2019.

Austria: Open Spending Austria (2015) www.offenerhaushalt.at is an open spending platform for Austria’s public sector. The spending data of all 2100 Austrian municipalities from 2001 to 2013 have been put on the platform. Municipalities can view several (continued)

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interactive visualisations of their data and with two simple clicks make the visualisations available for everybody and release the data sets as open data. ~800 Municipalities have joined.

AUSTRIA: Open Spending Austria. Source: https://www.offenerhaushalt.at

Producer: KDZ—Centre for Public Administration Research https://www.offenerhaushalt.at/, last accessed February 2019.

References 1. Lironi E (2016) Potential and challenges of e-participation in the European Union, European Union. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/supporting-analyses 2. Bruno E (2015) Co-deciding with citizens: towards digital democracy at EU level. ECAS Publications. http://www.ecas.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ECAS-Publication-online-ver sion.pdf, last accessed December 2017 3. Clarke A (2013) Exploiting the web as a tool of democracy: new ways forward in the study and practice of digital democracy. World Forum for Democracy 2013 Issues Paper, Council of Europe, Strasbourg 4. Davies R (2015) e-Government: using technology to improve public services and democratic participation. EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service. doi:10.2861/150280, ISBN 978-92-823-6814-5 5. Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation, The Federal Council (of 18 April 1999). https:// www.admin.ch/opc/en/classified-compilation/19995395/index.html, last accessed December 2017

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6. OECD (2003) Promise and problems of e-democracy: challenges of online citizen engagement. OECD. http://www.oecd.org/gov/digital-government/35176328.pdf, last accessed December 2017 7. OECD (2007) Principles for private sector participation in infrastructure. OECD. http://www. oecd.org/daf/inv/investment-policy/38309896.pdf, last accessed December 2017 8. TNS Political & Social (2013) European youth: participation in democratic life, Flash Eurobarometer 375, http://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinion/flash/fl_375_en.pdf, last accessed February 2019 9. United Nations (2013) United Nations empowerment and e-participation: policy recommendations. http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/egms/docs/2013/ict/RutjensJacqueline.pdf, last accessed December 2017

Chapter 4

e-Inclusion & e-Empowerment

We group under the keyword e-Inclusion all the measures supporting integration of the global information society; bringing least developed countries into the knowledge society; reducing “digital divides” between technology-empowered and technology-excluded communities and groups such as rural areas and women, senior citizens, disabled citizens and children; bridging society and strengthening social and political participation of individuals and groups through ICTs; empowering citizens and stakeholders in public services.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 A. M. Ronchi, e-Democracy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01596-1_4

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e-Inclusion and e-Empowerment

“Visions of a global knowledge-based economy and universal electronic commerce, characterised by the ‘death of distance’, must be tempered by the reality that half the world’s population has never made a telephone call, much less accessed the Internet.” OECD (1999), The Economic and Social Impact of Electronic Commerce: Preliminary Findings and Research Agenda. The above definition of “digital divide” follows a number of discussions and initiatives1 to “bridge” it and pairs with the half-full glass represented by “digital opportunities”; the idea of e-Inclusion probably originated later, on the occasion of the early stages of the World Summit on the Information Society; as already mentioned, the concept of “digital divide” was already well known, so the extension at the global level of this concept led to grouping under the keyword e-Inclusion all the measures supporting integration of the global information society; bringing least developed countries into the knowledge society; reducing “digital divides” between technology-empowered and technology-excluded communities and groups such as rural areas and women, senior citizens, disabled citizens and children; bridging society and strengthening social and political participation of individuals and groups through ICTs; empowering citizens and stakeholders in public services. Recalling the well-known motto “no one is left behind” in enjoying the benefits of ICT, e-Inclusion focuses on participation of all individuals and communities in all aspects of the information society no matter their country, gender, age, wealth or, accordingly to another OECD definition, again limited to the digital divide: “. . . the gap between individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas at different socio-economic levels with regard to both their opportunities to access information and communication technologies (ICTs) and their use of the Internet for a wide variety of activities.” e-Inclusion was later on twinned with e-Empowerment. The concept of e-Empowerment relates to the ways in which the Internet is being utilized as an empowering tool. Yair Amichai-Hamburger2 in the article “e-Empowerment: Empowerment by the Internet”3 proposes to structure on a four-level model what we term e-Empowerment, and the effects that can be observed at each of the four levels: (1) the personal; (2) the interpersonal; (3) group; and (4) citizenship. Personal e-Empowerment for instance, when an individual attempts to reframe or make changes to his or her identity, such changes to the self will only come about if they are socially validated; the Internet offers expanded opportunities for these The term “digital divide” become a popular in 1995 with the diffusion of the Internet and the sudden broaden of the personal computer market. 2 Professor of Psychology & Communication The Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya Israel. 3 Yair Amichai-Hamburger, Katelyn Y.A. McKenna, Samuel-Azran Tal (2008), E-empowerment: Empowerment by the Internet, Computers in Human Behavior 24 (2008) 1776–1789, doi:10.1016/ j.chb.2008.02.002, Elsevier Ltd. 1

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processes. Increasing self-efficacy and skills, people actively avoid activities and situations that they believe will exceed their coping capabilities; the most effective way to increase self-efficacy is usually mastery experiences. In mastery situations, individuals are able to engage in exercises that allow them to acquire and practice their skills in a non-threatening environment; in case of failure there are no significant costs to the individual. The Interpersonal Level e-Empowerment at this level can lead to behaviour change and shifts in attitudes, the strengthening of existing relationships, and the formation of new ones. This is particularly the case for the empowering processes involved in: (A) social compensation—Internet users are able to choose what, when, and how far to disclose personal information, and, in some cases may choose to remain wholly anonymous, or communicate using a pseudonym or take on a new identity; this creates a highly protected environment. This greater sense of control and security may encourage users to engage in the kinds of selfdisclosure that cultivate close social ties through the net. People with a limited number of contacts and limited social relations become rich joining on-line communities and exchanging messages with a broad audience; the ability to form enduring relationships constitutes a significant demonstration of e-Empowerment; (B) heightened self-disclosure—this aspect is twofold; on one side the internet eases the trust necessary to build in interpersonal relations, once trust has been established, people will allow themselves to open up and disclose intimate information; on the other side this easy process to establish trust may expose us to relevant risks as we may know in the field of privacy and even personal security; (C) stereotype use reduction—this aspect of interpersonal communication through the Internet recalls the well-known cartoon caption “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog4”, the adage about anonymity on the Internet. A stereotype is a generalized belief about members of a particular group (e.g., women, the elderly, Arabic, Scottish) and includes beliefs about personality traits, physical and mental characteristics, and expected behaviour; the opportunity to have Internet-mediated relations with other people minimizes this unconscious bias. Physical cues are often not immediately apparent and thus do not influence the impressions that are formed or become a barrier to potential relationships. Interacting on line, impressions are formed on very different criteria, rather than basing impressions on superficial features, such as attractiveness; the opinions expressed and the information about the self that is revealed become the basis of first impressions.

4 Cartoon by Peter Steiner, published by The New Yorker on July 5, 1993—two dogs: one sitting on a chair in front of a computer, speaking to the second dog sitting on the floor.

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(D) bridging cross-cultural boundaries—the ability to promote cross-cultural dialogue, e.g. through online forums and blogs, encourages dialogue and contact between individuals from opposing sides during a conflict. Amichai-Hamburger refers to some concrete examples such as the 2006 Israel–Lebanon War. Sometimes such initiatives fail and the website or Facebook page is abandoned, sometimes the “channels” are blocked care of the government. (E) effective one-on-one supervision: workers’ lives are under pressure due to the increasing level of competition and the high level of job burnout. This is the typical environment in the ICT sector so people are often unable to find the time to seek professional assistance. Without professional assistance and support, they are likely to suffer from burnout and consequential dropout. Thanks to the Internet, it is possible to offer highly professional supervision on a one-to-one basis, regardless of time, location and problem. At Group Level the empowerment generated at group or community level is evident; being a member of a group that shares common interests and goals enhances self-esteem. In addition, members of communities experience a reduction in feelings of loneliness and enjoy significantly more social contacts. Citizenship Level this level is tightly connected with the concept of e-Democracy and the galaxy of interactions between citizens and government that e-Democracy enables, tools and public debate through online watchdog groups. These and other “e” interactions empower citizens on three main levels: (A) Direct political participation—this level refers to e-Governance and e-Government as trustworthy and honest tools; a variety of studies5 have shown that civic involvement increases substantially with the use of the web. (B) Accessibility—this aspect refers both to the easy access to public governmental information and to access to on line services provided by e-Government such as financial payments, driving license renewals, downloading and filling out of tax forms, filing for benefits, obtaining certificates. (C) The ability to supervise and influence government decisions—web empowers “informed citizenship” through engendering the creation of a fruitful debate regarding civil and government issues among political activists and critics via online watchdog groups6 and civil societies organizations7. The consequences of such e-Empowerment tools have far-reaching implications for the political sphere on local, national, and international levels.

5

E.g., Eugene Borgida, Emily N. Stark (2004), New media and politics—Some insights from social and political psychology, DOI: 10.1177/0002764204270282, American Behavioral Scientist, Volume 48, Issue number 4. Robert Kraut, Sara Kiesler et al. (2002), Internet Paradox Revisited, DOI: 10.1111/15404560.00248, Journal of Social Issues. 6 E.g. https://www.watchdog.org, last accessed February 2019 (some restriction of access due to GDPR). 7 E.g. https://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk, Twitter https://twitter.com/washingtonwatch? lang1⁄4it, last accessed February 2019.

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United Kingdom: Directgovkids (2007) The British government published Directgovkids in 2007, a website where children learn the values of democracy and the importance of political participation. The full title of the web is “DirectgovKids: Giggles, Gigabytes (and Government)”. As it was written on the home page of the project, “Children will be able to find out about Government, public services and the world around them in a fresh, fun and informative way through a new website launched today (21 March 2007). DirectgovKids aims to get children from 5 to 11 engaged with some of the areas of Government that have an impact on their lives, and to help them learn about and understand the society they are growing up in. The site is designed to look like a revolving globe, with interactive buildings that children can investigate including: a Town Hall, a Police Station and a School. There are online activities and exciting games, as well as animations and slideshows. New areas are being added all the time and include a Health Centre, a school council voting activity and a special area, where children can have a ‘virtual vote’ on issues that affect them. DirectgovKids can be used in the classroom, across the curriculum, as it has many useful lesson materials. It also has more specific applications for the teaching of Citizenship/ PSHE for Key Stages 1 and 2. It is the only free resource of its type for schools. Children can also access it from their home PC, for a fun home-learning experience. There is also a dedicated area for parents, full of activities and suggested places to go and things to see.” On the occasion of the launch of DirectgovKids, at St Edmund’s Primary School in Tower Hamlets, which piloted the site, Children’s Minister Beverley Hughes said: “DirectgovKids is not only a fantastic learning tool for children, it’s great fun too. This is the first time children in the UK have been communicated with directly by Government through an online site. Young citizens will be able to find out more about the world around them, and how Government shapes their day-to-day lives. The site will also give more of a voice to children, allowing them to express their views on current and future policy.” On the same occasion Gail O’Flaherty, Head Teacher at St Edmund’s, said: “A great deal of care has been taken to ensure that this website is attractive to children and easy for them to use. It enables children to understand clearly the differences between local and central government and fits in well with the Citizenship curriculum. The site explains in a fun and informative way many of today’s key issues, including healthy living and eating, food production and recycling. Our School Council have found the site useful as they have petitioned our local council for a lollipop lady and the process is explained on the website. Both teachers and children have enjoyed using the site, which is a particularly useful teaching tool as it can be accessed from both home and (continued)

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school. I believe that the site will become a regular part of our range of teaching and learning activities, answering as it does the requirements of the PSHCE8 curriculum and being such fun!” A different feedback was due to David Willetts, the shadow education secretary, whose parliamentary question uncovered the cost; he said that the rate of return of 8218 hits in 3 weeks was poor. “They have spent £2 million and 2 years to create this website, which is an incredibly expensive and cumbersome way of doing it, but it doesn’t seem to be getting many hits.” The website is no more active; anyway it was a pioneer tool in the field of young generations’ political participation. Directgovkids.co.uk (no more active)

Qatar: Accessible Qatar (2016) Accessible Qatar, an initiative by Sasol, is a smart phone application and website, where the disabled community is able to view the public and touristic locations and outlets in Qatar and see whether they are accessible and in what way. Combining expertly-audited accessibility data with user-submitted reviews and ratings, the disabled community and tourists will be able to move about more confidently, knowing they can arrive and leave any spot without unwelcomed surprises that limit access. Having accessibility information publicly available on Accessible Qatar will encourage venues to make necessary modifications in support of accessibility for all patrons. Accessible Qatar will support promoting Qatar as an accessible destination. Accessible Qatar is a first of its kind smartphone application and website in English and Arabic that allows disabled individuals to easily find information about the accessibility of various public and touristic locations. Featuring top venues across Qatar, the application combines expertly-audited accessibility data and user-submitted reviews and ratings for persons with different types of disabilities. (continued)

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Personal, Social, Health & Citizenship Education.

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Accessible Qatar, a smart phone application & website for the disabled community. Source: http://www.accessibleqatar.com/

Accessible Qatar is a community-based project for people living in or visiting Qatar. You can help improve the content by checking some/all of the key areas below of locations you visit: • • • • • • • • • •

Car Parking Entrances Ease of movement throughout the location e.g. ramps, passenger lifts, etc. Signage Restrooms The provided information allows disabled people to: Plan their visit more effectively Gain confidence in their destination’s accessibility Share their findings to benefit other users Raise awareness amongst the community

Accessibility level: A traffic light system indicates the relative level of a location’s accessibility for people with different types of disabilities. Levels are: accessible, partially accessible, not accessible, not audited. Producer: Sasol http://www.accessibleqatar.com/, last accessed February 2019.

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A short list of topics grouped under the two keywords e-Inclusion and e-Empowerment is: • support integration of the global information society, empower the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status; • empower citizens and stakeholders in public services; • reduce “digital divides” between technology-empowered and technologyexcluded communities; • ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices in legislation, policies and action in this regard; • enhance resilience to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters; • support mobilization of resources from a variety of sources; • ensure access for everyone to food, education, information, data, etc.; • strengthen the capacity, in particular in developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and health risks; • reduce discrimination against all women and girls & prevent all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres; • enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women. One of the first organisations devoted to e-Empowerment was established in 2002 in New Delhi, the Digital Empowerment Foundation9. DEF aims to connect unreached and underserved communities of India in an effort to bring them out of digital darkness and equip them with access to information. With the belief ‘Inform, Communicate and Empower’ DEF finds sustainable digital interventions to overcome information poverty in rural and remote locations of India, and empower communities with digital literacy, digital tools and last mile connectivity. The Digital Empowerment Foundation came out of the deep understanding that marginalised communities living in socio-economic backwardness and information poverty can be empowered to improve their lives on their own, simply by providing them access to information and knowledge on using digital tools; DEF was created to carry out this mission of empowering people digitally. Through all its diverse activities, the foundation seeks to help people living in information darkness overcome the information barrier, learn how to use digital tools and the Internet to achieve greater socio-economic equality by uplifting themselves almost on their own using the power of digital devices to access information and knowledge.

9

Digital Empowered Foundation http://defindia.org, last accessed February 2019.

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The Foundation has adopted a multi-stakeholder and multi-dimensional approach based on establishing community-owned and community-managed digital infrastructure and Internet access points in rural and semi-urban areas which operate in such a way that the entire community can avail of the benefits of access to the Internet and the global information highway. This is done not only by establishing common Internet access points with all basic digital infrastructure such as computers, laptops, tablets, printers, photo printers, scanners, web cameras, etc. but also by spreading digital literacy among the masses either free of cost or at very affordable prices. This is an example of the initiatives carried out in the field of e-Empowerment, a relevant sector located between social sciences and economics. The outcomes of e-Empowerment may better even the economy of a territory or of a population. Denmark: Be My Eyes: Lend Your Eyes to the Blind (2017) Be My Eyes is a FREE mobile app designed to bring sight to the blind and visually impaired. With the press of a button, the app establishes a live video connection between blind and visually impaired users and sighted volunteers. Every day, volunteers are lending their eyes to solve challenges both big and small in the lives of the blind and visually impaired. With over half a million users across 150 countries, Be My Eyes has grown to become the largest online community for the blind and visually impaired. The app harnesses the power of generosity, technology and human connection to help blind and visually impaired individuals lead more independent lives. How does it work? It’s simple. When you log onto the app, the main screen displays a button that reads “connect to first available volunteer.” If you need visual assistance with something, simply tap this button. Be My Eyes will call a sighted volunteer (who speaks your language) and establish a video connection between you—using your phone’s camera (located at the top right corner of the non-screen side of your phone) and both participants’ microphones. The sighted volunteer will explain the things that you point your camera at. The volunteers are called at random, and our technology matches based on language and time zone, so you never need to worry about disturbing anyone! (continued)

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Be my eyes: Bringing sight to blind and low vision people. Source: http://bemyeyes.com/

From the sighted volunteer’s perspective, they receive a notification on their smartphone that a Be My Eyes user is seeking help. If they choose to accept the call, a live video connection is established between both parties. If a volunteer is unable to answer a call, someone else will step in as the call is automatically forwarded to other volunteers until answered. Most calls are answered within 45 seconds. Due to the size of our amazing volunteer network and sophisticated matching technology, the app enables you to request assistance in your native language 24 hours a day. Whether you need support distinguishing between household products, reading instructions, or help with a technical difficulty—our volunteers are here for you. Right now, there are over half a million sighted volunteers in the Be My Eyes community, who are ready and willing to assist you. We would like to stress that you can and should feel free to make calls as frequently as you wish without ever disturbing anyone. In fact, we have many eager volunteers who are still waiting to receive their first request for help. All this is to say—you can definitely use Be My Eyes as much as you could possibly want! How are people using Be My Eyes? There are many situations, where a pair of friendly eyes can be helpful for those with visual impairment, and Be My Eyes is used to solve a wide range of daily tasks. (continued)

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The following list provides examples of some of the creative ways, people are using the Be My Eyes app: – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Finding lost items Describing pictures, paintings or other pieces of artwork Matching or explaining colors Reading labels on household products Reading on computer screens, if websites are inaccessible, or screen readers are not available Shopping in supermarkets Identifying the expiration date on perishable food packages Familiarizing yourself with new locations Distinguishing between products (Canned foods, shampoos, and soaps, spices, etc.) Determining if lights are turned on or off Finding out when public transportation (buses, trains, etc.) is departing or arriving Resolving electrical or technical issues Right now, there are over half a million sighted volunteers in the Be My Eyes community, who are ready and willing to assist you.

In what circumstances should I NOT use Be My Eyes? Please keep in mind that the generous sighted helpers in the Be My Eyes network are volunteers, and we cannot guarantee the quality of their help nor take responsibility for any of their actions. You may under no circumstances share any nude, unlawful, hateful, or sexually suggestive content via this service, and you should never display any items containing personal information, such as credit cards, passports, envelopes that list your address, etc. Please do not use Be My Eyes in situations that may cause danger to yourself or others. We recommend that you take these simple precautions for the best possible experience with Be My Eyes, and please report cases of app misuse or abuse you encounter by emailing us at [email protected] immediately. The following are situations where Be My Eyes should not be used: – – – – – – – –

Identifying credit cards Identifying mail that displays your personal address Identifying anything on your passport Anything involving social security numbers, insurance, etc. Anything that can put your health in danger Identifying or taking medicine Any health-related issues Bullying or practical jokes

bank

information,

(continued)

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– We appreciate your cooperation in making Be My Eyes a source of support, kindness, and empowerment for all of our users. How long does it take to get help? Due to our huge network of volunteers and our unique matching technology, we are now able to match over 90% of calls within 60 seconds. If your request is not answered within 2 minutes, we recommend hanging up and trying to call again. Are there limits to the length of my calls? There is no limit to how long a call can be, but it would be a nice gesture to let the volunteer know, if you have a task that you think may take a long time. Most volunteers are willing to accommodate any request, but seeing as they are going about their daily lives, it never hurts to ask. Remember that you can always call another volunteer to help you solve the issue, in case your first match has to go. Will the volunteer know my name or personal information? Be My Eyes is designed to be anonymous, so the volunteer will never be given your phone number, name, address, email, location, or any other personal information. The volunteer will simply receive a push notification that a Be My Eyes user is seeking help and will accept the call, if he/she is available. You can choose to introduce yourself with your first name, but it is completely up to you, and what you are comfortable with. Will the volunteer speak my language? Yes. Be My Eyes connects you with volunteers based on the language that your phone is set to. If your phone is set to English, we will only connect you to English-speaking volunteers. If your phone is set to Spanish, we will only connect you to Spanish-speaking volunteers—and so on. Be My Eyes is now available in more than 130 different languages. If you speak more than one language, you can add languages to your phone under “Settings”. Can I ask for help in the middle of the night? You may request help 24/7. We match based on language and time zone— meaning we only contact volunteers during their daytime hours. For example, if you speak English, are based in the US, and need assistance in the middle of the night, we will connect you to an English-speaking volunteer in, for example, England or Australia, where it is daytime. Our volunteer network is so large that no matter when you call, it is almost certain that there is a volunteer, who speaks your language, for whom it is daytime. Can I use Be My Eyes without WiFi? Yes. Be My Eyes works over any viable network connection. If you are not on a WiFi connection, when you make a Be My Eyes call, you will automatically use your 3G, 4G or LTE data. (continued)

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Who are the sighted volunteers? Our sighted volunteers are friendly citizens, who have decided that they are willing to lend their sight, as they go about their daily lives. If a volunteer is busy when they receive a call, the Be My Eyes technology will find the next available volunteer right away. In fact, we send one call request to multiple volunteers at a time, to ensure that you get connected with someone as quickly as possible. Right now there are over half a million sighted volunteers in the Be My Eyes community, who are ready and willing to assist you—in every time zone and in over 130 languages. We would like to stress that you, therefore, can and should feel free to make calls as frequently as you wish, without ever disturbing anyone. In fact, we have many eager volunteers, who are still waiting to receive their first request for help, so you can use Be My Eyes as much as you could possibly want! Below you can read testimonials from a few of our sighted volunteers: “The feeling of usefulness when you answer a call and can successfully help someone cannot be described. I am always eagerly awaiting the next one.” “I am so happy to have been helpful. Thanks for this application, thanks for helping people who don’t see well and thanks for giving me this moment of joy; it is great to feel useful. . .” “I just helped for the first time and was more than excited! This is awesome, to be able to be someone’s eyes in a time of need! Thank you for the opportunity to help!” “My first opportunity to help went very well. What a wonderful way to connect people. Thank you for making my day. I already love this, as it is so easy to help others. I look forward to more opportunities to help.” “I was so thrilled to be able to help someone within a couple of hours of installing and signing up for the app. It was such a wonderful experience to be able to help someone.” What do our blind and visually impaired users think? Below you can read a few testimonials from blind and visually impaired users: “I do not know what I would do without this app. It has been a lifesaver for me.” “I’m quite new to the Be My Eyes service, but find it extremely helpful. I have only used it a handfull of times, but I can tell you the results have been 100%. I had a man help me tell between different types of tea, and another woman identify a can of tomatoes. It sounds like a small thing, but I can tell you, it is not! So many times I have opened the wrong can, and this is very disappointing, to say the least. I just want to say thank you to all the volunteers, who so nicely give up their time to do this. Remember it is the small things in a person’s life that make a big difference.” (continued)

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“I have had the app for more than a year. I wanted to give you some examples of ways that I use the app. Be My Eyes volunteers have located dropped items on the floor or a worktop surface. Volunteers have assisted in locating specific pages in books. Volunteers have read settings on digital washing machines and dryers. Volunteers have looked through catalogs with me and read descriptions of items and prices. Volunteers have identified CDs and helped sort them with me. Be My Eyes has been a valuable part of my life. Probably the thing I am most grateful for is the ability to ask for sighted assistance with things that could be considered nonessential.” “I am thankful for all of the volunteers who give up their time so freely, and who are so kind and patient with me.” How do I delete my account? You cannot delete your account in the app. If you would like to delete it, please send us an email on [email protected]. How can I help spread the word about Be My Eyes? Being a small team, we encourage everyone to help us spread the word about the app. Please follow us on Twitter or Facebook and share your stories. Send us an email on [email protected], if you are a media person wanting to cover Be My Eyes. If you are a member of an organization or foundation for visually impaired, please spread the word in your network or community. Keep Be My Eyes updated to the latest version Please make sure to update your app to the latest version, in order to have the best possible experience with Be My Eyes. We frequently make incremental changes and fixes to the app, so the functionality is always improving. Organisation: Be My Eyes http://bemyeyes.com/, last accessed February 2019.

Egypt: Advicenode (2017) Do you have an experience to share? Advicenode will help you to turn your experience into an AI assistant. This assistant will be capable of advising and assisting people around the world on a 24/7 basis! Everyday, spend 500,000,000 hours on the Internet to find an advice or solution to their problems. To save this time Advicenode invented a web assistant. Web assistant is an online software that can instantaneously process user input to suggest or advise how to solve a specific problem. Building assistance is very easy and doesn’t require us to write a single line of code. If you have any experience in any area you can use Advicenode to build one in few hours. When it is ready (continued)

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you can share it with your friends or all over the entire world. You can even build a standard website with your clips and monetize it. Advicenode is a platform for creating and running a type of virtual assistant known as “web-assistant”. Web-assistants are online virtual assistants that can process user data to suggest or advice on to solve a problem. Web-assistants empower people around the world by providing them access to different people’s experiences on a 24/7 basis. Furthermore, they can be used in different sectors like education, medical care, manufacturing, and much more. Finally, web-assistants can save their users’ efforts, time, and money. In some cases, they can save people’s lives. On the other side, anyone having an experience can build a web-assistant. Building web-assistants neither requires technical skills nor needs any long training. People and organizations can build web-assistants to help others in solving their problems or advising them. They can make their web-assistants free-to-use or pay-to-use. Therefore, web-assistants are mutually beneficial to their authors and their users. What are web assistants? Web assistant is an online software designed by an experienced person in order to solve people’s problems or advise them. How they work In order to generate a relevant advice or solve the user’s problem, the web assistant must collect some information from the user. The web assistant will collect only the data required by the assistant author. For example, if the web assistant is designed to solve a specific financial problem, then the author will design his/her assistant to request the necessary information to solve that problem. Once the necessary information is collected, Advicenode will use the logic defined by the author to solve the user’s problem and show him/her the solutions, the advice, or the guidance. How to build one Everyone should follow the steps below to build a web assistant: – – – – –

Have a good idea Design the assistant Get feedback Monetize the assistant Have a good idea

Before building your first assistant, you should have an idea that will make people’s life easier. Before proceeding in building the assistant, you should have access to all the data resources necessary to have the assistant up and running. If the assistant needs static data (not changing frequently), you can save it in any spreadsheet and let the assistant read it. On the other side, if the data is dynamic (for example, forex, weather, stock prices, etc.), then the (continued)

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assistant can be integrated with other online resources. For example, if you like to build an assistant that can help users in finding the best product that fits their needs, then you should integrate it with an online store to get the products’ information and prices. Design the assistant Each assistant must have some logic to work. This logic can be methods to analyze the data, algorithms to solve problems, integration with third parties, etc. This step is quite easy in Advicenode. You can use the assistant designer to define the information required, the assistant logic, resources, and the output formatting methods. After testing your assistant, you can make it live so online users can find it. Get feedback Advicenode enables assistants’ users to send feedback to their authors regarding their assistants. You should consider their feedback to improve your assistant from time to time. Monetize the assistant If you like to build an assistant to monetize it, there are several ways to do so. You can charge users for their usage. If you own an online store, you can build an assistant to guide users in finding the best products suiting their preferences. You can also rely on affiliate and partnership programs to generate passive revenue. You can read more details about monetizing channels in the monetizing section. Overview This tutorial describes how to convert your idea to a web-assistant. There are mainly four steps you need to go through in order to build your assistant. These steps are summarized below. Data collection The first step to make when starting with a web-assistant is to define set questions. These questions will be displayed to the end-user when he/she tries to use your assistants. Data collection is necessary to make your assistant understand the end-user needs, preferences, and limitations. Normally, there shouldn’t be too many questions defined to avoid boring the end-user. This article describes all the steps you need to define the questions. In order to suggest a tailored advice or solve the user’s problem, the assistant will ask the user some questions. The assistant author is responsible for defining all questions to be asked. The author is free to choose the control type associated with each question. For example, he/she may choose a dropdown list for a question that accesses certain values like “yes” or “no”. If the answer is a number like 2.34 then a text box with a number restriction should be used. Questions are organized in pages and groups. Each group can have one or more pages. Each page can have one or more question entries. There is a (continued)

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default group and a default page created in each new assistant. You can use this group and page or create your own ones. Each assistant must have at least one group, one page, and one question entry. Pages and groups are used to organize questions; try to have relevant questions in each page. You can add a unique banner for each group so the user can figure out the type of data requested in the questions he/she is going to answer. You can also control the visibility of certain questions based on the answers of other questions. For example, if you defined a question to ask about the user’s place of work and his/her answer was that he/she is unemployed, then you can hide all other questions regarding the user’s employer. This will make all questions displayed meaningful. After defining the pages, groups, and question entries, you can reorganize them using the question designer. Try to have the independent questions (those whose visibility doesn’t depend on the answers of other questions) before dependent questions. Each group, page and question entry must have a unique name. Those three names combined will represent the address of the question. For example, city name, district number, and house number combined can represent a house address in the state; the same applies for the question; to access the answer of any question, you should know its group name, its page name, and its entry name. Group, section, and entry names will not be visible to the user; they are for internal use only. Data resources The second step is for defining the data resources needed by your assistant. Data resources hold all the data that the assistant needs to process the user. Data resources can be static or dynamic ones. Static data resources are those resources defined by the assistant owner and can be only accessed through the assistant. The only one authorized to maintain those resources is the assistant owner him- or herself. Static resources can be useful when the assistant needs some data that are not changing frequently (like medical information, regulations, mathematical coefficients, alternatives, etc.). On the other side, if the data is changing frequently (like products’ info, forex, stock prices, weather, etc.), then the assistant owner should rely on dynamic data resources instead. These resources are neither hosted nor maintained by the assistant owner. However, he/she can integrate his/her web-assistant with online external services to access these resources. You don’t need to define any data resources if you are building a simple assistant. To start defining static data resources, please read this article. If you would like to integrate your assistant with dynamic data resources, please read this article. (continued)

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Processing logic In order to provide an advice or solve a problem, the assistant must have some logic. There are mainly two types of logic in web assistants. The first one deals with decision-making. You will need this type of logic if the end-user has many alternatives and your assistant is helping him/her to know which one is best matching his/her needs or preferences. The second type is for the processing logic. This is the most important part of the web-assistant. This type of logic should describe how the assistant will use the data collected from the end-user to generate an advice or solve a problem. This logic may access the static or the dynamic data resources. In other words, this logic type represents the brain of the web assistant. Before defining your processing logic, please read this article. Result formatting The final step to do is formatting the result. The result can be an advice, a recommendation, a list of products, a problem solution, or any other type of analysis. This step deals with visualizing all the findings discovered by the assistant processing logic. The assistant owner can show text, pictures, tables, charts, or any other element to visualize the findings to the end-user. if you would like to read more about result formatting, please read this article. Producer: Advicenode https://advicenode.com/, last accessed February 2019.

United Kingdom: Defenders of the Earth (2017) Year 2016 saw a record 200 killings of people defending their land, forests and rivers against destructive industries. It has never been deadlier to take a stand against companies that steal land and destroy the environment. Our new report Defenders of the Earth found that nearly four people were murdered every week in 2016 protecting their land and the natural world from industries like mining, logging and agribusiness. Murder is just one of a range of tactics used to silence land and environmental defenders, including death threats, arrests, sexual assault and aggressive legal attacks. We track and verify data on the killings of environmental and land activists globally. The data is collected through desk-based research and verification with in-country partners in some of the world’s most dangerous countries to be a land and environmental defender. We produce an annual report highlighting the key themes and drivers of killings of activists, complemented by multimedia such as short films, infographics and stills. We also collaborate with the Guardian newspaper who have a dedicated website where they use our data to (continued)

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track killings of activists in real time, complemented by commissioned stories and case studies related to the issue. Our web platform is the landing page for our annual report and investigations as well as our multimedia. We also have a page that links through to the Guardian microsite. “They threaten you so you will shut up. I can’t shut up. I can’t stay silent faced with all that is happening to my people. We are fighting for our lands, for our water, for our lives.” Jakeline Romero, Colombian land defender This report tells the stories of countless people like Jakeline as they stand up to the might of multinationals, paramilitaries and even their own governments in the most dangerous countries on earth to be a defender. It also analyses why they are facing increased threats, and explores what can be done to keep activists safe. Killings of defenders are not only growing, they’re spreading too. In 2016 we documented 200 killings across 24 countries, compared to 185 across 16 in 2015. Almost 40% of those murdered were indigenous. A lack of prosecutions also makes it hard to identify those responsible, but we found strong evidence that the police and military were behind at least 43 killings, with private actors such as security guards and hitmen linked to 52 deaths. Deadliest countries for activists The ruthless scramble for the Amazon’s natural wealth makes Brazil, once again, the world’s deadliest country in terms of sheer numbers killed, though Honduras remains the most dangerous country per capita over the past decade. Nicaragua is beginning to rival that dubious record. An inter-oceanic canal is set to slice the country in two, threatening mass displacement, social unrest and the violent suppression of those who stand against it. A voracious mining industry makes the Philippines stand out for killings in Asia. In Colombia, killings hit an all-time high, despite—or perhaps because of—of the recently signed peace deal between the government and the guerrilla group, the FARC. Areas previously under guerrilla control are now eyed enviously by extractive companies and paramilitaries, while returning communities are attacked for reclaiming land stolen from them during half a century of conflict. India has seen killings spike against a backdrop of heavy-handed policing and the repression of peaceful protests and civic activism. Defending national parks is now riskier than ever, particularly in Africa where large numbers of rangers are being killed, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And this isn’t a problem confined to any one corner of the planet. Developed countries are ramping up other methods to suppress activists, notably in the US, where environmental defenders are being given every reason to protest against the Trump administration. (continued)

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It is increasingly clear that, globally, governments and business are failing in their duty to protect activists at risk. They are permitting a level of impunity that allows the vast majority of perpetrators to walk free, emboldening wouldbe assassins. Investors, including development banks, are fuelling the violence by backing projects that harm the environment and trample human rights. Protect those on the frontline In Defenders of the Earth, we urge governments, companies and investors to take steps to: – Tackle the root causes of risk—guaranteeing communities can make free and informed choices about whether and how their land and resources are used; – Support and protect defenders—through specific laws, policies and practices; – Ensure accountability for abuses—going beyond prosecuting those responsible for ordering or carrying out an attack, by ensuring that those actors, like international investors, who failed to support threatened defenders face consequences for their inaction. Producer: Global Witness https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/ defenders-earth/, last accessed February 2019.

United Kingdom: Erase All Kittens (2017) Erase All Kittens is a web-based platform game. Other code education tools aren’t designed to appeal to girls, and they also don’t teach real-world coding languages—only the concepts of coding (e.g. computational thinking). E.A.K. is disruptive as it will be incredibly engaging to girls—we immersed ourselves in the culture of our target audience to invent a gamified, storydriven approach to teach new skills. E.A.K. is also unique because as players progress, they can edit the code that governs the game environment, i.e. learn by building and fixing levels as they play. The way the game works is, when the player starts playing the game a note pad-like editing window opens up on the left-hand side of the game screen; this note pad gives instructions on how to write code, for example if the kitten has to go from one side of the hill to the other and the only way it can pass is by building a bridge, the player then has to write basic HTML code that builds a bridge which then helps the kitten cross across the hill. This also helps the develop creative writing skills, as they need to write sentences in the code, thus turning them into story tellers. The editor prompts the player with hints (continued)

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and examples on how to write the code, which as they progress further makes them develop their skills without needing any prompts as to how to write the code. As and when players cross levels and pass obstacles, they can only level up by writing code as opposed to pressing up and down arrows, which is usually the case with most video games. Children have an amazing imagination; however, most girls say that using technology to create things is too difficult; or more for boys; is that really true? Girls didn’t realise that they are already creating using technology; we need to inspire girls to code if we want them to have the same opportunity as boys to solve this problem. EAK created a revolutionary game that teaches professional coding languages in a creative way arrays if kittens as characters and stories that appeals at girls and boys; kids aged eight plus can build and fix levels using practical coding skills to save kittens in a fantasy Internet universe. EAK is unique because it bridges the gap between learning the concept of coding and being able actually to create on the web. It encourages girls to become researchers, teachers, problem solvers team builders, writers and designers as well as coders. Solely through word of mouth EAK has over 120,000 players around the world and amazingly more than half of them are girls. We are building new levels teaching HTML, CSS and JavaScript so that kids can learn how to build their own simple websites; we would really love your support in our mission to bring coding into the mainstream and to help close the gender gap in tech; for more info please visit arrays all kittens calm. Producer: Shwetal Shah—Erase All Kittens https://eraseallkittens.com/, last accessed February 2019.

United Kingdom: The Eyeborg (2008) From birth, Neil Harbisson lacked the ability to perceive color. Because of a rare condition called achromatopsia—total color-blindness—he always lived in a black-and-white world. But with the help of an inventor, Harbisson developed the “eyeborg,” a device that he wears on his head that translates colours into sound. The camera senses the color frequency in front of him, then sends different audible frequencies to a chip embedded in the back of his head. (continued)

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Neil Harbisson in Ecuador. Licensed under CC-BY-SA-3.0 Lopez de Vega—Telefonica

Using the same colour-sound language, he now also translates music into colours to create art—painting a multi-chromatic modernist representation of a Justin Bieber song, for instance. And as he explains in the film above, his ability to perceive color through sound has expanded into the realm of the superhuman; he can now “see” infrared rays, and soon, he hopes, ultraviolet as well. Harbisson spoke more about how the “eyeborg” has changed his life in this fascinating TED talk, below. “Before I used to dress in a way that it looked good,” he says, wearing pink, blue, and yellow. “Now I dress in a way that it sounds good. So today I am dressed in C major, it is quite a happy chord.” The most intriguing part of Harbisson’s TED talk is the very end, when he says that “I think life will be much more exciting when we stop creating applications for the mobile phones and we start creating applications for our own body. . .. I do encourage you all to think about which senses you would like to extend. I would encourage you to become a cyborg—you won’t be alone.” The TED blog has a list of six other “real-life cyborgs,” who go through daily life with cameras in their eyes, USB drives in their hands and extra ears in their arms. (Yikes!) According to Harbisson and Montadon’s Cyborg Foundation website, the team is working on all kinds of wild, sensory-experience-expanding projects in addition to the “eyeborg.” There’s also a “speedborg,” which is like a little radar detector that you wear on your hand that translates the speed of an object (continued)

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into vibrations; a “fingerborg,” a prosthetic finger with a miniature camera inside; and “360-degree sensory extension”—a pair of earrings that vibrates when someone approaches from behind. Organisation: Cyborg Foundation http://www.cyborgfoundation.com, last accessed February 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v¼Ts-XVPQOGM, last accessed February 2019.

New Zealand: AttitudeLive (2015) Watch, learn and be inspired: The world’s largest collection of videos about chronic health conditions and disability. AttitudeLive is the world’s leading provider of television and e-content about the lives of people with disability. We have the largest online library of documentaries, blogs, information, resources and tools for people with disabilities. By telling unique and compelling stories we empower and enlighten both those with lived experiences of disability as well as the wider community. We learn best by watching and learning from others. In these videos ordinary people, who live with a disability, chronic health or a mental health condition share their insights into how to live a good life. We are continually building this resource to help you navigate the challenges of your life. The application foresees different main categories: (A) Newly Disabled How to adapt to life with a disability. Watch how others have adapted to life with a disability. If you’re newly disabled through accident, illness or genetics, you will have a million questions. Our videos interview ordinary men and women to share practical insights and tips on how to navigate the big (and little) challenges of daily life. We want to encourage you by highlighting the possibilities for your life ahead. You’ll also find links to organisations and individuals who can answer some of the questions you may have along the way. Government assistance In New Zealand, there are different systems that may apply to you depending on the cause of your disability. Each system offers different levels of financial support and this has led to a long running debate about the way these systems are funded. If you are disabled through accident or injury, including injury that occurs through treatment, support is funded by the Accident Compensation (continued)

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Corporation (ACC). Cover is provided for both short and long-term injuries. If you become disabled by illness, support is usually provided by the Ministry of Health through their District Health Boards. To access this assistance, you will be required to have a needs assessment carried out by your local Needs Assessment and Service Co-ordination Association agency (NASCA). Imagine Better is a not for profit organization that provides individually designed support for people living with disability. They offer an easy to use pre-assessment planning service designed to support you in your needs assessment. Work and Income provide additional support which you may be eligible for if you have a disability or you are caring for someone who does. As you contemplate a return to work you may also be able to access support through the Ministry of Social Development. You may also find it useful to read through other areas of this site, including our sections on Employment, Education, Parenting and Independent Living for specific details of the funding that’s available in each area. Practical Support Adjusting to life with a disability can be difficult and you may have a multitude of questions about how your life will change. In the early stages, you might need information about your options for housing, financial assistance, rehabilitation, employment. Support is available to you from a variety of organisations, many of which can be found in the different sections across this site, but you may find the best information comes from those who already have experience of your specific disability. This list of support organisation contacts will connect you to other people within the disability community who can offer support. (B) Independent Living How to have more choice and control over your lifestyle Do you want more of a say in how you live, who you live with and who provides any support you need at home? Our videos offer guidance and encourage disabled people to live independently. Accessible Housing Our homes and communities have a profound impact on our ability to be socially and economically active, as well as our overall quality of life. Research has shown that the needs of disabled people are not being met by New Zealand’s current housing stock. The government recognises that more needs to be done to make better use of existing housing, and also to promote the ‘future proofing’ of new homes with universal and accessible design. Existing Homes In New Zealand both the ACC and the Ministry of Health provide assistance with housing modifications for people with long-term disabilities. (continued)

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In the first instance an occupational therapist will assess your needs to identify what you need to help you get around your home safely. Accessible and Enable New Zealand receive applications from assessors and check them to ensure they are the most appropriate solution for you. If your application is approved they will stay involved until the work is completed. CCS Disability Action also has more information on making your home accessible. If you decide to carry out modifications privately the New Zealand Federation of Disability Information Centres can put you in touch with a builder with suitable experience in your area. Contact your local centre for details. New Homes Instead of making modifications to your existing home you may want to consider moving to a new home, specifically designed with accessibility in mind. Lifemark Design is an independent not-for profit established by CCS Disability Action. They award the ‘Lifemark’—an independent seal of approval for accessible home design. The website will help you find approved designers and builders for your new home. Housing New Zealand maintains a database of modified Housing New Zealand properties. A Suitable Home service puts a Case Manager and a disabled person together to find a suitable modified home. To access this service you must live in New Zealand, have a long-term physical disability and require housing that meets your disability needs. Driving with a disability Most people with a physical disability can get a driver’s license and most people who had a license before they acquired a disability can continue to drive. Anyone with a disability wishing to drive must undergo an assessment with an Occupational Therapist qualified in driver assessments. Funding is also available for modifications to your vehicle. The New Zealand Transport Agency publishes a factsheet on vehicle modifications which you may find useful. You can also apply for a Mobility Parking Permit which allows you to use mobility parking places which are wider than standard parks and closer to venues. (C) Family Carers New Zealand has nearly half a million carers and two thirds of those have experienced depression at some point. Caring can be an isolating experience so it’s important to engage in social activities whenever possible whilst also finding time for yourself. (continued)

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The New Zealand government recently agreed to pay some family carers, after courts ruled that it was discriminatory not to. The new policy can be read here. Carers NZ is a national charity providing information and support for families with health and disability needs. They produce a quarterly magazine. Their website has a search facility to find support in your local area as well as other useful information and resources. The Ministry for Social Development publishes a ‘Guide for Carers’ (pdf) providing information on Government help and support for carers. You can also call Work and Income on 0800 559 009 to get a copy. The Ministry of Health offers respite services and carer support for anyone who is the full-time unpaid carer of a disabled person. Work and Income provides a child disability allowance for the main carer of a child or young person with a serious disability. (D) Products Assistive products may make your everyday tasks a little easier to manage. There are a range of low cost products to assist you with meal preparation, getting dressed and keeping you safe and mobile at home. You or your family can buy these directly from a retailer if you need them. Products you may find helpful include: – – – – – – – – – – – –

Cups with handles Jug or kettle tippers Electric can openers Plates with surrounds Jar and bottle openers Long handled products if arm movement is restricted Cutlery or utensils with built-up handles to aid with gripping Slip-resistant matting to prevent plates or cups from moving across bench surfaces Safety in the bathroom can be achieved with slip resistant mats or short grab rails fitted to provide you with support Walking sticks Reachers to pick things up off the floor Sock assist equipment.

Support Dogs Support dogs are trained to promote independent living, mobility and companionship for disabled people. If you think a dog could help you with your disability you are eligible to apply for one. In New Zealand a disability assist dog is permitted by law to enter and stay in places where other dogs wouldn’t be allowed. (continued)

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Dogs trained by authorised organisations are funded by the generosity of individuals, businesses, and corporations. The following organisations are authorized by the government to certify dogs as disability assist dogs: – – – – – –

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People New Zealand Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind Mobility Assistance Dogs Trust New Zealand Epilepsy Assist Dogs Trust Perfect Partners Assist Dogs Trust Assistance Dogs New Zealand Trust

Taxi The Total Mobility scheme provides subsidised taxi services if you’re unable to access public transport. More information including contact details for your local service providers can be found on their website. Public Transport Access to public transport can be vital for disabled people living independently. Low floor buses, wide aisles and reserved wheelchair seating are some of the features that help to improve the accessibility of services. You can find more information on accessibility features on your local services on the following pages. – – – – – – – – – – – –

Whangarei Auckland Hamilton Rotorua and Tauranga (contact information) Gisborne Hawke’s Bay Taranaki Wanganui and Palmerston North Nelson Blenheim Christchurch (contact information) Invercargill

Support Services Disability policy and practice in New Zealand encourages inclusion and participation in society. Support for people living with a disability can be accessed through either the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) or the Ministry of Health (MoH). (continued)

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Through ACC you may be eligible for a range of services including home help, attendant help, and childcare. Contact ACC to find out what kind of help they can provide and how to make a claim. The Ministry of Health funds disability services supporting people to live in their own homes or within their own communities. These services are accessed via the Needs Assessment and Services Coordination procedure. People’s needs vary greatly and there are different ways in which you can start to live more independently. You can read more about these options below. Your Needs Assessment Service Coordinator (NASC) will help you decide on the appropriate level of support required. Supported Independent Living Supported Independent Living services allow you to live in your own home either independently or with others. The services suit a person who normally needs additional support beyond what is provided by personal support and household management. It’s not intended to be a 24-hour support service. The idea of supported living is that as you learn new skills and gain confidence you will rely less on formal support. Following an assessment by NASC you will be referred to an appropriate service. The referral will give guidelines to help you maintain independence and your lifestyle of choice. The Ministry of Health provides more information on supported living on their website. If you wish to leave the family home but need a high level of support, Community Residential Support Services provide 24-hour support in a range of community settings for both physically and intellectually disabled people. These services are funded by the Ministry of Health and can be accessed through your Needs Assessment Coordinator. Alternatively, Home Based Support Services (HBSS) assist you to be independent in your own home. Support workers spend an agreed number of hours providing personal support and helping with household management. You can be referred to the service by either an ACC staff member or NASC. You may be eligible for Individualised Funding to help pay for Home Based Support services. This gives you more choice and control over who cares for you and when. The following organisations have more information on the ways you can live independently. The New Zealand Federation of Disability Information Centres nationally promotes and supports the local provision of information on disability; they provide impartial information and referral services. You can contact your nearest information provider for more information on independent living services near you. Support Options is an online guide to disability support services for those living in the Auckland and Northland areas that are funded by Disability (continued)

4.1 e-Inclusion and e-Empowerment

Services, a part of Health and Disability National Services of the Ministry of Health. CCS Disability Action takes a supported lifestyle approach to helping you live in your community. Their website outlines the various aspects to this and includes a regional search tool so you can access services in your area. Weka provides information about support services for people living with disability, their families, whanau and caregivers and health professionals in New Zealand. Imagine Better is a not for profit organisation providing individually designed disability supports. It offers an easy to use pre-assessment planning service designed to help you with your needs assessment. Service Providers Listed below you will find some of the supported living services organisations in New Zealand. You can find more by using the search tool provided by the New Zealand Federation of Disability Information Centres. Idea Services is the support arm of IHC for people with intellectual disabilities to help them live and work in their local community. A Supported Life offers adolescents and adults with an intellectual disability a wide range of opportunities and residential options in their own community. The Renaissance Group is one of the largest supported living services in New Zealand. It aims to make the process of growing up, leaving home and becoming an independent adult as common and acceptable for disabled people as it is for the rest of the population. Access is one of New Zealand’s leading healthcare organisations specializing in home-based healthcare and support. It offers a variety of services to support independent living. Visionary Living work with people of all ethnicities and disabilities who are aged between 16 and 65 years in the greater Auckland area. Some areas of assistance include finding appropriate accommodation, managing your home and financial affairs, travelling safely, training, and social and recreational activities. Producer: AttitudeLive.com http://www.attitudelive.com/, last accessed February 2019.

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Chile: Laboratoria (2017) The Laboratoria job-placement platform is a website where tech companies or the IT areas of traditional corporations can find the female tech talent they need. A huge challenge for the private sector worldwide is the shortage of tech talent, with an additional scarcity of women. On the other hand, we have millions of women in Latam unemployed, working informally or at low-paying jobs due to lack of opportunities. Laboratoria connects these issues by training low-income women in frontend web development and links them with companies that need their talent through our job-placement platform. This web, accompanied by in-person job placement activities not only provides the over-demanded female tech talent, but also reduces the time and resources companies spend in recruiting for talent from 90 to 15 days approximately, becoming a tool that generates double impact on the tech industry and a life-changing opportunity to our students. Learn to code and get a job in the tech world Have you ever wondered how web pages are created? In Laboratoria you will learn this and so much more. Through an agile learning methodology, you will become a web developer or UX Designer in only 6 months and will pay for the program if we get you a job. We have already trained more than 550 young women that are now working in big companies such as IBM, Accenture, Everis, Scotiabank or ThoughtWorks. We have a 77% employability rate and our graduates, on average, triple their income.

The Laboratoria job-placement platform. Source: http://laboratoria.la/

Tech talent hires our graduates (continued)

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In Laboratoria we identify young women with great potential through a selection process of 680 measurement points. Then, we prepare them to become Web Developers or UX Designers through an agile learning methodology. In our 6-month bootcamp they create +40 web products and develop the technical and soft skills needed in order to work in high performing tech teams. Our program finishes with a “Talent Fest”, a hackathon where participating companies come to recruit through real challenges that our students solve in 36 hours. We have already placed talent in +200 companies and our employer satisfaction rate is 4.5/5. Corporate training develops the skills your team needs for the digital era There is much talk about Design Thinking, however, in order to innovate and accomplish digital transformation, there is much more to be done. With all our experience as entrepreneurs and educators in tech, we do in-house training for companies that want to grow through their digital transformation. If you want to have a team that speaks the tech language and that innovates in a lean and agile manner, take our corporate programs. We’ve already trained more than 500 corporate leaders across major industries. Producer: Laboratoria http://laboratoria.la/, last accessed February 2019.

Spain: Mouse4all (2017) The world is becoming mobile; however, we have left behind millions of people who cannot use a touch screen. People with severe physical disabilities resulting from Cerebral Palsy, Spinal Cord Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or neuromuscular diseases. What is Mouse4all? It is an accessibility solution that allows the use of an Android tablet or smartphone without touching the screen. It enables access to Internet, social networks, games and any application. It targets persons with physical disabilities that find it difficult to work with a touch screen: cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, tetraplegia, multiple sclerosis, ALS or neuromuscular disease. Mouse4all improves the quality of life of its users by boosting their autonomy, privacy and personal development; it improves their self-esteem while empowering them to make their own decisions and participate in the society. It works with a connection box and an Android app. It can be used with one or two switches, a trackball mouse or a joystick. Mouse4all has been created to enable everyone to access an Android tablet or smartphone with alternative input interfaces: switches, adapted mouse, trackball or joystick. This solution makes accessible any Android device and (continued)

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all its installed apps through an app available in Google Play and a plug-andplay hardware connection box. Users can access the Internet and stay connected with friends & family through messaging and social networks, everywhere anytime. Personal autonomy: do you want to play a game? Browse the Internet? Read an e-Book? Listen to flamenco music? Explore the apps in Google Play. Many of them can work with switch control or with a mouse. Digital revolution for all; thanks to Mouse4all you can use exactly the same WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram as your friends and family. Privacy issues are paramount for Mouse4all; we all have the right to privacy; no need any more to dictate messages to a support person. This application lets you send your messages by yourself without any supervision. Producer: Mouse4all http://mouse4all.com/en, last accessed February 2019.

References 1. Amichai-Hamburger Y, McKenna KYA, Tal S-A (2008) E-empowerment: empowerment by the Internet. Comput Hum Behav 24:1776–1789. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2008.02.002 2. Borgida E, Stark EN (2004) New media and politics – some insights from social and political psychology. Am Behav Sci 48(4):467–478. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764204270282 3. Kraut R, Kiesler S et al (2002) Internet paradox revisited. J Soc Iss 58(1):49–74. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/1540-4560.00248 4. OECD (2001) Understanding the digital divide. OECD Publications. http://www.oecd.org/inter net/ieconomy/1888451.pdf

Chapter 5

e-Government: Background, Today’s Implementation and Future Trends

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive overview, subdivided by main classes, on the emerging scenario for everyday life in the e-Society. The scope of this chapter is to bridge the gap between technology and successful solutions. It will outline the most critical part of the service. This chapter like the whole book outlines the user/citizen perspective and desiderata. This perspective provides useful hints to public authorities and decision makers.

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 A. M. Ronchi, e-Democracy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01596-1_5

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Introduction

A trend towards reforming the public sector has emerged in many countries in recent years, spurred primarily by the aspirations of citizens around the world, who are placing new demands on governments. Some demands are adding the need of efficiency, transparency and overall better performance, some are basically trained by the innovation wave that was originated by the adoption of the Internet and webbased services by and care of the private sector, later on boosted by the smart phone and tablet APPs’ broad diffusion. Having witnessed the potential administrative revolution and feeling the need to reduce the existent gap between private and public sector an increasing number of governments adopted e-Government as a strategy to support development1. The success of government leaders is increasingly being measured by the benefits they are creating for their constituents, namely, the private sector, citizens and communities. These ‘clients2’ of government demand top performance and efficiency, proper accountability and public trust, and a renewed focus on delivering better service and results. As a consequence several countries around the world are attempting to revitalize their public administration and make it more proactive, efficient, transparent and especially more service-oriented. To accomplish this transformation, governments are introducing innovations in their organizational structure, practices, capacities, and in the ways they mobilize, deploy and utilize the human capital and information and technological and financial resources for service delivery to citizens. In this context, the appropriate use of ICT plays a crucial role in advancing the goals of the public sector and in contributing towards an enabling environment for social and economic growth. In such a renovation process the ICT support turns “government” into “e-Government”, that means: “e-Government: Delivering complete services in public administrations to individuals, businesses and organisations combined with organisational change in order to significantly improve services and democratic processes and strengthen support to public policies; fostering quality and efficiency of information exchange; empowering citizens and public services clients.” This is one of the attempts to define e-Government used on the occasion of the early meetings of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). More in general, e-Government can contribute significantly to the process of transformation of the government towards a leaner, more cost-effective government. It can facilitate communication and improve the coordination of authorities at different tiers of government, within organizations and even at the departmental 1

It is relevant to note that this feeling was perceived by governments but other Institutional domains where not as it happened for education and training. 2 Clients—it is not the proper term, even if sometimes used, because basically citizens cannot choose, there are no competitors and it is not an open market.

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level. Further, e-Government can enhance the speed and efficiency of operations by streamlining processes, lowering costs, improving research capabilities and improving documentation and record keeping. This means that governments have to rethink their information flows and processes. Reasonably a similar revolution will involve the entire “structure” from organisational aspects to personnel and procedures. However, the real benefit of e-Government lies not in the use of technology per se, but in its application to processes of transformation. e-Government is more than just putting in new computer systems. Rather, e-Government also involves complementary changes to administrative practices and business processes. Nevertheless, one of the seeds enabling a similar transformation is the availability of information communication technologies for everyone. In 2000 the UN General Assembly adopted the Millennium Declaration which set out a vision for the future which affirmed that “. . . the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication technologies, are available to all. . .”3 [1]. As already outlined by the author on the occasion of the Smart Communities Symposium held in Rome in 19971, the advent of e-Society will, in the current scenario, dramatically increase the gap between the industrialised countries and the developing ones, and even the gaps between the industrialised countries themselves. At that time, I called this issue the “increasing gap”; now we use the term the digital divide or, looking from the positive side, e-Inclusion. On the one hand, this is a big problem, but on the other, it presents an incredible opportunity. Thinking positive, let us consider it to provide digital opportunities, the seed of e-Empowerment. It used to be said that there are more phones in Manhattan than in some developing countries; now, however, there is a shift of paradigm, and access to the network provides the discriminatory factor. This means that both a lack of physical access to the network and an inability to handle digital technologies can cause a loss of competitiveness. This was the state of the art at the end of the 1990s and even in the first decade of the new century as the official reports on Internet penetration showed large areas of the globe that were almost inaccessible for technological, political, social, economic and/or religious reasons. In some regions, while it was possible to connect to the network, in reality it was too expensive to do so. The massive penetration of smart phones and tablets, if on one side reduced significantly the digital divide among both countries and citizens, on the other side the wider market and the open competition pushed telecom operators and ISPs to reduce the price of connectivity mainly offering affordable flat rates on mobile platforms and landlines. Public administrations, on their side, integrated these efforts providing free connectivity in public spaces, many times simply asking, for security reasons, for a free registration to the service. Digital networks have vastly increased the speed at which it is possible to communicate, providing real and tangible benefits to power users. Communications, information and assets exchanges, commerce and many other activities have increased their own potentials using such networks.

3 This is an excerpt from: Alfredo M. Ronchi, eCulture: Cultural content in the digital age, ISBN: 978-3-540-75273-8, Springer 2009.

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In the process for evaluating the overall performances of a government renovation process we must remember that a basic service in one country can provide more significant improvements in the life style or level of satisfaction of the citizens more than a very sophisticated service in a different country. On line telegrams may change the way of life in some African countries and on line interactive city council sessions may build consensus in town planning. This means measuring relative performances or introducing some “weighted” scores. With specific reference to developing countries, a great challenge for the globalsociety is to figure out how to harness the power of computer-based information and communication technologies (ICTs) to raise the ability for governments to govern, serve their citizenry and, ultimately, improve the human development conditions for their people. On the occasion of the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS 2003) the final declaration of the Plan of Action included that the countries should aim “to connect all local and central government departments and establish websites and email addresses”. Moreover on the occasion of the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS 2005) the report includes: “Our challenge is to harness the potential of information and communication technology to promote the development goals of the Millennium Declaration (MDG), namely the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; achievement of universal primary education; promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women; reduction of child mortality; improvement of maternal health; to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability and development of global partnership for development for the attainment of a more peaceful, just and prosperous world” (WSIS 2005). Consequently, in performance evaluation, we must consider to what extent these additional goals are fulfilled. On the occasion of the WSIS meetings in 2014 an updated “vision” was proposed: “The advancement of e-government should be carried out with a view to transform governments to be more efficient, effective, transparent, accountable, open, and citizen centric. We should collectively strive to promote e-government for more effective public service without undermining privacy and security to support sustainable development. We encourage co-production of e-government services, transfer of knowledge and sharing of best practices to promote innovation and effective development.” Accordingly with this “vision” the main pillars of e-Government are identified as: A. Encourage integrated e-Government services through whole-of-government approach to support the three pillars of sustainable development; B. Promote inclusive e-Government through e-Participation and increase availability of government data for reuse in order to promote participation in public policy-decision-making, responsiveness, transparency and accountability; C. Promote people-centred delivery of e-Services and bridge the digital divide;

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D. Address privacy and security issues through concerted efforts; E. Promote capacity building and knowledge sharing for effective utilization of resources; F. Utilize existing infrastructure (e.g. community access points including kiosks, community centres, libraries, and post offices) and use intermediaries to ensure that e-Government services reach all end users; G. Improve government service through open and transformational ways and provide multi-channel service delivery particularly through mobile devices. The proposed target by 2020 suggested on the occasion of the meetings is: by 2020 member states have reached 60% of the e-Participation index (UN DESA). Once we have ensured a proactive environment and accessibility for all, in order to achieve the goal, we have to adequately take into account: Who is likely to go online to use government services? What are the typical behaviours of citizens on line? What types of barriers and obstacles turn people away from going online to use government services? What factors encourage users to feel comfortable with eGovernment services? Once a person makes a visit online, will they return? Will they encourage other people to use the site or not? The global survey of e-Government created by Professor Darrell West4 offers an interesting insight on e-Government implementation: “Most governments around the world have gone no further than the billboard or partial service-delivery states of e-Government. They have made little progress at portal development, placing services on-line, or incorporating interactive features onto their websites. Not only are they failing to use technology to transform the public sector, their efforts mostly consist of no meaningful change or small steps forward” [2]. There are at least two more points to be considered: the thin border between such services and privacy and the long-term preservation of digital archives. We all know that the increasing use of technologies and in particular ICT improves our “visibility” and the opportunity to be “tracked”; mobile phones, highway tags, on line transactions, instant messaging and e-mails are very useful but reduce our privacy. The second aspect, long-term preservation, is more often than not forgotten.

5.2

What Do We Term e-Government?

As it happens very often, a certain word or terminology in common use often means different things to different people. The term e-Government is one of such terms. Depending on whom you talk to, their background, e-Government may mean technical and/or public policy issues around the internet. Before entering the core of the topic, it may be useful to recall terms and definitions already provided in the chapter devoted to e-Governance. The terms

4

http://insidepolitics.org/, last accessed February 2019.

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digital government, electronic government (e-Government), mobile government (mGovernment) and electronic governance (e-Governance) are used widely to represent the use of information communication technologies in public sector organisations (e.g. local and central government, public companies, public archives, etc.). The terms are very closely related, which causes confusion. Governments serve multiple roles—they provide services; they govern (e.g. set, monitor, and enforce standards within systems); and they serve the public by governing. Because of this, the terms are often used interchangeably. For this reason, the three terms need to be defined, at least for a better understanding of the present paragraph, in the following way: Digital government refers to the “umbrella term that comprises all uses of information and telecommunication technologies in the public sector5”; e-Government is one aspect of digital government; we term government the implementation of the decisions and guidelines and the infrastructure of interaction with citizens; e-Government refers to the provision of governmental services by ICTs, particularly over the Internet; e-Governance refers to the use of ICTs for organisation of political activity within and beyond nation states. e-Governance “is one of a wide range of competing terms pertaining to use of new communication technologies, such as the Internet and mobile telephony, for political and governmental purposes”; we term governance the decision-making process that defines the guidelines of the government. Other widely used terms that have overlapping meaning include: electronic democracy (e-Democracy), online democracy, cyber democracy, virtual democracy, online governance, tele-democracy, e-Participation and e-Deliberation6. All the above deal with terms and definitions; what about the different actors and their main relations? If we consider the potential set of interactions between government and other bodies we can find at least: • Government to government (G2G): interactions among different governmental bodies (local/central, ministry/ministry, local/public company, etc.); • Government to business (G2B): interaction among governmental bodies and business companies; • Government to citizens (G2C): interaction between governmental bodies and one or more citizens. An emerging class of interaction is the transnational one (e.g. G2G, G2B, G2C). Simply consider the European Union framework; how can I perform a transaction between Italian and German e-Government systems? Such an interaction usually

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G. David Garson (2006), Public Information Technology and E-Governance: Managing the Virtual State, ISBN-13: 9780763734688, Jones & Bartlett Learning. 6 Chen Yu-Che, Chu Pin-Yu (2008), Electronic Governance and Cross-Boundary Collaboration: Innovations and Advancing Tools, ISBN 9781609607531, IGI Global.

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implies international standards setting and extended interoperability7. Some European projects are developing transnational government services mainly referring to their own interoperability standards8.

5.3

Stages of e-Government Evolution

We have analysed definitions, specific fields of application, different levels of interaction; now there is still an applicable taxonomy that represents in some way the common basis in order to compare and rank e-Government services: the different stages of e-Government evolution. A shared view takes into consideration five different stages of evolution, ranging from emerging, enhanced, interactive, transactional and connected9. This evolutionary path does not differ too much from the one typical of the business and industrial sector. connected transaconal interacve enhanced emerging Different stages of e-Government evolution

They all together form a kind of pyramid starting from the lower level of implementation (emerging) and ending with the maximum level of implementation (transactional). As countries move upwards towards the stage of connected government, they pass through many thresholds in terms of infrastructure development, content delivery, business re-engineering, data management, security and customer management.

7 John Borras (2004), International Technical Standards for e-Government. ISSN 1479-439X, Academic Conference Ltd. http://www.ejeg.com/issue/download.html?idIssue=5, last accessed February 2019. 8 e-Government Unit (2006), e-Government Metadata Standard version 3.1, U.K. Cabinet Office Transformational Government Strategy. 9 This taxonomy is common to a number of international organisations and research teams (e.g. United Nations, OECD, The World Bank)—Stages of e-Government evolution: for detailed model and schema see the ‘United Nations Global E-Government Survey 2003’. https:// publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/reports/un-e-government-survey-2003, last accessed February 2019.

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Stage I Emerging: A government’s online presence is mainly comprised of a web page and/or an official website; links to ministries or departments of education, health, social welfare, labour and finance may/may not exist. Much of the information is static and there is little interaction with citizens. Stage II Enhanced: Governments provide more information on public policy and governance. They have created links to archived information that is easily accessible to citizens, as for instance, documents, forms, reports, laws and regulations, and newsletters. Stage III Interactive: Governments deliver online services such as downloadable forms for tax payments and applications for license renewals. In addition, the beginnings of an interactive portal or website with services to enhance the convenience of citizens are evident. Stage IV Transactional: Governments begin to transform themselves by introducing two-way interactions between ‘citizen and government’. It includes options for paying taxes, applying for ID cards, birth certificates, passports and license renewals, as well as other similar Government to Citizen (G2C) interactions, and allows the citizen to access these services online 24/7. All transactions are conducted online. Stage V Connected: Governments transform themselves into a connected entity that responds to the needs of its citizens by developing an integrated (one stop) back office infrastructure. This is the most sophisticated level of online e-Government initiatives and is characterized by: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Horizontal connections (among government agencies) Vertical connections (central and local government agencies) Infrastructure connections (interoperability issues) Connections between governments and citizens Connections among stakeholders (government, private sector, academic institutions, NGOs and civil society)

In addition, at this stage, e-Participation and citizen engagement are supported and encouraged by governments in the decision-making process (e.g. collaborative urban planning, city hall debates, etc.). Consequently, in performance evaluation, we must consider to what extent these additional goals are fulfilled. As a follow-up of such a trend an increasing number of countries started eGovernment programmes. Some of them simply published on line an “institutional” static web page, others added some services and some took the opportunity to activate a-in-depth reform of both the front and back office. The question is: what are the guidelines ensuring a proper solution development providing at the same time some parameters and checkpoints for performance assessment? Back to the design approach, of course the first idea is to offer information and public services on line. Due to the new opportunities offered by the technological framework we can provide new additional services. One of the common risks is to design the new front office on the basis of the “institutional” point of view. This often means replicating the internal structure of service provision. It takes some time

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usually to reshape “praxis” in order to fully benefit from innovation. In the initial phase of the Internet era large companies and postal services used to transfer messages by e-mail but deliver them to the “recipient” in paper format, printing and delivering them as regular mail. The same happened to a wide range of services delivered, we can say, in “half duplex”, information flow from the institution to the citizen via the Internet, the opposite by registered mail or fax. The same happened and still happens in e-Government. “Bad ambassadors10” are always one of the major concerns in any innovation process. They can significantly delay the implementation of new processes and technologies. All these aspects take us to consider that first of all we need a complete re-design of both the front and back office of governmental institutions, including the full set of tools and procedures needed (e.g. electronic signature, electronic submission and delivery, etc.). Then we need to ensure full interoperability in G2G interaction, a solid backbone enabling seamless internal information flows. Last but not least a citizen-centred design of the platform. We will outline in the following paragraphs why those aspects may influence performance and even the successful implementation of e-Government platforms. An interesting case study related to the design of a complete digital framework is provided by the Malaysian government. MALAYSIA: The Malaysian Experiment (1996) The Malaysian experience is particularly interesting because in 1996 it was a country that started, almost from scratch, to “design” the legal and governmental framework for the cyber age. The following paragraph describes the original presentation of the Multimedia Super Corridor as shown care of the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at the Imperial College in London. The Malaysian Experiment: The Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) is Malaysia’s most exciting initiative for the global information and communication technology (ICT) industry. It demonstrates how the creation of a proper legal framework can fertilize and boost a completely new market. It has been developed to act as a global reference centre for multimedia production. However, it has faced IPR and cyber law problems. Conceptualised in 1996 and directly promoted care of the Prime Minister, the MSC Malaysia has since grown into a thriving dynamic ICT hub, hosting more than 900 multinational, foreign-owned and home-grown Malaysian companies focused on multimedia and communications products, solutions, services, research and development. With this unique corridor, Malaysia continues to draw leading ICT companies of the world into locating their operations in the MSC Malaysia and to undertake research, develop new products and technologies and export from (continued) “Bad ambassador” means an unappropriated first implementation of a solution that generates a negative feedback on the solution that disincentives further developments.

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this base. The MSC Malaysia is also an ideal growth environment for Malaysian ICT SMEs to transform themselves into world-class companies. Furthermore, the MSC Malaysia welcomes other countries to use its highly advanced infrastructural facilities as a global testbed for ICT applications and a hub for their regional operations in Asia. Infra- and Info structure: The Malaysian government has equipped core areas in the MSC Malaysia with high-capacity global telecommunications and logistics networks. Emphasis has been placed on eco-friendly yet sophisticated urban structures for businesses, homes, education and recreation. The MSC Malaysia is also supported by secure cyber-laws, strategic policies and a range of financial and non-financial incentives for investors. There are several compelling reasons for investors and ICT “technopreneurs” to conduct their business in the MSC Malaysia, including: • • • • • • • •

Comprehensive package for investors Strong socio-economic fundamentals Firm commitment from the Malaysian Government Accelerated human resource training and development Competitive costs of doing business Ready access to the Asia-Pacific markets Widespread usage of English Superlative quality of life.

The Multimedia Super Corridor is Malaysia’s gift to the world—a growth area specifically designed to unlock multimedia’s full potential by integrating innovative cyberlaws and outstanding infrastructure into an attractive and ecofriendly environment. The MSC Malaysia aims to revolutionise how Malaysians and others in the region conduct commerce in the digital age. The MSC Malaysia has committed itself to fulfilling the following promises to ensure business success: • • • •

Bill of Guarantees Infrastructure Cyber-laws Incentives.

Intellectual Property Rights: Malaysia is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Paris Convention, and Berne Convention and a signatory to the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). With the implementation of the Multimedia Super Corridor, the Government has made a commitment to MSC Malaysia-Status companies in one of the 10-Point Bill of Guarantees to provide a comprehensive regulatory (continued)

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framework of intellectual property protection and cyber laws to facilitate and assist the development of a truly ICT and multimedia environment. A brief description of the Malaysian statutory framework for intellectual property protection and cyber-laws follows. Intellectual Property Protection The Trade Marks Act 1976, enforced on the 1st of September 1983, provides for a registration system for marks (e.g. logos, brands, signs) used in relation to goods and services. The registration of a mark in relation to specified goods or services is valid for 10 years from the date of filing and is renewable for subsequent periods of 10 years each, indefinitely. The registered proprietor is entitled to commence infringement action against others who use his mark without consent or lodge a complaint under the Trade Description Act 1972. The Patents Act 1983 came into force on the 1st of October 1986 to provide for a system of patent registration and utility innovations in Malaysia. The Act specifies, among others, what is meant by “patentable invention” and what is non-patentable. Upon grant and if annual fees are paid, a patent is valid for 20 years from the date of application. The owner of a patent has the exclusive rights to exploit the patentable invention, assign or transmit the patent and conclude licence contracts. Infringement proceedings can be instituted against those who have infringed or are infringing this patent. The Copyright Act 1987, effective as of 1st of December 1987, confers the exclusive right to the owner of a copyright for a specific period. There is no system of registration for copyright in Malaysia. A work that is eligible (literary works, musical works, artistic works, films, sound recordings, broadcasts and derivative works) is protected automatically if sufficient effort has been expended to make the work original in character; the work has been written down, recorded or otherwise reduced to a material form; and the author is a qualified person; the work is made in Malaysia or the work is first published in Malaysia. The Act also specifies the circumstances amounting to and remedies for infringements and offences. The Industrial Designs Act 1996, which is in force from the 1st of September 1999 implements a system for the registration of an “industrial design” in Malaysia, defined to mean the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament applied to an article by any industrial process which appeal to and are judged by the eye in the finished article. The registration is for 5 years from the date of application and renewable for two more periods of 5 years each. The Act further specifies the extent of rights granted to the owner and what amounts to infringement. The Layout Designs of Integrated Circuits Act 2000, in force from the 15th of August 2000, set out, inter alia, the criteria for the protection of the layout design of integrated circuits and the extent of protection conferred upon the (continued)

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right holder. A layout design is valid for 10 years from the date it is first commercially exploited. Notwithstanding that, the protection conferred by the statute will lapse 15 years from the date of its creation. The Geographical Indications Act 2000, which came into effect on the 15th of August 2001, specifies the process for registration of geographical indications, to prevent misuse of the names of places which identify both the geographical origins and the products. The Optical Discs Act 2000, which is effective as of 15th of September 2000, provides for the licensing and regulation of the manufacture of optical discs, such as VCD, DVD, CDs, etc. in Malaysia. The Act represents one of the legislative initiatives taken to combat the piracy of copyright works in the form of optical discs and to strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights in Malaysia. Cyber Laws in Malaysia The Digital Signature Act 1997, enforced on the 1st of October 1998, is an enabling law that allows for the development of, amongst others, e-Commerce by providing an avenue for secure online transactions through the use of digital signatures. The Act provides a framework for the licensing and regulation of certification authorities, and gives legal recognition to digital signatures. The Controller of Certification Authority, who has the authority to license and regulate Certification Authorities, was appointed on the 1st of October 1998. The Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, which came into effect on the 1st of April 1999, provides a regulatory framework to cater to the convergence of the telecommunications, broadcasting and computing industries, with the objective of, among others, making Malaysia a major global centre and hub for communications and multimedia information and content services. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission was appointed on the 1st of November 1998 as the sole regulator of the new regulatory regime. Although regulation in the form of licensing is provided for, one of the corner-stones of the new regulatory framework is self-regulation by the various industries, including the ICT and multimedia content industries. The Copyright (Amendment) Act 1997 which amended the Copyright Act 1987 came into force on the 1st of April 1999, to make unauthorised transmission of copyright works over the Internet an infringement of copyright. It is also an infringement of copyright to circumvent any effective technological measures aimed at restricting access to copyright works. These provisions are aimed at ensuring adequate protection of intellectual property rights for companies involved in content creation in the ICT and multimedia environment. The Computer Crimes Act 1997, effective as of the 1st of June 2000, created several offences relating to the misuse of computers. Among others, (continued)

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it deals with unauthorised access to computer material, unauthorised access with intent to commit other offences and unauthorised modification of computer contents. It also makes provisions to facilitate investigations for the enforcement of the Act. The Telemedicine Act 1997 is intended to provide a framework to enable licensed medical practitioners to practice medicine using audio, visual and data communications. To date, the Telemedicine Act has yet to be enforced. The Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC, formerly MDC) was created to oversee development of the MSC. https://mdec.my/msc-malaysia, last accessed February 2019. There are at least two more points to be considered in designing e-Government solutions: the thin border between such services and privacy and the long-term preservation of digital archives. We all know that the increasing use of technologies and in particular ICT improves our “visibility” and the opportunity to be “tracked”; mobile phones, highway tags, on line transactions, instant messaging and e-mails are very useful but reduce our privacy. Privacy issues may influence the successful implementation of e-Government if this, for instance, is perceived as a big brother tracking and filing our daily life. The second aspect, long-term preservation, has been underestimated for quite a long time. Digital fragility is one of the major concerns in the digital age. A proper evaluation of disaster recovery and long-term conservation policies is an additional evaluation parameter. This aspect plays a relevant role in case of wars, revolutions, and similar events when the risk of losing the public archives is very high. In 1999 Culture Counts11 provided an important forum for experts and key decision-makers to discuss the full range of economic and financial issues associated with the cultural dimensions of poverty alleviation in developing countries. Specific emphasis was placed on archives, because both current records and historical archives document the actions of individuals and states: “On the one hand, records provide the evidence governments need to function and be accountable, to develop and implement policy, and to protect citizens’ rights. On the other hand, being archives, they constitute a vital element of cultural heritage by preserving the collective memory of a nation and forming an essential link in the chain of human history. Records and archives management have key implications for development, often overlooked12.” The documentary evidence conserved in the archives of a particular country helps to ensure accountability, and thus good governance, in both the public and the private sectors of the economy. Therefore, the digitisation of existing archives and 11

From October 4th to 7th 1999, a relevant event took place in Florence: Culture Counts— Financing, Resources and the Economics of Culture in Sustainable Development (World Bank 1999). 12 In Archives and Sustainable Development (organised by the World Bank in Latin America).

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the preservation of digital duplicates are still key issues; as is the broadening of digital access in order to establish a true Information Society. Everyone experienced in this sector knows that “It is not only a matter of technology”. Different parameters are actively influencing e-Government success or failure: cultural aspects, organisational issues, bureaucracy and workflow, infrastructure and technology in general, users’ habits, literacy, capacity or merely interaction design. This includes: having a significant population of citizens willing and be able to adopt and use online services; and developing the managerial and technical capability to implement e-Government applications to meet the needs of citizens.

5.4

Connectivity as a Public Good

Knowledge and information are probably the most important resources available to humanity. Moreover they have the wonderful qualities of being non-exclusive and non-rivalled (they are not private property and we can consume as much of them as we want to without depriving others), it encourages synergy (more of them and more of us engaging in consuming them usually results in more of them), and these are typical qualities of public goods. There is a Chinese quote outlining such qualities: “if we share one coin each at the end we still have one coin, if we share one idea each at the end we both have two ideas.” Connectivity is already a key asset to interact with institutions and enjoy a number of rights such as healthcare, participation in political discussion or access to public bids; in such a scenario, in order to ensure equal opportunities, governments must act to bridge the gaps, access, capacity building, etc., and connectivity becomes a public good. If we agree in considering “connectivity” as a public good, a commodity, how can we ensure it to developing countries and remote areas? The task of providing Internet access to remote areas is ultimately one of reducing the excludability issue. This is a typical situation when you deal with public services like basic infrastructures, transportation, telecommunication, etc. This aspect comes to the fore when, due to political or market changes, some public services are going to be privatised; there are areas not relevant for business; such areas, losing money, are counterbalanced by earnings on the rest of the “service” or financed by the government. We do not believe that connectivity could presently be provided free of charge. We do believe, however, that we can greatly increase people’s access to affordable and viable connectivity services, thereby contributing in time to making the Internet a ubiquitous piece of infrastructure just like roads, water and electricity. Let us try to summarize the main constraints to making this vision an everyday reality:

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• Expensive supply vs. Low demand; that in other words means, available technologies for providing broadband access are too expensive for deployment in remote and rural areas where the users tend to be physically dispersed and few in number. This is a usual challenge in service provision (e.g. telephone lines, television, etc.). A positive contribution to solve this problem has been offered by wireless connections enabling reasonable connectivity (voice & data) at a cheaper cost compared with landlines; • Problematic supporting infrastructure; this problem is often less evident than connectivity, for instance; nevertheless it is fundamental; any equipment one decides to deploy needs to be powered. Power supply in remote and rural areas tends to be erratic; it does not always flow through the grid, and when it does, wild fluctuations can challenge the best of power supplies. Many a piece of equipment has not survived these conditions, or needs to live with/behind expensive protection and backup devices. Solar panels and accumulators contribute to solve these problems; • Problems in securing needed local resources; networks need to be managed and maintained. Finding and keeping skilled and suitable workers for these tasks is a challenge in remote areas; international organisations such as UN and ITU are promoting capacity building initiatives. The problems are well known. What you do, then, is to basically just find ways to overcome these constraints, in order to provide Internet to remote areas in an affordable manner. This is basically correct, but getting this right requires adhering to two basic principles: common sense and sensible practices. In other words, this means, finding the right technologies and then making them viable and accessible. We mainly refer, in such a case, to wireless networks connecting nodes (routers, antennas, power supply) to form a network that provides coverage and Internet access to a given area. The basic principle for creating these nodes and the network is rather simple and straightforward: go forth and find, modify and deploy equipment that together create networks that are: • Physically durable—able to withstand the extreme weather conditions and equally extreme power fluctuations that typify many remote and rural areas; • Technically viable—by viable we mean platforms that can provide broadband traffic to many users in a satisfactory and secure manner. Halfway solutions, such as ones that provide limited bandwidth to a small number of computers, tend to be bad ambassadors13 for connectivity, as their limited capabilities and high costs do not encourage expansion nor enable it, and surely, do not demonstrate the full capabilities of connectivity to users;

“Bad ambassador” means an unappropriated first implementation of a solution that generates a negative feedback on the solution that disincentives further developments.

13

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• Affordable—remember, we are trying to serve relatively few customers. We cannot go overboard with expensive equipment that will not enable us to return our investment and turn our network into a viable enterprise.

5.5

Public Access

So, we probably ensure connectivity; connectivity is strictly related to access. Public access to information is a prerequisite for the development of a democratic Information Society. Meaningful public access must be affordable, available and usable: “Access is a cultural phenomenon and meaningful access is composed of a literate user having access to meaningful content and services14”. Access, in a broad sense, including for instance “transparency” of procedures and information (e.g. in public bids, new regulations, public offers and demands), is one of the key points. Accessibility issues came to the fore at the end of the 1990s, supported by technological issues related to the potential social role of the Internet. If the Internet has a “social” role, then, in order to avoid any “divide”, it must be accessible by anyone, anywhere, and at any time. If e-Government tools have to be considered the “default” link between organisations, single citizens and the public authorities, providing in this way a better interaction, it must be accessible to everybody, no matter his or her gender, age, richness, or eventually disabilities. Nevertheless, the UN Global e-Government Survey 201615 still outlines: “It is therefore important to rethink how to provide universal access to quality services while ensuring coherent decisions, developing integrated policies and increasing effectiveness, transparency and accountability. Many countries have already engaged in this direction.” And moreover: “This means addressing the various facets of inequality between people, countries and regions—an effort which ICT can also greatly facilitate—while also taking measures to bolster access for all and increasing regional and international cooperation. “Leaving no one behind” thus requires improving access to high-speed broadband connection for all through reliable and high-quality infrastructure, and taking a holistic approach that addresses the social, economic and environmental factors that influence digital inclusion.”

This sentence is an excerpt from a report entitled “On Culture in a Worldwide Information Society”, based on the activity of the panel The Future of Online Culture (co-chairs: E. Fink and A.M. Ronchi) at the 10th International World Wide Web Conference. 15 Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations e-Government Survey 2016, http:// workspace.unpan.org/sites/Internet/Documents/UNPAN97453.pdf, last accessed February 2019. 14

5.6 Multi Channel and Cross Channels Access to the Services

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Multi Channel and Cross Channels Access to the Services

What do we mean with the term channels? Channels represent the different ways to provide a service: at the front desk, through a distributed network of service points, by phone and call centres, through the Internet, on mobile platform apps and more. Why do we explore this domain of service provision? Because this is enabled by digitisation and digital technology. It relies on digital files and data banks that are located somewhere and accessible from a multitude of access points providing the same service. Going much more in detail we will find within public administration the need to visit different front desks in order to complete the procedure, or a single stop front desk. If the single stop service is active the whole procedure will be completed without the need to visit other offices, adding relevant value to citizen’s experience. The second opportunity listed above is a network of service points; again there are different arrangements of this service16: public administration service points, post offices, bank facilities, tobacco stores17, ATM machines, dedicated ATM machines. The use of multi-channels in order to provide services is very usual. Elderly people may prefer to go to the front desk or use the telephone in order to book a medical check-up; other citizens less interested in direct human relations use ATM machines or home banking in order to pay taxes. In such a way multi-channelling is a good approach in order to offer a similar service to completely different user profiles fulfilling their own expectations. It is not an option but a must in order to bridge a major part of the potential gaps in turning government into e-Government through a soft transition. At this point we must take into account that there are different ways to interact between citizens and public administration. We may interact in order to obtain a service (e.g. healthcare) or to fulfil some procedures or legal duties (permit to build, fine payment, etc.). Some transactions are usually performed thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT). Consider the interesting and somewhat alarming forecast for 2005 published by the Japanese Banks Association in 1999. The forecast was delivered by the general manager of DoCoMo, Masao Nakamura, in 2000 while presenting the commercial response to their i-mode system. The study forecasted that in 2005 the vast majority of the clients of banks and telecommunications would not be human. Most transactions would be carried out between machines, while in some cases one of the actors would be an animal. The study predicted highway telepayment systems, prepaid cards (evolution of the credit system) that are able to communicate directly with the current accounts of 16

Major part of the listed service points used to offer both on-site and on line services thanks to mobile devices. 17 Tobacco shops are often re-sellers of pre-paid phone cards, stamps and qualified points in order to pay some taxes. ATM points provide a similar service.

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the suppliers, and wearable devices for kids, elderly people and animals that are able to converse with cars, warning the driver or triggering the engine control unit or ABS system if danger is imminent, as well as the attendance of virtual video presences at ceremonies and job meetings, as made possible by three-dimensional holographic images. The prediction didn’t happen in 2005 but it inaugurated “The road ahead”. If we recall the view on the future provided by Bill Gates in the video clips associated with the book “The road ahead” (1995), we found a number of IoT devices, apartment rooms automatically adapting to the taste of the visitor: interior climate, background music, digital paintings on the walls or the cyber-wallet automatically paying bills getting closer to the cashier and more. Advances on the technological side make this reality; we pay highway tolls, carbon tax, gas stations, parking, public transportation, shops and more thanks to machine-to-machine interactions. Back to channels, to enable multi-channelling is not enough. When we start to innovate and make more efficient our administration using the digital paradigm we must re-think all the processes and workflow. The implementation of multi channels based on document and procedure digitisation is not enough if we do not foresee and enable even the use of mixed channels. People may access the services mixing up telephone and internet or mobile apps. They book the service by phone and receive the feedback part by phone and part by e-mail.

5.7

Internet Governance18

Dealing with e-Government we cannot avoid adequately taking into account the kernel of the technological part of the matter, Internet Governance. The term “Internet governance” is, like e-Government, one of the words, that means different things to different people. Internet governance may mean technical and/or public policy issues around the Internet to “control of the Internet” to “control of the Internet infrastructure” to a wide range of issues relating to the use, scalability and evolution of the Internet as a communication medium serving the world at large. It covers the Internet today and how it will evolve tomorrow. The Working Group on Internet Governance19, established by the UN in 2004, in order to fulfil the first request of their mandate, produced this working definition of Internet governance as part of their final report20: “Internet governance is the development and application by Governments, the private sector and civil society, in their respective roles, of shared principles, norms, rules, decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the Internet.”

18

Please refer to the proper section of the book e-Citizens: Being human in the digital age, author Alfredo M. Ronchi, Springer. Here we provide a short summary in order to help readers. 19 WGIG—https://www.un.org/press/en/2004/pi1620.doc.htm, last accessed February 2019. 20 http://www.wgig.org/docs/BackgroundReport.pdf, last accessed February 2019.

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This is a very broad definition; in order to better focus the goals, the WGIG devoted much of its attention to the identification of public policy issues that are potentially relevant to Internet governance. The second request of the mandate was “Identify the public policy issues that are relevant to Internet governance”. Based on this fact-finding work, the WGIG established four key public policy areas21: (a) Issues relating to infrastructure and the management of critical Internet resources, including administration of the domain name system and Internet protocol addresses (IP addresses), administration of the root server system, technical standards, peering and interconnection, telecommunications infrastructure, including innovative and convergent technologies, as well as multilingualism. These issues are matters of direct relevance to Internet governance and fall within the ambit of existing organizations with responsibility for these matters; (b) Issues relating to the use of the Internet, including spam, network security and cybercrime. While these issues are directly related to Internet governance, the nature of global cooperation required is not well defined; (c) Issues that are relevant to the Internet but have an impact much wider than the Internet and for which existing organizations are responsible, such as intellectual property rights (IPRs) or international trade. The WGIG started examining the extent to which these matters are being handled consistently with the Declaration of Principles; (d) Issues relating to the developmental aspects of Internet governance, in particular capacity-building in developing countries. The four areas take adequately into account issues relating to developmental aspects of Internet governance: cost of access, universal access, capacity building, national infrastructure development, content accessibility, Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), cultural and linguistic diversity, social inclusion and more. Such issues are key issues for developing and emerging countries. Interconnection costs represents one of the major barriers to the broad use of the Internet in developing countries. They suffer an uneven distribution of cost. Internet service providers (ISPs) based in countries remote from Internet backbones, particularly in the developing countries, must pay the full cost of the international circuits. The Working Group pointed out the absence of an appropriate and effective global Internet governance mechanism to resolve the issue. In addition, they state, relevant efforts, even on the occasion of World Summit on Information Society Forums (2005), must be devoted to capacity building. This was written in 2004/5, having as a horizon the World Summit on the Information Society—phase II 2005. Sometimes, Internet governance is looked at as laws enacted by Governments; however, it is important to note that Internet governance is not limited to government activities, following the original spirit of the Internet; it is every user’s concern, no

21

The following four key points are kept as they are from the WGIG final report.

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matter what their background. It includes social and cultural norms and must cover all sectors of society. This is not enough; because of the “global” dimension and impact of the Internet, these deliberations and decisions also need to be forward looking and take into account the next billions of users and their needs and challenges. This is why it is critical that the developing world plays its part in deliberations and discussions around the Internet governance. The “hot” topic of Internet governance was one of the key topics on the occasion of the WSIS 2005; in order to better fulfil the wills and expectations of the multistakeholders’ participants the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)22 was established setting the first meeting of the delegates in Athens (2006). The topics presented are non-exhaustive and continue to expand as discussions during the Internet Governance Forum annual meetings. Up until now there is a limited active contribution of the developing world. The main contributions from “new economies” are coming from Brazil, Russia, India23, China, South Africa (BRICS). Thus far, holistic participation by the developing world has been lacking during global Internet governance discussions; however, this is slowly changing. This lack of participation has been in part due to a lack of knowledge about the discussions themselves, part of it is perhaps due to a degree of uncertainty in what contribution to make, and part of it is due to the lack of resources to be able to attend such meetings. An interesting initiative is the “Geneva’s platform for global digital governance24”. Close to the end of 2017, the State of Geneva together with the Geneva Internet Platform has been conducting “Geneva Digital Talks” aimed at discussing how the experience and expertise concentrated in the Geneva Area (internet governance community, multilateral organisations, cybersecurity ecosystem, . . .) could contribute to addressing pressing digital policy issues such as cybersecurity and Internet governance25.

22

IGF—www.intgovforum.org, last accessed February 2019. Apart from central government initiatives single state used to contribute e.g. Kerala State IT Mission—http://www.itmission.kerala.gov.in/, last accessed February 2019. 24 Geneva Internet Platform : Dr. Jovan Kurbalija, Head of Geneva Internet Platform & Director of DiploFoundation. 25 Kurbalija Jovan (2016), An Introduction to Internet Governance, ISBN 978-99932-53-30-3, DiploFoundation. 23

5.8 Different Parameters Influencing e-Government Success or Failure

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Different Parameters Influencing e-Government Success or Failure

Having already outlined some of the basic aspects of e-Government and related infrastructures it is time to focus on several different parameters to be taken into account when dealing with e-Government, particularly in developing countries. Simply to mention a short selection, some of them refer to the cultural aspects, some of them to organisational issues, some of them to the infrastructure and technology in general and some to the users’ habits, literacy, capacity or merely the interaction design. This requires: having a significant population of citizens willing and able to adopt and use online services; and developing the managerial and technical capability to implement e-Government applications to meet the needs of citizens.

5.8.1

Cultural Models

Globalisation is one of the key terms used to describe both actual and future trends, but there are many aspects of this concept that should be carefully considered, such as our “cultural identity”. This term is often related to the term “cultural diversity” that is in some way its natural complement. Cultural diversity is an asset that needs to be preserved, and to do so cultural models must be considered. Cultural diversity is the engine of cultural and economic growth; it provides incredible richness as well as traditions. Cultural aspects used to play a significant role in e-Government solutions design. Let us simply focus on the interaction between citizens and government (G2C); the range of services we provide, the interaction model (interpersonal relations, etc.) and even the channels/ media we use are strictly related to the cultural model we deal with (face-to-face communication, computer-mediated communication, cyber agents, etc.). Even if we consider the “old Europe”, with just 15 countries, we must still face the issue of cultural diversity, since it encompasses 350 million people, 12 languages and at least 3 different cultural models (Mediterranean, German and Nordic) having a deep influence on the user friendliness and perceived utility of the services. Since May 1st 2004, the cultural diversity of Europe has increased significantly due to the inclusion of new countries and their cultural assets. Some languages still provide barriers (to science, tourism, etc.), as do some cultural and semantic aspects (e.g. trust relationship, value of physical document, paper, stamps, etc.).

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ITALY: Cyber Police Station/Cyber Carabinieri (2007) A significant case study concerning cyber agents is due to both the Italian Police and Carabinieri26. They decided to enrich their own on line services offering a “Cyber Police Station27” or “Cyber Carabiniere28” in order to help citizens. The service is available both on line and on mobile phones; it uses a natural language interface and provides the most frequently asked services supporting the citizen step-by-step in a very natural way. Both these services are highly appreciated and used even if Italy is mainly a Mediterranean country and Italian citizens are mostly oriented to face-to-face communication. www.poliziadistato.it, last accessed February 2019. www.carabinieri.it, last accessed February 2019. Here we took as an example Europe; similar considerations are applicable to African, Latin American and Asian countries. MEXICO: ATM Express Government (2007) It’s the dream of all citizens plagued by unresponsive bureaucracies. The Express Government ATMs are advanced automatic teller machines and offer 59 fully automated services to the common citizen. The 22 modules are distributed over 16 cities in the state of Chiapas and are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, allowing one to pay taxes, obtain Birth Certificates, Driver’s Licenses and Vehicle Plates. It is government service within minutes. Thus operating costs were reduced, productivity increased, and public access improved. Finally, it is clean public administration as the ATM Express Government cannot be corrupted. By Mexican Bureau of Planning and Sustainable Development

5.8.2

Social Environment

Close to the previous topic there is an additional aspect that may influence the successful deployment of e-Government services: the social environment. This means for example issues related to gender, literacy and education, age, ethnical identity, habits, and more. Some communities share a common understanding on the hierarchal structure of representativeness; some are based on the single human being. In some cases, we can design the deployment of the services on the basis of shared resources (e.g. Internet points, shared smart phones); in other cases they take

26

Carabinieri are the Italian Military Police but they are even a civil law enforcement agency with a high presence in the territory. 27 www.poliziadistato.it, last accessed February 2019. 28 www.carabinieri.it, last accessed February 2019.

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advantage of personal devices. In the evaluation of the impact at social level the implementation of some services both on line (through personal devices) and thanks to shared facilities such as, for instance, ATM-like service point may improve significantly the performance. The success of such implementation may be partially related to the availability of an access platform for citizens suffering from the digital divide, but in addition the use of an ad hoc facility offering a secure access to personal information and services guaranteed in some way by the government removes the concerns about security and technological skill. ATM-like access points gave excellent feedback in the range of elderly and ICTsceptics; in some way as it happened with smart phones and tablets for similar user profiles, the idea to not use a computer but a device already known and trusted made the difference. While some countries experience very high literacy rates and high levels of Internet and computer accessibility, many countries have very strong cultural norms where people prefer to socialize or conduct important business in person instead of using the Internet. They simply prefer to settle an agreement shaking their hands instead of using the “handshaking29”. The impact of e-Government in a similar social environment is usually limited by the need to enjoy face to face relations even with government officers. Social influence, with reference to the present sector, is defined as the degree to which an individual perceives that important others believe he or she should use the new system. An additional “social” factor that requires further study is the role that gender plays in shaping the patterns of e-Government adoption and use not only in developing countries. On the occasion of the second phase of WSIS this concern was included in the official report: “We recognize that a gender divide exists as part of the digital divide in society and we reaffirm our commitment to women’s empowerment and to a gender equality perspective, so that we can overcome this divide. We further acknowledge that the full participation of women in the Information Society is necessary to ensure the inclusiveness and respect for human rights within the Information Society. We encourage all stakeholders to support women’s participation in decision-making processes and to contribute to shaping all spheres of the Information Society at international, regional and national levels30”. Furthermore, “the likelihood of women in rural areas or poor women in urban areas having access to new technologies is low in countries where fewer than 10% of the population is connected31”. There are some initiatives, care of developed countries, Term used in the field of digital transmission protocols—here stands for “digital devices”. WSIS 2005 “Tunis Commitment”, WSIS-05/TUNIS/DOC/7-E, paragraph 23—http://www.itu. int/net/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/7.html, last accessed February 2019. 31 Nancy Hafkin, Nancy Taggart (2001), Gender, Information Technology, and Developing Countries: An Analytic Study, page 13. Office of Women in Development, Bureau for Global Programs, Field Support and Research, United States Agency for International Development, https://www. researchgate.net/publication/237479049_Gender_Information_Technology_and_Developing_ Countries_An_Analytic_Study, last accessed February 2019. 29 30

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addressing the need to bridge this gap (e.g. the Woman Security project developed by Lynn Thiesmeyer32, Keio University, Tokyo). Last but not least we must consider education in general and more specifically digital literacy. One of the building blocks of the successful implementation of eGovernment strategy is an educated and digital literate citizenry, having and sharing the willingness to properly use e-Government. UNESCO33 Information for All (IFAP) program is actively working in digital literacy promotion. Nowadays one of the pillars enabling access to knowledge is access to the infrastructure. There are a number of solutions available, among them mobile technology offers a good opportunity. This means that first of all we need to think about how to effectively use technology. The second pillar is how to use information and knowledge. Connecting universities is a good initiative; it will let students and professors be in touch and work together overcoming time and location barriers. UNESCO34 is trying to measure access to innovation and knowledge35, how actually government can provide free access to knowledge to all the citizens. Data sharing and information sharing potentially conflicts with IPR and may conflict with privacy as well in case of data sharing; at the moment; the framework to overcome such problems is not yet clear. Some initiatives have been developed at country level such as in the Netherlands. “. . . I promised to explain my ideas about the practice of providing open access to research publications and how that practice will continue to evolve. The principle of open access involves offering readers worldwide access to research publications, journals and books free of charge. My contention is that access to the results of publicly and publicly-privately funded research should always be unrestricted. Because such research is paid for from the public purse and technical impediments are essentially non-existent, I believe open access should be rolled out in the near future. Open access promotes knowledge sharing and knowledge circulation, which in their turn contribute to the Netherlands’ innovative capacity.” (Sander Dekker36—The State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science) There are some initiatives such as Open Source Software, Creative Commons37, Grey Literature38, suggesting potential solutions as well as the idea to consider as a 32 http://vu.sfc.keio.ac.jp/faculty_profile/cgi/f_profile_e.cgi?id=a7839e6e279dee82, last accessed February 2019. 33 https://en.unesco.org/news/rethinking-literacy-skills-digital-world, last accessed February 2019. 34 https://en.unesco.org/go-spin, last accessed February 2019. 35 https://en.unesco.org/themes/investing-science-technology-and-innovation, last accessed February 2019. 36 Open Access to publications—Parliamentary document | 21-01-2014 Government of the Netherlands https://www.government.nl/documents/parliamentary-documents/2014/01/21/open-accessto-publications, last accessed February 2019. 37 “Some rights reserved” https://creativecommons.org, last accessed February 2019. 38 Grey Literature is usually produced by governments, institutions, civil society, universities and research centres, non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

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public good the whole set, of content, knowledge and services related with culture, education and—why not—innovation. This means that cultural and educational content and services are equivalent to healthcare assistance and provided “for free” care of governments.

5.8.3

Bureaucracy and Workflow

The re-design of work and information flow will impact both back-office and frontoffice activities. Back office refers to the internal operations of an organization that support core processes and are not accessible or visible to the general public39. The term front office refers to government as its constituents see it, meaning the information and services provided and the interaction between government and both the citizens and business (G2C, G2B). Of course, front-office activities used to require some back-office activities in order to provide “services”. Back-office services may be internal and are production-oriented. e-Government services must not replicate at end user level (e.g. citizen) the complexity of bureaucracy. Citizens must ignore the internal organisation and the complexity of the back office, even if it exists. The organisational and procedural aspects of governments are for sure one of the key points in the implementation of e-Government strategies. Nevertheless, the choice to take advantage from e-Government is one of the unique opportunities to deeply restructure and re-think the overall governmental organisations in term of bureaucracy and workflow. The long-term sedimentation of different procedures, workflow and regulations must probably be re-designed reaching major efficiency and incorporating background knowledge and validation tests in the automated procedure. This part of the job may be one of the most difficult because of the usual complexity of such procedures because of the “re-distribution” of both responsibilities and “power”. This aspect may be crucial both in developing and developed countries because even “information” is “power”. On line services providing up-to-date and suitable information on public bids or “end-user” market prices may conflict with private interests taken from guaranteed. Some examples in this field are Time to Market and Aste Giudiziarie. The multichannel system Time to Market40 makes available online and over mobile connections real-time market data regarding farm and sea harvests in Senegal. Producers and traders can use their mobile phones in WAP and SMS mode, PDA or Internet to check actual prices and availability of products. The price information and data on arrival of products at the markets are generated twice a day. Time to Market creates a

39

e-Government for Better Government. OECD e-Government Studies, ISBN 9264018336, OECD 2005 http://www.oecd.org/gov/digital-government/e-governmentforbettergovernment.htm, last accessed February 2019. 40 T2M—http://t2m.manobi.sn/, last accessed February 2019.

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win-win situation where supply and demand are better coordinated and users increase the efficiency of their small businesses and revenues. Astegiudiziarie41 and Infoappalti42 are two web-based services providing realtime information on public bids. Such a service will deliver relevant information to all the citizens interested in taking part in the bids without any potential lobbing in information provision. Governments are increasingly looking towards an “e-Government-as-a-whole” concept which focuses on the provision of services at the front-end, supported by integration, consolidation and innovation in back-end processes and systems to achieve maximum cost savings and improved service delivery. What do we mean by “whole-of-government” concept? It is a holistic approach to ICT-enabled public-sector governance. The Australian report43 on Connecting government states: “public service agencies working across portfolio boundaries to achieve a shared goal and an integrated government response to particular issues.” Government agencies and organizations share objectives across organizational boundaries, as opposed to working solely within an organization; this is the main characteristic of the whole-of-government approach. Such an innovative approach encompasses the design and delivery of a wide variety of policies, programmes and services that cross organizational boundaries. A major part of innovation in processes and procedures has faced some friction in the early phase. From the industrial revolution to the information age, in accounting and banking sectors up to the engineering one, innovation in procedures and workflow was perceived by personnel as something upsetting. For these reasons this aspect has to be carefully considered and approached thanks to a deployment plan. The twin objective of achieving further improvements in service delivery and efficacy in government functioning is bringing about a rethinking of the role of ICT.

5.9

Infrastructure

After having considered the “working” infrastructure now we can focus on the technological infrastructure. Dealing with e-Government issues technological infrastructure means mainly: electric power, telecommunication networks both wired and/or wireless44 as well as computer networks (e.g. the Internet).

41

Aste Giudiziarie by Aste Giudiziarie Inlinea Spa, Italy, http://www.astegiudiziarie.it, last accessed February 2019. 42 Infoappalti by Studio NET, Italy, http://www.infoappalti.it, last accessed February 2019. 43 Whole-of-government concept refers to Connecting government: Whole of Government Responses to Australia’s Priority Challenges. Management Advisory Committee Report 4. 2004, https://www.apsc.gov.au/connecting-government-whole-government-responses-australias-prioritychallenges, last accessed February 2019. 44 Terrestrial or satellite. Wireless terrestrial communication includes digital terrestrial television (DTT) while wireless satellite includes digital satellite television (DST) and Internet satellite uplinks.

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As already outlined before, it seems that electric power is one of the key elements in order to implement e-Services. There are wide areas in the world that are not served by a proper electricity network. In such areas electricity is not available continuously thanks the distribution network so they have to rely on standalone generators, windmills and solar cells45 and even car batteries. This was one of the goals addressed by the Nicholas Negroponte’s “one hundred dollars PC46” project; in order to overcome the problem, they included a power generator operated by hand. Moving to the next issue: telecommunication and computer networks; the Internet is now, for the most part, the communications medium of choice (in a great many forms) for a large part of the world. Why “great many forms”? Because the way we communicate and the tools we use to do so, have all evolved significantly since the Internet came into the public domain (1990s); and it continues to re-define how we communicate47. On one hand, we improved and extended the use of mobile phones from pure voice communication devices to multimedia and interactive services terminals. Mobile phones, terrestrial and satellite, are playing a significant role in the deployment of innovative services within developing and emerging countries (e.g. Central Africa). They may be used by a single owner or shared within the population of the village. On the other hand, we have moved from an era of using the Internet to send simple text-based messages (e-mail) to today, where a message, usually sent and received on mobile devices, is more a multimedia message and can contain pictures, video and voice, in addition to text. The Internet is also being used to make “telephone” calls using voice over the IP (VoIP); Blogs, APPs, instant messaging and social networks are some more different forms of the way in which we have begun to use the Internet as a communication medium. Social media have been demonstrated to be a pandemic virus; an increasing number of citizens, not only teenagers, is leading a “double life”, real and on-line. They see life through the lens of the smart phone; they shoot “selfies” and video clips to be published in real time on social media like Facebook, Instagram or more specific thematic platforms. Video is pervasive and citizens are eager to contribute, producing video stories, breaking news, educational and training clips like “Building a brick wall from making the cement, to placing the bricks48”. 45

A few years ago, as a result of the second Infopoverty conference, a kit that provided a satellite uplink powered by solar energy was assembled, based on the experiences of a Solar Village in Honduras. The results from the Solar Village indicated that, even in isolated villages, access to digital technology creates new job opportunities. More recently, a more extensive study was carried out in Tunisia and the results were showcased during the World Summit on Information Society in Tunis (November 2005). 46 One hundred dollars PC, https://www.technologyreview.com/s/404464/from-the-editor-the-hun dred-dollar-laptop/, last accessed February 2019. 47 Messenger, Skype, Viber, WhatsApp, SnapChat, GoToMeeting, . . . 48 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcpdlXu3IpE, last accessed February 2019.

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Back in 2009, Internet World Stats49 reported that the total number of Internet users was about 1.5 billion people; the same year comScore50, an Internet research/ analysis organisation, reported in January 2009 that the global Internet audience (defined as 15 years of age and older accessing the Internet from home and work computers) has surpassed 1 billion users (note that the comScore report excludes Internet access from cybercafés, mobile phones and PDAs, which probably represents the difference in numbers between the two reporting organisations). In June 2017, Internet World Stats reports that on a global estimated population of 7.5 billion people there are close to 3.9 billion Internet users. Taking a snapshot in 2001, the report New Information Technologies and the Young51 identified the extent of provision and access to technologies, the ways in which young people use them, and some of the opportunities and difficulties associated with each form of communication and expression. The report provides a comprehensive picture of young people as users and consumers of new technologies, but especially in terms of their creative activity, such as their use of digital audio and video, website creation, and distributing visual, musical or literary work across the Internet. These numbers are growing rapidly and will continue to do so. The “next billion”, as some authors call them, and the billions after that will be online much quicker than the first billion; this then makes the Internet an important global public policy issue. The Internet is such an important asset for a large part of the world, and because it will continue to be so as more users come online, issues around the use and availability of the Internet are important for everyone, be they from the developed or developing world. The first billion Internet users have come from the developed world and the next billions will come predominantly from the developing world. This issue is carried out, for example, in efforts to open up Internet access points through “telecentres”, community technology centres, schools, libraries, and kiosks. However, the greatest density of Internet connections in developing countries is unevenly distributed and favours urban areas predominately. This bias creates opportunity for urban dwellers and anyone who travels frequently to urban areas. In developing countries, a significant proportion of women spend most of their lives working and living in rural areas, causing them to have far less access to the Internet [3]. These next billions will have challenges and issues related to Internet access and use, and it is important that any discussions around the Internet governance today take these into account to ensure an Internet that is for everyone, not only for selected few. The Internet that is taken for granted by so many needs to continue its evolution around the fundamentals upon which it was founded. These fundamentals relate to

49

http://www.internetworldstats.com, last accessed February 2019. https://www.comscore.com, last accessed February 2019. 51 The project New Information Technologies and the Young was launched by Screen Digest— General Direction Office IV of the Council of Europe. A final report on the project was published; see Council of Europe (2001). 50

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the concept of users centricity, where the Internet user and how they use the Internet should be the primary focus of decisions and developments on the Internet. The concept of user centricity characterised, perhaps for the first time in computer technology, the birth and early development of the web technology. From the beginning up to, at least, 1995 the World Wide Web technology was built based on the request of users directly from users. Another defining feature of the Internet’s success has been the open nature of the technical standards, and the innovation this has allowed. The innovation has been key to a large number of new technologies that have evolved out of the Internet, and it is important that this continues so that we keep finding new ways to do some of these old things cheaper, better and faster. We will consider in a different paragraph how this has a social effect on the occupational side. Speaking about “infrastructure” we cannot forget an additional approach to public service provision, mobile centres. This is usually adopted on wide and less populated areas of the continents52 and one of the main aims is to provide healthcare or educational services to remote communities. The usual configuration foresees a lorry with a long trailer hosting the required equipment (e.g. surgical, computer lab, etc.) and a satellite uplink.

5.10

Interoperability of Systems

In order to provide a comprehensive scenario this chapter takes into account different levels of interaction and services, government to government even across borders, government for citizens, government for business, and more. Interaction between different systems and organisations means interoperability in a broad sense. What do we term “interoperability”?

ability of a system (such as a weapons system) to work with or use the parts or equipment of another system [Merriam–Webster dictionary] (computer science) meaning the ability of the user of one member of a group of disparate systems (all having the same functionality) to work with any of the systems of the group with equal ease . . . [Encyclopædia Britannica] Interoperability is currently one of the most popular buzzwords used in the ICT industry. This usually involves the definition of standards so each actor or group of actors creates his standard and fights to impose it. This focus on interoperability and inter-workability has arisen due to the spread of the Internet and the increasing need to get different applications to “talk” to one another. Without a standard to exchange

52

Australia and New Zealand solved the problem thanks to wireless communications and mobile facilities (lorries equipped with big trailers containing: surgery rooms, hi tech training courses, scientific labs, etc.).

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information, high-tech systems literally can’t communicate with each other, and if they can’t communicate, they can’t work—interoperate—with each other53. The need to exchange data between different applications has long been a common requirement in several key sectors, such as research, banking, . . .., and eGovernment. Information systems often speak different languages or dialects. This happens not only when the products that need to communicate come from different suppliers, but even among different generations or variants of the same product. While an interoperability problem might be due to a minor incompatibility, its impact on a system can be dramatic, and the task of getting all the relevant parties to participate in solving the interoperability problem can often turn into a nightmare. There are therefore compelling reasons (e.g. Connected Government) to create information technology products that can be guaranteed to interoperate (e.g. digital signature, digital certificates, etc.). This issue is fundamental in order provide a unique access point to personal data services for citizens as it is requested for the one stop services. Different governmental bodies at different levels and eventually public companies will be able to exchange data and provide integrated services to citizens and/or companies. This can only be achieved if all of these products conform to the same, publicly available, standards (e.g. open standards). We do not mean, of course, only technological standards but standards in the broad sense including semantic aspects and thesauri. Interoperability at semantic level is as relevant as technological interoperability; the same applies for thesauri and legal implications. Specific multilinguistic thesauri have been developed for instance in the touristic sector and a kind of “interoperability” must be developed at the legal level when we transfer data with legal implications (e.g. Chamber of Commerce certificates). Similar problems are actually faced in developing an “European Security Model” (how to unify the approach to petty crimes in different countries, legislation, cultural models, habits). EUROPEAN UNION: European Security Model There are a number of significant common threats which have a cross-border impact on security and safety within the EU, and security has become a key factor in ensuring a high quality of life in the European society and in protecting our critical infrastructures through preventing and tackling common threats. The European Union must prevent, and if necessary investigate and mitigate, the impact of criminal acts, whilst protecting fundamental rights of its citizens. The consistent efforts made by the EU Member States and the Union to that effect are not enough, especially when criminal groups and their activities expand far beyond national borders. (continued) 53

Alfredo M. Ronchi, eCulture: Cultural content in the digital age, ISBN: 978-3-540-75273-8, Springer 2009.

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The definition of a European Security Model which builds upon the analysis of the human factors, at the roots of the design of security strategies and methodologies, is needed. Such a Model would encompass: the development of a common understanding of security issues among EU security practitioners, as well as of the causes and effects of insecurity among EU citizens; common EU methodologies to be implemented by security practitioners (about enhancing prevention and anticipation and/or the timely involvement of all the actors that have a role in protection from the political, economic and social scene). The globalization of communications and finance infrastructure allows for cybercrime to develop, and corruption and financial crime to take new forms. Cyber criminality is a phenomenon by which a criminal acts with new tools and within a new environment, which is not satisfactorily understood, nor properly addressed. The same applies to the innovative technologies and methodologies for financial crime. Law enforcement agencies need new equipment to counter such developments. Both Internal and external EU border check points will take advantage of the creation of an European Security platform to exchange data in real time. The EU law enforcement agencies will benefit from improving and consolidating knowledge about security problems and their remedies. Simply to mention one of the possible applications, the idea to create a common platform at EU level in order to fight against petty crimes and mitigate their effects is potential added value service for citizens. An European Security Model (ESM) that involves the citizen as part of the solution to the problem of petty crime through safe bidirectional communication channels, guidance for educational and training programs and through assessing the attitudes and perceptions of citizens towards their security, policing relationships and their role in crime prevention. The human-factors centred European Security Model will enable: – Better understanding of the problem based on the model (causes and effects) – Easier identification of the solutions – Basis for evaluation of solutions – Consistent understanding of the issues across borders (standards, terminology, concepts) – Citizen-centred approach, allowing the citizen to be a greater part of the solution in a safe and responsible manner. At the basis of this will be a gravity factor and impact matrix that looks at the different categories and definitions of crimes, their impact based on a range of different criteria (geography, financial cost, social cost, average age of offender, etc.), the available mitigation and prevention tools and the resource (continued)

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implications of different responses. An ad hoc designed software platform will assist in the management and operational implementation of the gravity factor matrix through support for data gathering (sensors and human reports), data processing, analysis, data fusion, data visualisation, decision support and communication. The design of a similar platform is not easy; in the EU there are no similar legislation and principles; something is forbidden in one country and allowed in others, some behaviours are censored in one country and accepted in others. There is a need to implement a Dynamic Risk Assessment methodology. There are different factors influencing the “gravity” of a crime due to: geographic location, local regulations, local crime tolerance and perception, time context, behaviour of media, specific situation, socio-political environment, etc. It is quite a challenge to take into account all of them without biases and approximations. Geographic location: laws and regulations change from country to country as well as petty crime typology; some drugs are allowed in some EU countries, not in others; some countries are much more concerned about petty crime due to a soccer match, or violence on women, others less. More or less the same applies to Crime Tolerance and Crime Perception. Time Context: the gravity and perception of some crimes change significantly through time even due to changes in ethics and moral principles; sometimes “old” crimes that disappeared time ago are back due to social changes; the reverse is valid as well. Influence due to Media: in the age of Internet and Breaking News the role of media in disseminating information (good and bad—informing citizens or organising crimes and even promoting them or providing fake news) is more than relevant; it may deeply affect the perception of crimes and the feelings of citizens. Temporary flooding of news about a specific set of crimes (even if not so relevant and not more frequent) may generate a feeling of danger and fear in citizens, sometimes igniting dangerous behaviours (amplified reactions). Specific circumstances and the socio-political environment influence as well the gravity and perception of some crimes: the victim is a girl or a disabled person, the crime pertains to a peripheral area of the city, a wellknown dangerous quarter and so on. All these aspects suggest taking into account a dynamic approach and structure on different layers of our “matrix”. The Gravity Factor Impact Matrix—in the light of Knowledge ecology— may lead to taking into consideration a layered Impact Matrix, devoting one layer for each country, having as “sub-layers” the local aspects described above and at least one layer due to all the specific “impact factors” due to the context e.g. behaviour of media and news (news makes some families of crimes have more impact on people). This matrix is the basis to collect and share information and solutions among EU law enforcement agencies.

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The availability of intercommunication has enabled incredible new scenarios based on information linking and exchange with potential positive effects in the eGovernment sector. Interoperability is both the exchange of information and its utilisation. Interoperability will play an interesting role both among governmental bodies and at international level (e.g. European Union). This aspect is particularly relevant due to the empowerment of the European Union role in everyday life and commerce. In this scenario the Chamber of Commerce in Paris must be able to exchange data in real time with the Chamber of Commerce in Milan or Berlin, sharing the same ontology and format. In such a scenario, the developing and emerging countries may be in some way facilitated if they can start almost from scratch with the implementation of the operational framework enabling e-Government. They may save efforts and time, skipping the intermediate steps needed in order to turn a pure bureaucratic apparatus into e-Government. At the same time they can focus on last generation solutions without any backward compatibility constraint or need to reuse already available devices. As already implemented for previous solutions, shared facilities are the entry point for new technologies and services from the end user point of view. Citizens even if scattered throughout the territory may take advantage of internet points or shared mobile phones in order to access e-Government services. There are relevant examples of this service model in Africa, South America and Far Eastern countries.

5.10.1 Habits We all know that habits and beliefs may represent a potential bottleneck for innovation. The value of interpersonal relations, the trust relationship with a specific “officer”, the “material” value of “paper” are still very relevant, as well as stamps and handmade blue or green ink signatures. A significant service provided by digital media is often perceived as an unsecure and less reliable service. Simply consider that some property certificates usually delivered on a special paper with engravings and anti-fraud metal tags have been turned into digital clones visible on-line thanks to a QR code printed on a common sheet of paper printed out by the same authority; this certificate once kept in the safe at home is now available on smart phones simply pointing to the code with the camera; it’s a habit’s revolution. The combination of habits, cultural models, type of service, and interaction model may lead to different results. There is a higher degree of concern if we deal with personal sensitive data, as the above certificate of property (e.g. personal credentials, bank account access, medical folder, etc.), less concern if we simply ask for “passive” and “less personal” information (e.g. procedure tracking, on line booking, official papers, etc.). Similar considerations are valid even if we take into account different habits or cultural models. Citizens from the north of Europe are less accustomed to person-to-person interaction; they do not care if they have to interact with a non-human counterpart.

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Some people around the world used to ask and receive some services thanks to some “institutional” offices such as the post office or the police station. This may cause some friction to e-Government deployment. There is a potential huge set of completely new services enabled by e-Government platforms. They are mainly in the “information” or on line payment field. Some of them take advantage of the interconnection of different databanks connected to the Internet. They provide consolidated information to citizens, querying and merging information from different reliable websites. The opportunity to pay, in a secure framework, different taxes, fees and subscriptions it opens the way to a future generation of online services. We do not have to forget the relevance of the design of interaction in this field. A public service must be provided in a very clear and secure way. Some authors define it as “the design of ‹interactive products› that are able to support humans in their own working activities and in everyday life54”. A number of “products” that require user interactions in order to carry out their tasks were not designed with the users in mind; it can often seem that designers have never tried to use their own products. Public telephones “sucking” credit cards, on line transaction without clear feedback in case of trouble, public services providing unrequested information in non-helpful formats, these are some of the interaction design faults. They are systems that are typically created to perform routine functions. While they may work effectively from an engineering perspective, it is often up to the user to make the extra effort to bridge the gap in man/procedure communication. The aim of interaction design55 is to close this gap by bringing usability into the design process. This means developing interactive services that are easy, effective, and enjoyable to use from the users’ perspective. When a service is intended to satisfy an identified need, interaction design defines which product should be built and how it should behave, down to the last tiny detail. The process involves focussing on: • • • • • • •

Understanding interactions; Understanding potential users; Having a clear idea about how interfaces may influence users; Identifying users’ needs and requirements; Applying a user-centred design process; Design, prototyping and mock-ups; Evaluating and assessing the results.

It also involves using an evaluation schema, tracking users, interviewing experts and users, and finally testing and user profile modelling.

54

Donald A. Norman (2013), The design of everyday things. Revised and Expanded Edition, ISBN 978-0-465- 05065-9, Basic Books, Inc., New York. 55 This topic is included in: Alfredo M. Ronchi, eCitizens: being human in the information age, Springer.

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Context

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Interaction design aims to discover users’ goals, and is therefore concerned with: • Defining how the forms of products relate to their behaviour and use; • Anticipating how the use of products will mediate human relationships and affect human understanding; • Exploring the dialogue between products, people, and contexts (physical, cultural, historical). Related to this point we find four additional aspects influencing the user and consequently the success of the platform: “Performance expectancy”—It describes the extent to which an individual believes that using a system will help him or her attain gains in his or her human development. Does using the system improve opportunities to obtain a job or perform well in his or her job, find and participate in educational activities, and otherwise increase the freedom of users to participate in processes that deeply affect their lives? (49); “Effort expectancy”—It is defined as the degree of ease of using the system. This is based on whether the individual user feels as if a great deal of learning is necessary for using the system, how complex the system functions are, and other issues related to literacy and the use of ICTs. In a review of e-Government sites of developing countries, this report determined that many of the sites fall short in making it easy for web visitors to use the online government services. Additionally, many of these factors are determined as features that may annoy web visitors. Although, there is no published data on the experience of eGovernment visitors, there are lessons from e-Commerce that are insightful about which deficiency matters most to web visitors [4]; “Social Influence”—It is defined as the degree to which an individual perceives that important others believe he or she should use the new system; “Facilitating Conditions”—They are defined as the degree to which an individual believes that an organizational and technical infrastructure exists to support use of the system. More detail on improving Internet access and the influence of political unrest is provided later.

5.11

Context

The general context represents the framework in which we are going to deploy the services. This is in some way the result of the previous set of topics including the present time socio/political context. Political context: in many of the developing countries, the governments are very fragile from civil unrest, military coups, or making transition from one form of government to another. These factors create instability in plans to develop the resources needed to support e-Government. Legal context: The country’s legal framework will provide protection of the rights and activities of online users through

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such mandates as digital signature, uniform computer information transaction, online infringement liability [5]. Approaches to e-Government programme offerings varied from country to country. The ‘how’ of what countries chose to display on the websites was a function of the ‘what’ they wanted to focus on and ‘why’ they wanted to focus on the issue. The pattern that emerges is that for effective e-Government development, political commitment to harnessing the benefits of ICTs, a well-thought-out vision, and doable objectives are important markers for successful e-Government development. e-Government appears to have a strong relation with income per capita. Resource availability appears to be a critical factor inhibiting e-Government initiatives in many countries. Part of the reason for the high e-Readiness in most of the developed economies is past investment in, and development of, infrastructure.

5.11.1 Security and Privacy As clearly anticipated by a number of movies, stolen digital identities, digital desaparecidos, and other digital crimes, these are the nightmares of the cyber age. In the near future, it will be necessary to find a satisfactory equilibrium between privacy and the “open” systems enabled by ICT. Security is one of the key issues in e-Government, as well as a robust disaster recovery plan. Citizens must feel comfortable and in a trust relationship when they access and use e-Government services. The traditional trust relationship citizen/institution has to be guaranteed even on eGovernment. On the one hand, technologies should enable each of us to be more self-sufficient, and may indeed push us to become more “removed” or isolated from the rest of the world. On the other hand, they produce and store an incredible amount of “evidence” (files, transactions, video-clips, pictures, etc.) documenting our existence moment by moment. The more technology we use, the more visible we become. High-technology is now used to such an extent that it is often possible to track people using their devices. Internal and external video-surveillance systems connected to computer vision-based systems are able to identify a person, a vehicle and their behaviour in both 2D and 3D. ATM transactions and credit card usage indicate our movements, tastes and lifestyle. The contents of our PCs and our Internet activities are monitored by spyware, fished and hacked (in the most optimistic vision, such activities would simply lead to the creation of personal profiles for e-Commerce applications, but that is a different topic altogether). There are also privacy concerns related to the general use of RFID and IoT. These technologies effectively gives machines “X-ray vision”. Cyber pickpockets can use

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Privacy and Personal Data Management

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it to play “who’s got the Rolex” [6], or even simply “who’s got the contactless credit card56”.

5.12

Privacy and Personal Data Management57

Due to the spread of online applications and the need to process and file personal information such as names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, national authorities all over the world have started, long time ago in the cyber time scale, to look for potential infringements of privacy by hackers. Indeed, there have even been some international-level infringements; for example, the customer database belonging to a very well-known underwear brand was cracked and personal information about various celebrities was made public. We have extensively illustrated these aspects in a specific chapter of the “e-Citizens” book. The massive use of contactless devices and even more the large diffusion of social media, IoT and CCTV enhanced these concerns. With specific reference to eGovernment a hot topic is for sure the release of “open data” sets and the analysis of “big data”. Even if at the end the effect is similar we can subdivide in two main branches privacy breaches: “voluntary” and “third parties”. The first group refers consciously or unconsciously to risky behaviours such as providing personal information to register for a service or authorizing the access to personal data in order to install an APP, and more. The latter refers mainly to hacking or the publication of non-sufficiently anonymised data sets by institutions and authorities. It may happen that in cross-referencing different open data sets some “identity” of the data holders is unintentionally disclosed. In case of “voluntary” disclosure the recommendation is to carefully control the dissemination of your personal information and provide it only to trustable organisations protecting the access to their on-line resources with secure credentials. Do not share your mobile phone or smart phone personal information, including access to your location and photo camera, if it is not strictly necessary to obtain the requested service always from a trustable entity. We are already aware about the use of our personal information by credit card companies to promote aimed marketing, misuse of our personal information re-sold in packages from business company to business company, the abuse of our personal information collected by Apps as a side effect, our medical data, our travels and interests, our paths and habits and more. Of course, in such a case the role of public authorities is to advise citizens and provide proper information about the proper behaviour in the cyber space to avoid troubles. Starting from at least the “connected” government level there is no need to

56

To avoid unauthorized use of such cards shielded card holders are a typical countermeasure, so the antenna of mobile devices will not interact with cards. 57 This topic is part of the volume: Alfredo M. Ronchi, eCitizens: Being human in the information age, Springer.

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ask for personal information once the citizen is already registered on the platform; this releases the citizen from the tedious task of inputting many times the same information and provides a much more secure protection to personal information, stored one time and protected by secure credentials instead provided multiple times to a number of clones spread on different platforms protected by different often weak credentials. The second potential breach in privacy is much more care of public administration; in addition the diffusion of the one-time password (OTP) access application on mobile phones overcharges our phone of critical duties. If we lose our phone or if it will be stolen we will suffer a real nightmare, like the ones depicted in many Hollywood movies. Rules and obligations may differ from country to country and from continent to continent, but the importance of keeping personal information58 private is always recognised and protected. It is mandatory to ask for explicit59 approval every time personal information is stored in any format, “. . . consent as defined and further specified in Directive 95/46/EC. Consent may be given by any appropriate method enabling a freely given specific and informed indication of the user’s wishes, including by ticking a box when visiting an Internet website60”. It is also mandatory to ask for explicit approval when the data is updated, communicated or transferred to a different organisation. In addition, an agent responsible for the personal information must be nominated and referenced by the organisation. In contrast, owners are responsible for managing the personal information stored in their PDAs and mobile phones.

5.13

Measuring Performance and Ranking

The rapid evolution, almost all over the world, of e-Government platforms offers a great variety of case studies and practical implementations of the key principles of e-Government. Different services addressing different needs in different contexts, how can we take advantage from a similar richness of different solutions? Is there any chance to identify real best practice? Can we, once identified, re-use methodologies and application that have proved to be sounding solutions elsewhere? Which are the most relevant parameters influencing the successful implementation of e-Government platforms? What about strategies and implementation plans? How can we approach in a structured way the e-Government scenario, relations among 58

Directive 2002/58/EE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:2002L0058:20091219:EN:HTML, last accessed February 2019. 59 Informed consent to store and use for specific clearly stated uses the requested information. 60 Directive 2002/58/EE of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2002 http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:2002L0058:20091219:EN:HTML, last accessed February 2019.

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different bodies (G2G, G2B, G2C, etc.), front office, back office, information and work flow? As usual when we try to score something we must define the overall framework and clearly state the goal or goals of the evaluation. Once we have defined the goals, the rationale of the evaluation and some metric we can start the analysis. Benchmarking is a very popular process of comparing the cost, cycle time, productivity, or quality of a specific process or method to another that is widely considered to be an industry standard or best practice. Also referred to as “best practice benchmarking” or “process benchmarking61”, it is a process used in management and particularly strategic management62, in which organizations evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to best practice, usually within a peer group defined for the purposes of comparison. As it happens very often, a certain word or terminology in common use often means different things to different people. The idea to rank e-Government may have as usual different meanings and implications. We may want to rank the evolution of the services in the same nation year by year; we may want to rank different levels of performance country by country. We may want to rank the impact of the application country by country. We may want to rank the quality and completeness of the service without relation with the impact and relevance for end users and more. With specific reference to this point, many times in the past, reports and indexes have been released without any reference on impact and users’ feedbacks; as a direct consequence such data do not represent the reality. Following the “ranking” approach, we can even rank the platforms accordingly with the results of citizens’ interviews, asking for the degree of satisfaction or even adding some description of future scenarios to collect feedbacks and address further developments. This then allows governmental institutions to develop plans on how to make improvements or adopt best practice, usually with the aim of increasing some aspect of performance. Benchmarking may be a one-off event, but is often treated as a continuous process in which organizations continually seek to challenge their practices. For this reason main organizations dealing with e-Government such as UNO, ITU, The World Bank, foresee a yearly report on e-Government indexes and best practice. Probably there is no way to provide a unique benchmarking methodology reliable for both industrialized countries and emerging countries. We need to implement a multivariate analysis including a set of relevant parameters. Some parameters may be the degree of integration of back office activities, access to the infrastructure, perceived quality of the services, front office effectiveness, willingness of use by the citizens, etc.

61

Best Practice Benchmarking. Introduction. Making improvements within your organisation involves adopting different processes and practices. https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/down load/file/fid/2388, last accessed February 2019. 62 Kotler, Philip, Berger, Roland, Bickhoff, Nils (2016), The Quintessence of Strategic Management, ISBN 978-3-662-48490-6, Springer.

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How to Rank ICT Development, e-Government Readiness and Measure Performance

The aim of the present section is to explore the area of e-Government performance measurement. e-Government performance measurement as well as citizen engagement it is not apparently an easy task because in addition to all the aspects already taken into account or at least mentioned we have to face an articulated chain of dependencies mainly related to the technological side of the matter. In order to approach this area we must consider a number of different parameters including ICT development index, Internet penetration index and e-Government readiness. Let us summarize the background of this research work. – Creating digital opportunities is not something that happens after addressing the “core” development challenges; it is a key component of addressing those challenges in the twenty-first century. (G-8 Creating Opportunities for All: Meeting the Challenge, 200163), last accessed February 2019.

5.14.1 ICT Indexes: DAI In 2003, ITU64 developed the “Digital Access Index (DAI)65”, which was presented, in Geneva, at the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The main objective of the DAI66 was to measure the overall ability of individuals in a country to access and use ICTs. The Digital Access Index was built around five categories: infrastructure, affordability, knowledge, quality and actual usage of ICTs.

63

Monitoring the DIGITAL DIVIDE, Document WG-WSIS/6-E, ITU https://www.itu.int/council/ wsis/council-wsis/006e.pdf, last accessed February 2019. 64 In 2002, ITU published its first composite index, the “Mobile/Internet index” (ITU, 2002), which measured the relative levels of mobile and Internet developments in a total of 177 economies. 65 It was based on a methodology that used goalposts (or upper value limits), which were averaged to obtain category scores. Categories were then averaged to obtain the overall index value. The DAI included eight indicators and was calculated for 178 economies for the year 2002. Comparative DAI scores for the years 1998 and 2002 were calculated for 40 countries. Although it was published once only, it received considerable interest from Governments and other users and showed that there was a clear international demand for such a benchmarking tool. https://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/dai/, last accessed February 2019. 66 The DAI was published in the ITU World Telecommunication Development Report 2003 (ITU, 2003), see: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/publications/wtdr_03/index.html, last accessed February 2019.

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On the same occasion Orbicom67 presented another index, the “Infostate Index68”. Orbicom’s mandate derives from UNESCO’s New Communications Strategy unanimously adopted at the 1989 General Conference. Orbicom is supported by internationally-based institutions, media, governments and corporations.

5.14.2 ICT Indexes: ICT-OI On the occasion of the second round of the WSIS in 2005 ITU and Orbicom decided to merge the DAI with another index, the Orbicom “Infostate Index”, to create the “ICT Opportunity Index (ICT-OI)69”. The decision to merge the two indices was taken in order to benefit from the experiences gained in producing the two indices and to avoid publishing two ICT indices that were similar in terms of the data they were based upon. It was also in response to calls from the international community and following the WSIS Geneva Plan of Action70 recommendation (Follow-up and evaluation—E paragraph 2871): “A realistic international performance evaluation and benchmarking (both qualitative and quantitative), through comparable statistical indicators and research results, should be developed to follow up the implementation of the objectives, goals and targets in the Plan of Action, taking into account different national circumstances. In cooperation with each country concerned, develop and launch a composite ICT Development (Digital Opportunity) Index. It could be published annually, or every 2 years, in an ICT Development Report. The index could show the statistics while the report would present analytical work on policies and their implementation, depending on national circumstances, including gender analysis. . . . Appropriate indicators and benchmarking, including community connectivity indicators, should clarify the magnitude of the digital divide, in both its domestic and international dimensions . . . . . . report regularly on universal accessibility of nations to ICTs, with the aim of creating equitable opportunities for the growth of ICT sectors of developing countries. . .. 67

Orbicom is a network of 250 associate members and 31 UNESCO chairs in Communications from around the world. It links communications leaders from academic, media, corporate and Government circles with the aim of fostering the exchange of information and the development of shared projects. One of its main research projects concerned the development of the information society, including the monitoring of the digital divide, which resulted in the Infostate Index. https:// orbicom.ca, last accessed February 2019. 68 From the digital divide to digital opportunities; Measuring Infostates for Development (2005), ISBN 2-922651-05-3, Orbicom NRC Press, Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information. 69 https://orbicom.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/From-the-Digital-Divide-to-Digital-Opportuni ties.pdf, last accessed February 2019. 70 The Geneva Plan of Action https://www.itu.int/net/wsis/docs/geneva/official/poa.html, last accessed February 2019. 71 The Tunis Plan of Action—ITU—https://www.itu.int/net/wsis/docs/geneva/official/poa.html, last accessed February 2019.

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. . . Gender-specific indicators on ICT use and needs should be developed. . . to assess the impact of funded ICT projects on the lives of women and girls. . .. . . . website on best practices and success stories, based on a compilation of contributions from all stakeholders . . . The website could be periodically updated and turned into a permanent experience-sharing exercise. All countries and regions should develop tools so as to provide statistical information on the Information Society, with basic indicators and analysis of its key dimensions. Priority should be given to setting up coherent and internationally comparable indicator systems, taking into account different levels of development.” The WSIS Tunis Agenda72 (2005—paragraphs 114–11773) made reference and acknowledged the ICT-OI as one of the two indices (the other one was the “Digital Opportunity Index—DOI”) to measure information society progress. An updated version of the ICT-OI was published by ITU in 200774. The ICT-OI was particularly designed to monitor the global digital divide and to track country progress over time and between countries of similar income levels.

5.14.3 ICT Indexes: DOI At the same time (2005), another ITU index, the “Digital Opportunity Index (DOI)75”, was developed in response to the WSIS Geneva Plan of Action call for

72

WSIS Tunis Agenda http://www.itu.int/net/wsis/docs2/tunis/off/6rev1.html, last accessed February 2019. 73 114. The development of ICT indicators is important for measuring the digital divide. We note the launch, in June 2004, of the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development, and its efforts: to develop a common set of core ICT indicators; to increase the availability of internationally comparable ICT statistics as well as to establish a mutually agreed framework for their elaboration, for further consideration and decision by the UN Statistical Commission. to promote capacity building in developing countries for monitoring the Information Society. to assess the current and potential impact of ICTs on development and poverty reduction. to develop specific gender-disaggregated indicators to measure the digital divide in its various dimensions. 115. We also note the launch of the ICT Opportunity Index and the Digital Opportunity Index, which will build upon the common set of core ICT indicators as they were defined within the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development. 116. We stress that all indices and indicators must take into account different levels of development and national circumstances. 117. The further development of these indicators should be undertaken in a collaborative, costeffective and non-duplicative fashion. ITU (2007): “Measuring the Information Society”. The ICT-OI was also included in the ITU World Information Society Report 2007 (along with the DOI). 75 Measuring digital opportunity, BDB-WSIS/06, ITU 2005, https://www.itu.int/osg/spu/ni/ wsisbridges/linked_docs/Background_papers/Measuring_Digital_Opp_Revised_31_Oct_2005. pdf, last accessed February 2019. 74

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an ICT Development (Digital Opportunity) Index. A full version of the DOI was published in 2006, and an updated version in 2007. The main objective of the DOI was to measure “digital opportunity” or the potential of countries to benefit from access to ICTs. The DOI was based on three main categories: opportunity, infrastructure and utilization.

Opportunity

Utilization

Infrastructure

Out of 11 indicators used in the index, nine corresponded to a subset of the internationally agreed core list of ICT indicators developed by the Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development76. The DOI included indicators measuring new technologies, such as fixed and mobile broadband, as well as price data to reflect affordability (called opportunity). The methodology used by the DOI was close to that of the DAI, with the use of goalposts and absolute values rather than relative performance, as with the ICT-OI. The publication of this set of indexes originated a debate among experts and the goal to unify methodologies and indexes was pursued. Therefore, work commenced in 2007 to consider merging the two indices and creating a single ITU ICT index. Although the two indices (ICT-OI and DOI) differed considerably in terms of the indicators included as well as their statistical methodologies, a basic statistical analysis showed that the results were closely correlated77. A major difference between the two indices concerns the methodology: the ICTOI uses a reference country and year, which allows individual countries to track real progress on the index score, the DOI uses a simpler methodology, with no normalization of the data (all indicators are expressed as a percentage), which compares countries’ index values and ranking across different years. As a consequence of the merge a new index named ICT Development Index was born.

76

Please refer to Partnership on Measuring the ICT for Development (2005) and (2009). https://www. itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/intlcoop/partnership/default.aspx, last accessed February 2019. 77 Showing a correlation coefficient of 0.94.

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5.14.4 ICT Indexes: IDI On the occasion of the 6th World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Meeting78 (WTIM) held in Geneva on 13–15 December 2007 a background paper was prepared. A number of specific points were raised concerning the future development of the index, such as: • To reconsider whether to include the international outgoing telephone traffic indicator since it does not adequately reflect the intensity of use, especially with the increased use of IP networks; • To reconsider whether to include the indicator measuring ‘international Internet bandwidth’ since some countries consider domestic bandwidth more important; • To include household data, based on surveys, when possible (i.e. available); • To choose indicators which reflect all countries’ levels of development; • To consider including indicators on broadband and wireless Internet services in view of recent technological developments; • To consider including ICT skills indicators; • To keep the index simple and easily understood. Following the same approach that led to the merge of the first two indexes the IDI incorporated as much as possible the achievements of the previous two. So the following key elements were incorporated from the previous two indices: From the DOI: • Indicators related to households; • Indicators related to broadband; • Simple and easy-to-understand methodology and presentation (goalposts). From the ICT-OI: • Indicators related to skills (also included in the DAI); • Normalization method (distance to a reference value); • Digital divide analysis and methodology (as an application of the IDI). Of course, the new index added/modified some points: • The conceptual framework, based on a basic three-stage information society model (readiness-use-impact); • The use of principal components analysis (PCA) to eliminate indicators, those that have less influence on the index calculation. As already mentioned a key point in measuring the access to the network is in some way directly related to access costs. Internet access pricing policy may measure the affordability of ICTs (this entry was included in the DOI but not

78

https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/events/wtis.aspx, last accessed February 2019.

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in the ICT-OI). The working group decided not to include a price component in the index79.

fixed telephony

wireless telephony

fixed broadband line

wireless broadband line

Nevertheless, ITU decided to construct a specific, standalone ICT Price Basket, which is based on the 2008 prices of key ICT services (fixed and mobile cellular telephony and fixed broadband Internet access). ITU plans to publish this Price Basket annually, so that it can be used as a basis for countries to monitor ICT-related price developments over time80. As a consequence of the new vision about the index the new name chosen (ICT Development Index—IDI) reflects not only the name that was proposed in the WSIS Geneva Plan of Action, but also the main objectives of the index—to track progress in the development of ICTs in countries, and to monitor the global digital divide. Barriers to achieve the information society (United Nations)

Poverty Low levels of literacy Lack of adequate infrastructure High-prices ICT services Lack of investment Poor institutional structures

Percent of maximum points that could have been attributed 77.3 76.0 72.8 70.8 69.8 69.8 (continued)

79

First, the conceptual framework presented below does not include the notion of affordability. Second, results from the DOI have demonstrated that the opportunity sub-index (which included two indicators on prices) was generally speaking the most advanced, with the highest relative scores compared to the other two sub-indices, even among poor countries. Third, and perhaps most importantly, prices are often a key explanatory variable for ICT uptake and therefore need to receive special attention in the overall analysis. Results of the Principal Components Analysis showed that prices are highly correlated with other variables, such as those related to ICT infrastructure, suggesting that it was not essential to include them in the index itself. Furthermore, telecommunication and Internet tariffs are complex and cannot easily be captured by one indicator only. 80 The ICT Price Basket can also be used as an analytical tool in information society research, as well as a policy tool.

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Absence of international cooperation Lack of security Other

Percent of maximum points that could have been attributed 63.0 52.5 1.30

Source: ITU. http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/wsis-themes/survey/index.html

5.14.5 Benchmarking e-Government We took into account sufficiently the number of initiatives aiming to define a global ICT index. Now we move the focus on e-Government taking into account e-Government “readiness”. The UN Global e-Government Survey 2003 highlighted that there was a wide disparity between Member States in their e-Government readiness. The 2004 report went deeper into the issues and challenges of the disparities in “access to the opportunity for development” offered by ICTs. It discusses the various aspects of the digital divide and presents the thesis that the digital divide is not only a disparity between those who are connected and those who are not but that it encompasses a wide range of issues which cause disparities in access to proper utilization of ICTs. It identified the boundaries of what constitutes lack of access to ICT. In its data analysis it presents a picture of where the countries are placed in providing access to all. The 2005 report states that “An imperative of development today is to employ information and communication technologies (ICTs) to level the playing field for all” and “Access to information and communications is considered crucial for poverty reduction, since it contributes to new sources of income and employment for the poor, improved delivery of health and education services and competitiveness of the economy.” In addition, the report assesses more than 50,000 features of the e-Government websites of the 191 UN Member States to ascertain how ready the Governments around the world are in employing the opportunities offered by ICT in providing basic social services. A large number of countries solidified their online presence further, venturing into higher and more mature areas of e-Service delivery. Many introduced further e-Participation features. The total number of countries online increased to 179, or around 94% of the United Nations Member States. Twelve countries were not online, compared to thirteen in 2004. Most developing country Governments around the world promoted citizen awareness about policies and programmes, approaches and strategies on their websites. They made an effort to engage multi-stakeholders in participatory decision-making, in some cases through the use of innovative initiatives aimed at greater access and inclusion. Fifty-five countries, out of 179, which maintained a government website, encouraged citizens to participate in discussing key issues of importance, but only 32 Member States explained what e-Consultation was, why it was important and where citizens should provide inputs to the government, while only 28 countries gave the assurance that the government would take citizens’ inputs into the decision-making process.

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Moving to the 2008 report the results of the Survey indicate that “governments are moving forward in e-government development around the world. However, given the high demands placed by e-government on a multitude of foundational pillars which include prerequisites of infrastructure, appropriate policies, capacity development, ICT applications and relevant content that need to be in place to fully implement e-government services, progress is slow. Only a few governments have made the necessary investment to move from e-government applications per se to a more integrated connected governance stage.” And specifically on infrastructure “the governments that invested in broadband infrastructure scored relatively high”. A closer look at the infrastructure index reveals that investment in cellular phones has been dramatic over the past 3 years (2006–2008) in both the developed and developing countries. Another issue that came to the forefront is that back office operations need to be seamlessly integrated into one system for effective governance. The UN Global e-Government Survey 201681 considers as a reference point the year 2015 with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other major international commitments. Thanks to these initiatives we embarked in an unprecedented endeavour to transform our world. The 2030 Agenda is centred on a set of far-reaching and people-centred universal Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Governments, together with the private sector and civil society, will play a central role in the implementation of the SDGs. They will need to drive the principles and goals of the 2030 Agenda throughout public institutions at local, national, regional and international levels. An unprecedented level of policy integration and institutional coordination will thus be needed so that progress is made on all the SDGs at the same time, building on the interrelations and synergies between them. In extreme synthesis, the reports highlight: “a positive global trend towards higher levels of e-government development. Countries in all regions are increasingly embracing innovation and utilizing ICTs to deliver services and engage people in decision-making processes. One of the most important new trends is the advancement of people-driven services. It addresses the growing demand for more personalized services that reflect individual needs, as well as people’s aspiration to be more closely engaged in the design and delivery of services. These new demands are transforming the way the public sector operates.” Switching to some persisting drawbacks: “disparities remain within and among countries. Lack of access to technology, poverty and inequality prevent people from fully taking advantage of the potential of ICTs and e-government for sustainable development. For ICTs to truly transform the public sector into an instrument of sustainable development, efficiency in service delivery must be also coupled with social equity and ensuring that all people can access quality services. Such efforts are vital to making sure that the sustainable development goals are at the centre of all government policies and of public management and that no one is left behind.”82

81

Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2016), United Nations e-Government Survey 2016, ISBN: 978-92-1-123205-9, United Nations. 82 WU Hongbo—Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

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e-Government Readiness Index

Following the fil rouge of “indexes”, the e-Government Readiness Index is “a composite measurement of the capacity and willingness of countries to use e-Government for ICT-led development”. Together with an assessment of the website development patterns in a country, the e-Government readiness index incorporates the access characteristics (e.g. infrastructure, educational levels, capacity, etc.), to reflect how a country is using the ICT opportunity for national, economic, social and cultural empowerment of its people. This means that a significant part of “context”-related indexes are adequately taken into account. The 2008 Survey focuses mainly on the ‘government to citizen’ (G to C) and ‘government to government’ (G to G) aspects of e-Government. Although this Survey captures some elements of ‘government to business’ (G to B), it is a relatively small part of the Survey. After UN e-Government Surveys 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 the UN did the 2008 survey and since that surveys have been published every 2 years. The year 2015 marked a milestone in efforts to eradicate poverty and promote prosperity for all people on a safe planet. To revitalize and inject new energies after the relatively limited outcomes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the United Nations, with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda83 for Sustainable Development in 2015 and other major international commitments, embarked in an unprecedented endeavour to transform our world. The 2030 Agenda is centred on a set of 17 far-reaching and people-centred universal Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 169 targets that are at the core of the 2030 Agenda aim to advance people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnerships. We may say that the key phrase summarizing the Agenda is “Leaving No One Behind”. With specific reference to the Information Technologies the 2030 Agenda itself recognized that “the spread of information and communications technology and global interconnectedness has great potential to accelerate human progress, to bridge the digital divide and to develop knowledge societies, as does scientific and technological innovation across areas as diverse as medicine and energy” ([7], paragraph 15). The UN General Assembly recognised that “in Government and the provision of public services, education, healthcare and employment, as well as in business, agriculture and science, with greater numbers of people having access to services and data that might previously have been out of reach or unaffordable” (United Nations 2015, para 16). And more specifically in the field of e-Government the assembly affirmed that: “potential of e-Government in promoting transparency, accountability, efficiency and citizen engagement in public service delivery” (United Nations 2015).

83

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/devel opment-agenda/, last accessed February 2019.

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The backdrop described above aims to depict the UN scenario in which the 2016 Survey was carried out, this outlining the role of e-Government in the realization of the SDGs. As already stated the implementation of e-Government thanks to advanced electronic and mobile services can significantly improve the relationship between people and their government, making public services delivery more effective, accessible and responsive to people’s needs. It also aims at increasing participation in decision making and making public institutions more transparent and accountable. In the described framework, the purpose of e-Government should contribute to the implementation of the Agenda. Thanks to the e-Government readiness index we can evaluate different strategies, track the progress of Member States globally over time. Comparative examinations of country performances84 begin from the premise that no two countries are alike and that national trajectories will be shaped by variables both within the public sector (including multiple levels of government) and across society at large. As a result, there is some invariable tension between mapping out global e-Government trends and specific national trajectories and how they relate to such trends: • The first index is the web measure index; it is based upon a five-stage model (Connected, Emerging, Enhanced, Interactive, Transactional), which builds upon the previous levels of sophistication of a Member State’s online presence. As a country migrates upwards through the various stages, it is ranked higher in the web measure index; • The second index is the telecommunication infrastructure index; it is a composite index of five primary indices relating to a country’s infrastructure capacity as they relate to the delivery of e-Government services. These are: – – – – –

Internet Users/100 persons; PCs/100 persons; Main Telephones Lines/100 persons; Cellular telephones/100 persons; Broad banding/100 persons.

Each index represents 20% of the overall telecommunication infrastructure index; • The third index is the human capital index; it is a composite of the adult literacy rate and the combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio, with two thirds weight given to the adult literacy rate and one third to the gross enrolment ratio. The data for the adult literacy rate and the gross enrolment ratio was drawn primarily from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). There is another relevant emerging parameter to be considered in the evaluation of e-Government global performances: e-Participation. “e-Participation has the 84

Measuring the Information Society: The ICT Development Index—International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Geneva 2009—http://www.itu.int/publ/D-IND-ICTOI-2009/en, last accessed February 2019.

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potential to establish more transparency in government by allowing citizens to use new channels of influence which reduces barriers to public participation in policymaking.85” e-Participation is a compound “object” made by feedback channels (C2G) or live contribution opportunities mixed and boosted by Web 2.0 features and services such as wikis, blogs, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and more. Some politicians found a new and more direct way to reach their audience thanks to YouTube video-clips or supporting communities in Facebook. In some way this “person to person” consensus building may revolutionize the world of politics, establishing a true bottom-up approach. Further proof that the lines between politics and citizens are becoming blurred was the YouTube-sponsored Democratic Presidential Debate in the United States, where ordinary citizens had a platform to question candidates on issues that mattered to them. For a similar reason the Italian Ministry of Education in 2008–2009 choose to publish on YouTube a set of video presentations addressed to the students. This direct interaction using ICT tools was unprecedented and ushered in an era of direct dialogue between politicians and citizens. The human capital index is built on top of a questionnaire devoted to three main categories: e-Information, e-Consultation and e-Decision-making. According to, the definitions provided by the UN e-Government Survey 2008: e-Information The government website offers information on the list of elected officials, government structure, policies and programmes, points of contact, budget, laws and regulations and other information of public interest. Information is disseminated through a number of online tools such as: community networks, blogs, web forums, text messages (micro democracy), newsgroups and e-mail lists; e-Consultation The government website provides the tools necessary for e-Consultation. It allows citizens to set the agenda for the debate through e-Petitioning. The government ensures that its elected officials have a website to communicate directly with their constituents. It maintains an archive of their discussions and provides feedback to citizens; e-Decision Making The government is willing to take into account the e-inputs of citizens into the decision-making process. The government informs its citizens on what decisions have been taken based on the consultation process. On February 2008, as already mentioned, the United Nations performed the “Assessment of the National and Ministerial Websites of the 192 United Nations Member States”. It may be interesting to browse the list of the main features reviewed by the United Nations e-Government Survey. The questionnaire was structured in three main sections: Information dissemination/outreach, Service Delivery Capability and Citizen participation/interconnectedness. The specific questions (mainly yes/no) were as follows:

85

Hacker, K.L. & van Dijk, J. (ed. 2000) Digital Democracy: Issues of Theory and Practices, ISBN 0-7619-6217-4 London, Sage Publications Ltd.

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In the field of—Information dissemination/outreach: • Existence of a national website and ministerial websites including: education, finance, health, labour and/or social services; • Existence of a one-stop-shop national portal; • Existence of a Head of State website; • Existence of an e-Government section; • Sources of archived information (laws, policy documents, priorities, etc.); • News and/or updates on government policies; • Access to back office applications; • Chief Information Officer (CIO), or similar officer with a leadership role, to manage national cross-agency e-Government programmes/projects; • Information concerning government officials responsible for the provision of specific online services/queries; • Personal account/profile of citizens, with the objective of enhancing dialogue between government and citizens; • Information for citizens on the usage of the website; • Access/Usability; • Search feature; • “Contact us” feature; • Audio and video features; • Multiple languages availability; • Use of wireless technology to send messages to mobile phones or devices; • Security (secure link) feature available/indicated; • Electronic signature feature; • Online payment by credit, debit, or other card methods; • E-mail sign-up option, either as a formal list-server or simply for news items; • Existence of features to enable access for people with disabilities. In the field of—Service Delivery Capability: • • • • • • • •

86

One-stop-shop for online services; Downloadable/printable forms; Online forms; Job opportunities; Online transactions; E-mail alerts for e-Participation; Really Simple Syndication (RSS)86 use for e-Participation; Set turnaround time for government to respond to submitted forms/e-mails.

The RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a format that uses the XML to notify the publication of new content on the Web and allows you to easily aggregate the contents of a site and present them, without the need to surf the Internet, in other forms through a specially installed “reader” or “interpreter” of RSS documents.

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In the field of—Citizen participation/interconnectedness: • • • •

e-Participation policy or mission statement; Calendar listings of upcoming e-Participation activities: Archived information about e-Participation activities: e-Participation tools to obtain public opinion (polls, surveys, bulletin boards, chat room, blogs, web casting, and discussion forums, etc.); • Citizen feedback on the national strategy, policies and e-Services; • Provision for publishing the results of citizen feedback; • Archive on responses by government to citizens’ questions, queries and inputs. The outcome of a similar survey may provide a detailed picture of the national state of the art if this also includes additional human factors such as: willingness to use e-Government services, digital literacy and/or literacy, public access to the infrastructure (electricity, costs, policies, etc.), trust relationship with e-Services, adequate interaction design, adequate effort expectancy, adequate performance expectancy, barriers due to cultural or linguistic reasons, different habits. We stress the availability of electric energy because in many countries the first problem they face is the lack of an adequate provision of stable electricity. Accordingly to, UN data, 1.2 billion people on the planet do not have proper electric power or electric power at all. On the occasion of IGF 201787, held on December in Geneva, a specific session was entitled “Two networks will shape your digital future” and the networks are electric network or grid and Internet network. Vinton Cerf, one of the fathers of computer networking, participated in the panel, arguing, “I would observe is that instead of two Networks there are three. There is the electrical power grid and Internet and there is the financial network.88” The picture of a 15 years period of time was: 40 billion mobile phones sold and activated all over the world on one side and lack of electric power for more than one billion on the other. One attempt to bridge the gap was to refer to the mobile phone market and transfer to the domain of energy the incredibly successful pre-paid card for power grids.

5.16

Unsuccessful Stories: Some Reasons Why

The ITU draft report on “Electronic Government for Developing Countries” (Aug. 2008) provides an interesting insight on the e-Government failures with specific reference to developing countries. We often refer to that period of time because it was the one of the early stages of cyber-revolution. A major concern of government leaders in taking on e-Government projects is the risk of failure. While estimates

87

https://www.intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2017-geneva-switzerland-18-21-decem ber, last accessed February 2019. 88 Attending the session and quoting from the online transcription of the intervention—https://www. intgovforum.org/multilingual/content/igf-2017-day-3-room-xii-ws200-two-networks-will-shapeyour-digital-future, last accessed February 2019.

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vary, approximately 60% of overall e-Government projects fail. There are no official statistics on the failure rate of e-Government projects in developing countries. In 2003 the United Nations Report entitled “e-Government at the Crossroads” concludes that despite the very limited data on e-Government failures, the number of projects that fail is high. “Some analysts estimate the rate of failure of e-Government projects in countries with developing economies to be very high, at around 60–80% (with the higher rate of failure characteristic of Africa). This can look like a staggering figure—until one reviews data concerning the industrialized countries. Gartner Research puts the rate of failure of e-Government projects at about 60%. The Standish Group estimates that only 28% of all ICT projects in 2000 in the U.S., in both government and industry, were successful with regard to budget, functionality and timeliness. 23% were cancelled and the remainder succeeded only partially, failing on at least one of the three counts” ([8], 60–61). In order to minimize potential failures, the recent trend in e-Government is to design services to focus squarely on the needs of citizens, web visitors often considered as a “customer.” Nevertheless, it is difficult to understand the need of a citizen as a customer. Apart from citizens, users in general may be government employees, private businesses, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, media organizations, the international donor community and many additional sub-groups. Moreover there are many relevant differences between governments and commercial organizations. As already outlined, governments must provide services to all of its “customers” instead of to certain market segments, and these “customers” have no choice about which government to deal with. Governments have the responsibility to be good stewards of information and communicate information for everyone equally. So, e-Government services must cover the breadth and diversity of individuals who may have a wide range of skills, language abilities, education levels, income and beliefs. If we extend this analysis to e-Government platforms shared among different countries we must add an additional problem, the different use which people coming from different cultures will do of same application or platform. Simply considering the number of different parameters influencing e-Government it is not hard to figure out potential reasons causing failures; Kreps and Richardson in their report “IS success and failure—the problem of scale89” have identified numerous reasons for these failures, including: • • • • • • • •

Drivers of ICT Project Failures; Systems delivered late; Creeping scope; Software not reliable and robust; Software not delivering the promised functionality; Lack of integration and effective interface with legacy systems; Escalating costs; Lack of consultation with users or stakeholders;

Kreps, D. and H. Richardson (2007). “IS success and failure—the problem of scale.” The Political Quarterly 78(3). 89

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• Data integrity and confidentiality issues; • Poor knowledge of the system and lack of suitable training. These reasons do not include human factors, those we have already outlined in the previous paragraph. Some difficulties relate to the design phase. Designing an e-Government solution is quite different from designing an enterprise application. Government institutions may not take advantage of system development practices effectively to implement their e-Government systems. System development practices usually foresee a structured approach to analyse, design and implement a tailored information system. Such a system will be able to duly support different user profiles, business functions and work and information flow as foreseen. It is a common understanding that system analysis implies a concerted design phase involving all different users and contributors in order to agree on different user requirements, procedures, back and front office within the constraints of the governmental organization. This approach is not usual in e-Government solution design mainly because of the amount of time and efforts requested. As a consequence that government that is pioneering in this field used to refer to a priori defined user profiles. Applications are analysed, designed and developed care of experts with industrial or university background very often far from the end user one. This is particularly evident in implementing e-Government platforms in developing or emerging countries. Sometimes governments, due to a real need of renovation and better efficiency, launch large e-Government projects not supported by a sounding implementation plan. Large projects will last for many years, sometimes even more than the period foreseen in the design phase. General and technical specification cannot last for a long period of time without any updating or assessment procedure. This usually leads to obtaining an already obsolete system. This problem may be reduced or solved thanks to a proper segmentation and planning of the different phases of the project and the implementation of suitable assessment cycles. Close to the same topic we find another potential drawback of complex information systems: the lack of flexibility and adaptation. Once the system is designed we have “cemented” even the future behaviour on the basis of rigid procedures representing the average behaviour of the institution in the recent past. If no flexibility and adaptation is possible we have frozen the institution “as it was”. The relevance of a similar problem is evident if we adequately take into account that many times the most performant workflow is not perfectly known a priori but requires a certain time span to be identified. This absence of flexibility is often twinned with the difficulty to adapt the project to new technological solutions, should these concern hardware or software components. A potential answer to a similar problem is suggested care of Dovifat and Brueggemeier in their publication entitled “The model of micropolitical arenas” (2007)90, “In the light of these results, a socio-technical approach towards 90

Dovifat, A., M. Brueggemeier, et al. (2007). The model of micropolitical arenas: A framework to understand the innovation process of e-Government-projects. Information Polity: The International Journal of Government & Democracy in the Information Age.

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information systems development is recommended. Concepts like “incremental decision-making” or “improvisational change management” are suggested to match with the results of each stage reached during the respective project. Hence unplanned change is not considered as disruptions, which have to be avoided, but as opportunities to improve the project results” [9]. On the occasion of the OECD e-Leaders Conference 200891 entitled “The Future of e-Government—Agenda 2020—Main Conclusions” the Dutch host, Mrs. A. Bijleveld-Schouten, State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, outlined the challenges in her opening speech to the Conference, that “... e-Government is about empowerment. Empowerment of our economic potential, local and international”. It is about: “... creating an environment where business can strive with government support without government hindrance.” The main focus of most participating delegations was the need to improve governments’ understanding of users and their needs, “Focusing on citizens’ needs—Government 2.0?” Particularly ways to improve service delivery to citizens was an overarching theme for discussion. It is a common understanding among countries to better meet user expectations, but few have the necessary and sufficient knowledge of these expectations. A shared assumption was that there is no contradiction between being citizen-centric and achieving the goal of a high-performing public sector delivering high-quality services to its users. Providing high-quality and efficient public services—“whether they are e-Government-based or not—is a question of knowing what the expectations are and how to meet them. This means that having a holistic approach to public service delivery with the user at the core is not enough.” Empowering citizens to participate in the development of the public sector has created an unprecedented recognition among governments of the need of a whole-ofpublic-sector approach to service delivery. A general remark on the state of the art of e-Government underlines that despite more than a decade of work, e-Government has not yet delivered on all its promises or at least didn’t reach the level of performances and added value that was foreseen or promised on the occasion of the initial promotion. This is more than usual in the field of technologies; you open the scene to a “revolutionary technology” and generate great expectations, positive impacts on society and more as it happened on the occasion of Artificial Intelligence and Paperless Offices in the 1980s, Virtual Reality and Semantic Web in the 1990s, then it takes some time to come true or even to depict a different scenario as it probably happened to the “world” depicted by the “gurus” of the “ante-litteram” “information Society” in the Silicon Valley of the 1960s. Countries are still looking into how to harvest the full benefits of e-Government now that many of them have passed the phase of “... picking the low-hanging fruits” from simple automation. e-Government has become a natural part of governments’

91

OECD e-Leaders Conference 2008, http://www.oecd.org/gov/digital-government/eleadersconference2008.htm, last accessed February 2019.

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toolboxes; governments are asking how this tool can be used to support and enhance broader economic development. On the occasion of the OECD event in 2008, Mr. Bruno Lanvin92, pointed out different mega-trends in e-Government development and the future challenge for governments of balancing these trends: • • • •

From cost reduction to better government. From rationalisation to economic growth facilitation. From central to local. From government- to citizen- to client-centricity.

On the occasion of the UN Global e-Government Survey 2016 the main remarks on e-Government implementation were: – it can promote a holistic and participatory approach to public service delivery through new institutional set-ups and integrated coordination of government activities at all levels; – It can help “siloed” government institutions to join forces to pursue common objectives through whole-of-government approaches. e-Government can also offer opportunities to re-engineer existing decision-making processes and information flows; – It can help increase transparency and accountability as well as participation through open government data. By providing online access to the information that the government generates and collects on a host of subject areas, people have greater insight into how governments operate and how public funds are spent; – Participation of people in policy-making and in the design and delivery of services is essential to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Target 16.7 pledges to ensure “responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making at all levels”. The use of e-Participation tools, including e-Information, e-Consultation and e-Decision-making, has opened up new avenues of eConsultation, participation, collaboration and co-creation of public value; – Access to ICTs and increased levels of e-Literacy are essential to engage vulnerable groups; – While higher income levels are generally related to higher levels of Online Service Index (OSI), progress has also been made by several low-income countries. Increasingly, there is a shift towards people-driven services whereby people play a more active role in the design and customization of services; – In all sectors mobile apps and Short Message Service SMS services have experienced a large and significant growth; – Services to vulnerable groups have grown everywhere for all segments of society, with services to youth at the highest levels, followed by services for people living

92 Mr. Bruno Lanvin, Executive Director, eLab, INSEAD—https://www.insead.edu, last accessed February 2019.

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Some Recommendations and Remarks

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in poverty, persons with disabilities, older persons and immigrants. Services to women are also high; – The use of new technologies, such as Geographic Information System and the Internet of Things, helps promote more targeted and specialised public services and effective policy processes. An interesting trend outlined by the survey refers to the evolution of e-Government over the past 15 years: “The process of developing e-Government has been shifting, and will continue to shift, away from a staged progression to non-sequential, overlapping and connected building blocks. Such variation will allow for leapfrogging and quick wins while calling for longer term sustainable development strategies.” This aspect already benefited some countries both small and even under development. The basic conditions in order to promote effective e-Government, whether in the area of whole-of-government approaches, e-Participation, open government data or electronic and mobile services, require: strong political commitment, governmentwide vision, collaborative leadership, as well as appropriate legislation and holistic institutional frameworks. In addition are crucial to the effective delivery of public e-Services in support of sustainable development: – – – –

an appropriate ICT infrastructure, an improved access to knowledge and technologies, an open and safe Internet, an adequate privacy protection.

All of them are critical aspects to be addressed when devising e-Government strategies.

5.17

Some Recommendations and Remarks

Having already taken into account some of the most relevant aspects of e-Government success or failure we are in a position to collect some recommendations: • Have an idea about the citizens’ willingness to access e-Government services; • Do not forget to adequately consider all the different aspects influencing eGovernment solutions (cultural model, habits, literacy, etc.); • Carefully check existent infrastructures (electricity, connectivity and access, etc.); • Understand the needs of all segments of public to make sure the e-Government system genuinely assists each citizen to fulfil his or her human development needs (citizens-centred approach); and enable citizens to participate in the design of e-Government services (participatory bottom up design, co-creation, living labs, etc.);

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• Develop a strategic plan to deploy and guide e-Government services; do not forget to carefully plan the transition from Gov to e-Gov. Do not forget the digital divide even in developed countries and the related opportunity gap; • Do not replicate in “digital format” the physical internal organisation and behaviour of the institution; develop a user-oriented organisation of services; • Use well-established system development practices to carry out the day-to-day activities of developing, implementing and maintaining e-Government services; • Carefully consider interaction design/human factors; • Provide a secure experience for web visitors; enhance the trust relationship; this aspect is fundamental to ensure a successful implementation of the services. If a multi-channel solution is the choice the trust must be maximised; • Create a learning organisation where employees are encouraged to participate in the developing and managing e-Government services; • Develop of effective ICT governance mechanism to assign roles and responsibilities for managing and making decisions about e-Government services (including updates and improvements); • Develop ICT capabilities focusing on building a suitable ICT infrastructure to sustain long-term investments in e-Government, nurturing the development of human capital within the government to use ICTs for e-Government, and facilitating the skills of employees to develop and manage partnerships with private sector firms and other possible partners; • Do not forget to create a robust backup and disaster recovery system; last but not least take adequately into account long term preservation of data and services as outlined in the next paragraph.

5.18

e-Government in a Long-Term Perspective

In the last few decades we have witnessed two related processes: the increasingly visible inclusion of electronic devices in our everyday lives, and the rush to digital formats. Institutions, organisations and private companies few decades ago began to convert their own archives into digital formats. Moreover, the general public has also started to convert personal data into digital formats: documents, music, movies, drawings and photos have been converted from their original formats into bitstreams in digital media. People used to believe (and many still do) that digital formats were the ultimate formats for storing information indefinitely. The idea that texts, images and more in general data can be perpetuated by converting them into digital form is popular and widely supported. As a result, a significant amount of our documents and data relies on digital technology. But is digital technology really suitable for long-term preservation? And are electronic devices, which are required in order to access information stored in digital formats, durable enough to guarantee future access to this information? If not, what can we do to overcome this problem?

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e-Government in a Long-Term Perspective

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The rapid evolution of technology makes the preservation of digital content a challenge. Considering the huge amount of data to be stored, the amount of time permitted to accomplish this task, and the length of time that such information needs to be stored93, it is important to address the issue of the long-term conservation of digital information or as usually termed “digital preservation”, a problem that has largely been underestimated even at governmental level. We need to consider two aspects: technological obsolescence and the temporary nature of “permanent” storage systems. Computer systems are aging; the media on which information is stored are disintegrating. Given this issue, what are the longterm implications of relying on current digital technology to preserve our archives? Society, of course, has always shown a great deal of interest in preserving materials that document issues, concerns, ideas, creativity, art, discourse and events. Even if we simply focus, for the moment, on basic digital content such as text, we cannot guarantee that textual records stored in digital electronic form will always be accessible. Although it may seem odd to discuss digital text in this context, there are some important although indirect parallels between the principles described above and those that govern digital text capture. When capturing “digital text”, it is commonly understood that we do not sample the original in the same way that we sample audio or images. However, the process of text capture does involve making choices about the level of granularity of the resulting digital representation. When capturing a twentieth-century printed text, for instance, a range of different “data densities” are possible: a simple transcription of the actual letters and spaces printed on the page; a higher-order transcription which also represents the nature of textual units such as paragraphs and headings; or an even more dense transcription which also adds inferential information such as keywords or metrical data. Other possibilities arise for texts that are structured on different levels of internal granularity. In the case of a mediaeval manuscript, one might create a transcription that captures the graphemes, the individual characters of the text, but does not distinguish between different forms of the same letter (for instance, short and long). Or one might capture these different letter forms, or even distinguish between swashed and unswashed characters. One might also choose to capture variations in spacing between letters, lines of text, and text components, or variations in letter size, or changes in handwriting, or any one of a number of possibly meaningful distinctions. These distinctions, and the choice of whether or not to capture them, are the equivalent of sampling rates and bit-depth: they govern the amount of information which the digital file records about the analogue source, and the resulting level of nuance that can be obtained when reusing and processing the digital file.

93

The time span is mainly related to the national regulations and data/document type (10, 40, 70 years, forever).

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As already outlined, although the loss of data due to the deterioration of storage media is an important consideration, the main issue is that software and hardware technologies rapidly become obsolete. Storage media are subject to degradation; they are not designed to survive for long periods of time (the kinds of timescales associated with archives and governmental data). Magnetic technology does not guarantee long-term access to stored information; tapes and disks lose their properties and are sensitive to environmental conditions such as heat, humidity, magnetic fields, static electricity, dust, fire, etc. In addition, they become obsolete as the devices capable of reading them become outdated and are mothballed. Even though they were once cutting-edge formats, today it is very difficult to obtain equipment that will read a 9600 bpi magnetic tape, an 800 or 5¼00 floppy disk or even a 31/200 . The same can be said for early RLL or IDE hard disks. Old formats and standards are essentially shelved in favour of newer formats and standards. The same happens for software standards, because ways of coding information and the quality of the information stored are constantly improving. This situation holds for both electronic records converted from analogue forms (paper, film, video, sound, etc.), and records that were originally created in electronic form (born digital). For digital content that is derived from an analogue source, the analogue source (provided it is still available) can be digitised again to new and improved standards and formats, so this issue is not a big problem. On the other hand, content that originated in digital form must, apart from specific cases such as, for instance, digital remastering of movies or similar expensive procedures, be preserved based on the original record. Until the end of the last century, documents were generally paper- or microfilmbased. Microfilm technology was popular because of its efficiency, usability, robustness, and we now recognise that it is almost hardware-independent. A few decades ago people started to convert microfilm archives into digital archives. Sometimes the last resort is to keep the data in a safe between one generation and the next. Unfortunately, some digital data cannot be converted to paper or microfilm formats. In this case, technology does not help because it is constantly delivering new generations of digital objects that are different from the established ones. How can we revert back from a digital signature to paper format, or do so for a cooperative document created on the fly? How can we easily preserve distributed data related to an “inter-governmental” service? How can we permanently store wikis or blogs? Similar concerns are shared by investigators and police organisations94 interested in preserving “digital evidences” the backbone of “cyber forensics”95. Additional problems arise because of the use of clouds many times established in different countries with different regulations. The need of harmonised or ideally shared

94

National police, Interpol, Europol, ENISA, etc. Next generation cyber forensics—Communications of the ACM February 2006 Volume 49 number 2 and High-tech forensics—Communications of the ACM July 2004 Volume 47 number 7. 95

5.19

The Rationale Behind Digital Preservation

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regulations on the cyberspace, the so-called Internet Jurisdiction, is a chimera since the beginning of the network age. However, today’s data storage methods include digital storage, and more and more organizations are storing more and more of their information digitally. Yet, surprisingly little attention is given to the preservation of digital information over long periods. The range of digital and electronic assets that need to be preserved spans from high-level and mission-critical information and applications to everyday life objects. This task of preservation will involve highly skilled ad hoc organisations and citizens, the former saving military or census records and the latter saving their photos, music, and documents. All these aspects do not include, even if it is a critical aspect as relevant as digital preservation, cybersecurity aspects that in the evolutionary cyber scenario must be approached at multi-stakeholder level.

5.19

The Rationale Behind Digital Preservation

The idea that once you have managed to convert your original into a digital format the hard work is over does not reflect reality; once the digital data have been obtained, it is necessary to consider a different conservation strategy. One of the first things to consider is that content has its own life cycle. Even though the “paperless” office uses more paper than ever before, and low-cost storage technology has created terabytes of “digital garbage”, we must take into account what is relevant and what it is not, the so-called “appraisal phase”; not only because preservation will cost some resources but also because irrelevant data will simply increase the “entropy”. Another relevant aspect of preservation is related to the data refresh rate to understand fixed information and dynamic information. The life cycle of the data will influence its own creation and will generate an accounting record for the resources to be preserved. Since “prevention is better than cure”, if we define preservation strategies we are halfway to the solution. The preservation problem involves several other aspects in addition to the bare technological ones: there are administrative, procedural, organisational, legal, IPR and policy issues surrounding the long-term preservation of digital content. This increased complexity tends to be due to the different natures of digital and traditional physical documents. Online information such as web pages and databases are vulnerable as much as their web structure becomes complex thanks to hyperlinks and cross-references. At least one aspect should be investigated before setting on a particular preservation approach: the overall cost of preservation. This involves considering the best way to ensure future access to information during the design phase of the long-term data set. This approach may involve some feedbacks on the way to choosing technology and standards and even the way to shaping data sets. Once the data set is created, in addition to infrastructure costs, running costs may include: additional

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room on storage devices to archive copies and/or documentation and metadata, software applications that manage data refreshing, and costs related to porting or emulation. A number of global studies96 and projects have been and are being carried out into digital preservation; for instance the work carried out by the Taskforce on Archiving of Digital Information (94–96) on the mandate of The Commission on Preservation and Access and The Research Libraries Group Inc., as well as the OASIS Open Archival Information System project, CAMiLEON emulation and the VERS Victorian Electronic Record Strategy. Along with the ERA initiative launched by NARA, Interpares I, II and III are some of the most well-known projects in this field. In addition, a comprehensive vision of electronic record management is provided by the US Department of Defence standard entitled the Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records Management Software Applications (DoD 5015.2 STD). Due to the relevance of the problem a number of initiatives have been activated in the last two decades, apart from the set of projects developed under the umbrella of the European Commission; the UNESCO Digital Preservation Programme97 that issued the “Charter on the Preservation of the Digital Heritage”98 adopted on the occasion of the 32nd session of the General Conference of UNESCO based on the outcomes99 of the “International Conference on Preservation of Digital Information in the Information Society: Problems and Prospects” held in Moscow on 3–5 October, 2011100; the U.S. Library of the Congress issues some studies and guidelines101; in the U.K. and Wales is active the “Digital Preservation Coalition”102; and many other initiatives around the world.

E.g. The International Expert Meeting “Conservare il digitale”, held in Asolo on 29 September 2006. The report, entitled Long-Term Digital Preservation: An International Focus (see http://www. ndk.cz/dokumenty/asolo_memorandum.pdf/download), was created in order to provide some guidelines and suggestions on this topic. 97 Digital Preservation Programme http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-informa tion/access-to-knowledge/preservation-of-documentary-heritage/digital-heritage/digital-preserva tion-programme/, last accessed February 2019. 98 Charter on the Preservation of the Digital Heritage http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTI MEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/mow/charter_preservation_digital_heritage_en.pdf, last accessed February 2019. 99 The Moscow Declaration on Digital Information Preservation—http://www.ifapcom.ru/files/ News/Images/2013/dig_pres_is_eng.pdf, and http://www.ifapcom.ru/en/news/1264/?returnto=0& n=1, last accessed February 2019. 100 International Conference on Preservation of Digital Information in the Information Society: Problems and Prospects http://www.ifapcom.ru/en/news/1257/?returnto=1&n=1, last accessed February 2019. 101 Library of the Congress, Recommended Formats Statement, http://www.loc.gov/preservation/ resources/rfs/ last accessed February 2019 and Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative http:// www.digitizationguidelines.gov, last accessed February 2019. 102 Digital Preservation Coalition—http://www.dpconline.org/about, last accessed February 2019. 96

5.20

Selection of Case Studies

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Finally, it is very important that research into digital preservation is carried out by strong interdisciplinary groups, since this should guarantee that an effective approach to a problem that concerns the foundations of the digital era is defined. Perhaps the only chance of avoiding the “technological quicksand” is to find the “digital Rosetta Stone” in the digital desert.

5.20

Selection of Case Studies

On the occasion of the World Summit on Information Society held in Geneva in 2003 a selection of e-Government applications was awarded best practice solutions; the same has happened almost every year considering the two branches of the selection, WSA and WSA Mobile. Because the competition is carried out at global level and on average more than 160 countries participate, the set of awarded applications provides an interesting insight on e-Government tools through the time and countries. A brief description of the applications, as it was provided by the organisation, is provided in the following paragraphs. QATAR: e-Government Project (2003) The Qatar e-Government Project provides comprehensive online services to its citizens, residents and business sector as well as potential tourists to Qatar. The mission of Qatar Online Services is providing government transactions, information and knowledge Anytime Anywhere on a single government-wide portal. Its practical services range from Visit Visa Services, Driving License and Traffic Violations, and Water & Electricity bill payments to Islamic tax payments. (A) Services for Individuals Pay Utility Bill Topics: Housing, Business and Finance Audience: Individuals, Business There are several convenient ways to pay your electricity and water bills: – Online payments can be made either through the KAHRAMAA website. – Bank Payments can be made through all major banks, using credit card, cash or check. QNB ATM: Kahramaa Mobile Applications; you can pay bills by using KAHRAMAA I-Phone and Android mobile applications. Apply for family Visit Visa Topics: Tourism Sports and Recreation, Religion and Community, Visas and Official Documents Audience: Visitors, Individuals (continued)

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Residents can apply for a short-term family visit visa for their families to enter Qatar. View and Pay Traffic Violations Topics: Transportation Audience: Individuals Motorists may check and pay for traffic violations online through the Ministry of Interior website. Violators can pay traffic fines in person by visiting the MoI collection office or the Traffic Department. Motorists can check and pay for traffic violations online through Metrash2. Related Services – Register Vehicle: Vehicle owners are required to register their newly purchased vehicles with the Ministry of Interior. – Renew Vehicle Registration: Renew your vehicle registration yearly – View My Driving License Applications: Applicants can inquire about their own driving licenses through the Ministry of Interior online website. – Renew Driving License: Applicants can renew their own driving licenses through the Ministry of Interior online website. – Replace Damaged Driving License: Applicants can replace their damaged driving licenses or their employees’ licenses through the MOI website. Apply for Driving License Topics: Visas and Official Documents, Transportation Audience: Individuals Motorists are required to hold a valid driving license in order to drive in Qatar. New visitor and tourists may use an international driving permit for up to 6 months, after which they are required to obtain a Qatari driving license. Services for VISITORS Explore Qatar Topics: Environment and Agriculture, Tourism Sports and Recreation Audience: Visitors, Individuals Explore Qatar is a website that allows users to access the latest maps of Qatar and its geographic data. The Centre for GIS at the Ministry of Municipality and Environment is responsible for updating the software, updating users with latest maps and GIS information on this fast-growing country. Features of the Explore Qatar website include: – – – – – – –

Latest Map Tools for exploring the map Measurement tools Landmark search User input of new landmarks Address search Print (continued)

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Selection of Case Studies

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– Drawing tools – QARS Search – Launch portal Related services – Check Weather: Qatar Civil Aviation Authority provides reliable weather information and forecast through its Department of Meteorology. – Aviation Weather Services: Request for detailed meteorological reports from Civil Aviation Authority. – Annexing Adjacent Land: Citizens, companies, institutions and authorities may submit a request to annex an adjacent piece of land to an existing plot. Tourist Visa Visitors and tourists who wish to visit Qatar can issue tourist visas through some easy steps. Such visas can be obtained through employer, hotels or Qatar Airways, based upon one’s nationality and the requirements of each. GCC103 Resident Visit Visa Topics: Tourism Sports and Recreation, Visas and Official Documents Audience: Visitors, Individuals GCC residents with authorized professions who wish to visit Qatar may apply for an entry visa upon arrival at the airport or border. The visa is valid for 1 month, and can be extended for another 3 months. Search Public Parks Topics: Tourism Sports and Recreation, Housing Audience: Visitors, Individuals Citizens, residents and visitors in Qatar may search online for all the available public parks and find out details about each. Related services – Request Tree Trimming. – Submit a tree trimming request to the Parks Section. – Request Rainwater Suction. Citizens, residents and all the public can send their rainwater suction requests to the Ministry of Municipality and Environment through its website. – Request Insect and Rodent Control The Ministry of Municipality and Environment offers to control the public health and household pests. – Dlela Service (continued)

Gulf Cooperation Council—‫ﻣﺠﻠﺲ ﺍﻟﺘﻌﺎﻭﻥ ﺍﻟﺨﻠﻴﺞ ﺍﻟﻔﺎﺭﺳﯽ‬, (established in 1981) includes: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar.

103

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Dlela guides smart phone users to their favorite destinations. Renew Commercial Register Topics: Business and Finance, Visas and Official Documents Audience: Business Companies, citizens and residents can renew the commercial register through the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) after reviewing company data and getting the internal required approvals, official entities approvals, renewal of Chamber of Commerce subscription, fee paying and establishment request for Partnership Company. Business Leave Notification Topics: Business and Finance, Employment and Workplace, Visas and Official Documents Audience: Business All expatriates except wives and children under the sponsorship of their family members are required to obtain a business leave notification when leaving Qatar. The employer is responsible for arranging the business leave notification. Authorized users may complete the procedure online, through the MOI selfservice machine, or in person through General Directorate for Borders Passports and Expatriates Affairs. Commercial License Services Topics: Business and Finance, Visas and Official Documents Audience: Business Companies, citizens and residents can issue a commercial license from the Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC) after issuing the commercial register as MEC insures the location is appropriate for licensed activities and inspects it if needed. They also can renew the expired license, taking into consideration the non-renewal of constrained branches. Authorization Letter in Real Estate’s Rents (In Case of Sub-contracts). Pay the Appropriate Fees Topics: Business and Finance, Employment and Workplace Audience: Business The Ministry of Administrative Development, Labor and Social Affairs (MADLSA) allows the private sector employees to submit the employer change/leave country notice to the employer online. Apply for Government Housing Topics: Housing Audience: Government The Governmental Housing and Buildings Department at the Ministry of Finance enables government entities to benefit from the government housing system through submitting applications for government housing replacement (continued)

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or maintenance. New housing requests or new housing lease requests may also be submitted for the employees affiliated to such entities. Government Resource Planning System “Mawared” Topics: Employment and Workplace Audience: Government The Government Resource Planning System “Mawared” was created to be part of the strategic plan of the Integrated Government (i-Gov) Program in Qatar. Mawared is considered to be one of the most important initiatives in the i-Gov Program. Its aim is to enhance the interaction between all government entities in managing government resources. Mawared brings leading-edge Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions to empower the government entities to maximize workforce potential and improve HR services. MAWARED objectives: – Employ the latest technologies in information systems to facilitate government action. – Create a central database for state employees for the benefit of all stakeholders, and determine a uniform data structure as well as ensure its continuous updates. – Support the government entities to attract and retain the right qualified people, develop and leverage their talents, and to retain top performers. – Automate talent management and other HR processes, such as time management and payroll. Mawared supports the following key business activities: – Workforce Analytics Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of human resources management. Enable decision-makers and HR officials and government entities executives to make well-informed decisions. – Talent Management Continue to achieve the objectives of the government continuously through alignment of the workforce with organizational goals and finding the best qualified candidates for the job. – Recruitment Provide an end-to-end solution for the entire recruiting process. Reduce time to hire. Build strong long-term relationships with potential employees. – Performance Management Enable consistent achievement of government objectives by aligning the workforce to support management objectives. – Managing Self-Services Ensure speed and accuracy in decision-making by providing a direct and quick access to information and data, such as key performance indicators (continued)

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and warnings and information analytical and statistical reports. Reduce the periods of time required in budget preparation and hiring processes. – Employee Self-Service Raise the level of efficiency and function of productivity by enabling employees to access data through an online portal. Improve productivity through the application of an automated system for human resources operations (not paper). Through Mawared you can also exploit the following advantages: – Analysing related to planning, monitoring and measurement. – The overall operations that help make informed decisions in a quick and effective way. – Linking the costs of training and employment business results. – Re-using data to improve HR processes. – Transparency in the performance of human resources. Issue Building Permit for Government Projects Topics: Housing, Business and Finance, Visas and Official Documents Audience: Government, Business The Development and Building Permits Section of the Technical Affairs Department provides the government entity or the authorized consultant with approval to issue a building permit for government projects, according to the terms of the permit and based on the approved engineering plans. Search MoF Tenders Topics: Business and Finance Audience: Government, Business The Ministry of Finance (MoF) allows other ministries and different government entities to search the following tenders: – – – –

Advertised tenders Financially open tenders Technically open tenders Awarded tenders Company: Qatar e-Government http://www.gov.qa/wps/portal, last accessed February 2019.

ROMANIA: Romanian e-Government Gateway (2003) The Romanian e-Government Gateway is the central access point to on-line public information and e-Services of the national government. It facilitates electronic transactions between citizens, businesses and public administration through value added services like single user authentication for various (continued)

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departments. As a central part of the Romanian government strategy for transparency and efficiency the e-Government initiative reduces bureaucracy and reinforces the commitment to an accountable public sector. Company: Microsoft Romania http://gov.ro/en/, last accessed February 2019. http://gov.ro/en/objectives/strategies-policies-programs, last accessed February 2019.

BAHRAIN: Ministry of Commerce Portal for Electronic Services Since the Ministry of Commerce for Bahrain is the gateway to incoming business for the country it has established an e-Service gateway addressing the private sector. The portal is not just a government site offering comprehensive e-Services to the business community, but also an information service that delivers business news and reports, polls and newsletters. It promotes interaction between business communities and thus makes the site the key portal for business in Bahrain. Company: TCG-ME http://www.moic.gov.bh/en/Pages/default.aspx, last accessed February 2019. http://www.bahrain.bh, last accessed February 2019.

BRAZIL: Secretariat of Federal Revenues (2003) The Secretariat of Federal Revenues is a central agency subordinated directly to the Finance Ministry of Brazil. Its function is to enhance voluntary compliance of tax-related obligations, collect funds for the State, and undergo law enforcement actions to prevent tax evasion and promote fiscal justice. The IRS website is the electronic vehicle to implement these objectives. SRF has been using the internet as an instrument of integration between tax authorities and taxpayers since 1997. 90% of all taxpayers use the Receitanet services for generating and submitting their tax returns. The system effectively cuts organisational effort and saves time for users. Company: Secretaria da Receita Federal http://receita.economia.gov.br, last accessed February 2019.

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CHILE: Easy Procedures (2003) In the past, official procedures in Chile with state bureaucracy were complicated and long-winded. Easy Procedures is now setting new standards in facilitating and optimising the relations of citizens and public institutions. The inclusive e-Government service provides all relevant information, procedural forms and online procedures at one central Website, thus saving time and resources of people and institutions. The Easy Procedure service is dedicated to all Chileans including citizens living abroad. Company: Ministerio Secretaria General de la Presidencia https://www.chileatiende.gob.cl/, last accessed February 2019.

NETHERLANDS: Municipality Meeting Online (2005) In collaboration with the Municipality of Eindhoven and Omroep Eindhoven, Noterik developed the Municipality Meeting Online application. Council meetings are transmitted live over the Internet, with unique rich media features, providing citizens and journalists with new ways to interact with local politicians. Additionally, webcasts are enriched with meta-data which enables the advanced retrieval of recorded council videos by using the system’s search engine. The project is presently the most advanced online video application for council meetings in the Netherlands. It demonstrates the potential of new technology to help to provide transparency of governance. Company: Noterik Multimedia BV http://www.eindhoven.eu/, last accessed February 2019.

CANADA: Vancouver.ca (2005) Vancouver.ca is a comprehensive website produced by the City of Vancouver, which promotes content designed to inform, educate and engage its citizens in local issues. While the website does provide convenient online services, such as the ability to purchase business licences through the Internet, the City’s priority has been to develop a website that contains a wide range of detailed content. The purpose is to promote awareness for and access to civic programmes and services, and also keep to citizens informed and engaged in debates on issues that impact their day-to-day lives. Company: City of Vancouver http://vancouver.ca/, last accessed February 2019.

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AUSTRALIA: Brisbane City Council Green Home (2005) The purpose of the Brisbane City Council Green Home project was to provide visitors to the Brisbane City Council’s corporate website with an online 3D interactive house which illustrates the council’s key messages about household sustainability. The product displays one of the first uses of Shockwave 3D technology on any local government website in the world. It is also the first Australian government-sponsored “Interactive Learning Object” to use 3D technology in order to convey environmental messages that are designed to cause behavioural change in the target audience. Company: Impart Qantm Studio http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/, last accessed February 2019.

BAHRAIN: e-Visas (2005) The primary function of Bahrain e-Visas is to provide a service for online application for, payment for and processing of visas for travel to Bahrain. The application uses connectivity to the GDNPR systems and databases to automate the processes as much as possible within policy and security constraints. Many groups of people benefit from the service: individuals who intend to visit the country, residents of Bahrain who are looking for multiple re-entry visas, and companies in Bahrain who want to interview an applicant from abroad. The system can also save biodata electronically, thereby reducing the data capture process at check-in. Company: General Directorate Nationality, Passport & Residence (GDNPR) http://www.evisa.gov.bh/, last accessed February 2019.

UNITED KINGDOM: Directgov (2005) Direct.gov.uk puts users straight through to public services without them having to understand government. People who prefer not to use the Internet can get to Directgov through Digital interactive Television (DiTV) or 6,000 public kiosks. The application uses freshly written content to form a complete, coherent picture of the central government services. It aims to make all service delivery easier, quicker and cheaper for users, to drive the take-up of the government’s online transactions, to proactively present users with other relevant services and to help de-duplicate and rationalise the government’s web provision. Company: Directgov, Cabinet Office http://direct.gov.uk/en/index.htm, last accessed February 2019.

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GERMANY: Lower House of German Parliament (2007) Democracy demands transparency. The principal website of the German Bundestag is a world class showcase on how to make it easy for citizens to follow parliamentary proceedings. More than 60,000 HTML-Pages, 80,000 PDF-files, 6000 hours of video are augmented by interactive features such as online-petition procedures, discussion groups, online reservation for visits. In depth analysis of current topics and sophisticated search functionality add democratic value. About 100 editors keep background information about members, structure and organization, committees, lobby groups, same-day minutes and proceedings up-to-date. A history section offers a virtual tour through the famous Reichstag building. Sub-sites for youth address the future. Company: Babiel GmbH http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/index.html, last accessed February 2019.

DENMARK: citizen.dk (2007) With the launch of Denmark’s shared public citizen portal, borger.dk, Danes have gotten a single online entrance to the public sector. The portal provides easy access to all public information and digital self-services. It functions as a looking glass, thus gathering and presenting all digital services known in the public sector, and introducing them as a coherent whole to Danish citizens. The portal is the result of the largest digital cross-sector project ever seen in the Danish public administration. Borger.dk includes also media articles, interactive services and transactions concerning 18 overall topics including family and children, disabilities and residence and buildings. Company: National IT and Telecom Agency https://www.borger.dk/Sider/default.aspx, last accessed February 2019.

IRELAND: citizensinformation.ie Only an informed citizen can be an active citizen. citizensinformation.ie covers in an exemplary fashion subjects on Ireland ranging from employment rights, to buying a home, moving abroad, putting kids into school and much more. The information is divided into 14 categories so that users can readily access the topic relevant to them. Straightforward, accurate, and comprehensive the information is sourced from a wide variety of service providers, including Government Departments and agencies. Each category addresses a series of frequently asked questions on the topic and is supported with a wealth (continued)

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of in-depth information, case studies, supporting documents and downloadable forms. Company: Citizens Information Board http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/, last accessed February 2019.

OMAN: Royal Court Affairs: Mobile Recruitment (2009) Royal Court Affairs is an electronic evaluation system, which works by receiving, evaluating and short-listing job applications via SMS technology and a mediator programme. Applicants can apply for Royal Court of Affairs vacancies by sending an SMS with their MoMP (Ministry of Manpower) registration code (a database containing citizens’ CV details) and their chosen job code. A mediator system matches the applicant details from the MoMP with the job requirements from the RCA recruitment office. If the match is successful, the candidate is short-listed. Should the candidate fail to satisfy any of the requirements, the application is rejected and an SMS is sent with valid rejection grounds. Once the candidate satisfies all the requirements, he receives an SMS with a registration number and congratulatory message. The whole process is incredibly fast and efficient, normally taking 5–10 seconds from receipt of the SMS to response. Producer: Oman Government https://www.manpower.gov.om/portal/index.aspx, last accessed February 2019.

NEW ZEALAND: National Broadband Map (2009) The National Broadband Map is a visual representation of New Zealand’s broadband landscape. It has been created to graphically represent broadband supplier network footprints alongside geocoded points, which indicate potential broadband demand locations. The Map takes publicly available government location data from various sources and combines it in such a way as to provide information and tools to aid in demand aggregation and infrastructure planning. The National Broadband Map also allows any citizen, business or government agency to reuse, reanalyse or visualise the demand point data in any manner, providing an environment in which extra value can be created from data which was once dispersed and inaccessible. Huge data reuse opportunities are already apparent as a result of this work, and both the public and private sectors in New Zealand are becoming aware of the value of having accurate, precise, data which is accessible to all. Producer: New Zealand Government https://broadbandmap.nz, last accessed February 2019.

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ITALY: E.V.A.: Enhanced Vehicle Automation (2007) E.V.A.—Enhanced Vehicle Automation This automation solution combines an acoustic-luminous device mounted on the roof of vehicles used by the Police Forces with a computer installed inside the car. The acoustic-luminous device is called an E.E.S.—EVA Emergency System and, in addition to the usual flashing lights, it has a telecamera with an infrared illuminator, halogen headlights, high visibility emergency fog lights and a variable message luminous display. The heart of E.V.A. beats in a computer placed in the centre of the dashboard and, wherever possible, set into the car’s double DIN compartment. The software has a modular design so that it can be adapted to suit every operational need of the end customer. Thanks to the speaker-independent voice platform designed by Intellitronika, voice commands can be given to the software without the need for any prior training in recognition of the speaker. The video surveillance software module makes it possible to interact with the telecamera built into the E.E.S. device on the roof of the vehicle. It is possible to take photos, film videos and send live videos to the operations centre; all the multimedia contents are stored in the device and, where necessary, saved on external media. Thanks to high speed connection, connections are made with the databanks already existing with the end customer (ANIA, MCTC, ANCITEL, etc.), and questions that can usually only be asked from a workstation in the office can be asked from the car. The reply data are immediately available to the operator in the car without having to send a request to a colleague on duty in the centre. The software includes a satellite navigator with lists of POI that can be customised to suit the customer’s needs when it is being created. The E.E.S. device can be controlled by software that manages the flashing lights, siren, halogen headlights, and luminous messages. The latter can be typed on a video digital keyboard or selected directly from a list established during the creation phase. Where necessary, an alarm signal can be sent to the operations centre, allowing the operator at the centre to control the E.E.S. and its telecamera remotely. The dangerous situation reported by the patrol can be viewed from the centre and a live video recording made of it, the telecamera can be moved and the points involved zoomed into. All the functions can be operated by means of the computer’s touch screen or the voice commands foreseen by the system. The latter method makes it possible to interact with the software while keeping the hands free and to concentrate on the activities taking place. The voice method can even be used from outside the car by means of an anti-tapping wireless earphone and the replies to questions to the databank can be received directly through the earphone. Company: Intellitronika https://www.intellitronika.com, last accessed February 2019.

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MALAYSIA: Integrated Court System (ICS) (2009) Integrated Court System comprises three main systems; a Community and Advocates Portal, a Case Management System, and a Court Recording and Transcription System. CAP and CMS are fully web-based applications that are centrally hosted at Sarawak Information Systems, an industrial standard data centre. CAP serves as an information technology channel of communication and operations among the public community, which includes the clients, their advocates, and the judiciary. CMS functions to facilitate judiciary processes within the court, in particular the management of court cases. CRT is a specialized system for the real-time recording and transcribing of courtroom events. As a package, the Integrated Court System promotes productivity and efficiency for judiciary processes that benefit three main groups of people, namely the judiciary or court officials, the advocates, and the public community who are parties (plaintiff and defendants) in trial cases. The project has been successfully implemented in two eastern states in Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. Producer: Malaysian Government https://www.sains.com.my/solutions.php?id=37, last accessed February 2019.

SRI LANKA: Government Information Center (GIC) (2009) The Government Information Center (GIC) is a single, electronic, trilingual (Sinhala, Tamil and English) online knowledge base of 1600 services available to citizens from 77 key government organizations. The related procedures that need to be followed in order to make use of each of these services are also stored in the database. Obtaining a particular government service used to involve navigating through a thicket of organizations and making multiple personal visits and repeated telephone calls. Language was a further barrier for the 25% of Sri Lankan citizens who speak Tamil. The GIC was established as a public/private partnership to provide a single point of access to information concerning government services in an effective and friendly manner. The knowledge base, stored in an SQL database, is available through multiple channels, including a Microsoft Visual Basic interface for call centre staff, a web-based interface for the IT-literate general public, and, to accommodate future expansion, a web services API. Producer: Government Information Center http://www.gic.gov.lk/gic/index.php?lang=en, last accessed February 2019.

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5.20.1 Mobility

ITALY: Viaggiatreno (2006) Thanks to ViaggiaTreno you can follow the train’s progress in real time. In the “train search” section it is possible, by entering the train number, to display the route with detailed information on arrival and departure times and scheduled stops. If you click on a station, the arrivals and departures board will be updated with any delays. Viaggio Treno provides further information on line breaks, deletions and the establishment of any replacement services. The website www.viaggiatreno.it offers useful services to the Italian national railroad travellers. Customers can know exactly where a specific train is along the track and if it is on delay or not. The system is integrated at national level incorporating a major part of the local transportation schedule (local trains, buses, boats, etc.). The platform is available both from PCs and from mobile phones. So if you are on the train, as a tourist for instance, you may know where you are and enjoy sightseeing; if you are at home waiting for someone reaching you by train you may know where he or she is at the moment. If you are travelling on the train and due to delay or other factors you may need to know about any connection, it is easy to simply browse the service thanks to a mobile phone. The service is a kind of user-oriented follow up of the technological control network designed in order to monitor and supervise the trains’ traffic. The same signals and alerts used in order to automate the trains flow is reused and processed in order to provide the service. Company: Trenitalia http://www.viaggiatreno.it, last accessed February 2019.

SRI LANKA; TrafficMate (2012) TrafficMate is a traffic management app providing an efficient solution for traffic congestion. Research indicates the most effective ways to control traffic, for example, by algorithms based on artificial intelligence to control traffic lights. However, these solutions rely on the availability of accurate and realtime information about traffic flow. TrafficMate takes advantage of the smartphone inside the app user’s pocket, turning the user into a sensor. Smartphones thus create a ‘social network’ of traffic detection without external sensors or bureaucracy. The mobile app collects traffic flow data including speed, acceleration patterns and location of the mobile device in a vehicle, sending the data to a central server, where it is processed to identify traffic jam (continued)

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locations. App users receive information from the server in the form of location-based updates. TrafficMate marks jammed areas on a Google map, also making information available to traffic analysts and viewers via the web page or API. A major advantage: TrafficMate data gathering and transmission is a backend process, not visible to the user. Impacts The impacts dell’App TrafficMate belong to three basic dimensions: economic impacts, social impacts and environmental impacts. The magnitude of the impacts obviously depends on the diffusion dell’App and its use by users. The wider adoption reached by TrafficMate, the greater its influence on the lives of users and society. At the economic level, TrafficMate is able to impact positively on both the Public Administrations and users. As regards the Public Administrations, the spread of a traffic monitoring system is at virtually no cost as TrafficMate allows them to enjoy the benefits arising from the use of more sophisticated systems without the burden of having to bear the costs. Users, instead, have an effective system to avoid traffic jams and areas with congested traffic, allowing them to save significant amounts of time and money (for example in terms of lower fuel consumed). At the social level, TrafficMate is able to impact the quality of life of its users, saving them time losses caused by congestion and its negative effects in terms of stress. As regards possible environmental impacts, finally, the widespread deployment of traffic monitoring systems and their use by the users can significantly reduce traffic jams and congested traffic, bringing benefits in terms of emissions from vehicles with internal combustion engines, in terms of noise pollution. Producer: Dinuni Fernando, Co-Producer Pankajan Chanthirasegaran https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbM0JXxd68s, last accessed February 2019.

GERMANY: WheelMap (2010) Wheelmap.org is an online map for wheelchair accessible places. Using the principle of Wikipedia, everyone can participate by tagging public places according to their accessibility. On www.wheelmap.org everyone from all over the world can find and add places and rate them by using a traffic light system. The map, which is available since 2010, shall help wheelchair users and people with mobility impairments to plan their day more effectively. Currently, more than 300,000 cafés, libraries, swimming pools, and many more public places have been captured. About 200 new entries are added on a (continued)

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daily basis. A free WheelMap app is also available for mobile devices, therefore the map can be easily used with smartphones. WheelMap is an initiative of the SOZIALHELDEN. They are a group of young committed people who have developed creative projects since 2004 in order to call attention to social problems and to remove them at best. More information on www.sozialhelden.de. This way, a modern and global solution for people with limited mobility is being created. The OpenStreetMap-based map helps mobility impaired people to plan their day more efficiently. Additionally, the high awareness which is raised by WheelMap can encourage owners of public places to improve their location’s accessibility. This goes hand in hand with the UN charter of human rights, saying that anyone, disabled or not, must be able to participate in all aspects of life. WheelMap and its volunteers help to reach the high goal of a more inclusive society by creating awareness and solutions. There is even a WheelMap Pro version, Wheelmap Pro will make more than 150 different accessibility criteria available from which a citizen can put together his/her own mapping web app—according to his/her requirements. Wheelmap celebrated its first birthday collecting 75,000 tagged places. Within the first year, people all over the globe have tagged 75,000 places on WheelMap—an online map for wheelchair-accessible places. This map shall help wheelchair users to plan their day more independently and diversely. SOZIALHELDEN celebrated this occasion and presented a TV spot with Google. Facts In 2010, www.wheelmap.org and the corresponding app went online; 5 years later more than 300,000 places have been tagged and rated, the majority as “fully wheelchair-accessible.” Every day about 200 new entries are added. www.wheelmap.org works globally and it is available in Arabic, Danish, German, Greek, English, Spanish, French, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Swedish, Turkish, Korean, Polish and even in Klingon. Further languages will follow. About the topic In Germany, there are 1.6 million wheelchair users. Globally, there are 85 million—the dark figure is three times as high. 4.8 million people use a rollator in Germany. Taking the changing demographics into account, we expect that this number will continue to grow. Background Wheelchairs or purpose-built cars on the one hand, elevators and ramps on the other allow people with mobility impairments to plan their day independently to a great extent. But: Frequently, the last meters decide whether the trip to the cinema, beer garden or supermarket was worth the effort. Just one single (continued)

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step at the entrance can be an insurmountable obstacle. And this is where WheelMap comes into play: Users provide information for other users on how accessible a destination is. Thereby, the map contributes to an active and diversified lifestyle for wheelchair users. People with rollators or buggies benefit from this tool as well. Furthermore, the aim of WheelMap is to make owners of wheelchair-inaccessible public places aware of the problem. They should be encouraged to reflect on and improve the accessibility of their premises. Gradually, more and more cities with as many tagged places as possible should be added. Moreover, the choice of available languages should be extended bit by bit. How It Works The map www.wheelmap.org is based on OpenStreetMap, an open, editable map of the digital open source map of the world. Everyone can search for places and, provided they have been tagged, get information about how easily accessible the places are. Those who sign up as a user are able to add and rate new places. An easy traffic light system marks the wheelchair accessibility of a place: Green signifies an unrestricted access—e.g. because there are no steps or there is a ramp, an elevator or other tools which allow the entrance. Places which are orange-coloured have no toilets for example. Places which are red-coloured aren’t accessible for wheelchair users. In general, the more people join WheelMap and add places the more precise and informative the map gets. Inclusion and language use Inclusion means that every person is acknowledged in their individuality by society and is fully part of society. With a successful inclusion, the differences between impaired and not impaired people will still be noticed consciously. The differences will not be judged (negatively) though, but rather limited in their meaning or even neutralized. The right to participation refers to all areas of life in which all places are accessible for everyone. Here, the language use plays an important role. If you report on people with mobility impairments, the following overview shall help you to choose items in accordance with inclusion. Impacts The impacts of WheelMap are based on two basic dimensions: social impacts and reputation & transparency. With regard to the social impacts, the role of an initiative such as WheelMap is extremely important to reduce the daily struggles of people with disabilities and increase, therefore, social inclusion and quality of life. Nor should we underestimate the role that Wheelmap and similar initiatives can have in increasing among the population “non-disabled” awareness of issues related to disability and the need to commit to making sure that these are not set to zero if at least alleviated by design more careful infrastructure and, in (continued)

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general, of the territory. An initiative like WheelMap is, in fact, able to leverage on the sensitivity of the population regarding the difficulties of disabled people and then to push more and more businesses and public spaces to adapt to the requirements of the most basic accessibility. To give an idea of the impact that an initiative like WheelMap can have, consider that in Germany alone there are 1.6 million people in a wheelchair and 4.8 million who use a walker. Considering the demographic changes, that is, the progressive aging of the population, these numbers are bound to increase in the future. Producer: SOZIALHELDEN https://wheelmap.org/?locale=de, last accessed February 2019. VIDEO http://youtu.be/dYJpftuYlZk, last accessed February 2019.

ESTONIA: e-Annual Report (2011) In Estonia entrepreneurs can submit annual reports in XBRL format via the e-Reporting environment of the e-Business Registry Company Registration Portal. The created uniform e-Reporting environment makes the entry and submission of data significantly more convenient for companies, as there is one specific place, form and way for submitting all required data. The new environment enables the companies not only to submit their annual reports, but also to prepare them in full format. The e-Reporting environment provides set forms and based on these, companies can prepare their basic annual reports and add other necessary documents. Entrepreneurs can digitally sign their reports with an ID card, have them audited by the auditor and submit them electronically to the Commercial Register directly. The processing of business data became significantly quicker and easier, as the data can be processed immediately and are accessible to all interested parties both in the private and public sectors. URL www.egov-estonia.eu/xbrl, last accessed February 2019. e-Annual Report enables entrepreneurs in Estonia to submit annual reports via the e-Reporting environment of the Central Commercial Registry. About 99% of more than 120,000 companies registered in Estonia use this new method of reporting. Its uniformity makes the entry and submission of data significantly more convenient for companies, as there is only one place and specific channel to submit all required data. Companies do not have to submit data to public authorities more than once, as the data reported is retrievable from the central system by all other relevant databases (statistics, tax office, banks, etc.), leading to less red tape for all. The processing of business data has become significantly quicker and easier, as the data can be processed (continued)

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immediately and is accessible to interested parties both in the private and public sectors. The e-Government system used in Estonia has created more transparent, efficient, convenient and trustworthy relations between citizens and government agencies. e-Annual Report uses the internationally recognized XBRL standard, meets all WCAG requirements and responds to AAA level, thus anticipating the European Digital Agenda 2020. Benefits The overall goal of the e-Reporting project is to facilitate the administration of the reporting obligation as a whole. The key principle of submitting data should be that a reporting entity submits the figures required by the state once in the agreed format and in one place and the data thus submitted can be used by both the private and public sectors in line with their established rights. Such a system of data submitting enables the system of automatic checking to be created that will notify reporting entities of possible errors upon entering the data and would thus support the improvement of the quality of data. In addition, this would help decrease the number of warnings and fines issued every year to reporting entities for their reporting faults; The submitted data are better comparable and the business analyses made based on them are more accurate; Submitted data are promptly accessible as the data to be submitted can be processed electronically at once. There is no need for time-consuming data processing in order to transform them to electronic format; As there is no need to enter data manually from paper documents or files and the substantive checking of reports can be automated, there is less need for human resources. History As of January 2010, entrepreneurs in Estonia can submit annual reports in XBRL format via the e-Reporting environment of the e-Commercial Registry Company Registration Portal. This project was implemented at the national level and was among the largest in 2010 in terms of its scope and volume, by involving more than 120,000 companies. XBRL format is being increasingly recognised as the global standard for transferring business information, which ensures better availability of data. The whole project meets the objectives of the Digital Single Market subtheme of the European Digital Agenda, as the portal also accepts the eIDs of Portugal, Belgium, Finland and Lithuania and thus allows the entrepreneurs of foreign countries to make business-related operations in the Commercial Register without coming to Estonia. By accepting the e-IDs of foreign countries, we have increased the number of potential portal users to 20 million. The development of e-Reporting was funded from the means of the European Regional Development Fund. (continued)

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Technologies XBRL format used for submitting annual reports is a widely used reporting language across the world and among the candidates for the W3C XML standard. Estonia has succeeded in implementing and utilising the XBRL solution quickly and in full. At the same time no allowances have been made in terms of the WCAG requirements. The reporting feature of the eCommercial Registry Company Registration Portal corresponds to the AAA level. References e-Annual Report has been very well accepted by Estonian entepreneurs. More than 90% of Estonian entrepreneurs use it and some of them claim that it has improved their work speed, quality and security. The e-Annual Report project is an Estonian nominee for World Summit Awards 2011 and has been recognised as an Estonian Ministry of Justice project of the year 2010. For You RIK provides consultation regarding the best practice of development and administration of the IT-solutions of the respective sector. RIK is an experienced public sector developer/manager/administrator of IT-systems. It is a valuable partner for analysis and design and consultant for development and implementation. Contacts Centre of Registers and Information Systems (RIK) is a state agency working under the Ministry of Justice. For additional information or proposals of cooperation please contact us at [email protected] or see our website www.rik.ee. Impacts The impacts of the e-Annual Report can be traced to three basic dimensions: economic impacts, impacts and reputation management & transparency. From the economic point of view the system allows entrepreneurs to achieve considerable savings in time: the completion and electronic submission of financial statements, together with the fact that such data when it is transmitted are available to the Administration which will avoid then requesting them again, makes it possible to devote much less time to operation and to avoid travelling to the offices of the Administration. The latter is most important for foreign entrepreneurs, which can in this way avoid a special trip to Estonia. In addition, the system also allows the Administration to achieve significant cost savings, eliminating activities such as manual entry of data. The economic impacts are particularly significant in light of the fact that over 90% of Estonian entrepreneurs are using the system. With regard to the operational aspects, the system allowed the Administration to greatly simplify their internal processes, since the whole procedure is done now loading the system itself. In addition, since the data is available to (continued)

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the Administration on a centralized repository, multiple requests of the data users have been eliminated. Finally, as regards the reputation & transparency, e-Annual Report contributes to a positive image of the Administration, focusing on his efforts to relieve the citizens as possible, and in this case, the undertakings, as bureaucratic complex and redundant. Producer: Centre of Registers and Information Systems (RIK). http://www.rik.ee/en/international/e-annual-reporting, last accessed February 2019. VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XChHb6P0aZQ, last accessed February 2019.

ESTONIA: e-Land Register (2010) e-Land Register is a register of ownership relations and limited real rights. Digital Land Register software covers the whole registration procedure and has made electronic conveyance much easier. It has improved the quality, speed and security of the process of registering titles to land. http://www.egov-estonia.eu/e-land-register, last accessed February 2019. Benefits Information in the e-Land Register has legal power and everyone can get this information over the internet. The proceeding deadlines have decreased from 3 months to approximately 10 days because it is paper-free. Notaries and other officials get all necessary information from e-Land Register electronically. History, Facts and Future Development The current information system has been in operation since October 2005. The whole e-Land register is accessible online and electronic information is legally valid. e-Land register has electronic online data interchange with other basic registers, cadastre and the population registry. Next developments include digitalizing all archive documents, improving inquiry systems and creating a portal for citizens to submit digitally signed applications. e-Land Register is a European Union-funded project. Technologies The land register system is based on a web application. Software is programmed in .NET language and Database servers are MSSQL. References e-Land Register has been presented and highlighted in several events around Europe and it was nominated as a finalist of European e-Government Awards 2009. (continued)

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For You RIK provides consultation regarding the best practice of development and administration of the IT-solutions of the respective sector. RIK is an experienced public sector developer/manager/administrator of IT-systems. It is a valuable partner for analysis and design and consultant for development and implementation. Contacts Centre of Registers and Information Systems (RIK) is a state agency working under the Ministry of Justice. For additional information or proposals of cooperation please contact RIK at [email protected] or see our website www.rik.ee. Impacts The impacts of the e-Land Register are identified by three basic dimensions: economic impacts, impacts and management of reputation & transparency. From the economic point of view, the system allows both citizens and the Administration to achieve significant cost savings, and these savings are mainly due to the significant reduction in the duration of the process (in terms of time) and the complete dematerialization of the same (in monetary terms true). With regard to the management aspects, the system impacts the management of the process within the administration; in addition, expected future developments (e.g. the creation of a portal for citizens aimed at the transmission of digitally signed applications), will have an even greater impact on the process. Finally, the impacts in terms of transparency regarding the full Web accessibility of e-Land Register data. Producer: Centre of Registers and Information Systems (RIK) http://www.rik.ee/en/international/e-land-register, last accessed February 2019. VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hASfGQXXLAg, last accessed February 2019.

5.20.2 e-Services Monitoring

BRAZIL: MyFunCity—Sustainable Cities (2012) Sustainable Cities is a social network that focuses on citizenship. It follows the worldwide trend towards segmented social networks. MyFunCity—Sustainable Cities is an e-Government software tool designed for e-Citizens looking to have an impact on public management with their real needs and priorities. (continued)

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Multi-platform and multi-channel, MyFunCity—Sustainable Cities integrates mobiles phones, smartphones and the web. Citizens can contribute to 13 areas of evaluation, including transportation, education, health, leisure, safety, street cleanliness, traffic, roads, green spaces, visual pollution, noise, and mood. An average of six questions per area is presented randomly each time a user checks in. Drawing on the total evaluations pertaining to a certain space, such as a street, borough or city, an exact map is drawn based on citizens’ praise and/or disapproval. Impacts The impact of the social network MyFunCity—Sustainable Cities is based on two fundamental dimensions: Impacts & reputation management and transparency. From the management point of view the social network is able to allow the Public Administration to collect directly from the citizens the opinions about various aspects of the territorial government, allowing it to focus on the most important issues for citizenship. With regard to reputation & transparency, MyFunCity is a tool that allows the administration to “open up” to the outside, communicating considerable attention to the needs of citizens and, very important and extremely rare, showing no fear of its judgments. Producer: Mr. Leonardoo Dias, Mr. Danilo Almeida https://www.worldsummitawards.org/winner/myfuncity-sustainable-cities/ and https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/myfuncity-is-a-revolutionin-digital-citizenship-253794581.html, last accessed February 2019. VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u74Xn5fGYAQ, last accessed February 2019.

UNITED STATES: Boston CitizensConnect (2010) Boston CitizensConnect is a new tool for constituents to improve their neighbourhoods. It serves as a new channel for residents in Boston to engage with government and it is a new method for promoting municipal development. Using the iPhone, CitizensConnect enables users to report service requests, such as pothole repair or graffiti clean-up, to the city of Boston. The application is free of charge for anyone to download. When a constituent sees a problem she/he wants the city to respond to, she/ he launches the app, selects the issue, shoots a photograph and presses ‘submit.’ Leveraging the iPhone’s built-in GPS and internet connection, the app instantaneously routes the issue to the appropriate city work queue. The eyesore spotted by the concerned citizen gets onto the to-do list of city employees. (continued)

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When the work is completed, CitizensConnect provides the citizen with a text message from the city administration. Meanwhile, the citizen can track her/his impact through a built-in map that shows the requests made, and that indicates whether the problem has been addressed. Applications for other platforms will be released based on the success of the current initiative. Remarks Boston CitizensConnect is exemplary for municipal accountability. As a free iPhone application it is a triple innovation allowing Boston residents and visitors to gather information about the physical state of the city and expands the existing Boston municipal complaints hotline in an innovative manner. It is part of the effort by the city of Boston to create direct feedback channels and to cut down on bureaucratic red tape. Users can send both pictures and text and the app indicates the user’s location and the problem on a city map. Report can cover all issues and dysfunctionalities such as graffiti, potholes, broken traffic lights and downed power lines. Giving tracking numbers in order to let them monitor progress in resolving the issue is a most innovative way to advance city services. A case is flagged in red, as long as it is pending, and passes to green once it is solved. The CitizensConnect project represents an excellent example of citizen sourcing using mobile context (camera, GPS) and gives people a most efficient way to file municipal complaints. Above all, the project brings transparency to the work done by the city of Boston. A city turned responsive. Impacts The impacts dell’App Boston Citizens Connect are due to three basic dimensions: economic impacts, impacts and reputation management & transparency. From the economic point of view, picking through innovative and more efficient than the usual reports of citizens and routing them appropriately automatically, the system allows the Administration to achieve higher levels of efficiency in the planning and implementation of interventions on the territory. From the management point of view, Citizens Connect allows the Administration to Boston to receive reports directly from the citizens in a more timely, accurate and reliable way compared to the usual dedicated phone line, allowing the Administration to program in a more efficient and effective way interventions, reducing or even preventing the occurrence of errors, such as allowing citizens to send messages to about the sites characterised by an improper maintenance. With regard to the reputation & transparency, the App is a valuable tool to communicate to citizens the attention of the Municipality for the issues relating to territory and for their rapid resolution. In addition, to allow citizens to check the progress of messages to be sent to them makes them more (continued)

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involved in community issues and more aware of the contribution that they can make to improve the city in which they live. Producer: Boston City Hall URL http://www.cityofboston.gov/doit/apps/citizensconnect.asp, last accessed February 2019.

SWEDEN: Roadroid (2012) Roadroid offers a mobile app for Android smart phones, to monitor road condition, and a website with color-marked maps displaying results. The app is using the phone’s built-in sensors, camera and GPS. The app analysis provides 100 signals per second (100 Hz), defining road quality according to four levels: green for ‘Good’, yellow for ‘Satisfactory’, red for ‘Unsatisfactory’ and black for ‘Poor’. After logging onto the ROADROID’s homepage, users can dig in to the data and monitor, plan or follow up on road maintenance. ROADROID provides an up-to-date picture of road quality. By generating precise measurements and large amounts of data, the field-tested ROADROID system provides reliable statistics in a way unmatched by other methods. It also creates unique opportunities for route guidance and avoiding bad stretches. ROADROID has relevance both in developed countries for follow ups on Performance-Based Contracts—but also in developing countries as it enables a powerful solution for road maintenance issues. The road infrastructure is a basic condition for enabling growth, democracy, healthcare and education in a country. Roadroid is an excellent tool to get a comprehensive view of the situation and also to follow up on the actions, not of least interest to funders such as the World Bank. Impacts The impacts of the system Roadroid belong to three basic dimensions: economic impacts, impacts and reputation management & transparency. From the economic point of view, Roadroid is able to provide valuable support to both the government and citizens. As for the government, the tool allows a very precise mapping of the quality of the roads, allowing you to direct maintenance operations on the sections of road that need them most (obviously providing you data on the quality of the roads with the respective importance ). It is also important to consider the positive effects of Roadroid with the Public Administration (for example, those of poor or developing countries) with limited financial resources available to enable them to monitor the quality of roads extremely cheaply compared to the alternatives (which they very often could not afford). By providing an accurate picture of the quality of the roads, Roadroid also allows citizens to plan their journeys (continued)

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avoiding the roads in the worst conditions; this potentially enables them to save the expenses often associated with the need to walk streets in poor condition (e.g. rupture of the tires, the suspension malfunction, etc..). At operational level, the Administrations Roadroid provides the data necessary to program more effective and efficient road maintenance, for example taking prompt action where necessary to avoid inconvenience to users and appropriately by scheduling maintenance activities based on the importance of the arteries of communication and the relative quality of the road surface. Finally, as regards reputation & transparency, the system, showing in real time the quality of the roads, “bares” any faults of persons charged with maintenance of roads or their effectiveness. Producer: Mr. Tommy Niitula (Road database expert), Mr. Hans Jones (Android expert) URL www.roadroid.com, last accessed February 2019. VIDEO http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jy-LFrFAnw, last accessed February 2019.

EGYPT: Morsi Meter (2012) This may be considered an “historical” App to measure an index that becomes very important in the age of politics & media: the level of appreciation expressed by citizens. The people behind the MorsiMeter, a website that monitors and updates readers about the Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi’s progress in implementing his campaign promises, have released a report assessing his first 100 days in his office. The official report of the MorsiMeter divides the president’s campaign promises into five categories—Fuel, security, traffic, bread and cleanliness. A page is devoted to each category, with promises achieved noted at the top while the rest lists promises “in progress” and “not spotted.” Altogether, the MorsiMeter’s report lists 10 campaign progresses as “achieved,” with the vast majority “not spotted.” The Washington Post quotes MorsiMeter co-founder Amr Sobhi asserting that the president had fulfilled only four of his 64 campaign promises. The Post adds: Piles of garbage continue to line some streets of the capital. Strikes over wages and overdue benefits have halted some public-sector services, particularly in Egypt’s woefully underfunded hospitals. One man even filed a police report against Morsi for failing to implement all of his 100-day promises, according to the Egypt Independent, an English-language daily. (continued)

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The report, which features colourful graphics and information delivered in bullet points, lists as one of the accomplishments in the category of “cleanliness”: “Starting awareness campaigns and Friday sermons to preach cleanliness and the sin of hurting people through throwing garbage in the streets.” Producer: Amr Sobhy & Abbas Adel http://www.morsimeter.com/en, last accessed February 2019.

RUSSIAN FEDERATION: The Russian Digital Agenda 2012–2018 The Russian country workshop held on the occasion of the WSIS Forum 2013 provided a detailed insight on “ICT in Russia for Sustainable Economic Growth and Social Development”. Let’s start providing some basic information about the Russian Federation: General information: 17 mln. sq. km 83; 143 mln. people 8.36 people for 1 sq. km 78% 17 mln sq km territory of Russia 83 regions of Russia 143 mln population 8.36 people for 1 sq. km population density 78% citizens reside on 25% of territory of Russia Nikolay Nikiforov, Minister of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, presented a comprehensive vision on the strategy for information society development in the Russian Federation and the State program “The Information society (2011–2020)”. The main directions are: – – – –

ICT Infrastructure and Services Information environment Security in the Information Society Information Society

Starting from the general main direction mentioned above the main directions of activity of the Russian ministry of Communications and Mass Media are: – – – – –

ICT Infrastructure e-Government Services Information Technology Media Post (continued)

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The development of e-Government and public services is based on a set of actions: – – – – –

Users of Public Services Portals Ensuring a Breakthrough Growth Dynamics of Portal Users Number The Portal Is Available in Different Languages of the World Russian e-Petitions Initiative In addition there will be in parallel a Telecom development

The key goals for 2012–2018 for Public e-Services in Russia104 The evolution of public services foreseen in this time frame is at the end of the process the opportunity to receive 100% of public services at any time thanks to the complete implementation of digital services covering up to 80% of the total amount to public services. Thanks to the electronic provision of services the overall quality of services and customer satisfaction may be assessed. e-Payments will be mainly performed through the electronic channels; no more cash. The final goal in 2018 is to reach 90% of population satisfied by public services. Activated early in the 2010s by the Unified Federal Web-Portal for Public e-Services, the public services portal (http://gosuslugi.ru) reached in 2012 four million unique users registered, four million services delivered. In 2012 there were more than 500,000 downloads of e-Gov mobile applications. The availability of such a platform provided to the Russian citizens the opportunity to save four million hours spare time. The unified portal may deliver services in four different languages: Russian, English, German and French (Русский, English, Deutsch, Le français). In order to better fit with the usual problem due to the double or even multistructured approach to services due to the differences between the internal organisation of the public offices and the “mental map” built by citizens, the unified portal provides two entry points in order to access services: one compliant with internal structure or by authorities, the other structured by life events or citizens-issues oriented. The access to the portal is granted by “Single Sign On” and “Single Window Service” approach. (continued)

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Further information about public goals within the framework 2012–2018 are available at http:// 2018.minsvyaz.ru, last accessed February 2019.

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The portal includes an integrated system for identification and authentication based on single accounts, single access tools, control of access to one’s personal data. Government guarantees security. Dealing with e-Government services many times we refer to payment services; this portal refers to a single cloud-based Registry for Gov-related payments ensuring the consistence and efficiency of the solution of the government information system ‘on government and municipal payments’ (GIS GMP). President Putin in 2012 outlined the need for a breakthrough in citizens’ usage of public e-Services. On May 2012 President Putin set some goals, a kind of digital agenda, to be fulfilled within 2018: citizens satisfaction 90%, “Single Window” service delivery 90%, Citizens using e-Services 70%. Russian e-Petitions Initiative In the general framework, reaching an interactive e-Government infrastructure and offering more opportunities to the portal enables citizens to make suggestions mandatory to be considered by authorities. Petitions may e-submitted by the unified federal portal and later on tracked by the submitter. Due to the wide extension of the Russian territory this service together with the rest of unified portal services is considered the best and fastest way to interact with the federal government. Russian e-ID One of the key points ensuring a breakthrough of the Russian digital agenda is the implementation of electronic identity for each citizen, the so called e-ID. In order to ensure an appropriate coverage of the territory citizens will get the e-ID in 42,000 post offices, replacing the paper-based passports by an e-ID. The timeframe foreseen for this innovation is the issue of the first epassports in 2015. e-Gov Users Growth Depends on Broadband The growth of broadband users in Moscow and Moscow Region since January 2012 is incredibly impressive. Broadband users were some 3000 on January 2012 and exploded to 55,000 one year later to reach a peak of 80,000 people in April 2013. Of course the figures are completely different in remote and less populated areas of the federation, in Krasnoyarsk (Siberia & Far East) in the same time span we have 100 people in January 2012 and some 1500 people 1 year after. Anyway the key factor in order to take up e-Services is the availability of broadband at reasonable prices. The key goals for 2012–2018 for Telecom in Russia (public goals on http://2018.minsvyaz.ru) are to provide high-quality communication and Internet everywhere both thanks to landlines, digital terrestrial networks or satellite, broadband connectivity everywhere including (continued)

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all means of transportation. 4G connectivity spread has all-over the country taking into account that every year 20 million people get access to 4G networks. In 2013 five million households got access to cable internet at 100 Mbits/s. In addition, telephone number portability is enabled; there is no need to change the phone number while changing the operators, all incoming calls are for free all over the Russian Federation, all outgoing calls are charged at local rates. The next stage of mobile Internet would be 4G and technologies such as LTE (Long Term Evolution). These technologies provided increased speeds, up to ten times that of 3G technologies, and increased security, important for the robustness and trust that speakers had earlier identified as critical to positioning the mobile Internet at the center of people’s lives. Russia is supporting the deployment of LTE technology; providers had to be sure they could receive a fair return on their investment. The expected result of these action is to satisfy the request of internet connectivity and communication of the 80% of the Russian population within 2018. Budget Funds to Fight Russian Digital Gap As usual in order to activate and implement similar development programs relevant financial resources are needed; how will the Russian government plan to make it feasible? The government plans to allocate 365 million US dollars thanks to the Universal Telecommunication Services Fund, 1.2% from operators’ revenue yearly. In addition there are relevant revenues from radio frequency spectrum payments ($512 mln). Mobile and Fixed Broadband in Russia Broadband subscribers (2013) The number of active subscribers (millions) is subdivided between fixed broadband—21.8 million means 15 subscribers per 100 people—and mobile broadband—79 million means 55 subscribers per 100 people. Within this plan of action there is a specific project, GPON Project, for Moscow. The key indexes characterizing GPON are: • • • •

Speed up to 1 Gb/sec; 1.2 mln households (~28%); 4 mln households (~97%) by 2015; LTE Users Growth.

As already mentioned LTE is under implementation in Russia; LTE coverage in 2013 is: 38 mln people reside in regions covered by RTE, 13 mln people are actually connected via RTE. (continued)

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RTE total coverage 248 cities in 2013. LTE was not enough; Russia was the first in the world to launch the LTE Advanced on a commercial network. What does LTE Advanced mean? The peak transfer speed in a direct channel is 300 Mbit/sec at the current moment for commercial mobile broadband networks. The first subscriber devices that support LTE Advanced started to be used in the first half of 2013. Internet Audience Let’s now consider internet development in Russia. Here are some figures: Internet audience in Russia—No. 1 in Europe: • • • • •

Monthly 61.2 mln people at 18+; daily near 47 mln people or 75% of the Internet users; households with internet access—42%; 52% of the adult population of the country; 15% from the number of the Internet users in the region (of 408 mln people). • In the cities (100,000+) 94% users have Internet access from home, primarily broadband. In 2012–13 the Russian language became the second most popular language of the Internet. Growth of the Monthly Internet Audience The annual increase in the number of users, % Source: Yandex «Internet Development in Russian Regions—Spring 2013» Mobile Broadband Mobile penetration in Russia is relevant; the active subscriber base of data transmission from mobile devices were: • • • • • • • • •

2012—65 mln users (SIM-cards); 2013—79 mln users. February 2013—Mobile penetration: Russia—134% (190.4 mln SIM-cards); Moscow license area—185%. And more specifically in the major cities: Moscow 62% Sankt Petersburg 60% Krasnodar Krai 62%

Source: J’son&Partners for Google «Mobile Internet in Russia—December 2012» (continued)

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An additional title of this digital agenda is the GLONASS Ecosystem that contributes to the promotion of ICT development. ERA-GLONASS is a system for satellite monitoring of traffic; it includes some added value services for citizens such as automatic notification of emergency services in case of accidents and other emergency situations. The system allows us to reduce the level of road deaths and injuries, includes navigation and telecommunication terminals in vehicles and the infrastructure of mobile operators and emergency services. By 2020 the system will be installed as an on-board equipment for all Russian car owners. It is fully compatible with the European system of eCall/ E112 and is based on the relevant technical standards ETSI and 3GPP.

TUNISIA: Webtelegram & Marsad (2005–2011) The “WebTelegram” (2005) solution allows the printing, the nationwide delivery and online tracking with proof of delivery of telegrams. It is a B2B & B2C service, which can easily be deployed in any national postal network, in any post office. The delivery of telegrams is reliable and also very fast— thanks to the electronic processing of everything, from writing a telegram to online payment. http://www.webtelegram.poste.tn, last accessed February 2019. “Observatory of parliament members actions (Marsad)” (2011) reports parliament member presence, discussion, voting, actions, resolutions, and electronic media coverage and people feedback. Drafts, budgets, laws and all discussed material and resolutions of the parliament are free for access and loading. Parliament member assiduity, voting, participation and media coverage is present in high-quality manner using high resolution and dynamic graphics and charts. http://www.marsad.tn, last accessed February 2019.

RWANDA: RURA Project (2000) Vision: To be a leading global regulator of public utilities. Mission: in regulating public utilities, RURA: • promotes free and fair competition; • protects the rights of consumers and balances the interests of all stakeholders; • promotes availability of affordable, quality services to all; and • leads in the development of the public utilities sectors. (continued)

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Values: the Authority upholds the following core values: • • • • • • •

Independence Transparency and Accountability Fairness Integrity Professionalism Innovation Sustainability

Motto: Inspiring Development Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) was initially created by the Law n 39/2001 of 13 September 2001 with the mission to regulate certain public utilities, namely: telecommunications network and/or telecommunications services, electricity, water, removal of waste products from residential or business premises, extraction and distribution of gas and transport of goods and persons. This Law was further reviewed and replaced by Law n 09/2013 of 01/03/ 2013 establishing Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) and determining its mission, powers, organisation and functioning. This Law gives to RURA the mandate to regulate: Telecommunications, information technology, broadcasting and converging electronic technologies including the internet and any other audiovisual information and communication technology; Postal services; Renewable and non-renewable energy, industrial gases, pipelines and storage facilities; Water; Sanitation; Transport of persons and goods; and other public utilities, if deemed necessary. The same Law gives to the Authority a legal personality, financial and administrative autonomy in the fulfilment of its mandate. The Authority plays a pivotal role between the policy maker, licensed service providers and consumers. The Authority reports to the Office of the Prime Minister and it coordinates with line ministries responsible for each regulated sector in executing its functions. In addition to the law creating RURA, there is a number of other legal and regulatory instruments which help RURA to discharge its responsibilities in each specific sector to be regulated. In the same vein, the Authority has the mission to ensure fair competition, promoting and protecting consumers’ interests and rights in regulated sectors. The Rwanda concept of Universal Access of the ICT sector was established by the policy arising from the country Global Vision 2020, launched in 2000. The Telecoms Law establishing the independent ICT regulatory body and the enforcement instrument regarding functioning of the Universal Access Fund (UAF) and its sources of funding materialize the concept of Universal Access. The key objective of the UAF is to allow access at affordable terms to a reliable network in all parts of the country. http://www.rura.rw, last accessed February 2019.

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NIGERIA: Transparent Nigeria & iPolice (2013, 2012) Very few countries rival the diversity of Nigeria across the world; 250 ethnic groups, 500 languages and a population of over 160 million. Such diversity brings with it unique experiences and stories that need telling; whilst Nigerians have explored film, music, arts and literature to tell their stories, animation has been absent; but this is about to change. “Transparent Nigeria” is Nigeria’s premiere online magazine for educated, tech-savvy, well-connected Nigerians, young and old alike. Transparent Nigeria is a movement to hold the Nigerian government accountable for its actions. By publicizing the amount and use of Nigeria’s public funds, the Transparent Nigeria online database aims to change widespread corruption rampant in the country and to offer people an alternative to frustration. Get the real idea of what’s going on with Nigeria’s economy, its political situation, and its cultural phenomena. Make the dark bright and the murky clear. Welcome to Transparent Nigeria! http://www.transparentnigeria.com, last accessed February 2019. “iPolice” is a community-policing platform designed to engage more Nigerians in making Nigeria a safer country. The mobile app iPolice provides citizens with an effective way of partnering with security agencies, by reporting crimes and providing valuable information via their mobile phones. iPolice also supports community-oriented policing efforts by keeping citizens informed of crime and security issues in the neighbourhood where they live or work, thus helping to reduce crime in the community. Complustech Nigeria produced the iPolice Mobile app. The application is a community policing platform designed to engage more Nigerians in making Nigeria a safer country. iPolice makes it possible to follow and analyse security and crime trends according to federal state and given location. With this app, citizens are able to locate the nearest police station with address and contact details, for quick and easy crime reporting. Special features of the application include: Security news and alert security tips for safe living; a Crime reporting module; an Information feedback module; the Town and suburb crime history and security report. Amos Emmanuel, president, Programos Foundation and the UN World Summit Award Nigeria Eminent National Expert in Accra, Ghana, Ihesie, said “the mega-sized and valuable content solution has been overhauled for application in the national exercise to promote safety in the coming election”. The mobile app iPolice provides citizens with an effective way of partnering with security agencies, by reporting crimes and providing valuable information via their mobile phones. iPolice also supports community-oriented policing efforts by keeping citizens informed of crime and security issues in the neighbourhood where they live or work, thus helping to reduce crime in the community. (continued)

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Emmanuel added: “We seize this opportunity to call on innovative entrepreneurs to continue to deliver societal changing products to give positive and sustainable hope to humanity!” iPolice Mobile product was Nigeria’s UN World Summit Award Winner in 2013. https://www.f6s.com/ipolice, and https://itpulse.com.ng/2017/08/08/policelook-to-technology-to-curb-crime-launches-ipolice-hawk-eye-application/, last accessed February 2019.

ITALY: O.D.I.N.O. (2013) O.D.I.N.O. (Operational Device for Information, Networking and Observation) has been conceived in partnership with “Arma dei Carabinieri”. O.D.I.N.O. is the solution excellence for the security of operators and citizens. System hardware is characterized by a multi-touch screen 700 tablet, two integrated cameras (frontal and rear), and an integrated microphone. Connectivity is granted by the use of modem devices 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth, permitting the full coverage of all the connection possibilities nowadays on marketplace. The tablet is placed in a dedicated compartment and firmly located at the centre of the dashboard of the vehicle through a dedicated bracket. The extremely compact dimensions and the features of the hardware, essential to the system, make the use of ODINO possible both by on-vehicle personnel and on-foot operators. The absence of cabling and wiring make the installation of ODINO possible on every vehicular platform. The peculiar ODINO blocking system allows to avoid using the operators’ vital space and the tablet can be easily removed to use it also outside of the vehicle, granting all its software functionalities related to the control of territory: Geo-localisation: The system sends the cartographic coordinates to Intellikore Control Room. The system makes the operators able to know in real time the position of forces posted on the field, permitting faster and efficient interventions in emergency situations; Video Surveillance: The video surveillance module grants the ability to send video streaming in near real time to the Control Room, and in the case of lack of connection, to record on the device pictures and videos. The solution permits the operator to choose between both integrated cameras in the device. Multimedia contents, geo-localized and stored on the device, can be sent to the Control Room whenever required and using all the interconnection technologies present in the environment; Database Access: Real time access to all databases, national and local, inters forces and proprietaries. Available databases are accessible in safe and direct mode on remote available in real time over the device. The operator accessing the searching queries is connected seamlessly at the same time to (continued)

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all available databases and receiving on the smart-phone a data aggregate on an easy-to-use layout personalized according to the specific operational needs. In case of signalled person, the special visualization of this system is useful to alert the operator about the danger. The searching matches include not only the data requested by the operator but also the cartographic coordinates and a time stamp which are stored to use them in future matching. Nowadays “ODINO” is configured for Italy for SDI, MCTC, ANIA database access, allowing verifications on plates, frame, person and registered arms; Alarm set: With the single push of a button the alarm signal is sent to the Control Room. This procedure starts automatically audio and video streaming, giving the Control Room operator the opportunity to visualize the realtime situation. Geo-localization adds useful data to manage the alarm; Messaging: Bi-directional instant messaging module; communications are exchanged in safety and encrypted mode between on-field operators and the Control Room. The service is based on an innovative chat-style platform. Messages can be written using both a virtual keyboard on smart phone, and a pre-configured message list; Navigation System: Navigation System available with European and worldwide cartography. On top of the basic functionalities, this enables the reception on smart phone of a specific target destination sent by the Control Room to accept the mission connected: in this way the target sent is automatically set up on the Navigation System which evaluates the best route to reach it. Odino System is totally integrated with the Intellikore Control Room solution. Among the main functions to be noted are the constant geo-localization, the reception of multimedia contents from the field (pictures, video, video streaming, audio streaming), the alarm signals (sent by patrols) management and the bi-directional chat style instant messaging. Odino as well as all the other Intellitronika solutions can be integrated with the existing customer Control Room granting the basic functionalities of the solution. Company: Intellitronika. http://www.intellitronika.com/en/odino/, last accessed February 2019.

AUSTRIA: WIENBOT—A Chatbot for the City of Vienna (2017) Social Chat Bots and Speech Dialogue Systems have been around for years, but why should companies increasingly engage with them right now? Are they really going to continually replace websites and apps, or are just a tech hype? (continued)

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The number of users of messenger services is increasing rapidly and not only in the private environment, but also in the internal communication, Slack or Microsoft teams are good examples of this. But why is it like that? A Bitkom study puts it in a nutshell; 88% of users spend their time with five apps, the other installed apps lose importance for the user. In contrast, more than one billion people worldwide use a messenger on average 27 times a day, where Social ChatBots offer their services. WienBot is the City of Vienna’s response to a fast-growing trend that primarily affects the domain of customer service. Its key purpose is to put user needs first and provide users with correct, relevant information as simply and fast as possible, customising the service to the individual user’s situation. Chatbots like WienBot—also known as virtual assistants or virtual agents—are among the major trends of the current tech scene. By simulating human-to-human communication, they considerably simplify and speed up processes like inquiry management. Currently WienBot answers questions on the 250 most frequently accessed contents of the City of Vienna’s official website www.wien.at. It also suggests other useful city services that could help the users in their individual situation. Producer: Stadt Wien. https://smartcity.wien.gv.at/site/wienbot/, last accessed February 2019.

MALAYSIA: Malaysia Foreign Workers Centralized Management System (FWCMS Also Known as MiGRAMS) (2017) The Foreign Workers Centralized Management System (FWCMS also known as MiGRAMS) is a scalable fully online holistic system designed to assist users and stakeholders in all compliance and regulatory processes related to employing migrant workers, from selection, recruitment, periodic management, monitoring, all the way to ensuring workers return safely home. The journey of R&D for FWCMS involved enormous challenges and a time frame to develop the centralized solution by collaborating with over 13 countries and its laws, regulations, customs, practices and peculiarities. With simultaneous implementation in both source and destination countries for migrant workers, FWCMS provides stakeholders—Governments, employers, migrant workers, insurance providers, medical practitioners, etc.—with an efficient, simplified, effective and reliable methodology for managing, tracking and reporting on their respective migrant workforce. Producer: Bestinet Sdn. Bhd. http://www.fwcms.com.my/, last accessed February 2019.

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GERMANY: Arriving/Ankommen (2016) The app targets displaced persons who have only been in Germany for a few weeks. “Arrival” is a guide to quickly become comprehensively orientated during this period, and is tailored towards the immediate needs of people who only recently arrived in Germany. Since December 2016 there is also a website with the same content at http://www.ankommenapp.de/ to reach Refugees without Mobile Phones and Refugee Assistance. The app contains information on the asylum procedure, on access to the labour market, and on “Living in Germany”. The chapter entitled “Living in Germany” takes up topics which are important for everyday life, such as Who can I turn to for advice? When does my child have to go to school? What are the road traffic rules? Several texts within this chapter deal with the political and legal system in Germany, freedom of religion or equal rights for men and women. The goal is to make available the most important information that is needed in order to integrate asylum-seekers quickly. The app also has an integrated, free, multimedia language course which provides practical everyday support when taking the first steps in German. Users particularly benefit from the combination of information and the language course. Personal statements from people who have immigrated to Germany provide information about life here in a personal, informal way. Producer: Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. http://ankommenapp.de/, last accessed February 2019.

UNITED STATES Ballot Ready (2016) Ballot Ready is an ambitious, technologically-sophisticated, and crowd sourced solution to a common problem faced by many voters—long ballots with election races about which they lack reliable, consistent information. US voters are often confronted with a long list of so-called down ballot races they don’t know anything about. Even moderately informed voters may find themselves staring blankly at names of candidates for school board seats, judgeships, neighbourhood commissions and so on. Some voters might make guesses or vote based on candidates’ names. Others may choose to leave part of their ballot blank. It can be a frustrating process, leaving some voters to skip elections altogether. It is exactly that problem faced by its founders, Alex Niemczewski and Aviva Rosman, at a voting station. Even having reviewed the official voters’ guide published by local elections officials, they both felt under- and even uninformed about at least some of the races and candidates. In developing the application, the two graduate students at the University of Chicago faced two overwhelming logistical challenges. (continued)

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The first was to develop digital maps of every voting district in Ballot Ready coverage areas (which will include up to 21 states by the end of the current cycle). Their colleagues and researchers at the university built one from scratch. The second was to develop consistent, independently verified, nonpartisan candidate profiles across the board. While cost prohibitive via conventional means, Ballot Ready used a global crowdsourcing Internet marketplace (Amazon Mechanical Turk) to coordinate the use of real people (human intelligence) to perform and mutually validate thousands of tasks in building candidate profiles. Through crowdsourcing, Ballot Ready has been able to develop triply-validated profiles for under $2 each. Company: BallotReady.org https://www.ballotready.org/, last accessed February 2019.

ITALY: YOU POL (2017) Send reports, even anonymous, of bullying and drug dealing; citizens can use “YouPol” the new app created “in house” by the information technology team of the State Police. The new applications can be downloaded for free from the online stores for both systems, iOS and Android. Citizens can send images, and videos in addition to the text that notifies of violent conduct. Through a smart phone or tablet the notification and the exact position of where the event is taking place will be sent directly to the operations rooms of the police stations, even if the citizen using the APP is in a different province; in addition, pressing a big red button citizens can activate direct emergency calls to 113 (Police Emergency) or to the Single European Emergency Number 112. On the occasion of the launch of the application the Italian Minister of Interior pointed out that: “YouPol is a friend app, it is your friend to whom you can contact in case of difficulty, launch the signal, say that you need help, do it anonymously if you want, but the only thing you must not do is turn the other way, there is no free society if violence prevails in that society”. YouPol is not a sort of Big Brother, it is a way of dialogue between law enforcement agencies and citizens, because police need more and more aware citizens and participate in the security system, starting with the young, it is not a repressive tool but a preventive one. Producer: Polizia di Stato. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.poliziadistato.youpol&hl= it, last accessed February 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=mSmMtdGbvho, last accessed February 2019.

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SOUTH AFRICA: TOBETSA (2016) Free WiFi for Africa (trading as Project Isizwe) is an independent start-up. The pilot project—Tshwane Free WiFi—began in 2013 and continues to roll out free internet, primarily in low-income communities, to the citizens of Tshwane, with the vision of bringing free WiFi within walking distance of every citizen. Project Isizwe has been established as a Non-Profit Company (NPC), an innovative business structure which allows the organisation to pool bandwidth and utilise the capacity of local internet service providers without incurring the traditional excessive mark-ups associated with enabling connectivity. The traditional telecommunications model includes exorbitant overhead costs and unnecessary additional fees, making it near impossible for regular South Africans to have access to affordable call and connection rates. The entrepreneurial innovation embodied in the business model, technical infrastructure configuration and collaborative working partnerships with local government in the City of Tshwane, has positioned Project Isizwe as a unique start-up company in the non-profit telecommunications sector of South Africa. Project Isizwe has embraced the start-up culture, with a fast-paced approach to business practise, management and operations. Project Isizwe has rapidly developed a replicable and scalable business model for providing open access internet connectivity in previously disconnected, low-income communities. Over and above the provision of Free WiFi, Project Isizwe has quickly developed numerous value-added-services which further the online experience for users, fully harnessing and extending the technical power of the internet to give the citizens of Tshwane access to what technology in the twenty-first century has to offer. The start-up environment has enabled the organisation to quickly respond to the needs of users, developing unique offerings including WiFi Voice (free VoIP call service), WiFi Chat (an online chat service which lets citizens talk to their local government for free) and WiFi TV (a hyper-local video service that delivers 3-minute video content to users, created by young, local citizen journalists for the local Free WiFi audiences). Producer: Free WiFi for Africa NPC http://www.projectisizwe.org/, last accessed February 2019.

References 1. Ronchi Alfredo M (2009) eCulture: cultural content in the digital age. Springer. ISBN:978-3540-75273-8 2. West Darrell M (2004) E-government and the transformation of service delivery and citizen attitudes. Public Adm Rev 64(1):15–27 3. Hafkin N, Taggart N (2001). Gender, information technology, and developing countries: an analytic study. Academy for Educational Development for the United States Agency for International Development

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4. Laudon K, Traver CG (2007) E-commerce: business, technology, society. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle, NI 5. Nair M, Kuppusamy M et al (2005) A longitudinal study on the global digital divide problem: strategies and policies to bridge the digital divide. Bus Rev 4(1):315–326 6. Stjano F (2005) RFID is X-ray vision. Commun ACM 48(9):190 7. United Nations (2015) 70/1. Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E 8. United Nations (2003) e-Government at the Crossroads 9. Dovifat A, Brueggemeier M et al (2007) The model of micropolitical arenas: a framework to understand the innovation process of e-Government-projects. Inf Polity Int J Gov Democr Inform Age 12:127–138 10. Al Awadhi S, Morris A (2008) The use of the UTAUT model in the adoption of e-Government services in Kuwait. In: Proceedings of the 41st Hawaii international conference on system science 11. Borras J (2004) International technical standards for e-Government. Academic Conference Ltd. http://www.ejeg.com/issue/download.html?idIssue=5, last accessed December 2017. issn:1479-439X 12. Broggi D (2009) CONSIP: the value of an experience: theory and practice between e-Procurement and e-Government. Franco Angeli. ISBN:978-88-568-1293-0 13. Budden J (2009) e-Government in the Pacific (An opportunity for regional synergies?). The World Bank 14. Chen Y-C, Chu P-Y (2008), Electronic governance and cross-boundary collaboration: innovations and advancing tools. IGI Global. ISBN:9781609607531 15. Council of Europe, Integrated project 1: making democratic institutions work, e-governance workshop, Strasbourg, 10–11 June, 2002 16. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2016), United Nations e-Government Survey 2016, UNITED NATIONS 2016. ISBN:978-92-1-123205-9 17. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2008) United Nations e-government survey 2008: from e-government to connected governance. United Nations, New York 18. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2005) United Nations e-government survey 2005: from e-government to connected governance. United Nations, New York 19. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2003) Global E-government Survey 2003. United Nations 20. Dangermond J (2002) Web services and GIS. Geospatial Solutions 21. European Commission (2008) e-Government Factsheets – European Commission 22. e-Government Unit (2006) e-Government Metadata Standard version 3.1, U.K. Cabinet Office Transformational Government Strategy 23. European Commission (2006) Efficiency and effectiveness e-Government: key activities 20072010. http://www.epractice.eu/document/3253 24. From the digital divide to DIGITAL OPPORTUNITIES: measuring infostates for development (2005) Orbicom & NRC Press, Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information. ISBN:2-922651-05-3 25. Galligan, B, Roberts, W (2007) Oxford companion to Australian politics. Oxford University Press. ISBN:9780195555431 26. Gant Jon P, et al Electronic government for developing countries, ICT Application and Cybersecurity Division – Policies and Strategies Department, ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (August 2008 Draft) 27. Garson GD (2006) Public information technology and e-governance: managing the virtual state. Jones and Bartlett, Sudbury, MA 28. Gupta MP, Jana D (2003) E-government evaluation: a framework and case study. Gov Inf Q 20 (4):365–387 29. Harrison W, Heuston G, Mocas S, Morrissey M, Richardson J (2004) High tech forensics. Commun ACM 47(7):49–52

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30. Kreps D, Richardson H (2007) IS success and failure – the problem of scale. Polit Q 78(3):439– 446 31. Kotler P, Berger R, Bickhoff N (2016) The quintessence of strategic management. Springer. ISBN:978-3-662-48490-6 32. Kurbalija J (2016) An introduction to internet governance. DiploFoundation. ISBN:978-9993253-30-3 33. Kurbalija J (2014) Gouvernance d’Internet: une introduction. DiploFoundation. ISBN:97899932-53-29-7 34. Internet Governance Forum (IGF). www.intgovforum.org 35. Millard J (2007) Inclusive e-Government: survey of status and baseline activities, European Commission, DG Information Society and Media, e-Government unit 36. Measuring the Information Society: The ICT Development Index – International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Geneva (2009). http://www.itu.int/publ/D-IND-ICTOI-2009/en 37. National Research Council (2002) Information technology, research, innovation, and e-Government. National Academy Press, Washington, DC 38. Richard G, Roussev V (2006) Next generation cyber forensics. Commun ACM 49(2):76–80 39. Neuman L (2009) Enforcement models: content and context. World Bank Institute 40. Online public services are increasingly interactive: “intelligent delivery” is the next frontier, says latest e-Government report, European Commission 2006 41. Policy brief – keeping government contracts clean, OECD 2008 42. Prattipati SN (2003) Adoption of e-Governance: differences between countries in the use of online government services. J Am Acad Bus 3(1/2):1 43. Reforming governance systems under real-world conditions. The World Bank (2008) 44. Report – integrity in public procurement. OECD (2008) 45. Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance Château de Bossey June 2005. http:// www.wgig.org/docs/BackgroundReport.pdf 46. Reinikka R (2008) Reducing inequality in human development: impact of improved public spending & service delivery. The World Bank 47. The future of e-government – agenda 2020 – main conclusions. OECD E-leaders conference 2008 48. United Nations (2010) World e-parliament report 2010 49. Upton DM, Staats BR (2008) Radically simple IT. Harv Bus Rev 86(3):118–124 50. Walsham G, Robey D et al (2007) Foreword: special issue on information systems in developing countries. MIS Q 31(2):317–326 51. West DM (2008) Improving technology utilization in electronic government around the world, 2008. Governance Studies Brookings https://www.brookings.edu/research/improving-technol ogy-utilization-in-electronic-government-around-the-world-2008/, last accessed December 2017

Chapter 6

e-Procurement

e-Procurement refers to the use of electronic communications by public sector organisations when buying supplies and services or tendering public works. Increasing the use of e-Procurement in Europe can generate significant savings for European taxpayers. These savings would maximise the efficiency of public spending in the current context of fiscal constraints. e-Procurement can also provide a new source of economic growth and jobs, including by facilitating access to public procurement contracts by SMEs. (European Commission)

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Public Procurement

First of all, let us introduce the general term, public procurement. Public procurement has a long history. As Charles Coe mentions in his book “Public financial procurement1” one of the earliest procurement orders was written on a red clay tablet, found in Syria, and dates from between 2400 and 2800 B.C. The order was for “50 jars of fragrant smooth oil for 600 small weight in grain”. Of course, we found other evidence of historical procurement such as the ones related to the development of the silk trade between China, and a Greek colony in 800 B.C. and later on similar contracts due to the Etruscans. So, since a long time ago there has been a need to structure the acquisition of goods for public purposes and this is what we term “public procurement” today. Of course, the idea to structure procurement is not limited to the public sector, so the idea to group the request for specific products or services and submit a cumulative request for the best offer is valid and applicable even to the private sector. Thanks to the network this approach is easer today, so we group the request of hotels rooms, restaurant vouchers, medical check-ups. We can consider this procurement, but private procurement. The Rockefeller Foundation funded some relevant intensive studies on public administration in 1914. Government procurement, as one of four major economic activities of government, was also included in the study. As a result of such research activity, a 275-pages book, Principles of Government Purchasing2, was published in 1919. The first chapter of the book is “The basic problems of government purchasing”; the introductory section of this chapter outlines the scenario: “On its technical side the problem of government purchasing involves the same essential elements as does purchasing for a private business. In governments, as in private business, there exists the necessity for expert handling of all the elements of the supply problem and of complete coordination of effort between the purchasing agent and all other responsible officials having to do with the supply problem.” Moreover, the author says, “Compared with the purchasing problem of many of our large industrial corporations the government purchasing problem is a simple one. Government business is routine to a large extent, making it easily possible with adequate organisation and procedure to plan the entire supply problem considerably in advance of immediate requirements. Changes in plan need not be precipitately made to meet competitive conditions, and hence there is little danger of overinvestment and surplussage. The course of government business is, as a rule, placid in comparison with the urgent necessities of a railroad or of a busy industrial corporation; the problem of coordination between requirements and deliveries is, therefore, reduced to a minimum with a consequent avoidance of a large part of the urgency of follow-up to secure timely deliveries.” This seems to be a reasonable “fresco” of the government natural behaviour in purchases. Since then, there have been many developments in government procurement 1 2

Charles K. Coe, Public Financial Management, ISBN 13: 9780137374618, Prentice Hall, 1989. A.G. Thomas, Principles of Government Purchasing, Institute for Government Research, 1914.

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practices, including numerous government procurement reforms. This is what we call “procurement” or more precisely, referring to the Rockefeller Foundation study, Public Procurement. Recently the digital revolution introduced the e-Procurement.

6.2

e-Procurement

What do we mean with the term e-Procurement? e-Procurement stands for electronic procurement, that is to say the exchange of supplies, services and work through the Internet or any other electronic channels. In general, the exchange may refer, but it is not limited, to business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C) or business to government (B2G). e-Procurement may be directly interconnected with the Electronic Resource Planning (ERP3) of an organisation (usually B2B). The synergy between ERP and e-Procurement is evident if we consider the basic functions of ERP, to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. Of course, the advent of the Internet and the opportunity to buy and sell goods on the network having the ability to compare in real time quality and prices changed significantly the way to manage economic transactions. We will see later how this opportunity benefits, for instance, the farmers in the developing countries. It is reasonable that buyers having opportunity to buy a bigger stock may gain a profitable price. This is historically the way in which farmers used to buy seeds or machinery through the Farmers Consortium. The same happens today for private citizens, as already outlined; thanks to the Internet some “consumer groups” are active on line in order to group orders and make profitable deals with providers4. If this is true for private buyers it is even more profitable for governments. In some way, the implementation of e-Procurement is even much more useful and powerful in the public sector. Public bids and frameworks contracts may benefit a full range of public companies, whatever their own domain of activity and wherever their own location in the country. Let us now focus on this specific implementation of procurement, the public procurement. Public procurement is one of the key sectors of the economy; in the US it is 12% of the gross domestic product (GDP), in the European Union the government contracts amount to more than 16% of the EU gross domestic product (GDP). Public procurement in European countries ranges between 10 and 20% of the national gross domestic product of the member states5. It is usually the largest public expenditure item in the national budget.

3

Grant Norris, John D. Balls, Kenneth M. Hartley, E-Business and ERP: Transforming the Enterprise ISBN:0471392081, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY, USA—2000. 4 E.g. Groupon—http://www.groupon.com, last accessed February 2019. 5 Some authors use to consider 10–15% of GDP in developed countries, and up to 20% in developing countries.

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20 %

Emerging

10 %

Industrialised

PP % GDP

16 %

EU

12 %

US 0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Ratio Public Procurement/Gross Domestic Product

The potential contractual power of governments in many relevant sectors of business is more than relevant regardless of whether they are looking for furniture, stationery or services. A very simple set of agreements with hotel chains may produce relevant savings in hospitality costs of any public administration from local governments to universities. Public procurement in the past played a different role in the different European countries. Some of them took real advantage from it, some did not. The idea to unify the purchase procedures in order to reach a critical mass able to make better quality/ price choices, have a better understanding of the market and obtain better prices is not new and innovative. “Certain new electronic purchasing techniques are continually being developed. Such techniques help to increase competition and streamline public purchasing, particularly in terms of the savings in time and money which their use will allow.”6 Each government has a specific branch dealing with a similar scope. Nevertheless, the way in which this branch works and provides support to the public administration makes the difference. Of course, as it happens in many completely different fields, the reshaping of traditional procedures involving in some way “personal” power, and sometimes even more than “power”, causes some frictions. Personnel at different levels feel unhappy because they cannot choose their own supplier or they cannot choose their preferred trademark. Sometimes the difference may be due to the assistance, both pre- and post-sale. On the other side the implementation of public-procurement and, even more, e-Procurement implies the reshaping of purchase procedures, so some “key person” or “approval” may be lost in the process. Starting from an average spending review of each specific sector of the administration it is relatively easy to select the most significant items to be negotiated centrally in order to set a framework contract to refer to for any supply. This was and 6

Official Journal of the European Union, DIRECTIVE 2004/18/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 31 March 2004: on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts.

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still is valid; in any case, nowadays thanks to the use of the Internet-based platforms (e-Procurement platforms) it will be possible to publish on line a structured catalogue of goods and services, the e-Catalogue, open to public auction or covered by framework agreements enabling each single public organisation to enjoy the same price and clauses, again whatever they do and wherever they are. Sometimes to overcome such frictions, buying the requested product at the same or better overall conditions (quality, configuration, assistance, guarantee, etc.) is allowed.

6.3

e-Catalogues

e-Procurement platforms perform transactions between legal entities certified by qualified digital signatures7, providing digital invoices. The use of e-Catalogues in public procurement can significantly benefit both buyers and suppliers due to the automated processing it can offer. Electronic catalogues can form tenders or parts of them. The use of this new tool can simplify the processes followed by suppliers to create offers, while buyers can automate processes for reception, evaluation, purchasing and invoicing.

e-Catalogue and key actors “Qualified electronic signature” as defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute ETSI (Sophia Antipolis, France). ETSI has been successful in standardizing GSM cell phone system, TETRA professional mobile radio system, and Short Range Devices.

7

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In order to fully benefit from the automated processing of e-Catalogues they need to be structured according to a specific standard or take advantage of interoperability of an international standard. Unfortunately, as always happens in the definition phase of a standard, there are a number of competitors and as a consequence there is no interoperability of catalogues. This in turn limits the possibilities for automated processing and limits as well the benefits for suppliers. As a direct consequence, there is a strong need to define a standard (both de facto or de jure); due to this issue in 2004 the European Commission activated a survey on the European state of the art in e-Catalogues. In 2004 the European Union introduced the new EU legislative framework of public procurement, Directives 2004/17/EC8 and 2004/18/EC9. These directives introduced for the first time a coherent and comprehensive framework for the use of electronic public procurement in the EU. “Contracting authorities may make use of electronic purchasing techniques, providing such use complies with the rules drawn up under this Directive and the principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination and transparency.”10 Among other innovation it introduced and authorized the use of electronic catalogues (e-Catalogues) as a tool for the electronic submission of tenders. “To that extent, a tender submitted by a tenderer, in particular where competition has been reopened under a framework agreement or where a dynamic purchasing system is being used, may take the form of that tenderer’s electronic catalogue if the latter uses the means of communication chosen by the contracting authority in accordance with Article 42.”11 The use of e-Catalogues in public procurement must be in line with all rules and regulations that apply for the use of electronic means, the electronic submission of tenders, as well as the general principles for e-Procurement. At the same time the European Commission commissioned a study entitled “Electronic catalogues in electronic public procurement” with specific focus on “Standardisation Initiatives” within the European countries in both the private and public sectors. The aim of this study is formulating requirements and recommendations for their further developments. An additional study on “EU: Electronic Catalogues in Electronic Public Procurement12” was delivered in 2007. This study, commissioned by the European Commission, aimed to analyse rules and practices for the use of e-Catalogues in both the public and the private sectors, with a view to formulate requirements and recommendations for their further development in public procurement. 8

Official Journal of the European Union, DIRECTIVE 2004/17/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 31 March 2004 coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors. 9 Official Journal of the European Union, DIRECTIVE 2004/18/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 31 March 2004: on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts. 10 Idem. 11 Idem. 12 https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/document/eu-electronic-catalogues-electronic-public-procurement, last accessed February 2019.

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The report outlines the need to find an agreement on certain minimum functional requirements and standards as a remedy to the risk of ICT applications on the market not meet the requirements of the public sector and of barriers to the Internal Market, and increase both public buyers’ and businesses’ trust in the new electronic procedures, systems and tools. The central principle of this approach is not to drive a wedge between developments in the public sector and the private sector; e-Catalogues suitable to be used as valid offers in a public procurement procedure should be used in, and be interoperable with those used in, a standard electronic commerce environment. According to the summary of the report the objective of the study can be synthesized as follows: • To define the notion of e-Catalogues and study their current use in procurement practices, both in the public and private sectors; • To identify the general and specific functional requirements that can be derived from the new legal framework, so as to specify in greater detail the conditions under which e-Catalogues may constitute a valid offer in an electronic public procurement procedure, whilst preserving interoperability with e-Catalogue applications in general use; • To review relevant standardisation activities with a view to identify advancements, gaps and areas for future work; • To define recommendations for Member States, Standardisation Bodies and the European Commission on actions and activities that can contribute to the more efficient and beneficial use of e-Catalogues in European public procurement. As already outlined one of the most beneficial uses of e-Catalogues is to submit them on the occasion of call for tenders. In order to ensure that e-Catalogues can be accepted as valid tenders, both contracting authorities and economic operators must comply with the general and specific legal and functional requirements of the EU public procurement Directives. However, whilst the Directives state that tenders submitted electronically may take the form of an electronic catalogue, “For example, in order to participate in a procurement procedure in which use of electronic catalogues, which is a format for the presentation and organisation of information in a manner that is common to all the participating bidders and which lends itself to electronic treatment, is permitted or required, economic operators would, in the absence of standardisation, be required to customise their own catalogues to each procurement procedure, which would entail providing very similar information in different formats depending on the specifications of the contracting authority concerned. Standardising the catalogue formats would thus improve the level of inter-operability, enhance efficiency and would also reduce the effort required of economic operators.13” they do not further define the notion of an e-Catalogue itself.

13

DIRECTIVE 2014/24/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing; Directive 2004/18/EC, paragraph 55— https://publications.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/aa61f069-b654-11e3-86f9-01aa 75ed71a1/language-en, last accessed February 2019.

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Moreover, in the same directive, paragraph 56 deals with standards: “When considering whether there is a need to ensure or enhance interoperability between differing technical formats or process and messaging standards by rendering the use of specific standards mandatory, and if so which standards to impose, the Commission should take the utmost account of the opinions of the stake-holders concerned.” Apart from the e-Catalogue structure and standard, part of the problems related to electronic submission were already solved some time ago. If we refer to the history of electronic submission of tenders or project proposals the potential benefit was clear to everyone. This process within the area of the European Commission was experimented with many years ago (1990s) in the field of the “Telematics” programme and later on extended to other programmes, mainly of the IT/ICT domain, very soon14. The electronic submission of offers mainly required the clear identification of the “submitter”, the certification of both the time stamp of the submission and the integrity of the submitted offer. Of course, as it happens must of the times for the traditional submission by registered post, even electronic submission implies a possible time delay due to the notification mechanisms of electronic documents delivery. Part of the problem, the one related to the certification of the identity of the submitter, is now delegated to the electronic qualified signature. On September 2007, the final report15 was issued under the umbrella of the DG Internal Markets. Following the description provided by the executive summary, the study is subdivided into three main parts: • State of Play: presents e-Catalogue initiatives in the public sector in the EU and in private companies, highlighting common points, differences, needs and requirements; • Standardisation Activities: presents current standardisation activities on e-Catalogues and product description and classification schemes, and makes recommendations for the adoption of appropriate standards in Europe to increase interoperability; • Functional Requirements: defines preliminary functional and non-functional requirements for establishing e-Procurement systems, which may use e-Catalogues as a tool for tender submission. Standardisation is a must in an evolving scenario where electronic support to transactions both in Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Government (B2G) is already a standard. As it happens in standardisation we do not need many proprietary standards competing with each other to become “the standard”; we envisage an open one shared as the de facto standard. The establishment of an open standard is particularly important in the field of electronic procurement and more specifically in public electronic procurement. Such a standardisation will significantly improve the interoperable exchange of information between organisations contributing to fulfilment of European Public bids offering a platform for a fair competition among European suppliers.

14

In the second half of the 1990s the use of protocol was experimented with. The final report was prepared for DG Internal Markets (European Commission) by: EUROPEAN DYNAMICS SA 209 Kifissias Avenue Marousi 15124 Greece. 15

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In some way, we are already experiencing a similar opportunity in the field of destination management and on line offer of integrated travel opportunities, enjoying on the fly comparison of offers and their ranking accordingly with different criteria. This opportunity is largely due to the existent standards already in use since a long time (IATA16, etc.).

Traffic light: single Market Governance. Source: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/scoreboard/ performance_overview/index_en.htm

The creation of a single market all over Europe based on transparency of the procedures and fair competition may take a strong advantage from the diffuse use of interoperability standards in building the confidence of European market players— consumers, vendors and economic operators—in electronic procurement. Of course, apart from the required level of trust, in order to save time and money having the chance to automate as much as possible the comparison of multiple offers we must be able to make automated evaluation of similar offers in order to rank them and make a choice. The full range of potential offers responding to the request must be analysed, compared and ranked, providing to the decision maker a kind of dashboard summarizing the results. So, the key point is to enable automated processing of offers and catalogues. The automated processing of e-Catalogues however appears to be possible only when e-Catalogues are formed and exchanged in a standardised manner, that is, when they are interoperable. Hence, standardisation in this field is necessary to increase efficiency through the reduction, or even elimination, of manual intervention.

16

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is the trade association of airlines. IATA 240 members comprise 84% of the total air traffic—http://www.iata.org/Pages/default.aspx, last accessed February 2019.

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Something similar, in the field of private purchase, is available on line thanks to some websites providing the comparison of offers related to homogeneous goods (e.g. energy fares, insurances, bank loans, etc.). The EC report17 issued in 2007 took into account the emerging standards in the field of electronic catalogues and identified between the other two main existing initiatives/standards developed care of international standardisation bodies OASIS18 and CEN/ISSS19—UN/CEFACT20 in the area of e-Catalogues. The two emerging standards were respectively UBL 2.0 and c-Catalogue. The report compares these two prevailing initiatives, taking into account their business documents, processes and messages in order to identify similarities and differences, strengths and weaknesses. A specific focus of the analysis concerns the extension of their use in the pre-awarding phases of the procurement cycle. In addition to the prevailing two, the report examines the progress made by six EU member states in creating an e-Catalogue. Of course, as already mentioned, in order to fully benefit from electronic procurement, the catalogues, if not fully compliant with the same standard, must be interoperable. The findings of the “Electronic catalogues in electronic public procurement: Standardisation Initiatives” report may be summarized in the following list of recommendations21: – “Consider and promote the use of existing standards before creating tailor-made specifications. The existing standards, and especially the imminent convergence of UBL and c-Catalogue, are expected to facilitate the exact specifications upon which e-Catalogues are used in public procurement. (Actor: Member States); – Perform the convergence of UBL and c-Catalogue in one unified standard, further enhance it with e-Catalogue related messages and processes to support the pre-awarding phases of public procurement and engage into promotional 17

Idem—EUROPEAN DYNAMICS SA 209 Kifissias Avenue Marousi 15124 Greece. Organisation for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS) is a not-forprofit international consortium. Its mission is the establishment and adoption of open standards in the e-Business domain, with particular focus on the eXtensible Markup Language (XML). OASIS is a business-driven consortium focusing on the facilitation of B-2-B transactions. In particular, it is very active in the development of standards for the exchange of electronic documents within the e-Business sector such as ODF, UDDI and SAML. 19 The Comité Européen de Normalisation/European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) was established in 1961 by the national standardisation organisations in the European Economic Community and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries. CEN standardisation activities focus on the development of technical standards that encourage free trade, interoperability of networks and public procurement. CEN has established an Information Society Standardisation System (CEN/ISSS) for the promotion of standardisation services and products in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) domain. 20 The United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) is hosted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE). The primary objective of UN/CEFACT is the development and promotion of international trade standards for the improvement of electronic business transactions through their harmonisation. 21 The following list of recommendations is quoted from the summary of the report itself. 18

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207

activities in order to achieve the wide use of the standard across Europe, both in the public and private sector (Actor: Standardisation Bodies); – Harmonise the use of product description and classifications schemes, establishing also specifications for describing products/services within e-Catalogues. This harmonisation can be achieved either by establishing one, unique product description and classification scheme, or by establishing a framework of interoperable co-existence of many schemes. Achieve harmonisation and engage in necessary promotional activities for the wide use of the selected framework (Actor: Standardisation Bodies—please refer to the specific section); – Review existing e-Procurement systems with a view to establish “e-Catalogue stock management systems” which utilise standardised, interoperable “e-Catalogue prospectuses”, in order to support all phases of the procurement cycle, both for “pre” and “post” award purposes (Actors: Member States).”

e-PRIOR: pre-award and post-award phases. Copyright notice © European Union, 1995–2017

In 2010 the European Commission, thanks to the e-PRIOR project team, issued the “e-Catalogues Gap Analysis between pre-awarding business requirements and the post-awarding implementation in e-PRIOR”. The scope of this report was to make a gap-analysis of the differences between the use of electronic catalogues in a pre-awarding context (e-Catalogue prospectus) and the use of electronic catalogues in a post-awarding context. Where pre-awarding and post-awarding context implies: Pre-awarding: the process of publication of call for tenders, the submission of tenders, their evaluation and awarding. In the context of e-Catalogues: • • • •

Defining e-Catalogue templates Creation of e-Catalogues Submitting e-Catalogues Uploading of e-Catalogues in the buyers’ systems of Evaluation of the e-Catalogues

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Post-awarding: the process of executing awarded framework contracts by means of requests, orders and invoices. In the context of e-Catalogues: • Maintaining e-Catalogues • Ordering through e-Catalogues • Invoices referring to order lines and e-Catalogue items The focus of this specific gap analysis was on framework contracts without re-opening of competition between contractors on multiple framework contracts. The context of Dynamic Purchasing Systems22 (DPS) was not in the scope of the study. Open e-PRIOR is a free open source e-Procurement platform designed to interoperate with a large number of applications of heterogeneous nature, it allows public administrations to implement interoperable electronic services facilitating the cross-border exchange of e-Procurement documents between, for example, a public administration in country A with suppliers in country B. It plays the role of intermediary between the back-office applications of the public administration and the Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine (PEPPOL) interoperability initiative. An International team of experts developed the PEPPOL’s technical specifications, the use of PEPPOL is governed by a multi-lateral agreement structure which is owned and maintained by OpenPEPPOL. The aim of PEPPOL is to provide a set of technical specifications that can be implemented in existing e-Procurement solutions and e-Business exchange services to make them interoperable between disparate systems across Europe. The use of e-Catalogue in public or private procurement must be harmonised with the implementation rules in order to avoid drawbacks or negative side effects such as the creation of non-competition agreements among suppliers or the prohibition to purchase for a better price from “extra suppliers” even at the same or better overall conditions (quality, delivery time, guarantee, assistance, etc.).

6.3.1

Tagging and Metadata

Tagging is a very common practice in information technology. Every time information must be transferred between different data structures it is a good idea to tag (i.e. label) the information in order to make sure that the destination understands the context of the information and therefore categorises it correctly (in the same way as done by the source). 22

A Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) is similar to an electronic framework agreement, with two exceptions, new suppliers can join at any time and it is to be run as a completely electronic process. Dynamic Purchasing Systems are used exclusively by public sector organisations. They save time and money by being a quick and easy way to access goods, services and works through an OJ EU-compliant route. Suppliers can both join and leave Dynamic Purchasing System arrangements whenever they choose, meaning they can tailor membership to suit their budget.

6.4 e-Catalogues Standards

209

More recently, tagging has become a widespread activity. The spread of the World Wide Web and the increasing interest in HTML and languages and dialects derived from it has encouraged the use of tags (Resource Description Framework— RDF, Web Ontology Language—OWL, the data-centric, customisable Extensible Markup Language23—XML, etc.). A mark-up language is a structured set of tags that are embedded within text in order to label specific parts of it. The reason for doing this is to provide useful information about these parts of the text. Metadata are usually described as data about data, or information about other information. Why do we need this additional information? One application that requires the creation of a so-called metadata layer is the integration of several databanks in order to offer a set of added value services that require the collaborative use of the information stored in the data-banks. In an extension to this scenario, it may be necessary to integrate the data from various services provided by different organisations. In order to integrate the information provided by the different organisations and so obtain the added value services, we need to place a metadata layer on top of the databanks which redirects user queries appropriately and thus enables the requested information to be retrieved. The tagged text in a document is usually called the source code, or simply the code for that document. While some mark-up languages, such as RTF, are humanreadable, easy-to-understand, mark-up languages, generally speaking they are not human-readable. Of course, this could be a potential disadvantage if we use a markup language to preserve content and services. Mark-up languages can be specific or generalised. Specific languages are used for specific applications or devices, while generalised ones describe the structure and the meaning of the text in the document without specifying how the text should be used. This means that the language is generic enough to be useful for a range of applications. Documents written in a generalised mark-up language are usually easy to port from application to application. Once a document has been coded the only other item required is a processor or renderer that is able to read and interpret the code. Renderers are usually included in browsers, word processors and other specific appliances.

6.4

e-Catalogues Standards

As stated in art. 12 of the directive 2004/18/EC24 of the European Parliament on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts:

23

XML was officially introduced at the 7th World Wide Web Conference held in Brisbane, Australia, on 14–18 April 1998. 24 DIRECTIVE 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts.

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“Certain new electronic purchasing techniques are continually being developed. Such techniques help to increase competition and streamline public purchasing, particularly in terms of the savings in time and money which their use will allow . . . omissis . . . in particular where competition has been reopened under a framework agreement or where a dynamic purchasing system is being used, may take the form of that tenderer’s electronic catalogue if the latter uses the means of communication chosen by the contracting authority in accordance with Article 42. Article 42—The relevant Community rules on mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates or other evidence of formal qualifications apply when evidence of a particular qualification is required for participation in a procurement procedure or a design contest.” e-Catalogues are key actors in the full and cross border implementation of e-Procurement. They support cross-European bids, transparency and time and cost savings. There is a number of emerging cataloguing standards, as shown in the table below; we will take into account the most relevant.

Standards and frameworks

Standard/Standardisation initiative UBL (Universal Business Language)

Responsible body OASIS

c-Catalogue

CEN/ISSS

ebXML (Electronic Business eXtensible Markup Language)

UN/CEFT and CEN/ISSS

Product description and classification scheme

Several bodies

Description A framework for electronic exchange of interoperable, XML-based business documents A standard XML vocabulary for business documents Standards and guidelines for the exchange of data elements and messages between different Information Systems CPV, UNSPSC, eCl@ss, NCS, GPC, eOTD

In addition to the list of standards and frameworks listed above we can also identify a set of initiatives, focus groups and workshops as listed below: Workshops/ Focus groups

e-Business Board for European Standardisation (eBES) Workshop

CEN/ ISSS

Workshop on Multilingual e-Cataloguing and e-Classification in e-Business (eCAT)/(ePDC 1 & ePDC 2) e-Procurement (ePRO) Workshop

CEN/ ISSS

CEN/ ISSS

Creation of a central reference point on the most recent technologies used for standardising the electronic business data exchange, including multi-lingual and multicultural needs. Establishment of interoperable and multi-lingual standards for product classification and their further application to e-Catalogues Review of e-Procurement standardisation needs and assessment of international standards used by the public and private sectors (continued)

6.5 UBL Universal Business Language

6.5

211

e-Invoicing (eINV) Workshop

CEN/ ISSS

e-Government (eGOV) Focus Group

CEN/ ISSS

Harmonisation of VAT e-Invoicing implementations within the EU Member States Harmonisation of VAT e-Invoicing implementations within the EU Member States

UBL Universal Business Language

The Universal Business Language (UBL)25 was developed by the OASIS UBL Technical Committee (TC), with the aim to design an XML-based universal language readable by any business. UBL 1.0 is based on a library of over 600 XML components together with eight business document schemas and a wealth of support files. UBL constitutes a standard XML vocabulary for business documents, the implementation of which is based on the ebXML26 Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS) v2.01. The XML vocabulary incorporates XML-based business documents (i.e. purchase orders, invoices) from different XML libraries (i.e. cXML, xCBL) and different industry sectors into a central repository. In addition to the XML vocabulary, UBL provides XML Schemes as well as UML modelling concepts for the definition of the business documents and messages used for the exchange of information. The UBL implementation is based on the “80/20 rule”; identifying and standardising 20% of the possible data elements, will lead to satisfying 80% of the usage scenarios. UBL is not sector-specific, which means that information following the UBL specification can easily be exchanged with customers in different parts of the world and under different sectors. Pre-award and post-award phases Pre-award Pre-tender Registration and pre-qualification

25

Pre-tender announcement/Publishing

Tender Tender stage

Evaluation stage

Post-award PostAward award Award Post stage award

Universal Business Language 2.0 Public Review Draft, http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ download.php/19260/2-prd2-cd.zip, last accessed February 2019. 26 ebXML (Electronic Business using eXtensible Markup Language) is a modular suite of specifications that enables enterprises of any size and in any geographical location to conduct business over the Internet. Using ebXML, companies now have a standard method to exchange business messages, conduct trading relationships, communicate data in common terms and define and register business processes. http://www.ebxml.org, last accessed February 2019.

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UBL 1.0 was officially declared an OASIS27 Standard at the end of 2004. UBL, in its first release, defines eight basic document types (Order, Order Response, Order Response Simple, Order Change, Order Cancellation, Despatch Advice, Receipt Advice, and Invoice), which covered only the post-awarding phase (contracting, ordering and invoicing) of the e-Procurement lifecycle. For defining UBL 1.0, the UBL Technical Committee has produced the following technical work: – UBL 1.0 Small Business Subset (SBS)28: Identifies the elements of each UBL document model that should be included in small business implementations, in order to reduce the size, complexity and implementation cost of the UBL business documents. The first edition of SBS was developed by the OASIS Small Business Subcommittee (SBSC) and approved by UBL TC as a Committee Specification in April 2006. – UBL 1.0 Naming and Design Rules (NDRs)29: Provides the design rules and the naming conventions for the development of the XML schemes describing the business documents exchanged between two parties. It was produced on the basis of ebXML CCTS v2.01. The first edition of NDR4 was developed by the UBL NDRs Subcommittee and approved by UBL TC as an OASIS Standard in January 2005. – UBL 1.0 International Data Dictionary (IDD)30: Includes more than 600 standardised UBL 1.0 business data definitions for the description of basic documents like purchase orders and invoices. The definitions of the business terms are generated in the English language and translated by the UBL localisation subcommittees into Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Japanese, Korean, and Spanish. The UBL TC approved the first edition of IDD as an OASIS Committee Draft in April 2005. The new edition of IDD is expected to provide corrections based on the users’ feedback worldwide and the knowledge acquired during the translation As an evolution of the successful UBL 1.0, OASIS released a second version of the language. The UBL version 2.0 was approved as an OASIS Standard in December 2006 as well as a first-generation XML document for e-Business from UN/CEFACT. It contains more than one thousand XML data elements based on the ebXML Core Components Technical Specification and 31 document types covering extended procurement scenarios and basic transport processes. In addition to the order-to-invoice document types, UBL 2.0 provides:

27

Advancing Open Standards for the Information Society https://www.oasis-open.org, last accessed February 2019. 28 UBL 1.0 Small Business Subset (SBS), http://docs.oasis-open.org/ubl/cs-UBL-1.0-SBS-1.0/, last accessed February 2019. 29 UBL 1.0 Naming and Design Rules (NDRs), http://xml.coverpages.org/UBL-NDRv10-Rev1c. pdf, last accessed February 2019. 30 UBL 1.0 International Data Dictionary (IDD), http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home. php?wg_abbrev1/4ubl, last accessed February 2019.

6.5 UBL Universal Business Language

213

– Standardisation of code lists: Simplifies the mechanism for the specification, modification and validation of the code lists – Specifications for UBL forms input software: Provides specifications for the development of UBL-compliant forms using open source forms input software (e.g. XForms) – Additional support for U.S. and European taxation requirements: Provides tax specific requirements (e.g. audit trail) to be included in the UBL specification and implementation guidance – New document types: Introduces additional document types (covering the business processes for Sourcing31, Billing, Payment and Fulfilment32) for extending the procurement processes supporting the post-awarding phase of the procurement lifecycle. The complete set of the UBL 2.0 document types is presented in the following table. The evolution of UBL, due to OASIS, can be summarized as follows: May 2008, UBL 2.0 Update Package; December 2009, UBL 2 Guidelines for Customization; March 2015, UBL Guidelines for Mapping IFTM UN/EDIFACT Messages Version 1.0; July 2016, UBL Naming and Design Rules Version 3.0; January 2017, Business Document Naming and Design Rules Version 1.0.

Sourcing Catalogue request Catalogue Catalogue deletion Catalogue item Specification update Catalogue pricing update Request for quotation Quotation

31

Ordering/ Invoicing Order Order response Order response simple Order change Order cancellation Despatch advice Receipt advice Invoice

Billing Credit note

Fulfillment Bill of lading

Account response Self-billed invoice

Waybill

Self-billing credit note Debit note

Certificate of origin Packing list

Payments Remittance advice Statement

Supplementary documents Application response Attached document

Forwarding instruction

Remittance advice Statement of account

There are three kinds of sourcing (Catalogue provision, Customer initiated sourcing, Punch-out). Defines the collaboration for the exchange of goods and/or services from the Dispatch Party to the Delivery Party. 32

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Cooperation Between OASIS and UN/CEFACT

According to the Transition Statement signed between OASIS and UN/CEFACT33, UN/CEFACT is expected to undertake the future development of UBL 2.0. The OASIS UBL TC, in cooperation with UN/CEFACT, will perform the harmonisation between the UBL 2.0 and the UN/CEFACT Core Components, the result of which is expected to provide the Core Component library of a new standard. Until the release of the new standard, OASIS will cooperate with UN/CEFACT with the promotion of UBL 2.0. UN/CEFACT has been granted a period of 3 years, starting at the release of UBL 2.0 as an OASIS Standard, in order to perform the harmonisation and develop the necessary documentation for the publication of UBL 3.0. – In case that UN/CEFACT will not succeed in delivering a new standard within the agreed time frame, OASIS will initiate further negotiations for the development of UBL. Following the release of UBL 2.0 as an OASIS Standard, CEN/ISSS will submit the specification to ISO for the further recognition of UBL 2.0 as an ISO standard. – Members may get involved into the development of the UBL specifications by contributing in the definition of a common set of XML messages, supporting the establishment of an international B-2-B infrastructure. The contributions may take the form of business process activity diagrams, class diagrams and UBL spreadsheets (containing CCs). – The development of UBL 2.0 is supported by a number of European initiatives and its adoption is spreading worldwide. OASIS Foundational Sponsors such as SUN, SAP, and BEA are working closely with the members of UBL technical committee for its promotion. Furthermore, Nordic countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland along with the UK have formed “The Northern European UBL 2.0 Subset Working Group” for the promotion of UBL 2.0. The European countries’ initiatives are further described in the present chapter.

6.7

UBL Key Characteristics

A summary of the UBL key organisational and procedural characteristics/features are presented in the following table. Features Name of the standard Outline of UBL

Description Universal Business Language (UBL) – A standard XML cross-industry vocabulary for business documents, enabling the next generation of EDI – It is modular, re-usable and extensible – It is intended to become an international standard for electronic commerce freely available to everyone without licensing or other fees (continued)

33 UBL-UN/CEFACT Transition Statement—Draft v2 24.07.05 http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/ ubl/200508/doc00000.doc, last accessed February 2019.

6.8 c-Catalogue (UN/EDIFACT–eBESWorkshop) Features Description/Main characteristics

Deliverables

UBL history

6.8

215

Description Electronic business framework • Was initiated in 2003 • Freely available under terms of the OASIS copyright • Based on ebXML CCTS v2.01 • Based on xCBL 3 • Main concepts: – Naming and design rules for UBL XML schemes – Library of standard XML business information entities (BIEs) – Set of standard XML business documents (purchase order, invoice, shipping notice, price catalogue, etc.) – Context methodology to make the standard documents interoperate across industries Approved Specifications: – UBL 1.0 Small Business Subset (SBS) – UBL 1.0 Naming & Design Rules (NDR) – UBL 1.0 International Data Dictionary (IDD) – UBL 1.0 Specifications – UBL 2.0 Specifications Draft specifications: – UML Class Diagrams for UBL 2.0 – UBL 2.1 Standard – UBL 1.0 Standard (November 2004) – UBL 2.0 first public review (20 January 2006–20 March 2006) – UBL 2.0 second public review (28 July 2006–12 August 2006) – UBL 2.0 third public review (21 September 2006–6 October 2006) – UBL 2.0 planned to be adopted by UN/CEFACT after its finalisation – UBL 2.0 Standard (December 2006) – UBL 2.0 Update Package (May 2008) – UBL 2 Guidelines for Customization (December 2009) – UBL Guidelines for Mapping IFTM UN/EDIFACT Messages Version 1.0 (March 2015) – UBL Maintenance Governance Procedures Version 1.0 (March 2015) – UBL Naming and Design Rules Version 3.0 (July 2016) – Business Document Naming and Design Rules Version 1.0 (January 2017)

c-Catalogue (UN/EDIFACT–eBESWorkshop)

The Business Requirements Specification (BRS) for the definition of globally consistent cataloguing processes for the worldwide Supply Chains and e-Procurement was developed in parallel with the specification of UBL 2.0. The

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c-Catalogue Project started as an initiative by the eBES European Expert Group 1 (EEG134) workshop and was developed into a Cross Industry Catalogue in 2005. The United Nations/EDI for Administration Commerce and Transport (UN/ EDIFACT)35 framework comprises standards and guidelines for the exchange of data elements and messages between information systems. It was established by UN/EDIFACT Working Group (EWG), in 1986, to provide the rules and guidelines for the automatic processing and electronic transmission of structured business data (goods and services) between information systems from different industry sectors worldwide. The European Board for EDIFACT Standardisation (EBES) was established by CEN/ISSS in the summer of 1999. The primary objective of EBES was to provide a European entry point to the development of the UN/EDIFACT standardisation programme (European-developed EDIFACT messages). Focus was given in the creation of a central reference point on the most recent technologies used for the standardisation of the electronic business data exchange, including multi-lingual and multi-cultural needs and implementation approaches. In 2001, the European Board for EDIFACT Standardisation was replaced by the e-Business Board for European Standardisation Workshop (WS/eBES)36. The CEN WS/eBES is a focal point within Europe for the standardisation of exchanging electronic business data. It is the “European Entry Point” for the UN-ECE/CEFACT electronic business standardization process based on XML format. CEN WS/eBES is also still maintaining traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards. WS/eBES therefore represents the European point of view in the global debate, including on the need for a multi-lingual and multi-cultural approach to B2B data interchange standardisation. The WS/eBES represents the new European Entry Point into the UN/CEFACT process. In addition to the activities covered by its predecessor, WS/eBES addresses aspects related to the application of interoperable technologies in the electronic exchange of business information. Furthermore, it maintains informative web pages, organises seminars concerning standardisation issues, undertakes translation tasks and achieves consensus around technical issues for the promotion of UN/ EDIFACT and ebXML. The WS/eBES establishes European Expert Groups (EEGs) that undertake work on specific issues such as transport, customs, banking, architecture, engineering and construction, statistics, insurance, healthcare and government.

34

EEG1 was established in 1986 to be the European platform for the development of UN/EDIFACT business messages in different areas such as trade, material management, product catalogues and logistics. EEG1 has also worked very closely with UN/CEFACT TBG11 during the development of the UN/CEFACT XML business messages, http://www.cen.eu/CEN/sectors/sectors/isss/activity/ Pages/wsebes.aspx, last accessed February 2019. 35 United Nations/EDI for Administration Commerce and Transport (UN/EDIFACT), http://www. unece.org/trade/untdid/welcome.htm, last accessed February 2019. 36 The e-Business Board for European Standardisation Workshop (WS/eBES), https://www.cen.eu/ work/areas/ICT/eBusiness/Pages/WS-eBES.aspx, http://www.cen.eu/CEN/sectors/sectors/isss/ activity/Pages/wsebes.aspx, http://www.cenorm.be/cenorm/businessdomains/businessdomains/ isss/activity/wsebe s.asp, last accessed February 2019.

6.8 c-Catalogue (UN/EDIFACT–eBESWorkshop)

6.8.1

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EEG1 : Procurement and Supply Chain Management

Among the other EEGs, WS/eBES established the “EEG1—Procurement and Supply Chain Management” aimed to define the European business requirements for Supply Chain-related business processes and transactions. It had expertise on business processes in the sectors of Supply Chain, e-Procurement, Materials Management, Purchasing, Electronic cataloguing, and UN/CEFACT Standards development and maintenance process. EEG1 is considered as the most important group of the WS/eBES in the area of electronic procurement and electronic catalogues. It has submitted over 90% of the UN/EDIFACT messages37 and developed PRICAT38 and PRODAT39 EDIFACT messages that were further submitted through UN/CEFACT TBG1. The EDIFACT40 messages PRICAT41 (Price/Sales Catalogues) and PRODAT42 (Product Data) have influenced the design of the UN/CEFACT catalogue messages in the Business Requirements Specification (BRS) for cross-industry c-Catalogue. An overview of the PRICAT and the PRODAT messages is presented below: – PRICAT: A business message for the exchange of information regarding pricing and catalogue data for products and services offered by a supplier to a buyer. Buyers may also respond to a supplier’s message by sending a message indicating either their acceptance or rejection of the offer. The PRICAT message role is neither the description of product characteristics nor the inclusion of logistics information. The message is limited to convey information about the availability of the products; – PRODAT: A business message for the exchange of technical and functional characteristics of products between trading partners. Products in the message are identified with the use of codes, descriptions, and other information. Information provided in a Product Data message facilitates the buyer’s selection of goods. It may include product identification, product characteristics, technical data and handling information. It does not include commercial terms and conditions; 37 UN/EDIFACT Messages, https://www.edistaffing.com/resources/unedifact-standards/, last accessed February 2019. 38 PRICAT (Price/Sales Catalogue)—A message to enable the transmission of information regarding pricing and catalogue details for goods and services offered by a seller to a buyer. https://www. unece.org/trade/untdid/d00a/trmd/pricat_c.htm, last accessed February 2019. 39 PRODAT (Product Data Message)—A Product Data message is a communication between parties containing master data, to identify and describe products available for supply or for information purposes. http://www.unece.org/trade/untdid/d05b/trmd/prodat_c.htm, last accessed February 2019. 40 UN EDIFACT—pricat http://www.unece.org/trade/untdid/d01a/trmd/pricat_c.htm, last accessed February 2019. 41 PRICAT EDIFACT message, http://www.ean.se/EANCOM_2002/print/ean02s3.pdf/pricat.pdf, last accessed February 2019. 42 PRODAT EDIFACT message, https://www.gs1.se/EANCOM_2002/print/ean02s4.pdf/prodat. pdf, last accessed February 2019.

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The work within each EEG is performed by Project Teams (PTs), which are organised for carrying out activities on specific areas, leading to cross-industry business solutions. The work of the c-Catalogue (core components for catalogue) Project Team is considered as the most relevant to this EEG. The c-Catalogue Project Team was set up on January 2005, with the scope to standardise the messages required for the management of electronic catalogues. Its objective was the identification of basic core components (CCs) and business processes for the development of a cross-industry catalogue specification based on known business requirements from trade, industry and public administration.

Procurement and purchasing phases

6.8 c-Catalogue (UN/EDIFACT–eBESWorkshop)

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The c-Catalogue Project Team has issued the Business Requirements Specification (BRS) for Cross-Industry catalogue. The BRS43 for Cross-Industry catalogue document defines catalogue processes in the area of e-Procurement. The analysis of the business processes and transactions is presented using UMM44 and UML. The document provides a reference to the clusters that form the total set of procurement processes, covering the following areas: product information; basic information exchange; contracting; scheduling; shipping; invoicing; remittance and payment. However, analysis provided by the BRS covers only the Product Information cluster that defines the business processes and business transactions regarding catalogue data exchange. The business processes described in the BRS for crossindustry c-Catalogue along with their corresponding transactions are summarised in the table below. Business process New catalogue on request

New catalogue publication

New catalogue subscription

Update catalogue on request

Update catalogue

Remote catalogue data exchange

43

Business transaction Request for catalogue Catalogue request rejection Catalogue acceptance Catalogue rejection Catalogue Catalogue acceptance Catalogue rejection Catalogue subscription request Catalogue subscription acceptance Catalogue subscription rejection Catalogue update request Catalogue update Catalogue update request rejection Catalogue update acceptance Catalogue update rejection Catalogue update Catalogue update acceptance Catalogue update rejection Catalogue data request Catalogue data Catalogue data request rejection

Business Requirements Specification (BRS) for Cross-Industry c-Catalogue process, https:// www.unece.org/cefact/brs/brs_index.html, last accessed February 2019. 44 UN/CEFACT’s modelling methodology (UMM) is a UML profile for modelling global B2B choreographies. The current UMM version comprises three main views for describing a computation-independent model from a neutral perspective.

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Cross-Industry Catalogue Messages

The first version of BRS for Cross-Industry c-Catalogue was finalised in May 2006 and has been forwarded to TBG145 for review and comments.

6.9.1

eBES Key Characteristics

The following table provides a summary of the WS/eBES key characteristics Key characteristics Name of standardisation initiative Responsible body Outline of eBES Workshop

Description/Main characteristics

Deliverables

Ongoing and recently completed activities

45

Description e-Business Board for European Standardisation (eBES) Workshop (2009–2011) CEN/ISSS – Provides guidelines for the exchange of data elements and messages between different Information Systems – Developed BRS for the definition of globally consistent cataloguing processes for the worldwide e-Procurement – Initiated c-Catalogue project – Main objective is the creation of a central reference point on the most recent technologies used for the standardisation of the electronic business data exchange, including multi-lingual and multicultural needs and implementation approaches – Developed EDIFACT messages influencing the development of c-Catalogue messages – The “European Entry point” for the UN-ECE/CEFACT electronic business standardisation activity – Encompasses European Expert Groups (EEGs) – EEG1 Supply Chain Group hosts the c-Catalogue (core components for catalogue) Project Team (PT) (since January 2005) – In May 2006, eBES Workshop finalised the Business Requirements Specification (BRS) of the Cross-industry c-Catalogue Process & forwarded the relevant documents to TBG1 for review – EEG1 developed PRODAT and PRICAT messages – Planned to deliver CEN Workshop Agreements CWA on “e-Catalogue and Classification”

UN/CEFACT International Trade and Business Processes Group: TBG1 https://www.unece.org/ fileadmin/DAM/cefact/brs/BRS_CrossIndustryCatalogueProcess_v1.0.4.pdf, last accessed February 2019.

6.10

6.10

Other Standards Relevant to e-Catalogues

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Other Standards Relevant to e-Catalogues

This section presents the current setting of other standards that are relevant to e-Catalogues. These comprise the ebXML framework, which has played a fundamental role in the development of UBL and c-Catalogue, as well as the most important standards regarding the product description and classification schemes, which are expected to form a core component in standardising the presentation of e-Catalogue content.

6.10.1 ebXML The introduction of the Extended Mark-up Language (XML) concept on the occasion of the WWW7 (2007) held in Brisbane generated a kind of domino effect; many sectors of ICT ranging between database and computer graphics joined this concept creating their own XML dialects. The momentum of the XML-based standards, due to their interoperability, has motivated UN/CEFACT to approach OASIS for joining forces in the development of a new set of specifications for electronic business. The joint initiative started at the end 1999, and at the end of the first phase (mid 2001), a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between UN/CEFACT and OASIS, defining the responsibilities of each participant for the completion of the remaining work. The Electronic Business eXtensible Markup Language46 (ebXML) is the outcome of UN/CEFACT and OASIS cooperation for the development of a framework capable of supporting the overall needs for conducting business using electronic means. It is the first international open standard based on XML, SOAP, HTML, and SMTP specifications that provides a framework for the electronic exchange of interoperable business documents in the form of XML-based messages. The ebXML framework provides specifications and determines the business processes and documents for the exchange of product information and services between trading partners. Commenced in 1999, the ebXML development is characterised by the following four distinct phases: – Initial phase: OASIS and UN/CEFACT cooperated for creating a set of specifications related to electronic business (completed in May 2001). – Second phase: UN/CEFACT and OASIS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on July 2001 according to which the two parties allocated their tasks related to the development of ebXML framework. – Third phase: During this phase, the ebXML was approved as ISO/TS 15000 (completed mid-2005).

46 Electronic Business XML accessed February 2019.

http://www.ebxml.org/presentations/global_standard.htm,

last

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– Fourth phase: A Cooperation Agreement was signed between the two parties on 17 June 2005. During this phase, the two parties agreed on the development of a coordination plan for promoting ebXML specifications and with the negotiations for the migration of UBL under the UN/CEFACT forum. The ebXML framework covers both business and information technology aspects of the business transactions performed between trading partners. The description of the ebXML architecture is based on the following views: • Business Operational View (BOV): Describes the business semantic content of the messages, including business processes and core components for performing business transactions. The BOV provides methodologies for defining company profiles, trading partner agreements, business processes, business messages and common semantics (vocabulary). Its development was the responsibility of UN/ CEFACT. BOV-related components are summarised below: – Business Processes (BPs): Specify the roles, tasks and interactions that should be established between the participating trading partners for their effective collaboration. The Business Process Specification Scheme (ebBPSS)47 was developed by the UN/CEFACT Techniques and Methodologies Group (TMG). It defines configuration parameters and interoperable business processes necessary for the collaboration between the business partners through the exchange of business documents. It also provides guidelines and methods for the creation of models that identify interoperable business documents and enable the collaboration amongst business partners. – Core Components (CCs)48: Provide context-neutral “building blocks” that can be used by trading partners to develop their own XML schemes and Business Information Entities (BIEs), which are context-specific CCs used in real business circumstances. The ebXML Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS)49 was developed by UN/CEFACT TMG, in order to enable the reuse of business information across various business sectors. The ebXML CCTS describes a methodology according to which general types of business data can be represented by a common set of building blocks. – XML Naming and Design Rules (NDR): Based on the methodology indicated in CCTS, XML Naming and Design Rules (NDR)50 were produced by UN/ CEFACT Applied Techniques Group (ATG). They provide guidelines to be followed by UN/CEFACT for the development and maintenance of re-usable

47

Business Process Specification Scheme (BPSS), https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/down load.php/17857/ebxmlbp-v2.0.3-WhitePaper-wd-r01-en.pdf, last accessed February 2019. 48 Electronic Business Extensible Markup Language (ebXML)—Part 5: Core Components Specification (CCS) https://www.iso.org/standard/61433.html, last accessed February 2019. 49 Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS), http://www.unece.org/cefact/ebxml/CCTS_ V2-01_Final.pdf, last accessed February 2019. 50 XML Naming and Design Rules, https://www.unece.org/cefact/xml/xml_index.html, last accessed February 2019.

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and interoperable XML scheme components. In March 2006, XML NDR v.2.0 was approved as a UN/CEFACT technical specification. • Functional Service View (FSV): Describes the available services and technical framework/infrastructure used for the secure storage and the interoperable exchange of business information. The FSV focuses on the technical aspects regarding functional capabilities, service interfaces and protocols. Its development was the responsibility of OASIS. FSV-related components are summarised below: – ebXML Messaging Services (ebMS): Provide a transport protocol for the exchange of electronic business information in a secure and interoperable way. They are described in the ebXML Messaging Service (ebMS)51 specification developed by OASIS, ebXML Messaging TC. The ebMS extends the SOAP specification, in order to provide the security and reliability characteristics required by enterprises and e-Business applications. – Collaboration Protocol Agreements (CPAs): Identify the technical requirements to be followed by each trading partner for completing the exchange of electronic messages. The ebXML Collaboration Protocol Profile and Agreement (CPPA)52 specification was developed by OASIS, CPPA TC. It defines the technical capabilities and the document agreements that should be established for the realisation of secure integration and electronic business collaboration between trading partners. • Registries and Repositories (RRs): The Registry Service constitutes an information system for the storage of information exchanged between business partners during their business transactions on Internet. Information data is registered as objects in the repository and metadata about registered objects are maintained in the registry. The specifications developed by OASIS ebXML Registry TC in order to achieve interoperable registries and repositories are the following: – OASIS/ebXML Registry Information Model (ebRIM)53: Defines the information model for the ebXML Registry (what kind of information is stored in the Registry and how it is organized) – OASIS/ebXML Registry Services Specification (ebRS)54: Defines the interface to the ebXML Registry Services (how to build Registry Services providing access to the information content in ebXML Registry) 51

ebXML Messaging Service (ebMS), https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_ abbrev1⁄4ebxml-msg, last accessed February 2019. 52 ebXML Collaboration Protocol Profile and Agreement (CPPA), https://www.oasis-open.org/ news/pr/ebxml-collaboration-protocol-profile-and-agreement-ratified-as-oasis-open-standard, last accessed February 2019. 53 OASIS/ebXML Registry Information Model (ebRIM), http://docs.oasis-open.org/regrep/regrepcore/v4.0/regrep-core-rim-v4.0.html, last accessed February 2019. 54 OASIS/ebXML Registry Services Specification (ebRS), https://docs.oasis-open.org/regrep/ regrep-rs/v3.0/regrep-rs-3.0-os.pdf, last accessed February 2019.

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6.10.2 ebXML Key Characteristics Features Name of the standard Responsibility

Description/Main characteristics

Deliverables

Ongoing activities/Current status

6.11

Description Electronic business XML (ebXML) OASIS & UN/CEFACT (by UN/CEFACT Applied Technologies permanent group (ATG) and in particular by UN/EDIFACT working group (EWG)) Electronic business framework – Started in 1999 – A ‘bridge’ between EDI & XML – Serves the interoperable exchange of electronic XML-based business documents Has delivered the following specifications: – Collaboration Protocol Profile & Agreement (CPPA) v1.0 & 2.0 – ebXML Registry Information Model (RIM) v.1.0, v.2.0 – ebXML Registry Services & Protocols (RS) v1.0, v.2.0 – ebXML Messaging v1.0, v2.0, v3.0 – XML Naming & Design Rules v1.1, v2.0 – ebXML Business Process Specification Scheme – ebXML Core Components Technical Specification (CCTS) – OASIS develops UBL 2.0 based on ebXML CCTS v2.01 – UN/CEFACT works on Business Requirements Specification (BRS) and Requirements Specification Mapping (RSM) based on ebXML CCTS v2.01 – UN/CEFACT finalised on May 2006 BRS for Cross-Catalogue in cooperation with CEN/ISSS

The “Procurement” Effect of the Internet

Before dealing with some relevant case study it is useful to point out that the successful exploitation of the Internet has been an incredible catalyst even for a kind of “private” procurement. Through the time a number of key players in the field of “best buy” even for a single purchase developed their main business on-line. The ease of achieving a “critical mass” of buyers and real-time transactions on the network enabled both on the fly automatic comparison of offers and on-line auction. This means that even if we do not enjoy a public or company price policy we can compare offers and buy enjoying the best conditions. This is an opportunity enabled by the Internet; necessary conditions in order to succeed in this sector are to ensure secure transactions, provide a guarantee on the products and deliver them directly to the buyer. Both on the public market and much more on the private one the exploitation of the e-Market will slowly let the intermediaries disappear while “big suppliers” will monopolize the scene. An additional side-effect of the proliferation of on-line services and “appification” is a wider personal information collection enabling highly customised marketing campaigns. Remember the funny story about the man ordering a pizza by phone; the restaurant was recently bought by a main on-line mall, so the waiter replies to the customer “Do you want the usual one,

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the cheese and bacon pizza?”; customer, “How do you know that?”; waiter, “In the last two months you ordered six time this pizza and only one time the tomato and cheese one; I suggest you do not have bacon this time”; customer, “Why do you say so?”; waiter, “Because I am looking at your medical exams and your cholesterol is too high and your blood pressure is too high according to your wristwatch computer”; customer, “I used to go to the gym every day to improve my health”; waiter, “As I see here you didn’t confirm your subscription to the gym this month and your parking APP says that you get to the office by car very day”. . . the full story is quite long and it is very close to reality; our personal data and behaviour is disseminated on line and, “weak” privacy policy apart, it is accessible, many times thanks to some “Ok” we check in order to install a fancy APP or thanks to cooperation agreements among web tycoons. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Monaqasat (2010) The Monaqasat55 company located in the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon has developed one of the first Middle Eastern e-Tender solution. “No more paper-based tenders in the Middle East!” they say. As the authors stated the vast majority of tendering in the Middle East still happens using the old pen and paper process, which is extremely inefficient, requiring tens of thousands of pages of paper to be printed, distributed and stored and is open to forgery and fraud. Monaqasat is an online tendering service that covers all middle eastern markets, and aims to be a central hub for all tendering activities, from sharing of documents to online bidding. Monaqasat aims to solve these problems, first by allowing tenders to be completed without the need to print a single page of paper and secondly by ensuring that bidders are only allowed to enter the information that is required of them, thus minimizing the possibilities of bidding fraud. The international panel of World Summit Award experts recognised a great value to this contribution to implement the information society, providing a real added value service to both citizens and authorities and at the same time strongly contributing to eradicate corruption and fraud thanks to a robust and welldesigned procedure. Monaqasat aims at offering a full experience to the institutions using it, by implementing the complete tendering process, allowing its users to create tenders, invite stakeholders, submit and review tender documents, submit their online bids and automatically generate tender reports the instant the tender is completed, all from the confort of their own offices. Monaqasat’s pricing structure and the way it generates revenue is setup as follows: (continued) 55

NuServ Online Tender Services L.L.C Kish Travel Building, Suite 603 Corner or Airport (2nd) & Electra Street P.O. Box 113624 UAE.

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(a) Institutions using the service need to pay a yearly membership fee (AED 2000/year) to access the majority of features of the system and be able to create and manage an unlimited amount of tenders. (b) On the other hand, a tender access fee needs to be paid by participating bidders; this fee is defined as a percentage of the tender documents fees (30%). The company recently announced that in just a year since the company launched in 2009, Monaqasat.com has attracted more than 500 companies to use the platform, and that project tenders worth over Dh1 billion ($272 million) have been managed and awarded through their online platform. The platform appears well conceived; it offers an appropriate level of security. The interface is well designed and crafted. This e-Tendering solution enables its users to work with their tenders in an easy, secure, cost-and timeefficient way. The platform offers a complete set of services in any phase of the tender: issue, invite participants, upload, stamp and verify documents, submit and compare bids and award tenders, all from one place, enabling the setup of each offer in a private and secure way. Organisation: NuServ O.T.S. L.L.C. http://monaqasat.net, last accessed February 2019.

6.12

e-Procurement in Italy

6.12.1 The Scale of the Problem

Orders, values and number of items

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Looking at the gross figures for e-Commerce in the EU immediately after the year 2000, Italian e-Commerce shows a very limited success. Italy is an economy comparable with the UK and France, considerably larger in population and GDP than the six countries ahead of it in the same table. In some way this can be justified by the traditional limited success of sales based on catalogues; in the 1960s and 1970s some companies tried to launch sales based on catalogues such as “Postal Market”, based on the American standard, but citizens didn’t appreciate the opportunity. This was probably partially due to the “cultural” model much more oriented to the direct evaluation and appreciation of the goods to be purchased and partially due to the nature of goods less standardised and globally distributed. Starting from the 1990s and much more in the new century the idea to buy on line was much more successful; firstly it was the time of highly standardised items such as books; if you have already chosen it you don’t need to browse it. Of course this is not valid for passionate readers; they enjoy visiting bookshops and spend hours browsing books and smelling their flavour. The range of items we can buy on line widened through time from books to cars and real estate. Back to Italy’s poor performance; this had initially been thought to be a function of the cost of internet access but at the time of these figures access charges in Italy were lower than in the UK, France or Japan, and not much more than half those in Germany. The Italian government quickly perceived the danger of falling behind, and its own failure as a role model. In its public presentation on the procurement revolution in 1999 it reported that the US will have saved some US$ 600 bn from internetenabled re-engineering by 2002 and that Europe was in danger of falling behind, acknowledging Italy’s poor performance within Europe itself. In addition, auditors reported that the State was paying far too much for its goods and services. Accordingly, with the Financial act for the year 2000, the Ministry of Economy and Finance56 (MEF) started a program aimed at rationalising the public expenditure for goods and services, recommending an increasingly higher use of e-Procurement models. CONSIP57, a limited company, created in 1997, totally owned by MEF was given the responsibility to put in place the above program within its division for e-Procurement, Acquisti in Rete58 (AiR—Purchases on the Net) in mid-2000. The aims of CONSIP are manifold: • To provide a better service for both buyers and suppliers; • To improve the visibility and therefore accountability of public sector contracting; • To reinforce the Italian government's commitment to the goals of e-Europe; • To minimise transaction costs through standardisation. 56 Ministry of Economy and Finance http://www.mef.gov.it/en/index_en.html, last accessed February 2019. 57 CONSIP http://www.consip.it, last accessed February 2019. 58 Acquisti in Rete https://www.acquistinretepa.it/, last accessed February 2019.

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In 2012, CONSIP activities and duties have been subdivided between CONSIP and another state-owned company called SOGEI59.

6.12.2 Structure CONSIP, the first stage of the changes to the Italian governmental purchasing scheme, has become responsible for defining innovative procurement strategies for both central and local governments. Compared to the UK and particularly France, Italy’s local government structure is highly decentralised and embodying three regions, North, Central and South, of vastly different political, socio-economic and population density profiles. This has thus been a difficult job. However, local administrations are financed mainly by central government, enabling change to be pushed through. However, CONSIP allows individual purchasing units considerable autonomy: CONSIP is a facilitator not an intermediary. This is the key point in order to understand the role of CONSIP. The way it works is very simple: one of CONSIP’s roles is to draw up national frame contracts with suppliers at very advantageous conditions after having aggregated the demand for a specific good or service (as very good scale economies are reached). Then, all central administrations have to purchase that good/service within the terms of the above frame contract whilst local government may do so, but they are not forced. Anyway, in case they don’t, whenever they purchase the same good/service they necessarily must not pay more than the price available within the frame contract. This way, no matter whether local governments apply, the saving on public spending is achieved. AiR is a division within CONSIP whose outward face to the world is the gateway site Acquisti in Rete. The gateway is the Italian public sector’s e-Procurement marketplace. Separate sections cover advice to would-be suppliers and a toll-free phone line, details of existing supply contracts with copies of documentation, and a schedule of contracts for which tenders will be requested in the coming months as well as those schemes which are now finished. FAQs and a newsletter for registered suppliers make the activity user-friendly.

59

SOGEI—Società Generale d’Informatica S.p.A.—is the 100% Information Technology company of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance and operates on the basis of the in house providing organizational model. Sole technological partner of the MEF, SOGEI has designed and implemented the Tax Information System, which follows the management and development of systems, applications and services for the automation and computerization needs of the operational and management processes of the Ministry, Court of Auditors, Agencies tax and other public administrations. http://www.sogei.it/, last accessed February 2019.

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6.12.3 Implementation/Contract Types The key feature of the Italian model of public sector e-Procurement is the differentiation of different types of purchase. CONSIP identified a number of different e-Procurement scenarios, according to regularity of ordering and variations in product specification, as a result of, say, price fluctuations and technological change. For example, office furniture is rarely ordered and standardisable; computers and printers are less rarely ordered and subject to great variation in product definition; office stationery is regularly ordered and of limited variation, but comprising a great many items. The figure below shows the systems developed.

e-Procurement schema

The likes of office furniture would be procured via a simple bidding system, not vastly different to the one previously in force. Computers and printers, with their high variations in price and technological specification, would be the subject of a reverse auction, with interaction of supply and demand criteria on both price and specification whilst for office stationery approved suppliers will be able to post their catalogues on the net. For low value (e.g. less than 200,000 €), non-standard items an electronic marketplace will be established for prequalified suppliers of high frequency, high specification volatility products. The Electronic Market The Electronic Market of P.A. (MePA) is a digital market in which the authorized Administrations can purchase, for values below the European Community threshold

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as stated in the previous paragraph, the goods and services offered by suppliers authorized to present their catalogues on the system. CONSIP defines the types of goods and services and the general supply conditions with specific calls, manages the suppliers’ qualification and the publication and updating of the catalogues. By accessing the Electronic Market Showcase or browsing the product catalogue, the Administrations can check the offer of goods and/or services and, once enabled, make purchases online, comparing the proposals of the different suppliers and choosing the one that best meets their needs. This type of purchase, due to its peculiarities, is more suitable for split purchases and specific needs. The main advantages of the Electronic Market are: For the Administrations: • time savings in the process of acquiring goods and services below threshold; • transparency and traceability of the entire purchasing process; • widening the possibilities of choice for the Administrations, which can compare products offered by suppliers present throughout the national territory; • satisfaction of specific needs of the Administrations, thanks to a wide range of available products and the possibility of issuing requests for offers. For Suppliers: • • • • •

decrease in commercial costs and optimization of sales times access to the Public Administration market opportunity to enhance their business even if small competitiveness and direct comparison with the reference market opportunity to propose itself throughout the national territory; leverage for the renewal of sales processes

This model is still being developed. For the time being, frame contracts have been constructed whereby ordering of individual products can be done quickly by individual public sector users. To recap the benefits, the main goals in entering the world of e-Procurement were twofold: to save money on the cost of goods supplied to the public sector, and to promote the use of the Internet in business. As regards the business sector the new systems have met with great success. The government knew that usage would increase as costs of connection reduced, and these have in fact tumbled and are continuing to fall.

6.13

PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement Online)

The most relevant initiative at European level is the Pan-European Public Procurement Online (PEPPOL). Initiated in 2008, the project has been developing and implementing the technology standards to align business processes for electronic procurement across all governments within Europe, aiming to expand market connectivity and interoperability between e-Procurement communities. As such,

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PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement Online)

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PEPPOL is part of the European Commission “Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme—ICT Policy Support Programme”. Individual member states and the European Commission fund all activities jointly. A consortium of 18 project partners in 11 countries—Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom—is the driving force behind PEPPOL. As stated on the project website, “PEPPOL enables access to its standards-based IT transport infrastructure through access points, and provides services for e-Procurement with standardised electronic document formats (based on UBL and CEN/BII), PEPPOL’s vision is to enable businesses to communicate electronically with any European government institution in the procurement process, increasing efficiencies and reducing costs. Through agreement on specifications for cross-border procurement processes, the European Commission’s pilot project PEPPOL has contributed to the development of a pan-European, standards-based IT infrastructure. PEPPOL has not replaced, but is built upon, the existing strengths of national e-Procurement systems by using information and communication technologies to enable them to connect with each other.” PEPPOL does not compete with IT service and solution providers. In fact in PEPPOL’s vision, IT companies will be the key enablers of PEPPOL’s connectivity, offering new, value added services and solutions to their clients. As an open standardised platform, PEPPOL’s infrastructure has been designed to interconnect existing networks and bridge individual e-Business islands in Europe. PEPPOL increases business opportunities for participants and supports interoperability across borders. It facilitates electronic communication among European companies and government institutions in the pre-award and post-award procurement process. For example: A Danish small manufacturer of specialised microscopes could easily bid in a tender issued by a French hospital. PEPPOL standards would ensure that the manufacturer’s corporate attestations and product offers are securely submitted to the hospital in a legally and technically appropriate manner. And, if this Danish small enterprise is successful in its bid, the French hospital would be able to send orders and receive invoices in terms of a common set of defined business rules and processes. Responding effortlessly to any tender across the EU improves the competitiveness of suppliers: they will benefit from greater efficiencies, lower costs and an increased profit potential. Contracting authorities will benefit from increased competition through sourcing across the EU, and they will reduce administrative costs through process automation.

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6.13.1 EU-Wide Interoperability PEPPOL opens up a new dimension in public e-Procurement with extended market connectivity and EU-wide interoperability, facilitating seamless electronic communication across borders. PEPPOL’s transport infrastructure interconnects e-Procurement systems across the EU through common and nationally compatible standards. Access to the PEPPOL infrastructure takes place through Access Points currently provided by government authorities and private companies. Using common standards, these Access Points ensure legal, organisational and technical interoperability. Best practice content standards, common processes and an open exchange platform for electronic document transport across Europe are the foundation for standardised software solutions. PEPPOL efficiently interconnects existing e-Procurement communities, thus enabling the private sector to bid for public sector contracts anywhere in the EU.

6.13.2 PEPPOL Standards At the heart of PEPPOL is an electronic transport infrastructure allowing governments and companies to connect their IT systems and reliably exchange data and business documents. A common agreement on cross-border procurement processes, implemented through open standards, makes this possible. PEPPOL has developed the BIS60 and the BusDox61 as its principal standards. PEPPOL supports the use of UBL 2.0 documents and CEN/BII profiles. A CEN/BII (Business Interoperability Interfaces) profile is a specification of how one or more business processes, such as ordering or invoicing, are executed. PEPPOL implements the CEN/BII profiles to define specific business scenarios. A PEPPOL Business Interoperability Specification (BIS) is a CEN BII profile with additional legal, organisational and technical requirements to support pan-European use. The PEPPOL transport infrastructure uses a set of technical specifications known as BusDox (Business Document Exchange) to allow organisations to securely and reliably exchange electronic documents. BusDox is document-agnostic, meaning users can transfer ANY kind of XML document between ANY network. These standardised public e-Procurement processes will save time, improve transparency and increase competition.

60

Business Interoperability Specifications (BIS) https://peppol.eu/what-is-peppol/peppol-profilesspecifications/, last accessed February 2019. 61 Business Document Exchange Network (BUSDOX) https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/solution/peppolsenderaccesspoint-despatchadvice-busdox-validex, last accessed February 2019.

6.13

PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement Online)

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6.13.3 About OpenPEPPOL62 As the Pan-European Public Procurement Online (PEPPOL) project nears successful completion, with the PEPPOL specifications being implemented across Europe, the OpenPEPPOL63 Association, comprised of public and private members of the PEPPOL community, is taking over responsibilities for PEPPOL specifications, building blocks and services and promoting implementation across Europe. OpenPEPPOL has been established as a non-profit international association under Belgian law (Association Internationale Sans But Lucratif—AISBL). The purpose of OpenPEPPOL is to enable European businesses to easily deal electronically with any European public-sector buyers in their procurement processes, thereby increasing opportunities for greater competition for government contracts and providing better value for taxpayers’ money. The mission of OpenPEPPOL is to: • Encourage European governments and their suppliers to continue implementing e-Procurement using the PEPPOL specifications and promoting best practices; • Promote and support the development of innovative PEPPOL-based ICT products and services supporting public procurement processes, promoting their use also in the B2B context to harmonise processes across the private and public sectors, simplifying e-Procurement adoption for SMEs; • Ensure that the PEPPOL network continues to grow in an open, accessible and compliant manner, supporting interoperability for European public services and helping Europe move towards a Digital Single Market. The Association will provide the authoritative point of reference for networks of interoperable, PEPPOL-compliant infrastructure and the organisations that use it, ensuring high level governance and continuation of the agreement infrastructure. Open PEPPOL will strive to set widely accepted technology standards and specifications, ensuring sustainability while promoting and supporting the wider use of the PEPPOL specifications, building blocks and services. Business to business use of the PEPPOL-compliant infrastructure and use of PEPPOL components in other areas beyond procurement are also recognised as important and will be encouraged by the Association. Use of the PEPPOL components and specifications outside Europe should also be possible.

62

Enrique Vich, PEPPOL PR and Recruitment Director—[email protected], last accessed February 2019. 63 Open PEPPOL https://peppol.eu/about-openpeppol/, last accessed February 2019.

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6.13.4 Long-Term Sustainability A long-term sustainability roadmap has been agreed upon within the PEPPOL64 consortium. The roadmap describes three parallel approaches for sustainability of PEPPOL results: • User driven approach: Open PEPPOL • EC-supported approach towards establishment of Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) through: – ISA operations and governance of centralised software components/services (SML) – e.g. CIP ICTPSP ‘Pilot A’ project ‘Basic Cross Sector Services’ (BCSS) (CIP ICTPSP Work Programme 2012, topic 4.1). Standardisation approach; continued efforts for standardisation of business processes and semantics and e-Delivery through CEN WS BII, OASIS TC BDX and other relevant standardisation bodies.

6.13.5 OpenPEPPOL to Guarantee High Level Governance and Long-Term Sustainability of the PEPPOL Infrastructure65 As part of a long-term sustainability roadmap, the PEPPOL Governing Board agreed on establishing OpenPEPPOL as a non-profit international association. The OpenPEPPOL association ensure high level governance and continuation of the agreement infrastructure to promote wider use of PEPPOL-based e-Procurement solutions in Europe. The OpenPEPPOL association is drawn up as the user driven path towards PEPPOL sustainability, and is being supplemented by an EU-supported path and a standardisation-focused path. The foreseen mission statement for Open PEPPOL is to increase e-Procurement interoperability in Europe by providing high level governance and support for the expanding use and the long-term maintenance and evolution of PEPPOL specifications, building blocks and related legal agreements. In more detail, one of the main purposes for the Open PEPPOL association, as it was discussed within the PEPPOL consortium, was to ensure the long-term sustainability of the PEPPOL infrastructure networks and user communities by providing the authoritative framework of governance that supports the application and use of

64

https://peppol.eu/about-openpeppol/, last accessed February 2019. For more information please contact: André Hoddevik, PEPPOL Project Director—andre. [email protected]—Enrique Vich, PEPPOL PR and Recruitment Director—enrique. [email protected]. 65

6.14

Interoperability in the Field of e-Procurement

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legal agreements that underpin operations and transactions within the networks of interoperable, PEPPOL-compliant infrastructure and the organisations that use it within the PEPPOL communities.

6.14

Interoperability in the Field of e-Procurement

The section of the present book devoted to interoperability provides a general overview; of course, this issue has different impacts and effects in various sectors. The role of interoperability in the field of e-Procurement is a key role. While many European countries already use electronic procurement to make tendering of public sector contracts simpler and more efficient, most of these solutions are implemented solely on a national or regional level, with limited access to other communities. If we refer to the European Union, the full set of e-Procurement solutions must be interoperable at least at European level. Public procurement of goods and services must operate at European level66 as stated on the specific web page of the European Union.

6.14.1 Public Procurement in the European Union The official report of the European Union stated that “every year, over 250,000 public authorities in the EU spend around 14% of GDP on the purchase of services, works and supplies. In many sectors such as energy, transport, waste management, social protection and the provision of health or education services, public authorities are the principal buyers.” Public procurement refers to the process by which public authorities, such as government departments or local authorities, purchase works, goods or services from companies. Examples include the building of a state school, purchasing furniture for a public prosecutor’s office and contracting cleaning services for a public university. EU law sets out minimum harmonised public procurement rules. These rules organise the way public authorities and certain public utility operators purchase goods, works and services. They are transposed into national legislation and apply to tenders whose monetary value exceeds a certain amount defined by the EU. For tenders of lower value, national rules apply. Nevertheless, these national rules also have to respect the general principles of EU law.

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Directive on services in the Internal Market: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/services/ services-directive/implementation_en, last accessed February 2019.

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6.14.2 Directive on Services in the Internal Market67 The objective of the Services Directive is to release the untapped growth potential of services markets in Europe by removing legal and administrative barriers to trade in the services sector. The simplification measures foreseen by the Directive should significantly facilitate life and increase transparency for SMEs and consumers when they want to provide or use services in the single market. The Directive requires the Member States to simplify procedures and formalities that service providers need to comply with. In particular, it requires Member States to remove unjustified and disproportionate burdens and to substantially facilitate: the establishment of a business, i.e. cases in which a natural or legal person wants to set up a permanent establishment in a Member State, and the cross-border provision of services, i.e. cases in which a business wants to supply services across borders in another Member State, without setting up an establishment there. Pursuant to the Directive, Member States are obliged to set up “points of single contact”, through which service providers can obtain all relevant information and deal with all administrative formalities without the need to contact several authorities. The “points of single contact have to be accessible at a distance and by electronic means.” This is the case of the “Polish plumber68”; any bid must be launched/open at European level.

6.15

Some Concluding Remarks

The availability of e-Procurement at European level or even at global level may change the way in which governments, enterprises and even single citizens will access the supply chain. They will be able in a glimpse to select the best quality/prize offer wherever it is posted on line; of course some control mechanisms must be activated and an ad hoc regulation framework must be created in advance in order to avoid misuse and drawbacks. Some problems are already in the foreground due to the birth of a global market without a global regulatory framework and it means: pollution, child work, less safety, diseases, etc. There is another relevant player on the business scene due to the natural evolution of the digital playground: communities. Such a newcomer may play the role of the 67

DIRECTIVE 2006/123/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 12 December 2006: on services in the internal market https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ TXT/?uri=celex%3A32006L0123, last accessed February 2019. 68 This was a very popular phrase at the time of the early stages of the European Union. “Le plombier polonais” was a phrase first used by Philippe Val in Charlie Hebdo and popularised by Philippe de Villiers as a symbol of cheap labour coming in from Central Europe as a result of the Directive on services in the internal market during the EU Constitution referendum in France in 2005.

References

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rule-breaking player. This means a crowd of citizens, even across borders, grouped under the “community” flag. They may exercise potentially a huge influence, among many other fields, on the market; they may very quickly put an offer in order to buy something at a specific price or launch a campaign in order to not buy a product. It is completely senseless to try to block or limit the power of communities. We already witnessed to some attempt to limit or block it in some countries but it was impossible and at the end such attempt player a reverse role. Of course, there are risks of abuse and misuse of such a potential power. It is up to the rulers to channel such a power within reasonable boundaries.

References 1. Brealey RA, Myers SC (1991) Principles of corporate finance, 4th edn. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY 2. Brigham EF (1989) Fundamentals of financial management, 5th edn. Dryden Press, Orlando, FL 3. Broggi D, Consip (2009) The value of an experience. Theory and practice between e-Procurement and e-Government. Franco Angeli Ediizoni. ISBN:9788856818253 4. Coe CK (1989) Public financial management. Prentice Hall. ISBN-13:9780137374618 5. Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/EC, paragraph 55. http://eur-lex.europa. eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri¼CELEX:32014L0024&from¼EN 6. e-PRIOR Project Team (2010) e-Catalogues Gap analysis: between pre-awarding business requirements and the post-awarding implementation in e-PRIOR. European Commission. https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/document/2014-12/e-Catalogues%20Gap% 20Analysis%20-%20between%20pre-awarding%20business%20requirement%20and%20the %20post-awarding%20implementation%20in%20e-PRIOR.pdf 7. Gallinger GW, Poe JB (1995) Essentials of finance: an integrated approach. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 8. Higgins RC (2000) Analysis for financial management. McGraw-Hill 9. L 376/36 Directive 2006/123/EC of the European parliament and of the council of 12 December 2006: on services in the internal market Official Journal of the European Union 27/12/2006. http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri¼CELEX:32006L0123&from¼EN, last accessed February 2019 10. Noe TH (2000) Corporate finance, incentives, and strategy. Financ Rev 35(4):1–8 11. Pardi WJ (1999) XML in action: Web technology. MS Press, Redmond, WA 12. Petty JW, Keown AJ, Scott DF Jr, Martin JD (1993) Basic financial management, 6th edn. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 13. Rubattino C (2007) EU: electronic catalogues in electronic public procurement. https://joinup. ec.europa.eu/document/eu-electronic-catalogues-electronic-public-procurement 14. Spiro HT (1988) Finance for the nonfinancial manager, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York

On Line References Read more: Finance and Financial Management. https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/EqInc/Finance-and-Financial-Management.html#b%23ixzz22rhC894j, last accessed February 2019

Index

0-9 and Symbols 1984, 2

A Advancing Open Standards for the Information Society (OASIS), 154, 206, 210–215, 221, 223, 224, 234 Appification, 224 APPs, 55, 94, 119, 129, 193, 225 Association for Computer Machinery (ACM), 152 Augmented reality, 20 Automatic teller machine (ATM), 109, 114, 115, 128 Awareness, 15, 36, 50, 56, 67, 138, 162, 170, 171, 181

B Betrayed IT revolution, 2–4 Bill Gates, 110 Bio-diversity, 34 Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS), 112 Bureaucracy, 6, 106, 117–118, 161, 162, 168

C Citizens, 2, 6, 28, 62, 94, 199 Clouds, 31, 32, 52, 152, 183 Clusters, 219 Cognitive, 22 Collaborative e-environments, 41

Community, 8, 12, 13, 22, 31, 36, 43, 49, 50, 56, 64, 66, 67, 69, 70, 73, 74, 83, 84, 88, 89, 97, 112, 120, 133, 142, 145, 155, 161, 167, 179, 188, 206, 210, 229, 233, 237 Community building, 41 Connected government, 99, 100, 122, 129 Connectivity, 22, 29, 68, 95, 106–108, 133, 149, 163, 184, 189, 194, 230, 231 Consumers, 12, 120, 186, 187, 199, 205, 236 Council of Europe, 9, 10, 120 Creative Commons, 116 Cross channels, 109–110 Crowd, 37, 39, 192, 237 Crowdsourcing, 37, 38, 193 Cultural diversity, 113 Cultural identity, 113 Cultural model, 113–114, 122, 125, 149, 227 Customer Relationship Management (CRM), 3 Cybersecurity, 112, 153 Cyberspace, 153

D Data, 2, 12, 35, 66, 96, 208 Data protection, 51 Decentralisation of government, 17, 18 Department of Defence (DoD), 154 Digital Access Index (DAI), 132, 133, 135, 136 Digital government, 97, 98 Digital opportunity, 62, 95, 132–135 Digital preservation, 151, 153–155 Digital revolution, 92, 199

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240 Digital Versatile Disk (DVD), 104 Direct democracy, 6, 7, 21, 53–58 Dynabook, 3 Dynamic coalition, 22, 23

E E-administration, 10 eBESWorkshop, 215–219 e-Campaigning, 41 e-Catalogues, 201–211, 221–224 e-Citizens, 2, 129 E-community model, 11 Economics, 9, 11, 12, 40, 44, 51, 52, 62, 68, 69, 94, 95, 102, 105, 108, 113, 123, 140, 147, 148, 169, 174, 176, 178, 179, 181, 198, 199, 203, 205, 206 e-Consultation, 28, 41, 52, 142, 148 e-Decision-making, 52, 142, 148 e-Deliberation, 28, 98 e-Democracy, 7, 54, 64, 98 e-Empowerment, 62–92, 95 Effort expectancy, 127, 144 e-Governance, 64, 97, 98 e-Government, 28 e-Government Action Plan, 44 e-Government readiness, 132–138, 140–144 e-Government survey, 52, 99, 108, 138–140, 142, 148 e-Inclusion, 62–92, 95 e-Information sharing, 52 e-Learning, 5 Electronic Business eXtensible Markup Language (ebXML), 210–212, 216, 221–224 e-Legislation, 28 Emerging (e-Government), 99, 100 Encryption, 1 Enhanced (e-Government), 99, 100 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), 199 e-Participation, 7, 10, 96–98, 100, 138, 141, 143, 148, 149 e-Participation index (EPI), 52, 97 e-Petition, 28, 41, 142, 182, 183 e-Polling, 41 e-Procurement, 198–237 e-Service delivery, 10, 138 e-Services, 96, 119, 144, 149, 160, 161, 182, 183 Ethics, 124 Eurobarometer, 29, 32

Index European Commission (EC), 28–30, 41, 154, 202–204, 207, 231 European Union (EU), 8, 27–33, 44–47, 98, 122–124, 175, 199, 200, 202, 207, 235 e-Voting, 21, 41

F Facilitating conditions, 127 Fake news, 54, 124 Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 23 Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), 111 Fruition, v

G 4G, 72, 184 Gadgets, 18 Gamification, 31, 33, 56 Geneva Digital Talks, 112 Geneva Internet Platform, 112 Geneva Plan of Action, 133, 134, 137 Global e-Government Survey, 138, 139, 148 Globalisation, 3, 113, 123 Governance, 28, 44, 51, 98, 100, 105, 110–112, 118, 120, 139, 150, 162, 205, 234 Government to business (G2B), 98, 117, 131, 140 Government to citizens (G2C), 98, 100, 113, 117, 131, 140, 144, 148 Government to government (G2G), 98, 101, 121, 131, 140

H Hackers, 2, 129 Happy cyber-world, 2 Hippies, 2 Human capital (human capital index HCI), 141, 142

I i2010, 28 ICT indexes DAI, 132, 133, 135, 136 DOI, 52, 64, 134–137 ICT-OI, 133–137 IDI, 136, 137 ICT Opportunity Index (ICT-OI), 133–137

Index Identity, 2, 44, 54, 62, 63, 114, 128, 129, 183, 204 Improved services, 19, 20, 118 Information communication technology (ICT), 7–9, 17, 21, 24, 28, 29, 41, 44, 48, 51, 62, 64, 94–98, 101, 103–105, 108, 115, 118, 121, 127, 128, 132–140, 142, 145, 148–150, 181, 186, 187, 203, 204, 206, 221, 231, 233 Information society, 4, 28, 62, 68, 106, 108, 115, 133, 134, 136, 137, 141, 147, 154, 181, 206, 212, 225 Infostate Index, 133 Instagram, 24, 92, 119 Intellectual property, 103 Intellectual property rights (IPR), 101, 102, 104, 111, 116, 153 Interaction design, 106, 113, 126, 127, 144, 150 International Business Machines (IBM), 90 International Standard Organisation (ISO), 214, 221 Internet e-Government, 98 Internet governance, 22, 110–112, 120 Internet Governance Forum (IGF), 22, 112, 144 Internet of Things (IoT), 3, 9, 22, 109, 110, 128, 129, 149 Internet service providers (ISP), 21–23, 95, 111, 194 Internet World Stats, 120 Interoperability, 52, 99–101, 121–127, 202–206, 208, 230–232, 234–236 iPhone, 39, 177, 178

K Key performance indicators (KPI), 43, 159

L Languages, 33, 69, 70, 72, 73, 80–82, 91, 113, 114, 122, 143, 145, 167, 170, 171, 174, 175, 180, 182, 185, 188, 192, 209–214, 221 Liverpool Direct, 18, 19

M Makers, 21, 31, 33, 41, 52, 57, 105, 159, 187, 205 Measurement and Evaluation Tool for Citizen Engagement and e-Participation (METEP), 51, 52 Measuring performance, 130–131

241 Media, 3, 4, 22, 31, 33, 36, 38, 47, 54, 64, 74, 113, 119, 124, 125, 129, 133, 145, 150–152, 162, 164, 166, 180, 181, 186 Mediate, 6 m-Government, 98 Millennium Development Goal (MDG), 96, 140 Multi-channel, 97, 109–110, 117, 150, 177 Multilingualism, 111 Multimedia, 31, 78, 101, 102, 104, 119, 166, 189, 190, 192

N Network neutrality, 21–23 New economy, 11, 112

O One-stop-shop, 17, 18, 143 One-time password (OTP), 130 Online deliberation, 41 Online democracy, 98 Online governance, 98 Open access, 21, 116, 194 OpenPEPPOL, 208, 233, 234 Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD/OCSE), 40, 62, 117, 147, 148

P Pan-European Public Procurement OnLine (PEPPOL), 208, 230 PEPPOL standards, 231, 232 Performance expectancy, 127, 144 Personal computer, 62, 65 Personal data management, 129–130 Personal digital assistant (PDA), 117, 120, 130 Personal E-empowerment, 62 Personal, Social, Health & Citizenship Education, 66 Planned economy model, 11 Policies, 10, 37, 51, 52, 68, 80, 94, 102, 105, 108, 118, 133, 138, 139, 142–144 Principal components analysis (PCA), 136, 137 Privacy, 3, 4, 38, 43, 63, 91, 92, 96, 97, 105, 116, 128–129, 225 Profile (profiling), 3, 54, 109, 115, 126, 128, 143, 146, 193, 219, 222–224, 228, 232 Public Administration and Development Management Department (PADMD), 52 Public good, 106–108, 116

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Index

Public opinion, 41, 144 Public procurement, 198–203, 206, 233, 235

Tunis Agenda, 134 Twitter, 64, 74, 142

Q QR code, 125

U Ubiquitous computing, 4 UN/EDIFACT, 213, 215–219, 224 United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), 206, 212, 214–217, 219–222, 224 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 7, 8, 39 Universal Business Language (UBL), 206, 210–215, 221, 222, 224, 231, 232 Unsuccessful stories, 144–149 User-centred design, 126 Users as co-producers, 18

R Radio Frequency ID (RFID), 128 Ranking, 130–131, 135, 205 Readiness index, 140–144 Regulatory framework, 51, 102, 104, 236 Resource Description Framework (RDF), 209

S Safety, 22, 36, 86, 122, 177, 188, 190, 236 Security, 2, 16, 17, 38, 52, 54, 63, 71, 79, 95–97, 99, 111, 115, 116, 122, 123, 128–129, 143, 163, 174, 175, 180, 181, 183, 184, 188, 189, 193, 223, 226 Service providers (SP), 87, 89, 164, 187, 236 Short Messages Service (SMS), 17, 36, 48–50, 117, 148, 165 Smart cards, 18 Social influence, 115, 127 Social media, 3, 31, 33, 36, 119, 129 Social web, 53 Spam, 111 Standards, 9, 16, 22, 23, 75, 85, 98, 99, 111, 121–123, 131, 152–154, 162, 167, 173, 174, 186, 201–207, 209–212, 214, 216, 217, 221–224, 227, 230–233 Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), 18, 185 Subscription, 126, 158, 219, 225 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 139–141

T Tablets, 69, 91, 94, 95, 115, 189, 193, 198 Taxonomy, 99 Telecentres, 120 Tele-democracy, 98 Thomson Microelectronics, 18 Training, 39, 75, 89–91, 94, 102, 119, 121, 123, 146, 160, 166 Transactional e-Government, 99, 100, 155, 160

V Valuable good, 103 Victorian Electronic Record Strategy (VERS), 154 Virtual democracy, 98 Virtual reality, 41, 147 Voice over IP (VoIP), 119, 194

W Web 2.0, 142 Web Ontology Language (OWL), 209 WhatsApp, 50, 92, 119 Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG), 110, 111 The World Bank, 99, 105, 131, 179 World Summit Award, 20, 174, 188, 189, 225 World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Meeting (WTIM), 136 World wide web (WWW), 8, 108, 121, 209, 221

X Xerox PARC, 3

Y YouTube, 92, 142