How were the governments in Europe digitalised in last 10 years? Read our new report

The ISA² Programme is thrilled to announce the publication of a new study providing an insightful overview over the last 10 years of Digital Government development in Europe – the eGovernment factsheets 10-year anniversary report. Produced under the National Interoperability Framework Observatory (NIFO) action, the study commemorates the 10^th anniversary of the publication of the eGovernment factsheets.

The report presents the main digital government political communications, legal frameworks and infrastructures implemented in 34 European countries during the last decade; along with providing an overview of the main digital government trends in 2018. It also sheds light on the important role played by the European Commission in shaping the digital government’s landscape across Europe, while outlining a way forward for its future development.

The report explains the complex developments and immense efforts undertaken by the European public administrations in the context of public sector modernisation. As Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, notes in the Foreword of the Anniversary Report: ‘Throughout the years, the European countries’ public sector did not stand still’.

The findings of the report demonstrate that all European countries have adopted strategies dedicated to fostering digitalisation of the public sector. As for legislation, a total of nine countries stressed the adoption of ICT-friendly laws as one of their main achievements in the domain in the past 10 years. With the growth of importance and popularity of digital public services amongst citizens and businesses, national governments have proceeded to reorganise their governance structures by dedicating a single responsible ministry or body to digital government matters. Some countries has focused more on the delivery of digital public services at the local level, making the digitalisation of smaller offices an important priority. Citizen- and business-focused public service provision is an ever-growing priority in all EU Member States, especially given the sophistication and quality of digital services provided by the private sector.

It is important to highlight that for the analysis of the main digital government developments, national eGovernment experts were also extensively consulted. Their input was used to provide comprehensive country intelligence on the evolution of each analysed country’s digital government activities and supporting stakeholders.

The ISA² Programme is also happy to announce that in order to reflect the paradigm shift from the concept of eGovernment to the broader concept of Digital Government across the world, from 2019 the eGovernment factsheets will be rebranded as Digital Government factsheets. The new factsheets will cover a broader range of topics and countries and will be published on Joinup in May 2019.

FULL E-GOVERNMENT FACTSHEETS 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY REPORT