E-government with a human dimension…
The meaning of “e-government” does not sound new any more and, much more, it
does not sound innovative… especially for the distinguished participants in this
Conference who have considerable experience in issues of information technology
and new technologies.
More than 8 years have passed since the governments of the more technologically
advanced countries in Europe drew up the first plans for the transfer of the
“traditional” transactions with the public sector to electronic platforms.
Great Britain started in 1995 while Finland and Holland in 1996 with plans of
electronic government which were quite innovative and visionary at that time.
The success of the venture was almost secured… The threefold: “faster, cheaper,
more efficiently” for citizens and enterprises was attractive and was, indeed, achieved
to a considerable degree in Europe… Of course, the achievement of this result did not
follow the paces that everyone, and especially the supporters of technology, expected.
The difficulties and challenges which appeared, and still continue to appear, in this
effort, all over Europe are many.
The institutional and regulatory framework, on the one hand, which follows
technology instead of preceding it and must change pace.
On the other hand, the need for the citizens to really understand how they are going to
benefit from “e-government”. Because only if the citizens realise in concrete ways
how they are going to gain time, comfort and money due to technology, we will have
achieved a considerable step towards the adoption of “e-government”.
The basic requirement is now the smooth “introduction” of technology in citizens’
lives in order to provide services and not the other way round.
But what does “Information Society” mean in practice, in terms understood by the
citizen? What are the interventions which promise small but drastic improvements in
his life?
For the European family, “Information Society” and “e-government” is a series of
small or big capabilities facilitating almost every moment of everyday life.
It is the capability that citizens have, before starting their day, to be informed via
electronic means about issues of their interest. With speed and comfort and the way
they choose without unnecessary or indifferent messages.
It is the convenience that every family will have, on the way to work or to school, to
get continuously informed and in real time through broadband services about traffic,
the alternative roads to be followed, and the service of each means of transportation in
order to reach their destination faster and safely.
It is the opportunity that each young member of the “Information Society” will have
during the daily student life, either at secondary or higher education, to attend lessons
in modern schools and Universities with perfect technological infrastructures allowing
for immediate access to e-libraries and the most recent information as well as to easy
search for data. It is the opportunity that each student, even the most geographically
remote one, will have to access knowledge and participate, in parallel with the regular
classes, in additional learning groups, in virtual classes; this is implemented in most
of the Scandinavian countries today.
Following the course of a typical day of daily life, it is the opportunity provided for
the citizen and businessman to enjoy the benefits of “e-government” and conduct a
very big percentage of the transactions with the public services from home, with the
comfort and convenience offered by the personal computer and a continuously
available and fast wired or wireless connection to the Internet.
“E-government” is not of course an abstract idea.
It is the electronic submission of every request or statement concerning the public
sector and the electronic conclusion of the relevant procedures. In 2003, in Belgium,
102 out of 111 services under the responsibility of the Central Government were
carried out electronically, including tax statements, issuance of certificates and
licenses etc. In Greece, the Citizen Service Centers are a first attempt towards this
direction which is enriched and will become more electronic…
In the business sector, “e-government” is the example of Holland of 2004, where the
business will enter only once and at one point the data concerning its activities and the
particulars determined by the law (VAT, addresses of head office and branches, logos,
trademarks etc)… Any public or private body asking for information or data for the
said company will be obliged to go to this base without the business being required to
continuously submit the same data wasting time.
In Spain and Denmark, the Information Society already gives the opportunity to
implement almost all the procedures for setting up new businesses electronically,
quite fast.
Information Society are the broadband infrastructures which offer considerable
improvement of productivity allowing for the development of new flexible forms of
work, the expansion of the markets of the enterprises, the faster supply of raw
materials at lower cost as well as the direct personalized contact with customers.
Benefits which are already enjoyed by hundreds of enterprises all over Europe.
In everyday life, “e-government” is the modernization of post services, where every
citizen can electronically follow his/ her mail up to the moment it is delivered, as it is
now done in Sweden. It is the convenience enjoyed by each British enterprise when it
carries out all mail financial transactions electronically. In Greece, it is the support of
ELTA (Hellenic Post) in order to acquire modern selection centres and information
systems that reduce delivery times and offer the opportunity for similar services in the
foreseeable future…
It is the opportunity that each citizen has to replace the visits to the bank of his/ her
choice with visits to the “electronic cashier” carrying out all the transactions there
either with the public or the private sectors, easily, fast and securely, as it is already
done in our country.
It is also the opportunity that each citizen will have, irrespective of the geographical
location, to work from distance by means of tele-work methods or to utilize modern
network infrastructures, such as Wi-Fi, so as to be able to move in the work area
without limitations. These actions have already started being implemented in Greece
as well…
In everyday life and in the health sector, the “Information Society” is the opportunity
given to the citizen to take consult his/ her personal doctor via broadband telemedicine services.
After work as well, in the field of leisure and entertainment, the Information Society
is the possibility of watching films on-line, the selection of desirable music, the timely
electronic booking for shows and sport events, the electronic organisation of travels
through travel agencies and the purchase of tickets for all means of transportation or
the selection of points where he/ she will live.
Irrespective of residence, in the Information Society the citizen can acquire, through
broadband access, new opportunities for purchases not only from the local markets
but from all over the world bringing products from every neighbourhood of the world
to his doorstep, easily, fast and securely.
The Information Society in the everyday life of the citizen is the provision of
communication and discussion capabilities, in terms of traditional telephony, with
practically insignificant cost due to the broadband infrastructures. It is the
strengthening of the sociability of the citizen with the provision of a new means, a
new channel of communication with friends and acquaintances or for the participation
in groups or fora with common targets and interests, as it already happens to a great
extent in the technologically advanced Scandinavian countries.
In order, however, to achieve all the above, in order to really achieve an Information
Society, something more than the qualitative implementation of information
technology and new technology projects is required…
It is required to approach citizens in terms of their own everyday lives. It is required
to bring technology in its true dimension and realise that citizens wish to utilise it as a
tool in order to facilitate their important or unimportant activities and not necessarily
see it as the centre of their existence.
Consequently, in parallel with every information technology project which contributes
to the fulfillment of the vision for the Information Society, the effort must focus on
how new technology is perceived by the citizen on a daily basis. And we must
measure the result in every step, in every new intervention at this level of reference…
the human level.
This dimension of technology, the “citizen’s look”, is what we want to have as a
guide in order to plan the future…
Thank you