OECD Peer Review of E-Government in Denmark - ePractice.eu

External audit
Another important element of effective e-government monitoring and evaluation can be provided
by audit organisations working independently of other government organisations. In Denmark, the
National Audit Office (NAO) is charged with examining whether State funds are administered in
accordance with the decisions of the Parliament. In addition to undertaking financial audits, the NAO
also conducts performance audits that look at how well specific tasks or projects have been conducted
by government organisations, with a focus on economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. To date, the
NAO has undertaken audits of specific IT projects and established recommendations around the
development and evaluation of the business case for e-government projects, but it has not yet carried
out an audit explicitly focused on e-government (despite having discussed the possibility of
conducting such an audit with the Digital Task Force).
This lack of independent information for the Parliament about e-government activities is mirrored
by a relative lack of information on e-government provided to both ministers and officials. This lack
of communication contrasts with the reporting that exists around the Government’s various IT Action
Plans (within which some information about e-government is provided). The Digital Task Force does
provide some information about the results of the e-government strategy on its Web site. This
reporting is, however, descriptive rather than evaluative, and is not comprehensive in its coverage of
all the targets of the strategy.
Overall, this apparent low level of demand and supply of rigorous monitoring and evaluation of
e-government to the Parliament, ministers and officials stands in contrast to the practices of many
OECD countries.
External audit at the local government level
The Structural Reform proposes establishment of an “independent evaluation institute” under the
Ministry of the Interior and Health (subject to discussion with municipalities). The intended purpose
of this institute will be to support effective decentralised provision of public services by examining
and publishing comparisons of the performance of individual municipalities. It is expected that
municipalities will benefit from access to knowledge about how best to deliver results, and their
efficiency in using resources will improve, especially through improved financial management. The
overall outcomes of establishing the institute are expected to be: 1) an improvement in the basis for
political decision making; 2) assurance that citizens will receive the best quality public services in
return for their taxes; and 3) an increase in public sector openness and transparency.
Interview participants expressed a general consensus that, in principle, the proposal is a good idea
which should contribute to improved local government performance. It was not clear, however,
exactly where the institute would be established, how it would be governed, resourced or organised,
and whether it would focus on e-government as part of its activities.
Given the contribution that e-government is expected to make to the goals that the institute will
support, and also the widespread benefit that increased sharing of e-government experience and good
practices among local government organisations could deliver, many interviewees felt that
e-government could be a very important focus area for the new institute. Some also questioned the
decision to limit the scope of the institute to work only with municipalities, wondering whether it
could also add value at the regional level.
144