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

increasing government organisations’ awareness and understanding of the purpose and scope of the
e-government programme; 3) developing more collaboration over e-government between agencies and
across levels of government; and 4) striking the right balance between centralised co-ordination and
decentralised implementation of e-government.
The overarching e-government challenge currently faced by Denmark is the question of how,
during a period of major organisational change and fiscal constraint, it can maintain or even increase
progress towards its e-government goals of developing a more efficient and user-focused public sector
supporting a more competitive economy, and a vibrant Danish information society.
1. E-government structure and context
Denmark is home to 5.3 million people, the vast majority (85%) of whom live in urban areas. The
standard of living in Denmark is high. The country ranked 17 th among the 177 countries that made up
the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index (HDI) in 2004. Denmark is
a relatively small, open economy with high per capita GDP. Almost three-quarters of the Danish
workforce work in the service sector, with 31% being employed in the public sector.
There is a favourable environment for development of e-government in Denmark. E-government
enjoys good, albeit indirect, political support. Past and present governments have placed strong policy
emphasis on making the best possible public and private sector use of ICT in pursuit of both social and
economic goals.
The Danish institutional environment supports the implementation of e-government. Positive
factors include: 1) the fact that effective use of ICT has been a feature of government policy for
several decades; 2) the existence of a political and administrative culture of compromise and
consensus, supporting involvement of all levels of government in e-government; 3) the positioning of
e-government as an enabler of other major government policies; and 4) the fact that local government
(which is fully engaged in the national e-government programme) delivers many public services,
allowing for close government-citizen relationships.
Between 2005 and 2007, sweeping reforms of the structure of the public sector (“the Structural
Reform”) will be the dominant factor in the environment for e-government. These reforms will impact
on both State and local government, but will have the most effect at the local level, where fewer
organisations will deliver an increased share of public functions and services – especially at the
municipal level where 271 municipalities will be reduced (through mergers) to 98, and 14 counties
will become 5 regions.
The Structural Reform goals of making government more coherent, user-focused and efficient are
congruent with the goals of the Danish e-government strategy, and the long-term success of the
Structural Reform will be influenced by application of e-government at all levels of government.
Officials interviewed for this review regarded the Structural Reform process as being both a major
opportunity for e-government to contribute to the Government’s wider goals, and a potential challenge
for e-government due to the risk of divided attention and resources. There was particular concern that
the costs of change to local government ICT systems may have been underestimated in the planning of
the Reform. The Government is relying on these costs being funded from savings that it expects will
result from the Reform. Any failure to achieve these savings, or to ensure that they are not exceeded
by the costs of change, could undermine the success of the Structural Reform and/or limit achievement
of e-government objectives. There was also a feeling that, because e-government is not explicitly
addressed as part of the Structural Reform, an opportunity to increase achievement of e-government
goals within and across the different levels of government may have been lost, or diminished.
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