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

Co-ordination of e-government policies and projects
At State government level each ministry plays a co-ordinating role for the various departments,
agencies and bodies it is responsible for. This is most clearly seen in the process of budget allocation
within the overall ministerial portfolio. However, internal co-ordination of e-government systems and
applications development is increasingly evident. This is a result of the public sector modernisation
programme, which requires all ministries to prepare strategies that include a focus on improving the
efficiency and quality of their services through better (“more qualified”) use of ICT.
At the all-of-government level, rather than consolidating co-ordination responsibilities under a
single entity such as a chief information officer, Denmark has involved several ministries in
co-ordinating e-government according to how it fits with their wider responsibilities, functions and
expertise. As noted in Chapter 4, while this creates potential for duplication of roles and/or lack of
clarity, this is generally not seen to be a significant problem in Denmark. However, there is still room
for improvement. Overall, Denmark’s current arrangements for top-level planning, co-ordination and
leadership of e-government have contributed significantly to its achievements, and there is strong
support, both within and outside government, for continuation of these arrangements beyond 2006.
Through the Digital Task Force, the Ministry of Finance plays the most prominent e-government
co-ordinating role at the all-of-government level. This role, which is focused on cross-organisational
issues that arise from, or impact on, the e-government strategy, has grown alongside a broader push
from the Government for more public sector co-ordination aimed at achieving better results. This push
is partly a response to the cross-cutting nature of most major policy issues in Denmark, and partly due
to an e-government-generated awareness of the need to develop a culture of collaboration in the public
sector. It has led to increased questioning of the traditionally high levels of independence and
decentralised powers of decision making that government organisations have enjoyed. In 2003, a
major review of the e-government strategy and Project e-Government identified the need to extend the
project until the end of 2006. As already noted in Chapter 4, it also brought to light a number of
challenges and obstacles in front of the project, including a widespread “bunker” (silo) culture in
government that acted to inhibit collaboration.
In considering how to address these obstacles, the Joint Board of e-Government looked at the
tension between co-ordination and centralisation as approaches to implementation of the e-government
strategy. The outcome was an acknowledgement of the importance of using both approaches to
achieve the Danish e-government vision, and a shift from “soft” to “strong” co-ordination as the
overall approach to implementation of the e-government strategy. Since 2004, the overall strategic
approach to e-government has involved more active direction and support from the centre of
government that features a notable increase in attention to development of all-of-government
co-ordination frameworks and common ICT infrastructures.
The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MVTU) has the other major e-government
co-ordinating role, due both to its overall responsibility for Danish ICT policy and the close
involvement of its IT-Policy Centre in Project e-Government. The principal task of the Ministry is to
develop and implement key initiatives of the Government’s ICT policy, and to contribute to creating
the best possible framework for citizens, businesses and the public sector to realise information society
goals. The Ministry’s co-ordination responsibilities are carried out in a variety of ways, particularly
through its role in developing the Danish enterprise architecture and ICT standard setting (discussed
below); for example, the work of the XML Committee is managed by the National IT and Telecom
Agency, located under the MVTU.
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