e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

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Figure 6.3. Finnish electronic citizen’s ID card issued per year subscribers (1999-2002) 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 419. While several ministries have been involved in the development of the FINEID card, most have yet to develop services that use it. The Ministry of Transport and Communication, for example, plans to have services requiring authentication by 2005. Only 15 respondents to the MoF’s 2001 survey of government IT use reported currently using PKI as part of their service provision. Another 41 reported that PKI services were under development (out of about 118 public organisations providing electronic services). When asked about projects, however, the percentage of PKI use rises, with about 30 out of 101 projects involving some type of PKI. 6.2.4 Problems and criticisms 0 1000 Source: MoF estimates 6500 420. The main, and most apparent, reason for the FINEID card’s lack of popularity is the relatively few transactions with government and the lack of interactive services requiring authentication. While the absence of an authentication infrastructure was cited by some as a reason for the lack of Stage 3 services, there has not been a marked increase in interactive services requiring authentication since the card was launched. The current worry about how to develop an adequate user base reveals the danger that the FINEID card is a solution in search of a problem. 421. When it was first rolled out in 1999, some in the MoI believed that the card would be used to make changes to ID entries and that more applications would be available in six months. After three years, there are now more than 50 applications for the FINEID card, including regional and central administration services, online banking and insurance and educational services. Very few of these services are provided by the central administration. 422. None of the current services using the FINEID card seems to provide the “killer app”, an electronic service that is so useful to citizens that they would buy a FINEID card to be able to conduct that transaction over the Internet. In addition, killer apps should be easy to use and be needed frequently enough to justify making the effort to acquire the necessary equipment and learn a new procedure. While e-government services are meant to simplify life for the user, the need to apply and pay for the card and purchase and install the card reader may make the electronic service option less attractive than existing service channels. For example, one of the best-known online services requiring authentication using the FINEID card is the change of address announcement, yet changes of address occur relatively infrequently and can be done using a telephone without any additional authentication. 138 3500 3500 1999 2000 2001 2002 number of card issued per year
423. This example also reveals the higher security standard to which e-government services have been held, both in Finland and in other OECD countries, in comparison with traditional service channels. This concern is understandable given the anxieties around online services in general and governments’ particular interest in maintaining citizen trust, but it is also a factor in user take-up of online services, especially when it adds extra steps to the process. Importantly, none of the interviewees felt that there has been any question about the FINEID card’s ability to ensure secure transactions 424. For interactive services that could use the FINEID card but do not yet do so, there is reluctance to adopt it, with most waiting to see whether more citizens purchase the cards. For those that cannot wait, the tendency is for agencies to “hedge their bets” and offer the FINEID card along with another authentication option. The MoF, for example, has issued authentication guidelines that allow the use of Internet banking codes (username and password) to log in for e-government services. 425. Among the expected advantages of a private-sector solution would be user familiarity with the card and process, a common solution for e-commerce, e-banking and e-government transactions, and an existing infrastructure. Co-operation with banks and mobile operators is ongoing in order to implement citizen’s certificate on a bank or mobile platform. With the exception of e-banking, however, e-commerce in Finland is developing slowly and overall use of e-commerce services in Finland continues to be relatively weak.. 426. IT officials in the Ministry of the Interior do not express any regrets about how the project has been implemented. They see the problem as being primarily the lack of early collaboration with the private sector. While this is true, co-ordination within the government for developing services based on the FINEID card remains a major challenge. It is not clear if the MoI and PRC have learned how to convince potential partners of the need for authentication services. One MoI official estimated that it would need another five to ten years to develop the services that make full use of the FINEID card. While this may have been a good argument for waiting to develop the FINEID card, now that it has been released, a more aggressive approach to service development seems more appropriate. 427. From a user perspective, citizens may not be aware of the level of uncertainty within the administration, but the relative lack of concrete and immediately useful services does not, for the moment, justify the purchase of the FINEID card. In addition, although the cost of certification is free once the card is purchased, the cost of the card remains a barrier: the smart card readers have not been supplied with standard computers as expected.. Finally, there have been some issues regarding the compatibility of different software applications. 428. Another barrier is citizens’ limited awareness of the potential benefits of the FINEID card. The PRC has continuously provided help and advice to agencies to improve communication on new applications and services, but citizens lack precise knowledge of what authentication is or how it can benefit them. Analysing and understanding demand is the first step in developing a market-oriented service strategy and escape from the current cycle of weak demand reinforced by lack of services. There does not seem to be, however, a clear strategy on how to involve citizens in the development and marketing of services. 429. The ambition to provide “universal” authentication services was seriously scaled back when, upon its introduction, the MoI failed to convince the major municipalities to merge their cards with the FINEID card. Discussions with KELA, the national social security agency under the authority of the parliament, did not result in a decisive agreement but led instead to a proposal for a pilot project in which KELA issued 900 social security cards using the FINEID certification standard. 139
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OECD e-GOVERNMENT STUDIES e-GOVERNM
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Secretariat wo
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4.2.5 Managing multiple service cha
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This report provides a first compre
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Finland could reinforce citizen sup
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Technical issues have been recognis
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The central government, however, la
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E-government has helped improve pla
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OVERALL ASSESSMENT The first phase
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6. The constitutional independence
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6. As the first OECD report of its
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Box 1.1. E-government co-ordination
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x The central administration does n
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2 THE CASE FOR E-GOVERNMENT 25. The
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Key Points - 4 x Public administrat
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40. As a result of these earlier go
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is illustrative. An online transact
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Health care 50 29 21 Unemployment 8
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3 BARRIERS TO E-GOVERNMENT 61. E-go
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action unclear. In interviews, IT o
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80. As noted in Chapter 2, the Stat
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equired to provide e-government str
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most important way to fund e-govern
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obtain (38%), followed by funds for
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Figure 3.4. E-government technologi
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113. Not surprisingly, the OECD sur
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3.3.2 Types of barriers 119. Respon
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x Technology neutrality in legislat
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“backbone” of the government ne
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egional authorities is decisive, ev
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Box 3.5. The development of mobile
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x Improving the public administrati
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political leaders to impress upon t
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showed that top management commitme
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levels of government. In particular
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home and school, every business and
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E-government Imperative (2003) list
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Key Points - 31 x The proportion of
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Key Points - 32 x Basic online info
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Key Points - 33 x Interactive infor
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of using more efficient electronic
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Key Points - 35 x The proportion of
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233. The Finnish Vehicle Administra
Page 88 and 89: citizens’ access to information i
Page 90 and 91: 4.3.2 E-engagement at the ministry
Page 92 and 93: Key Points - 38 x E-engagement init
Page 94 and 95: 255. At the end of 2002, the curren
Page 96 and 97: Themes portal (e.g. environmental,
Page 98 and 99: partnerships”). The most signific
Page 100 and 101: job satisfaction enquiry and models
Page 102 and 103: Key Points - 42 x Structural impact
Page 104 and 105: Key Points - 43 x Change management
Page 106 and 107: Figure 4.17. E-government leadershi
Page 108 and 109: 297. Interviews with ministries and
Page 110 and 111: x Horizontal co-ordination: lack of
Page 112 and 113: Figure 4.22. Government-wide leader
Page 114 and 115: catalyst as well as formal or infor
Page 116 and 117: operation of the Ministry of Social
Page 118 and 119: development of Internet service del
Page 120 and 121: Box 4.7. Adapting E-Procurement for
Page 122 and 123: strategies but also the ability to
Page 124 and 125: 361. Moreover, the lack of opportun
Page 126 and 127: 372. The OECD report on the Finnish
Page 128 and 129: x E-government plans are important
Page 130 and 131: 5 NEXT STEPS 385. In May 2003, the
Page 132 and 133: completely new architecture for gat
Page 134 and 135: 399. Brokers receive revenue from t
Page 136 and 137: 409. In 1998, the government agreed
Page 140 and 141: 430. For both municipalities and KE
Page 142 and 143: 6.3 Case study 3: The citizen porta
Page 144 and 145: tourism, immigration and emigration
Page 146 and 147: Key Points - 60 x The citizen citiz
Page 148 and 149: 7.2 Appendix 2: Reports, strategies
Page 150 and 151: x Public Management in Finland (200
Page 152 and 153: ought together government, civil so
Page 154 and 155: freedom of choice and availability,
Page 156 and 157: 499. The Ministry of the Interior c
Page 158 and 159: decision requires it to provide net
Page 160 and 161: 522. Contrary to former reports by
Page 162 and 163: x By comparison, the term Web site
Page 164 and 165: 7.4.2 List of acronyms AFLRA: The A
Page 166 and 167: 7.5 Appendix 5: Methodology 7.5.1 D
Page 168 and 169: 2. Responses are not included in ov
Page 170 and 171: 8 BIBLIOGRAPHY ACCENTURE (2001),
Page 172 and 173: JUSSILAINEN, M. (2003), “Knowledg
Page 174 and 175: OECD (1992), “ICCP Reviews of Inf
Page 176 and 177: “GOVERNMENT RESOLUTION ON HIGH-QU
Page 178: VISTI, S. (1998), “Electronic Ide
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