e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Key Points - 4 x Public administration reforms in the early 1990s brought major changes to the Finnish administration in terms of greater responsibility, accountability and flexibility at the agency level but also decreased central co-ordination tools and a weakened role of the ministries. x While NPM reforms have reduced the resources and tools for co-ordination that ministries have at their disposal, their weakened role is also self-perceived and self-imposed. They are not prohibited from developing their own competencies and capacities to guide the agencies under them. Box 2.1. Finland’s paperless accounting system By increasing agency autonomy, Finland’s most recent public management reforms have had important implications for implementing e-government, in terms of the reduced number of co-ordination tools available to central actors such as the Ministry of Finance and the growth of divergent ICT systems, which reduces compatibility and increases redundancy. Until 1994, Finland had very centralised accounts. After the introduction of results-oriented budgeting and management reforms, however, each agency was given an appropriation and freedom to decide how to use it. As a result, accounting systems proliferated: the Finnish administration now has 120 “independent accountancy units”, with staff ranging in size from ten to 10 000. Each has an independent accounting system, separate reporting and separate appropriations and requires specific competencies and resources within each unit. The cost of ICT integration has been a barrier to the restructuring and/or consolidation of agencies to achieve benefits of scale. Rather than imposing a common IT infrastructure, the State Treasury developed in 2000-2001, a paperless accounting pilot which all agencies may eventually use as a common electronic system for financial records. The project addresses billing and bookkeeping, as well as financial accounting. Ten agencies are currently using the system and around 20 are expected to implement it by the end of 2003. Agencies are free to choose whether or not they want to participate in the paperless system. The project is partly funded by the MoF, which took the initiative to have the State Treasury develop and implement the system. The project steering group consists of representatives from the MoF, the State Treasury and the State Audit Office. Finnish officials have not found it difficult to involve other ministries and agencies, which are generally willing to implement the system. Nor was building a problem; a solution was found that fits all the different bookkeeping systems used in the various agencies. The system has been designed to be very easy to use; users need about an hour of training to get to know and use the system. The paperless accounting project is scheduled to run from 2002 to 2010, with a monitoring and evaluation component to determine the impact. The main savings are expected to come from gains in working time. 34. The broad consensus is that the NPM reforms have been positive. By putting responsibility and resources into the hands of the agencies, they have encouraged government to be more efficient and effective. In addition, having successfully dealt with improving public efficiency, the government also began to put in place reforms aimed at improving openness, service quality and public governance. There has been no evaluation, however, of the efficiency and productivity outcomes of the reforms, particularly in the context of e-government implementation. 35. The arrival of e-government has affected the reform agenda in two ways. First, while egovernment continues to be a tool for reform, ICT infrastructure and interoperability concerns have raised the need, not simply for co-ordination, but for establishing and enforcing common standards and approaches. Second, if e-government is to be a priority, it requires central tools to promote, catalyse and 30
diffuse individual and government-wide initiatives. This has not meant a reversal of NPM, but the beginnings of a discussion on how to keep the benefits of the principle of individual accountability stressed by NPM, while adding new ways to advance e-government coherently and efficiently through government steering and co-ordination. Key Points - 5 x The implementation of e-government in Finland requires the strengthening of certain central functions in order to balance the current decentralised system. In particular, the continued development of guidance on standards and incentives in support of egovernment initiatives requires central action. 2.2 Spillover from the information society 36. The general advancement of the Finnish information society continues to be an important driver for e-government. The country’s progress in this area has been marked by major achievements, such as the liberalisation of telecommunications and the improvement of market competition, which have paved the way for much of Finland’s recent economic success. 37. The emphasis on the efficiency of the public administration as a means of enhancing international competitiveness, the need to make the services and opportunities of the information society available to all, the use of ICTs in advancing customer orientation and other good governance objectives, and the demonstration effect of ICT use in a sizeable percentage of the economy have all provided a strong case not only for developing e-government, but for integrating the e-government strategy in a comprehensive vision for promoting the information society. 2.2.1 Promotion of the information society 38. Finland has long taken a comprehensive approach to establishing an information society. The first specialised committee with a clear mandate on information society issues dates back to the early 1970s. In 1996, the Parliament established a Committee for the Future to identify upcoming challenges for Finland, including those related to the information society. In the early 1990s, the government began defining a national information society strategy, outlining a vision for ICT development and identifying information society goals (for a description of official government documents and initiatives see Appendix 3, “Synopsis of History and Key Decisions”). 39. Government initiatives to establish and develop the information society have been framed in the context of the Finnish economic situation. The use of ICT has always been perceived as an instrument to enhance competitive conditions and market-oriented mechanisms. Beginning in the 1970s, the digitisation and the improvement of wireless telecommunications technologies paved the way for the convergence of media, information technology and communications. In the 1990s, the liberalisation of the telecommunications market freed additional resources, lowered the costs of services and broke down barriers between sectors. This has resulted in increased collaboration between enterprises, as well as mergers and acquisitions, as content producers, operators and equipment suppliers search for synergy benefits. In the mobile telephony sector, common standards (first the Nordic NMT standard, later the GSM) developed by the Finnish Post and Telecommunication Office, in co-operation with other Nordic Offices, provided a basis for private pursuit of large benefits in the telecommunications sector. 31
Page 1: OECD e-GOVERNMENT STUDIES e-GOVERNM
Page 4 and 5: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Secretariat wo
Page 6 and 7: 4.2.5 Managing multiple service cha
Page 8 and 9: This report provides a first compre
Page 10 and 11: Finland could reinforce citizen sup
Page 12 and 13: Technical issues have been recognis
Page 14 and 15: The central government, however, la
Page 16 and 17: E-government has helped improve pla
Page 18 and 19: OVERALL ASSESSMENT The first phase
Page 20 and 21: 6. The constitutional independence
Page 22 and 23: 6. As the first OECD report of its
Page 24 and 25: Box 1.1. E-government co-ordination
Page 26 and 27: x The central administration does n
Page 28 and 29: 2 THE CASE FOR E-GOVERNMENT 25. The
Page 32 and 33: 40. As a result of these earlier go
Page 34 and 35: is illustrative. An online transact
Page 36 and 37: Health care 50 29 21 Unemployment 8
Page 38 and 39: 3 BARRIERS TO E-GOVERNMENT 61. E-go
Page 40 and 41: action unclear. In interviews, IT o
Page 42 and 43: 80. As noted in Chapter 2, the Stat
Page 44 and 45: equired to provide e-government str
Page 46 and 47: most important way to fund e-govern
Page 48 and 49: obtain (38%), followed by funds for
Page 50 and 51: Figure 3.4. E-government technologi
Page 52 and 53: 113. Not surprisingly, the OECD sur
Page 54 and 55: 3.3.2 Types of barriers 119. Respon
Page 56 and 57: x Technology neutrality in legislat
Page 58 and 59: “backbone” of the government ne
Page 60 and 61: egional authorities is decisive, ev
Page 62 and 63: Box 3.5. The development of mobile
Page 64 and 65: x Improving the public administrati
Page 66 and 67: political leaders to impress upon t
Page 68 and 69: showed that top management commitme
Page 70 and 71: levels of government. In particular
Page 72 and 73: home and school, every business and
Page 74 and 75: E-government Imperative (2003) list
Page 76 and 77: Key Points - 31 x The proportion of
Page 78 and 79: Key Points - 32 x Basic online info
Page 80 and 81:
Key Points - 33 x Interactive infor
Page 82 and 83:
of using more efficient electronic
Page 84 and 85:
Key Points - 35 x The proportion of
Page 86 and 87:
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 138 and 139:
Figure 6.3. Finnish electronic citi
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
show all

e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?