e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

3 BARRIERS TO E-GOVERNMENT
61. E-government barriers, as defined in the OECD’s E-government Imperative (2003), are obstacles
external to governments which can constrain e-government efforts and cannot be overcome without the cooperation
of multiple actors. They often concern breakdowns, missing components or lack of flexibility in
the government-wide framework for e-government. The result of not addressing these barriers can be the
inability to achieve not just single agency projects, but also a whole-of-government or seamless perspective
on e-government implementation. The OECD’s The E-government Imperative (2003) raises four main
barriers: i) legislative and regulatory barriers; ii) budgetary barriers; iii) technical barriers; and iv) the
digital divide.
62. The Finnish government has sought to address e-government barriers by focusing on e-enablers
that provide common solutions to problems that go beyond the scope of individual government agencies.
The term “e-enabler” covers: complementary processes and legal frameworks, such as digital identification
and authentication, that are not services in and of themselves but facilitate the electronic delivery of
services or information; and physical ICT infrastructure, as well as channels for electronic service and
information provision such as portals, Web sites and portable phones. The 1998 Finnish information
society strategy also considered that the education and training that permit process and cultural change are
also e-enablers, but this report treats these important variables separately (see Part 4.5, “Back-office
changes”).
3.1 Legislative and regulatory barriers
3.1.1 Regulatory framework
63. In order for electronic services to gain widespread acceptance, they must first have legal
recognition and electronic equivalents to paper processes must be established. This does not necessarily
require an ordered introduction or even a detailed accounting of the types of technologies to be used, but
some initial steps can lay the way for either the government or the private sector to step in and develop
applications. For example, the legal recognition of digital signatures establishes a principle of equivalence
which then needs to be implemented through technological standards and accompanying services.
64. The 1998 Government Resolution on Electronic Transactions, the Development of Online
Services and Reduction of Data Gathering was a major step in setting a framework for electronic
identification and data exchange by opening up the way for the development of a Finnish authentication
system. This was later reinforced and given the strength of law by the Act on Electronic Services in the
Administration, which also established a legal framework for the use of online services, including criteria
for the recognition of electronic documents.
65. Regulations, however, are not limited to laying the groundwork for electronic services. In
Finland, several e-government actors have been calling for further e-government regulations to improve
38