e-GOVERNMENT IN FINLAND - ePractice.eu

showed that top management commitment combined with skilled project management were important
factors for success. 27
161. The 2002 Programme of Action to Promote Online Government states that in 2002 each agency
should draw up an electronic service strategy – based on an appraisal of user needs – as an integral part of
their overall service strategy. It also recommended that each strategy should include goals, although
monitoring and evaluation are not specifically mentioned. The Ministry of Finance is tasked with drawing
up guidelines for formulating an electronic service strategy and designing a programme for ministries and
agencies wanting to learn about how to develop their e-government strategy. The programme calls for each
ministry to incorporate an e-strategy into its four-year planning and budgeting cycle, and the MoF has
issued guidelines.
162. When asked whether or not they had a plan for e-government, half of the respondents to the
OECD survey reported having either one (36%) or several (14%) such plans (50% total). This falls short of
the figure reported to the Ministry of Finance’s annual survey, which indicated that 76% of all agencies
and ministries had an information management plan in 2001. Part of the discrepancy may be due to the fact
that agencies did not consider their broader information management plans to be specifically about egovernment.
163. In the OECD sample, 21% of those reporting an e-government plan indicated having a specific
plan on e-government, while 25% had a general business plan that also covered e-government activities.
The majority of e-government plans reported by respondents were produced between 1998 and 2001. Half
reported having already revised their original e-government plans at least once.
164. Almost all respondents to the OECD survey reported having included explicit goals in their egovernment
plans (91%), and most also included an explicit strategy for reaching those goals (87%).
Evaluation plans and frameworks for monitoring goals, however, were less common. About 56% of
respondents reported that their plans indicated how to monitor goals. About 50% included an evaluation
framework.
165. The ministries and agencies that reported not having any kind of e-government plan gave many
different reasons. For some, it seemed to be a question of lack of resources, while others mentioned that
planning takes place as part of a more informal process, such as ad hoc working groups set up to deal with
specific e-government activities.
166. One small agency interviewed (TUKES – the Safety Technology Authority) reported that while
its electronic services strategy was partly inspired by government “background documents”, the main push
for developing a strategy came from business customers who sent e-mail inquiries about whether or not
they could conduct transactions electronically. In fact, they initiated their electronic services when
enterprises began to submit documents by e-mail. TUKES had to determine if the documents were
acceptable and what was the appropriate response. However, current use of electronic services remains
low: while around 8 000 official documents arrive each year, only 20-30 were received electronically in
2001.
167. The OECD survey found that there is a relation between having an e-government plan and
providing electronic services, as well as how advanced the services are. Among respondents, ministries and
agencies with an e-government plan are more likely to provide electronic services to citizens, businesses
and others than those without a plan:
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JUNA report on the e-Stra project, Information Society and Management’s Strategic Ability in Public
Administration.
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