Learning from each other - governments across Europe are saving money and improving citizen services
New Logica/PAC research highlights the different ways IT enabled change is transforming governments
Governments across Europe are searching high and low for ways to save money and improve the delivery of public services through the creative use of IT. A new survey shows there are marked differences in approach and attitude.
Transforming Government, conducted by PAC, is the first authoritative study of public sector transformation in the region. It looks at best practice across Europe, in particular current projects and the views of over 180 public servants and policy makers in the UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Netherlands and Finland.
Every European government has a transformation strategy but the programmes and focus vary. “Most are trying to do similar things but the emphasis is different. Broadly, France has big projects, Germany aims for simplification, the UK tends to outsource, Sweden tries to increase its competitiveness through digital skills and jobs, while Finland sees IT providing economic growth and the Netherlands seeks out a stronger role for citizen rights,” said Philip Carnelley, research director at PAC.
Nigel Kirby-Green, Managing Director of UK Public Sector at business and technology service provider Logica, which sponsored the research, said, “We all recognise the UK’s requirement for increasing efficiency and reducing cost in public sector but this research provides an opportunity to look at how similar challenges are being tackled across Europe. It seems that whilst each nation has taken a different approach to transforming government they are all striving for the same end goals. These differences provide an interesting comparison of the role of technology and innovation in achieving better service.”
The Mantra: More For Less
The common demand to get “more for less” is driving European governments towards two ways to reduce costs: more use of IT for automation such as self-service portals and different types of sourcing. For example outsourcing with the private sector, shared services or working more closely with the voluntary sector.
Individual countries are at different stages in their transformation journey and there is innovation going on all around Europe. For example, in the Netherlands they are creating a standard platform and innovations include using reverse auction technology. In Finland they are committed to shared services >and seeking to integrate their many small municipalities. France is deploying Chorus, a government-wide financial management system based on SAP and Germany has the P23R project that automatically generates processes to help companies do business with government.
Service Delivery Is Changing
Although the senior policy makers interviewed felt strongly that more citizen engagement was needed in the future, 44% of the public servants surveyed were not convinced their governments wanted more citizen engagement. They saw many barriers with the public’s lack of skills rated highest, followed by a lack of funds and both the public’s and their own reluctance to change. There are some great examples where citizens are already involved. The City of Münster has created “Burgerhaushalt”, an open web-based exchange for views on how the City should be spending its budget, and the UK’s “Love Lewisham” project allows residents of the London borough to report vandalism or other issues online, an innovative solution that is being reused by other boroughs as far away as Jamaica.
All governments say they are changing the way they deliver services to their citizens and 29% of those surveyed felt that in five years time self-service online will be the main means of citizen interaction with government, with face-to-face meetings, post and email lower at around 20%. Surprisingly, social network sites and mobile applications were both below 10%. In the survey, those interviewed showed some scepticism about the involvement of the private sector. Many public servants felt the private sector was focused on making money and that in-house could still be cheaper. Yet almost all were clear on the benefits of working with the private sector, with 74% citing improved efficiency, closely followed by quality of service, better support for citizen engagement and freeing up resources. A large majority, 86% also said when they had worked with the private sector it had been a success. There was a strong suggestion that the private sector should communicate more and work more transparently and this would help bridge the gap between their perceptions and reality.
About PAC
Founded in 1976, PAC is a privately held research & consulting firm for the software and ICT services market.From strategy to execution, PAC delivers focused and objective responses to the growth challenges of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) players.
PAC helps ICT vendors to optimize their strategies by providing quantitative and qualitative market analysis, as well as operational and strategic consulting. We advise CIOs and financial investors in evaluating ICT vendors and solutions and support their investment decisions. Public institutions and organizations also rely on our key analyses to develop and shape their ICT policies.
For more information, please go to: www.pac-online.com
About Logica
Logica is a business and technology service company, employing 41,000 people. It provides business consulting, systems integration and outsourcing to clients around the world, including many of Europe's largest businesses. Logica creates value for clients by successfully integrating people, business and technology. It is committed to long term collaboration, applying insight to create innovative answers to clients’ business needs.
Logica is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and Euronext (Amsterdam) (LSE: LOG; Euronext: LOG).
More information is available at www.logica.com.
The company is a public company incorporated and domiciled in the UK. The address of its registered office is 250 Brook Drive, Green Park, Reading RG2 6UA, United Kingdom.
Press contact
Jenny Thorpe – Head of PR– Logica UK Ltd – jenny.thorpe@logica.com, +44 (0)7771 815428
