Contact: Peter Zimmermann
Deloitte
Managing Director, Public Sector, EMEA
+31 70 337 2330
Contact: Stéphanie Mittelham
TeleCities
+32 2 552 08 69
The Hague, The Netherlands, March 17, 2004 — In a new publication, "eCitizenship for All," Deloitte and TeleCities identify four cornerstones of eGovernment for European cities: eLearning, eDemocracy, eSecurity and Re-engineering. The report, written from an inaugural benchmark survey in 2003, was released March 17 at the Macro-Economic and Urban Trends in Europe's Information Society conference (MUTEIS) in The Hague, The Netherlands.
The aim of the survey is to support knowledge sharing among Europe's cities. Joan Clos, president of TeleCities and Mayor of Barcelona, sees this knowledge base as a valuable tool for cities as they begin their transition toward a more "all-inclusive," information- and knowledge-based society. The report names Europe's 2003 eCitizenship for All award winners and includes several key findings:
Nine out of 10 participant cities see life-long learning and eLearning as political issues. One third of cities have an eLearning strategy and many use regional structures to create and disseminate the products of eLearning. In 50% of responding cities educational programmes are on-line. Information Communications Technology, or ICT, has entered the classrooms but is not yet a fully integrated component of the educational process. Respondent cities show a clear awareness of the significance of excluded minorities such as the elderly, immigrants, and handicapped and have created strategies and programmes focusing on many of these specific groups. The need for training of those involved represents a barrier to progress.
eDemocracy and community building is still in its infancy. Many of the processes involved in eDemocracy are perceived by respondents as meriting improvement, also in regard to content. The process of eDemocracy is facilitating democratic renewal and improving citizen participation though this is still at an early stage of development. Society has by no means seen all the resulting effects and benefits. The context for eDemocracy is seen as the wider agenda of democratic renewal and citizenship. Participants reported that the process of e-voting is relatively untested, and its impact thus not yet quantifiable. Providing e-services has priority over eDemocracy and cost of innovation is still an issue.
The levels of eSecurity introduced lag behind levels of development of electronic services. In two out of three cities, citizens have access to government applications. More than 85% of e-services incorporate personal information on citizens. Four in five cities providing e-services have intrusion detection processes in place. The awareness of the security challenge is at a far higher level than the level of its implementation. Barriers to progress include restricted awareness of new technology, resistance to change and low levels of motivation. The larger a city the more is done on e-services and eSecurity although security levels remain behind the level of e-services.
The digital delivery of services to citizens is a top priority and stresses the importance of re-engineering. Participants in the survey see electronic services currently as high priority on their agenda. The major triggers for this are cost reduction and response to central government encouragement. Re-engineering projects of local public administration tend to be driven inside-out rather than outside-in. Initiatives are more supply-driven coming from municipal authorities than demand-driven responding to the expressed needs of citizens. The main obstacles to further development and implementation are limited budgets and resistance to change. There is a clear ambition to raise the level of interaction from the traditional one-way and two-way interaction to transactional service levels.
To continue the promotion of bilateral learning and knowledge sharing among European cities, Deloitte and TeleCities will repeat the benchmark study into eCitizenship for All in 2004. The report will again profile innovative eGovernment projects that enable European citizens to benefit from the gains of the modern information- and knowledge-based society. Cities in Central Europe, including EU accession countries, are particularly encouraged to participate. For more information, please contact Deloitte's Peter Zimmermann of the global Public Sector group via email at: ecitizenshipforall@deloitte.com.
About TeleCities
TeleCities is the major European network of cities committed to leadership in the Information and Knowledge Society. Established in 1993 in the framework of EUROCITIES, TeleCities is open to democratically elected city governments as well as to business and scientific partners. TeleCities provides a platform of more than 100 local authorities from 20 different European countries, sharing experience and developing practical solutions achieving an Inclusive Information and Knowledge Society, both at European and local level. Its aim is to promote eGovernment and eCitizenship at local level to ensure that all citizens can equally gain from the benefits of the Information and Knowledge Society.
About Deloitte
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu is an organization of member firms devoted to excellence in providing professional services and advice. We are focused on client service through a global strategy executed locally in nearly 150 countries. With access to the deep intellectual capital of 120,000 people worldwide, our member firms (including their affiliates) deliver services in four professional areas: audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory services. Our member firms serve over one-half of the world's largest companies, as well as large national enterprises, public institutions, and successful, fast-growing global growth companies.
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