Previous page: Germany's e-Government 2.0 program
Based in Berlin, Michael Tschichholz is director of Germany's Competence Center for Electronic Government and Applications. During his visit to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., for the 2007 Lac Carling Congress, he sat down with senior writer Lisa Williams to discuss Germany's ambitious e-Government 2.0 program and the headway they're making on their national ID strategy. Tschichholz also believes there's a lot to be learned, by politicians and citizens alike, from Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion. Excerpts from their conversation follow.
Q. Can you elaborate on your 115 initiative (it's similar to 311 in Canada)?
A. There was a meeting at the national level where industry, science and government were invited to a meeting in the U.S. at the Ministry of Interior. We examined several themes, including e-government and e-health. In the context of this meeting, the idea (115) was taken to the political level.
It would be useful if the idea of 311 from New York and other cities in America would be adapted in Germany. At these meetings, it was decided that such a project could be the beginning to provide such a number on a national level. But it's not yet clear how to implement this.
In the context of the Germany Online program, where five cross-projects have been identified, there are two new projects that will start this year. One is the 115 project, and the other is related to the open service directive, which requires setting up companies within five working days.
There are a lot of implications with infrastructure, directory systems and services, and it also requires systems to become more interoperable. That's a big step to be implemented.
Q. In 2001, over 400 services were online in Germany. What kinds of processes were involved to make that happen?
A. The idea in 2000 was from then Prime Minister [Gerhard] Schroeder as part of an initiative that government services should become available on the Internet, and the definition of e-government in the context of this program was providing services via the Internet.
The first year of the plan involved identification of processes. Standardization activities had been started, and in the first year I think 330 services were identified to be taken into account. The final year involved transaction-oriented processes that are much more complex. After the program was finished in 2005, 414 services had been established.
Q. You also have an e-government i2010 action plan...
A. That's an action plan from the 2010 Commission, which defined an information society. It's a very general plan to use technology for the benefit of European citizens and European businesses.
There had been a plan called e-2005, and now it's called i2010, which has been improved. One of the major objectives of this plan is to set up infrastructure for the e-government processes all around Europe that could be handled not only within one country but across boundaries.
The whole service directive is one step, one concrete directive, in testing the implications of the e-government infrastructure in the country. This would be available via one-stop shopping: one unique entity where you can go if someone wants to start a business or service within the country or other European countries. This would reduce the barriers between countries for firms conducting business throughout Europe.
Q. You've touched on the need for seamless processes in e-government: is that the objective with each of these initiatives?
A. Yes, but regarding the 2005 program, they did not have such a broad view initially. They had only the view to bring e-government to the Internet, and what the implications were. This was not to implement IT systems based on old services, but to consider which services were really required. The reduction of bureaucracy is one aspect of this, and the whole process needs to be redefined and made more efficient.
Our view involves not only the technology aspect. You need to have a strategy. And at the political level, politicians should be proactive in handling the re-organization of the business. The Mayor of Mississauga (Hazel McCallion) had the right idea when she said, "I run the city as a business." You can learn a lot from that. In some cities in Germany, they did also try to approach it more from a business perspective. But that's a big change.
Lisa Williams is a senior writer with InterGovWorld.com. She can be reached at lwilliams@intergovworld.com
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