Topic Description

Governance is being transformed by new approaches to delivering public services which allow for the involvement of citizens and various other actors. The challenge is to critically assess and support as needed this transformation based on an open collaboration and innovation platform supported by ICT ('government as a platform') and on an open environment and ecosystem with clear frameworks and guidelines for modular services quality ('government as a service') in accordance with the EU eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 ^[1] and the European Interoperability Framework Implementation Strategy^[2].

In particular, to deliver better public services, public administrations need to regroup resources together under common infrastructures at the European level that serve the needs of various actors and enable the participation of all relevant communities. In addition, to ensure a cost efficient provision of inclusive digital services, there is a pressing need to identify gaps in accessibility solutions, to establish related best practices, and to promote training, awareness raising and capacity building.

In a context of open government and digital democracy, the role of the government is changing due to its use of ICT and to the increasing pervasiveness of ICT across all parts of society. In addition to being a manager of societal assets, government is becoming a provider of tools, opportunities, guidance and incentives for co-creation as well as a guarantor of public value over the longer term.

a) Research and Innovation action

Proposals should develop and demonstrate the potential for sharing common services with different actors (public and private and third sectors) to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in these collaborations. The proposals should also evaluate the role and responsibility of the public authorities and of the other actors delivering public goods and services in the new governance model and the related partnerships, including in terms of the challenges of ensuring secure access and use. Evidence of the benefits of the full implementation of the once-only and digital-by-default principles and user centricity should also be taken into account.

Proposals should also lead to the development of business plans that would ensure the long-term sustainability of the new governance model. They should engage multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral teams to explore the complexity of this challenge and to identify the necessary changes as well as the legal, cultural and managerial risks and barriers to its implementation.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 3 and 4 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

b) Coordination and Support Action^[3]

For a cost efficient provision of inclusive digital services, the proposed action will:

1. identify gaps in the current accessibility solutions and establish related best practices,

2. promote training, awareness raising, and capacity building.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 1 and 2 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Solutions for opening up and connecting public administration data and services will have a measurable impact for both businesses and citizens, leading to efficiency gains. The actions will provide for all the elements required to facilitate the migration of public administrations towards forward-looking models for the co-delivery of public services.

The actions will provide evidence of how the open government approach may reinforce trust in public institutions, which is strongly associated with citizens’ satisfaction from full deployment of inclusive digital government. The actions will also contribute to establishing a culture of co-creation and co-delivery, transparency, accountability and trustworthiness as well as of continuous consultation promoting overall digital accessibility.

In addition, to support the implementation of the Web Accessibility Directive, enhanced cooperation on digital accessibility between various stakeholders will result in scalable and more affordable accessibility solutions. Overall, the actions will contribute to the widespread recognition of the need for and benefits of an inclusive Digital Single Market.

It is expected that this topic will continue in 2020.

Socio-economic science and humanities

[1]EUeGovernmentActionPlan2016-2020Acceleratingthedigitaltransformationofgovernment.pdf

[2]European Interoperability Framework – Implementation Strategy (COM/2017/134)

[3] This activity is directly aimed at supporting the development and implementation of evidence base for R&I policies and supporting various groups of stakeholders. It is excluded from the delegation to Research Executive Agency and will be implemented by the Commission services.