Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am delighted to join you here this morning to open this conference and to acknowledge the significant eGovernment successes already achieved by the Irish Public Service.
The Irish Public Service is going through a major transformation process. The challenges facing our public finances mean that we must deliver far-reaching reform of the Public Service. We must ensure that the Public Service is more customer-focused, leaner, more efficient, better integrated and delivering value for money at all times.
As you know, the Government launched the Public Service Reform Plan last November. This Plan contains 70 recommendations and 200 actions set out across five major commitments to change. These five commitments mean that the Public service will:
· Place customer service at the core of everything we do
· Maximise new and innovative service delivery channels;
· Radically reduce our costs to drive better value for money;
· Lead, organise and work in new ways; and
· Have a strong focus on implementation and delivery.
From your ongoing involvement in improving the way that we deliver Public Services, I’m sure you will agree that eGovernment has relevance across each of these five commitments.
Accordingly, you will recognise that eGovernment is a major element of the Public Service Reform Plan. The work that you do in delivering eGovernment services is vitally important to our reform programme.
We are making progress in this area.
The Reform Plan required the establishment of a Public Service Chief Information Officer (CIO) Council. This has been established and is chaired by my Department. The CIO Council is a representative forum for senior managers with responsibility for ICT and/or eGovernment. The Council’s membership is drawn from across the Public Service. It will meet as required to progress key ICT and eGovernment issues. The Council will provide expert input to decisions and actions to maximise the positive impact of ICT and eGovernment on Public Service modernisation and customer service.
We are already beginning to see the benefit of having such a Council. Its deliberations have resulted in a new draft eGovernment strategy, which I expect to be discussed at next week’s Cabinet Meeting.
The new strategy is founded on five basic principles for eGovernment which are consistent with the overall approach of the Public Service Reform Plan. Most importantly, it places the customer – citizen or business – at the centre of eGovernment. eGovernment must be seen to be an improvement on more traditional modes of service delivery.
Accordingly, I intend that this next phase of eGovernment will:
· Continue momentum with online services
· Use new and emerging technologies and media
· Ensure that eGovernment is designed around real needs
· Include steps to improve take-up
· Ensure that Public Service data is available for re-use
In addition, the strategy includes actions on digital mapping, identity and authentication, and data sharing across public bodies.
With respect to the latter, we have already established a Data Sharing Clearing House, which met for the first time last week. Its purpose is to review all relevant legislative provisions in relation to data sharing between public bodies and develop principles for the sharing of data.
My officials will provide you with more detail on the eGovernment strategy when it is published online next week.
As we prepare to launch the new strategy I think it is appropriate that we take stock of where we are now. Today is an opportunity to celebrate your achievements in delivering a range of valuable eGovernment projects. After all, we would not have been able to come top of the European Commission’s EU eGovernment Benchmarks in 2010 were it not for your successes.
Time constraints mean that we have had to limit the number of presentations. I know that there are many other services that we could highlight today and I would like to acknowledge the range of innovative services that have already been introduced.
I am particularly pleased to note that today’s event is divided into two sections and that you will hear presentations on the "information" element of eGovernment. It is an important acknowledgement that eGovernment is not just about transactions. There is huge value in making it easy for citizens to access information on Public Services.
As examples of successful transactional services, I would like to thank
· Liam who will tell us about 10 years of Revenue’s online services; and
· Claire who will talk to us about the Non Principal Private Residence Charge online payment system.
As examples of successful information services, I thank
· Graham who will share his experience of putting Citizens Information online; and
· Anne who will tell us about how the National Transport Authority uses eGovernment to help improve our approach to public transport management.
I am certain that you will take valuable lessons from their endeavours and identify experiences common to your own.
We frequently hear about the mistakes that Public Servants make. We rarely hear about your successes. I am delighted that we have been able to gather here to hear about how innovative approaches have resulted in some extremely useful eGovernment services that are designed to improve the user’s experience of Public Services. In fact, I would suggest that the Public Service has been guilty of not doing enough of this experience sharing and I hope you will be able to do much more of it in the future.
Thank you.