EU: Digital Connecting Europe Facility approved by European Parliament

Collaboration, participation and transparency - core principles of Open Government -, will be among the priorities in the eGovernment Action Plan 2016 - 2020 of the European Commission.

During a workshop on July 1, Jean-Francois Junger, Deputy Head of Unit, DG CNECT, Public Services Unit, said that the next action plan intends to go further than the previous plan and will be more dynamic and flexible.

The next eGovernment Action Plan is a key part of the Digital Single Market Strategy of the EU. It will be a mobiliser for actions paving the way towards the modernisation of public administrations and services in Europe. Moreover, it will promote user-friendly digital services, help connect public administrations across Europe and facilitate the re-use of open data, open services and open processes. These Open Government principles should operate in an Open Governance framework in which citizens, businesses, civil society, social partners and other stakeholders play a key role. “Citizen involvement in the production of collaborative services” is a priority area, Mr. Junger said in his presentation. He also considered Open Data, “as an untapped resource with a huge potential for building stronger, more interconnected societies”.

ICT to support the modernisation of public services

However, for it is to succeed, the Open Government scheme needs to be supported by a strong ICT backbone, interoperability and a transformation towards re-usable, modular public services.

During the workshop, the CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) programme showed how the European Commission wanted to create an “interconnected Europe”, by promoting broadband connectivity for all European households, and by facilitating the interoperability of European public administrations. CEF provides Digital Services Infrastructures (DSIs), which are generic Building Blocks that can be re-used (eInvoicing, eSignature, etc.) or interoperable online services for citizens, businesses and public administrations (sector-specific DSIs – eProcurement, better Internet for children, etc…). The idea is to build “a global ecosystem”, Serge Novaretti, from DG CONNECT, Public Services said.

The ISA 2 programme was also presented during the workshop. This programme, which will run from 2016 to 2020, will facilitate the interaction of services in European public administration.