Mr Frans DE BRU

1
Mr Frans DE BRUÏNEDirector, ICT Addressing
Societal ChallengesDGINFSO-H
eParticipation Preparatory Action Call for
Proposals 2007

• Information Day29 June 2007
• Charlemagne Building
• Brussels

2
The Challenges

• Global competition
• Demanding citizens businesses
• Democratic deficit

• KEY QUESTION (HOW) CAN ICT HELP?

3
ICT key to competitiveness

• Improve Efficiency and effectiveness
• Public sector accounts for 45 of European GDP
• Examples of eGovernment-driven efficiency, e.g.
  from 2005 awards
• DK eInvoicing saving 150 Million (citizens)
  50 Million (companies) a year
• IE 65 tax filings online saving thousands of
  hours
• Increase transparency
• Improve investment environment
• Making enlargement work
• Reducing administrative burden to businesses
• The bureaucracy costs for SMEs currently reduce
  their profits by 50.
• Stimulating Innovation
• E.g. ePublic Procurement drives eBusiness

4
More demanding citizens businesses

• User-driven public services
• Putting citizens and businesses needs first
• Accessibility
• No citizen left behind
• Quality
• Reliability, accuracy, convenience of public
  services

5
Closing the democratic deficit

• Inform
• Accountability
• Open procedures, open decisions,
• Involve
• ICT has great potential to involve large numbers
  of citizens and businesses in public debate and
  decision-making, from municipal to European level
• Emergence of new communities, within and across
  geographic borders
• Strengthen European citizenship via Citizens
  involvement in EU level decisions
• Engage
• Active citizens, shared decisions shared
  responsibilities
• It can lead to better legislation
• It can change the way Parliaments interact with
  Citizens Businesses

6
Can ICT help?

• Efficiency and effectiveness YES
• Better public services most likely
• Democratic deficit yes in informing yes in
  involving maybe in engaging? your proposals
  in this Call can play a role!