Thesis on IT in public administration

The text was written sometime in 2000 for the IT Commission of the former four-coalition, led by the then future Minister of Informatics Mlynář. The Commission disintegrated due to the dementia, disinterest and incompetence of its members, politicians and in fact all…
Introduction

Information Technology (IT) has impacted many areas of human activity and it is to be expected that its influence will not only deepen but also expand into other areas as time goes on. Therefore, there are many angles from which to view the introduction of IT in the public administration (hereinafter referred to as ‘PA’).
This document does not aim to cover in detail all aspects of IT in the public sector, but only to outline some possible steps that could lead to improved IT use and greater diffusion in the public sector and, secondarily, in society as a whole. Partly for this reason and partly due to a lack of information (objective and subjective), some of the information in this document may be incomplete, distorted or based on my subjective assessment. In places where I am not sure, these are even notes in “ich” form. I therefore ask for tolerance.

History

The introduction of computers in VS began spontaneously in the early 1990s. In the early days, it was mainly a matter of replacing typewriters with a tool that was more suitable for the purpose (writing documents). In principle, the development of IT in the SS can be said to have started in the mid-1990s, when cheaper and more advanced technologies made it possible to link computers and share data, and the widespread use of the Internet for both communication and presentation was clearly a major stimulus.
The early days of IT use in VS are characterised primarily by spontaneity. In particular, on the basis of personal initiative, local systems emerge within the various institutions and bodies of the SS which are not ‘compatible’ with each other.
Over time, systems are created on the basis of ‘sectoral’ initiatives (commercial register, customs administration system, trade register, etc.). Note: In this context, I would highlight the publication of the commercial register on the website of the Ministry of Justice, which is far from being commonplace even in more economically advanced countries.
Within a few years, IT has become such a big political issue that the first steps have been taken at the “central” level. Documents were adopted (State Information Policy, Concept of building information systems of the State Security Service, Action Plan, etc.), bodies were established (CIS/UVIS, Government Council for SIP, etc.) and first steps were taken in the field of legislation (electronic signature, protection of personal data, etc.).

The current situation

After the failure of the ISIS, the thesis was accepted that at the central level, apart from more or less political bodies such as the Government Council for SIP, only a body coordinating and standardising (in very simplified terms – see Act 365/2000 Coll. for more details) the cooperation of information systems of the SS would be established.
Work is underway on the creation/unification of basic registers and their interconnection within the SS, possibly also publication (cadastre). A www.centralni-adresa.cz has been set up from which all VS information should be accessible.
Further steps are being taken towards “opening up” the SS to citizens (information kiosk projects, e-government, etc.). In this context, mention should also be made of Law 106/99 Coll., which, despite all the problems, represents a major breakthrough in the application of public control of the SS.
There is an intermingling and clash of three types of interests:
(a) local/individual (as a result of individual circumstances, individual SAIs are ready/willing to use IT to different extents and degrees, as well as to ‘open up’ to the public)
(b) sectoral (in the area of central registers and databases, there is logically a huge drive towards unification and standardisation, as this brings significant efficiency gains)
(c) central (apart from the fact that this is a relatively popular political issue, there is a logical effort to coordinate/unify/access local and sectoral information and allow them to interact with each other)
Due to the short time of operation of the IWIS, it is not possible to clearly assess whether or to what extent the intention is being fulfilled.

Target state

It should be noted that the target state, as described below, is not in fundamental contradiction with the target state as specified in the State Information Policy and other documents dealing with IT in the SS.
In some areas, such as the necessary data security against misuse, the “interactivity” of basic registers (population, economic entities, real estate, etc.), electronic filing systems, etc., one cannot but practically identify with the steps that are being taken or have already been taken.

There are, however, a number of areas where there is scope to go further than the intention as set out in the relevant documents:

The area of ‘information literacy’ (hereafter ‘IT literacy’) of the SS

Now:
In the context of spontaneous beliefs and practical knowledge about the necessity of using IT in the VS, knowledge of PC use is usually required for recruitment of new VS employees (it is perhaps even a legal requirement from certain functions above). However, it is not known to me how this qualification is verified, to what depth and by whom.
Objective:
(a) Legislate a strict IT literacy requirement for all newly recruited VS staff (or strictly establish absolute preference for recruitment of such qualified staff over others in selection procedures and strictly define the recruitment of “IT illiterate” only for a fixed-term contract with a limitation of duration to – say – two years, at which point the selection procedure must be re-advertised)
b) Set a deadline (e.g. 4 years) for all existing staff by which they have to submit an IT literacy certificate (for those who fail to do so, a selection procedure is launched and further according to the first point
Remark:

As proof of IT literacy I would suggest, for example, obtaining an ECDL (see www.ecdl.cz) – a computer driving licence. Attention!!!: any IT literacy certificate must be issued by bodies OUTSIDE the public administration – any “internal” certificate would lead to formality and poor quality!!! Further upskilling through internal training is not excluded.
Primary consequence:
In a relatively short period of time, sufficient personnel will be created for the functioning of a “paperless” VS and for the use of IT more extensively and in other areas.
Secondary consequence:
Given the size of the VS workforce, we can expect a significant increase in awareness of the importance of IT literacy in society and an increase in demand for IT skills from both VS workers and other citizens. The increase in demand will also increase the supply of services related to the acquisition of IT qualifications, which (again) will not be oriented exclusively towards VS workers but also towards other citizens.

Use of IT for communication, classification and archiving of documents

Note..:
For banks and insurance companies, the costs of processing, sorting and archiving documents account for about 9% of their total costs (cf. Euro, May 2000) and although there is probably no similar statistic for the VS, it can be expected that the figure will definitely not be significantly lower.

Now:
The SIP Action Plan aims to have 10% of VS contacts electronically managed by the end of 2002. In other words, 10% of VS will be “paperless”. Considering that the communication between the VS authorities with each other constitutes a significant part of the VS contacts and that there is nothing to prevent the introduction of electronic signatures within (an order of) magnitude of months, this is a very modest target.

Target:
Within 4 years, create the technical and personnel (see section on IT literacy of VS staff) conditions for the transition of VS from 90% to “paperless” in the area of contact within VS and 100% in the area of document archiving. Within two years, the VS should be 100% paperless in the area of contact with citizens where the submission is made electronically.

Corollary:
In addition to making VS cheaper, secondarily VS itself would initiate communication with citizens via IT, as the electronic form will be the standard, the paper form will be the residue needed to handle “paper” communication with citizens who cannot/will not use IT and no one can force them to do so. Given the fact that electronic communication with VS will be full-fledged and at the same time more convenient and cheaper, there will be a logical tendency to get a computer and a connection to the www in every household. The desire for convenience and cost-effectiveness will put the “home” computer on a level with, for example, an automatic washing machine better than the most sophisticated administrative support for “home” computers.

Public, public scrutiny

Now:
From a legislative point of view, the main pillars in this area are Acts 148/98 Coll. on the protection of classified information, 101/00 Coll. on the protection of personal data and 106/99 Coll. on free access to information. Simply put, the first two define the area that is non-public; Law 106/99 provides for the possibility for citizens to request any information. In practice, however, some of the shortcomings of Law 106 become apparent. These include the fact that a specific request for information presupposes at least a partial knowledge of what the citizen actually wants to ask, the fact that the possibility of charging a fee for the provision of information may discourage the citizen, and the fact that it is not clearly resolved what to do if a clause on commercial confidentiality speaks against the provision of information, for example in the case of contracts.
On the basis of various “local” and “sectoral” initiatives, web presentations of most of the institutions of the SS have been created, differing in both the quality and volume of information provided. A Central Address was launched at central level. The advantage of the web presentations is that the information is organized and relatively easy to navigate, the disadvantage is the need for permanent maintenance and updating, as well as the fact that it is ultimately up to each institution which information it wants to present.
NB: In terms of the need for updating, I would not forgive myself for pointing out here, for example, that the Institute for the Study of the Interior, in its web presentation of news (there are two), draws attention to a tender that was concluded in 1998!

Target:
To establish by law the obligation of the VS to publish on the network all information that is not legally non-public.
Note: E.g. for contracts that are not of a special nature (e.g. for supplies related to national security issues), there is no rational reason why they should be subject to commercial confidentiality.Taxpayers have an unquestionable right to know what their money is being spent on and under what conditions. On the other hand, it is a matter of social consensus to what extent information about, for example, entities to which social benefits are paid should be public. I can imagine that, in addition to the information automatically published on the net, there will be information where the nature of the ‘public’ will be in the sense of the current Law 106 – i.e. that a citizen will be able to request it for a specific case.
I would even go beyond the European Directive, which exempts from the obligation to publish outputs that are of an “internal” nature.
Given the aforementioned requirement of a “paperless” VS, it cannot be assumed that mandatory publication of all information would require any technical problem.
The role of the “centre” would then consist, among other things, in establishing a common minimum standard common to all VS outputs in helping to search them according to various criteria *) and, where appropriate, to ensure that links on pages such as the Central Addresses are automatically updated.

*)Note: There would be a centrally prescribed minimum standard of data that the “header” of any output from the VS must have (e.g. date and time, designation of the employee responsible for the output, file mark, subject… most of which could be generated automatically – it must be the least possible burden on VS staff). Other standards would then logically arise (or are already partially in place) in the field and locally, according to which the outputs could be further sorted and processed.

Corollary:
Access to information would be based on the principle of the obligation of the VS to disclose the output unless it is prohibited by law.
Near-absolute public scrutiny would gradually force a streamlining of VS (elimination of unnecessary activities or institutions) and strengthen the feeling of all VS staff that they can be accountable for their actions not only to their supervisor but directly to the taxpayer.

Conclusion

I propose to expand the existing measures that are underway in the field of IT in VS in the areas mentioned above and thus in the horizon of 4 years:

– Ensure virtually 100% IT literacy of VS staff

– Reform VS to be potentially 100% paperless

– Ensure almost absolute public control of VS

All this with limiting “central” interventions to mere systemic measures, supporting the interaction of independently evolving local and departmental information systems.