1.
SUPPORTING WIDER PUBLIC
SECTOR REFORM:
DIGITAL GOVERNMENT AND
CROSS-BORDER SERVICES
Stéphane Jacobzone
Barbara Ubaldi
Arthur Mickoleit
OECD
Public Governance and Territorial Development
27 February 2015, Tallinn, Estonia

2.
Coherent and well-aligned digital
government development in Estonia
Buy-in and commitment: national digital
government strategy (Digital Agenda 2020)
recognised as highly relevant by 90% of
Estonian institutions.
Digital drives service delivery: 60% of
central government institutions integrate a
digital strategy in their sector-oriented
service delivery strategies.
Focus on strategic enablers: personal ID
code, “once only” principle, digital
signature, X-road, control over personal
data.
Share of central government
institutions that perceive
national digital government
strategy to be of high relevance

3.
Very strong capacity to achieve remarkable
results
Taxation: efficient tax collection system (see chart) where almost 100% of
personal and corporate tax filings are digital
Healthcare: 98% of medical prescriptions are electronic prescriptions
OECD cost of tax
collection rates
(lower=better)
illustrate Estonia’s
capacity to use IT for
better and more
efficient public
services.
Democratic participation: during past
three elections up to 31% of valid votes
were cast over the Internet

4.
Some potential to further improve
implementation
Areas for improvement of digital government implementation:
1. Scaling up information infrastructures’ use for data-driven
decisions and forward planning
– “Early warning” capacity, x-road for data analytics, open government data
& user involvement to crowdsource ideas
2. Strengthening governance mechanisms and making them
sustainable over time
– Formalising parts of interpersonal co-ordination, harmonised business
case approaches
3. Addressing skills and capacities issues, including at local levels
– IT skills framework, pooling of skills and resources, creative ways to bridge
existing skills gaps at central and local government
– Support for local digital government agenda, shared services and
infrastructures, partnering with associations of municipalities

5.
Cross-border services & data exchanges:
Joint ambitions and expectations
Priority areas identified
together: taxation,
healthcare, social affairs,
business sector.
Finnish institutions did not
always see added value
clearly enough.
Need to:
 Articulate the business case –
domestic, bilateral, international.
 Underline Estonia-Finland
cooperation benefits for domestic
and international initiatives (EU).
Question: What drives digital cross-border services development in your institution?

6.
National government CIO offices key to lead
implementation efforts:
• Developing and applying shared project
templates, business case methodologies
• Identifying horizontal barriers
• Liaison with dedicated service managers / owners
• Documentation of progress, decisions, lessons
• Assistance for service transformation and scaling
of pilots
• Establishing joint governance mechanisms
Moving towards implementation:
Need for shared coordination, support, governance

7.
2016 and beyond
Roadmap for development of digital
cross-border services
Mainly in 2015
Now + 2 months
OECD #FinEstReview
http://oe.cd/FinEst

8.
#FinEstReview
@OECDgov
oe.cd/FinEst
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