Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/911593
maltatoday SUNDAY 3 DECEMBER 2017 46 Information Technology Malta has this week classified in the first place among all the EU countries when it comes to the provision of online services. In the Eu- ropean Commission's report "e-Government Benchmark Report 2017", Malta ranked in the first position in all the established indicators, namely related to accessibility and technical availability of online services. In the last four years, Malta has worked hard in this regard and invested heavily to improve the accessibility of online services. To comple- ment this development, Malta has also estab- lished several one-stop-shops for citizens who either prefer a personalised experience or who do not have access to the internet. Through one-stop-shops, citizens can be provided with all the available services they require from one outlet. Through online services, citizens can benefit from over 800 services, also made available through e-forms. E-forms have helped in re- ducing bureaucracy and subsequently ena- bled the simplification of the process. For one specific service, it was previously required to fill 22 different forms, whereas today it is only required to fill one form. Through these services, Government not only managed to simplify the process but also reduced the waiting time related to Business First, where the time required to start a new business has been reduced from two months to only three days. The online services and one-stop-shops con- firm Government's commitment in providing the required services to all citizens. Through this investment, services are available 24/7 and accessible from anywhere. Results from the e-Government Benchmark 2017 The e-Government Benchmark Report 2017 measures the delivery and performance of e-Government services in 34 countries (com- prising the 28 European Union Member States, together with Iceland, Norway, Montenegro, Republic of Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey). Malta's performance in the 2016 benchmarking exercise has been outstanding, with Malta re- confirmed the as leader and the best performer in user centricity and in the delivery of digital public services in Europe, leading the way for- ward in Europe's ambition to create a Digital Single Market. The benchmarking study carried out by Capgemini, Sogeti, IDC, and the Politec- nico di Milano measures four top-level indi- cators, while comparing the performance of eGovernment services between the participat- ing countries. As happened last year, Malta has again attained an exceptional result by leading in all the top-level indicators and ranking first in the overall results. The first indicator is User Centricity, where the report measures the online 'availability', 'usability' and mobile friendliness of eGovern- ment services. Malta has ranked first in the online availability and usability measurements and also in the overall indicator, with a score of 98% - 18 percentage points more than the EU average. The second indicator, Transparency, ex- amines the extent to which governments are transparent about their own responsibilities and performance, the service delivery process, and the personal data involved. The EU average score in this indicator is 59%. Malta is clearly ahead of all other participating countries with a score of 94%. The third indicator, Cross Border Mobility, assesses governments' ability to provide busi- nesses and citizens seamless access to online public services when they are away from their home country. Once again, Malta has a stong lead in the rankings with an overall score of 98.5%, 35.5 percentage points more than the EU average. Malta is also leading in the fourth indicator – Key Enablers – which measures the avail- ability of several technical elements which are deemed important for the delivery of eGovern- ment services. In fact, in this field Malta has achieved an overall score of 98%, 46 percent- age points more than the EU average. Principles promoted by the new eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020 With the new Action Plan for 2016-2020, the European Commission wants to promote sev- eral principles that support the plan's differ- ent dimensions. These include the delivery of digital services as a preferred option; the Once Only Principle where citizens are only required Malta leads the way in Europe's ambition Government has reduced the waiting time related to Business First, where the time required to start a new business has been reduced from two months to only three days In the European Commission's report "e-Government Benchmark Report 2017", Malta ranked in the first position in all the established indicators, namely related to accessibility and technical availability of online services. In the last four years, Malta has worked hard in increasing accessibility and technical availability of online services.