E‐GOVERNMENT TRANSFORMATION WORKSHOP: MOVING FROM NICE‐TO‐HAVE TO MUST‐HAVE

World Bank Office in Bucharest, May 30, 2013

Strategy and experience of Spain in interoperability for eGovernment

Opening

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I appreciate very much the invitation of the World Bank to speak here today.

My talk is about the strategy and experience in interoperability for egovernment in Spain.

In particular, I will identify the key factore to achieve interoperability.

Delivery of eGov services in a complex scenarioDuring the last five years, the Spanish Government and all public

administrations in Spain have made a large effort to build eGovernment.

eGovernment services in Spain are provided in a complex scenario which involves the interaction of the General State Administration, 17 regional

governments and 2 autonomous cities, plus over 8,000 municipalities;

together with the relationships with EU Institutions and agencies and the

administrations of other Member States.

There are differences in organization, processes, data structures and

technological solutions; besides, sophistication is growing, from information to

personalized services.

At some moment in time it was clear that without common rules and

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infrastructures efforts were repeated and resources wasted.

Cooperation between all P.A.s is essential to provide services to citizens

and guarantee their right to communicate electronically with them. And there

are many actors involved, from local to European Union, including citizens.

But cooperation requires the right conditions, that is, it must have what is called interoperability, which should embrace all aspects of interaction

between organizations, whether legal, organizational, semantic and technical.

Why interoperability

Interoperability is a precondition in the service of the development of eGovernment. It is important:

– To make a reality principles and rights of the citizens.

– To enable more easier cooperation in the development and delivery of eGoverment services.

– To enable better efficiency; reduction of time and costs in the development and delivery of eGoverment services.

Why have we achieved these results … Three keys to success

(1) The legal frameworkSpain has developed a sound and comprehensive legal framework for

eGovernment, oriented to implement the legal safeguards that exist in the

real world to the virtual world.

This legal framework provides legal certainty.

The eGovernment Law regulates:

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• (1) a number of principles and rights,

The main one is right to interact with Public Administration by electronic means, i.e. to conduct their administrative business by

electronic means on a 24-hour basis any day of the year.

In consequence there is an obligation of public administrations to

enable electronic access to their services.

• (2) the main elements of the administrative procedure by electronic means: e-registry, e-site, e-identification and

authentication, notifications and communications, e-document, e-file,

e-archive

• (3) the cooperation between public administrations, there is a title

on this question. ,

There is a mandate to Public Administrations to adopt measures to ensure

interoperability and article 42 creates the National Security Framework and the National Interoperability Framework.

These frameworks are the result of a collective effort of all public administrations and also of the Industry through their main associations.

(1) The legal framework: the National interoperability Framework

The National Interoperability Framework is a legal text, the Royal Decree 4/2010, which develops provisions about interoperability stated in the

eGovernment Law; and it is applicable to all public administrations in Spain.

This legal approach to implement the NIF embeds interoperability requirements in the legal framework of eGovernment, thus configuring an

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integrated coherent and comprehensive approach.

The NIF takes into account the European context and recommendations; it is aligned with the European Interoperability Strategy and the European Interoperability Framework; and systematically refers to the linking of the interoperability instruments of

Spain with the equivalent ones in the EU environment.

ObjectivesThe main objectives are the following:

– Contribute to create adequate interoperability conditions for the deployment and delivery of eGovernment services, in the service of

the exercise of rights and the fulfillment of duties through the electronic

access to public services.

– Provide benefits in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

– Introduce common elements of interoperability to guide public

administrations:

– Facilitate interactions

– Communicate interoperability requirements to Industry.

– Facilitate the implementation of security policies (National Security

Framework, Royal Decree 3/2010).

Main elementsThe NIF addresses requirements in relation to the implementation of

interoperability principles, levels, agreements and governance, plus other

issues related to interoperability, such as the interoperability dimensions,

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standards, common infrastructures and services, reuse of applications,

eSignature, eDocuments.

The NIF develops the following:

• The NIF assumes the general principles stated in the eGovernment Law

and additionally defines three specific principles of interoperability:

Interoperability as an integral quality; multidimensional character of the

interoperability; and approach of multilateral solutions.

• Organisational interoperability: it sets out a number of dispositions

addressing issues like the role of interoperability nodes, the inventories

of administrative information (procedures, services, administrative units,

registry services), publication and conditions of use of eServices

through the administrative network which are supporting the extension

of brokering services.

• Semantic interoperability: publication and use of semantic assets and

associated code lists.

• Technical interoperability: conditions about the selection and use of

standards, taking into account the European and national legal

framework about standards plus other references like CAMSS, the

Common Assessment Method of Standards and Specifications.

• Common infrastructures and services are relevant instruments that

contribute to the simplification and propagation of interoperability; they

facilitate multilateral interactions and there is a call to public

administrations to link their infrastructures and services to those ones

provided by the General State Administration.

• In particular, there is a call to public administrations to link their

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networks with the administrative communications platform provided by

Red SARA to facilitate exchanges of information and services between

them and with the European Union (through sTESTA); besides, it is

mandatory to follow the IP Addressing Plan of the Administration.

• It is explicitly recognised that the 'reuse' applied to applications of Public

Administrations, associated information and to other objects of

information, together with 'share' and 'collaborate' contributes to a better

interoperability. The NIF includes provisions about applicable licenses,

particularly about OSS with a call to use the EUPL, about repositories

and their linking, with a call to public administrations to take into

account solutions available in those repositories and to publish the code

of their applications.

• There is a chapter on the interoperability of electronic signatures and

electronic certificates with provisions about policies, profiles of

certificates, validation platforms and other issues.

• There is a chapter on the preservation and recovery of the electronic

document, since the NIF adds the effect of time in interoperability to the

traditional dimensions, with a focus on eDocuments. Public

administrations should adopt measures to ensure the preservation and

recovery of eDocuments and they should create e-repositories

equivalent in their functions to the traditional archives.

• There is a number of provisions about compliance with the NIF.

• Finally, the NIF is extended through a number of Interoperability Agreements, technical interoperability regulations which develop

specific requirements necessary to guarantee the more practical and

operational aspects of interoperability between public administrations

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and citizens.

They have been published in the Official Gazette; in 2011 (about issues like

eDocument, eFile, Digitisation, Authentic Copies, eSignature policy and

certificates, connection to the administrative network ‘Red SARA’ and the

exchange of in-formation between input/output registries); in 2012 regarding

the Catalogue of standards, Brokering services, data models (semantic

assets) and an eDocuments management policy; in 2013, another one

regarding Reuse of public information resources.

These Interoperability Agreements have been developed in cooperation

between all public administrations in Spain following the same cooperative

approach which was used to develop the NIF.

Although additional documents on compliance with the NIF are still to be

published, possibly even still in 2013, a monitoring process of the

implementation of the NIF in the General State Administration is ongoing

carried on in February, May, September and December 2013.

(2) Common infrastructures and servicesAn ecosystem of common infrastructures and services is available and

growing, built to support the whole administrative procedure lifecycle

as defined in our legal framework.

These common infrastructures and services have legal support.

They are enablers of the massive and full implementation of e-services.

There are agreements for the use of these services between National and

Regional Govs.

There are actions ongoing to extend and improve them and to add new ones.

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They contribute to security through simplification of the scenario.

The development and extensive use of a series of infrastructure and common services that the General State Administration offers, for free, to all Public Administrations, has greatly facilitated interoperability between them. This approach contributes to service quality and allows to

provide many more services, more channels and better quality and

management parameters at much lower cost.

Some relevant common infrastructures and services are the following:

• Communications platform: Red SARA allows the interconnection of

the Spanish Public Administrations enabling the cooperation and the

exchange of information and services between them as well as with the

EU and other Member States through the link with sTESTA. It is

evolving to become a cloud of services (SARA Cloud).

• Electronic identification, authentication and signature:

◦ National eID card – DNIe : The national eID card makes it possible

to digitally sign elec-tronic documents, identify and authenticate

citizens in a secure digital environment.

◦ @firma: National platform for electronic signatures creation/

validation as well as for time stamping services.

• Intermediation services: it is intended to simplify administrative

procedures, so that citizens or businesses do not have to deliver data or

documents already held by public authorities, and to reduce fraud in

applications and related procedures.

• ‘060 Network’ provides citizens and businesses with a unique multi-

channel and a key entry point to the administrative services. Three

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channels: local offices, ‘060.es’ web portal, telephone hotline number

‘060’. Contact points for entrepreneurs have been incorporated in the

‘060’ network of integrated offices.

• Service Directive Point of Single Contact EUGO.ES: This website is

the Point of Single Contact of the Services Directive(SD) in Spain.

• eNotifications allows citizens and businesses to receive free online

administrative notifications and correspondence in the Electronic

Administrative Address. eGovernment Law, article 28. Approximately

2.27 M eNotifications sent in 2011. The Ministry of Finance and Public

Administrations owns the service and its provider is the state-owned

public company Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos.

• 'eGovernment pack': Aimed to provide the basic elements for the

implementation of eGovernment services to administrative units

(whatever the tier it belongs) It includes 4 building blocks:

▪ ORVE: Register for face-to-face application.

▪ ACCEDA: Register for e-channel applications, includes CMS for

a basic website

▪ PORTAFIRMAS: Corporative eSignature application.

▪ INSIDE: eFile

▪ + a Portal for local entities

• Datos.gob.es. Reuse of public sector information: The legal

framework is configured by Law 37/2007 and Royal Decree 1495/2011.

Datos.gob.es is the national portal that organizes and manages the

Catalogue of Public Information, the single point of access to data sets

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of the General State Administration.

These common services behave as building case. For instance the use of the

intermediation platform involves also the use of the communications platform,

Red SARA, and of the platform for electronic signatures creation/ validation

as well as for time stamping services, @firma.

(3) CooperationStrong cooperation has contributed to the development of eGovernment and

to interoperability.

eGov is the result of a collaborative effort with the participation of all

Public Administrations (General State, Regional, Local, Universities, Justice),

plus the opinion of Industry through their main associations.

There is an structure of committees and working groups to articulate this collaboration.

For instance, during the last five years more than two hundred experts of Public Administrations have contributed to the elaboration and

development of the NIF, its Interoperability Agreements and the National

Security Framework providing different profiles (ICT, legal, archives, etc...);

together with a wide number of experts who have contributed with their

opinion through the main associations of ICT Industry.

(3) Strong collaboration - The role of our DGOur DG has the leadership of coordinating eGovernment bodies for

collaboration together with a catalogue of competences in relation to

administrative organization, services, procedures, quality of regulations,

promotion of eGovernment, promotion of the access of the citizens to public

services, and development of systems to support the management of human

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resources.

(3) Strong cooperation – European UnionCollaboration also takes part in the EU context where we apply the following strategies:

• Early alignment with interoperability EU strategies, policies and

actions.

• Contribution and feedback.

• (Re)Use of policies, results and products.

• The NIF foresees the linking of common services of Spain to the equivalent ones in the EU.

• Participation in services and projects:

◦ Sectorial cross border services

◦ LSP-CIP: STORK, STORK2, GEN6

We can reuse the approaches, architectures and solutions from the EU and

our feedback is interesting in the complex European context.

Alignment with the European Interoperability Framework

In relation to the alignment with the European Interoperability Framework,

“Spain is fully aligned with the EIF on the ‘Governance’, the ‘Principles’ and

the 'Interoperability Agreements’. It has an almost full alignment on the

‘Conceptual Model’ and a good alignment on the ‘Interoperability levels’.”, as

expressed in the recently factsheet published in the National Interoperability

Frameworks Observatory (NIFO), an action of the Programme ISA.

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ConclusionsThe three key factors for the development of interoperability for

eGovernment in Spain up till now:

1. a sound and comprehensive legal framework,

2. the development of an ecosystem of common infrastructures and services with adequate legal basis,

3. and strong cooperation.

The eGovernment Law approved in 2007 has been a major driver for the development of eGov.

Spain has showed a great commitment to align with EU strategies.

Work is ongoing:

• To achieve full implementation of the NIF in P.A.

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• To improve the NIF and provide stronger legal support to:

• code lists and inventories of administrative objects.

• use of common infrastructures and services.

• reuse of applications as products or services through the network.

• With associated interoperability agreements

• To extend and improve common infrastructures and services.

Did you know that … Facts and figures

• 90% of the services provided by the central Government and 78% by the regional Governments1 are online available.

• Spain also scores high in:

◦ Full available public services

◦ Online sophistication

◦ Usability

◦ User satisfaction

◦ Accessibility

• According to the European Commission, Spain is above the European average in eGovernment with 95% of full online available public services (out of 20 measured services). 8Th of 32 countries.

• Furthermore, the online sophistication of public services reaches

1 Fundación Orange (2011), eEspaña Report

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98% in the European context.

• Spain’s eServices score 91% on usability and 90% on user satisfaction monitoring.

• We have recently received an UN award; and there are other awards

and recognitions: UN award: 2012 United Nations Public Service

Award, 2nd place, category of “Improving the Delivery of Public

Services” for the initiative “Total Citizen Access to Public Services”.

To know more about eGovernment in SpainHere we have some references for more information about eGovernment and Spain:

• The eGovernment legal package is available in English.

• The ePractice factsheet of Spain provides a comprehensive

overview of eGovernment in Spain.

• The eGovernment Portal provides more information.

• OBSAE

• 060 web portal

Thank you very much for your attention

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