eGovernment Progress in EU Report Published

This report looks at progress made in the EU regarding the "i2010 eGovernment Action Plan - Accelerating eGovernment in Europe for the Benefit of All" and the objectives set in the Ministerial Declaration at the Manchester eGovernment Conference held in November 2005.

The report underscores the following points as far as Portugal is concerned:

• The Internet Spaces Network, one of the biggest in Europe, with more than 1,030 Internet Spaces throughout the country.
• The attention paid to citizens with special needs, namely via the Access Programme, from the launch of the National Initiative for Citizens with Special Needs in 1999 to the National Programme for the Participation of Citizens with Special Needs in the Information Society in 2003.
• Multi-channel availability of public services, including a universal access point on the Internet via the Portal do Cidadão (Citizen's Portal), combined with mobile telephone communication (including SMS message alerts) and traditional service in person, by mail and by telephone. Special emphasis is given to the Network of Lojas do Cidadão (Citizens’ Bureaux).
• The SIMPLEX Programme for administrative simplification, which was launched in 2006.
• The introduction of the European Consumer Satisfaction Index, which is planned to be done on an annual basis.
• Empresa na Hora (An Enterprise in an Hour), which was launched in 2005, with more than 28,000 enterprises set up by May 2007, which already equates to the majority of enterprises set up in the country, taking an average of 49 minutes to set up a enterprise, and the completely virtual service for setting up an enterprise, the Portal da Empresa (Enterprise's Portal) on the Internet, which was launched in June 2006 (Empresa Online- Online Company) through which more than 400 companies have been set up.
• The progress achieved in Public eProcurement.

The Capgemini online availability of public services evaluation commissioned by the European Commission (The User Challenge – Benchmarking the Supply of Online Public Services – 7th Measurement) was also published on 19th September 2007. In this evaluation, Portugal climbs to 3rd and 4th in European Online Availability of Public Services Ranking.

This change is essentially due to the actions carried out in the scope of the Connecting Portugal Action Plan, which is part of the Technological Plan and which was launched at the end of July 2005, when coordination of eGovernment actions was the responsibility of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC),  from 21st February 2005 to 1st May 2007. Of the 7 positive aspects in Portugal explicitly emphasised in the report that were mentioned above, 5 are the result of projects carried out by UMIC itself, namely: Internet Spaces Network, Access Programme, Portal do Cidadão (Citizen's Portal), Portal da Empresa (Enterprise's Portal), Public eProcurement.