On Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 Decmber 2015, the Centre of State Information Technology (CTIE) held a European conference on eGovernment entitled 'Simple, Safe and Transparent Public Services' at the Maison du Savoir, the main building of the campus of the University of Luxembourg in Esch/Belval.
The conference brought together around 150 professionals of the e-government sector from all over Europe under the Luxembourg Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
On Tuesday morning, the conference was opened with a speech from Andrus Ansip, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Single Market, who spoke of a transformation of government through the means offered by information and communication technologies and through better use of the potential of these technologies.
Vice-President Ansip outlined three principles which guide the action of the European Commission with regards to e-Gov: 'Digital by Default', whereby all interactions and transactions between administrations and citizens or businesses must be able to be done electronically; 'Open by Default', involving administrations opening themselves to citizens and civil society, allowing them to participate in policy development and the design of public services and in particular systematically publish their data in an open and reusable format; and 'Cross-border by Default', ensuring that online services and administrative procedures do not operate only at the national level but across borders throughout the entire European Union - the sole means of achieving a true digital single market, according to Andrus Ansip.
The conference primarily focused on the themes of digital strategies and policies; the Once Only principle; citizen participation in the development of public services and policies; cross-border public services and interoperability; open data; and electronic identification and trust third party (eIDAS).
The occasion provided the opportunity for European public actors to share projects, best practices and experiences in the field of eGovernment, both at the Member State and EU level. The speakers drew on their expertise in their respective fields to present key factors of administrative modernisation in Europe, with debates centering around relevant issues of the day.
Photo by CTIE (Andrus Ansip)
