Digital Public Services: Member States step up efforts in value-based and interoperable digital government

This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission.

Today’s report on the implementation of the 2020 Berlin Declaration on value-based digital government shows that Member States are improving in digital literacy and in introducing innovative technologies in their public services. However, they need to work more on social participation and digital inclusion, as well as on trust and security in digital services.

Progress matters because fair, inclusive, open and trusted digital public services are major drivers for successfully digitalising European society and economy. Digital and interoperable public services are instrumental for the EU to stay resilient, competitive and innovative. EU Member States collectively spend more than €48 billion using instruments such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the Technical Support Instrument to digitalise and transform public services and administrations. Signed in December 2020, the Berlin Declaration puts fundamental rights and democratic values at the heart of this digital transformation. This will help to deliver human-centric digital public services to meet the digital targets for 2030, set by Europe’s Digital Decade. In addition, aligning transformation efforts across Member States will increase efficiency, effectiveness and interoperability, at reduced cost, in line with the proposed Interoperable Europe Act, Single Digital Gateway and the European Digital Identity.

Framework for digital society

The Berlin Declaration is a commitment to a digital society based on fundamental rights, democratic values, and value-based digital government, and re-affirms Europe’ strong commitment to digital transformation and European values. It focuses on shaping a human-centred digital transformation and interoperability as a key enabler for digital public services in the EU,with the target of 100% online provision of key public services in the European Union by 2030.

The Berlin Declaration provides input for the monitoring of the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030 and the associated European Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles. This is the second report on the implementation of the Berlin Declaration, prepared under the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, following the first one of May 2022. It provides an overview of the progress made by the Member States in implementing the Policy Actions of the Berlin Declaration compared to the previous year. It shows positive trends across most policy areas, notably the following:

• Member States have continued to put in place strategies, projects and councils to promote fundamental rights and democratic values in the digital sphere. They have increasingly created platforms to provide information and foster debate on fundamental rights.
• Member States have introduced new strategies and initiatives such as trainings, to increase their citizens digital skills and competences. This contributes to empowerment and digital literacy of citizens, aligning with the Communication on Attracting skills and talent to the EU of April 2022.
• Member States are putting in place human-centred systems and innovative technologies in the public sector. This is a key pillar in the proposed Interoperable Europe Act, aiming at scaling up interoperability across the public administrations in Europe.

However, the Member States progressed less in enhancing social participation and inclusion, and they need to work more on strengthening trust through security in the digital sphere.

With insights into these findings set out by country, the report offers plenty of examples of good practices for policymakers, businesses and citizens.

Background

The Berlin Declaration builds upon the 2017 Tallinn Declaration on eGovernment and takes the user-centricity principles formulated in the Tallinn Declaration a step further – it commits to a digital transformation in Europe  firmly based on democratic values and ethical principles.