eGovernment in Lithuania Meeting of the e-Government working group of the European Public Administrations Network AMSTERDAM October 2004

Content Lithuania at a glance Coordinating of Information Society Development in Lithuania The development of eGovernment Infrastructure – Competence - eContent Implemented projects Nearest actions Conclusions

Lithuania at a glance Territory: 65 200 sq km Population: 3,5 million Capital City: Vilnius GNP increase: 7,0 % Annual inflation rate: 1.5 % Unemployment rate: 11 %

The main indicators of using IT

The main indicators of using IT

The main indicators of using IT In the 1st quarter of year 2004: 43 % of people of age 15-74 had used personal computer The biggest part of them – young people. 90 % of personal computer users were of age 15-24 and only 4 % were of age 65-74. 30 % of people of age 15-74 used internet Mostly pupils and students used internet – 85 % of all respondents. 31 % of the respondents used internet in their workplace.

The main indicators of using IT Almost 62 % of the personnel in the state and local institutions used computers (14 % of computer users increased per year) 99.7 % of state and local institutions are connected to the internet All personnel in the highest administrative institutions (Parliament, President office, Government) have computers with the internet connection

National Institutions Coordinating Information Society Development in Lithuania The main institutions Commission of Information Society Development chaired by Prime Minister The Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania Information Society Development Committee under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania Also other institutions and organizations participate in information society development All state and local institutions and non-governmental organizations

National Institutions Coordinating Information Society Development in Lithuania

Coordinating of Information Society Development in Lithuania The Long-Term Development Strategy of the State approved in year 2002 The Conceptual Framework of the National Information Society Development of Lithuania approved in year 2001 The Implementation Plan of the Information Society Development of Lithuania

Coordinating of Information Society Development in Lithuania The Conceptual Framework of the eGovernment describes the official approach towards the eGoverment phenomena in Lithuania approved in year 2002 The Implementation plan of the Conceptual Framework of the E-government approved in year 2003 The Long Term Strategy of Public Administration Development till year 2010 approved in year 2004

The development of eGovernment

The development of eGovernment About 50 % of the main 20 services are delivered via Internet (in EU ~ 67%)* Services for business proceeded faster – 60 % Services for citizens – 44 % The best developed services in Lithuania: Tax and custom declarations Job search services Searching in catalogues of public libraries and presenting full text electronic publications Producing statistical data Information about elections and elections documents *According to the survey of electronic services, accomplished in May of year 2004

The needs of purchasers More than 38 % of Internet users visited websites of public administrations*: 35 % - want to know drafts of legal acts and to put forward a proposal 29 % - search for administrative information 20 % - appeal to officials 18 % - fill forms, execute other procedures via Internet 71 % - thinks that public electronic services allows to deal with the matter with public administrations in convenient places, at convenient time 64 % - thinks that service is received more quickly *April of year 2004

Initiatives towards internet access points Leading Lithuanian businesses (mobile and fixed telecommunications companies, largest banks and IT companies) came together and in May of 2002 formed Window to the Future alliance In 2003 Ministry of Interior in the name of Government of Republic of Lithuania has joined this alliance The mission of Window to the Future alliance is to promote the use of Internet in Lithuania Fields of activities: Establishment of Public Internet Access Points Training society to use computers and Internet In January 2003 a new road sign Internet has been created by the initiative which is included in the new traffic rules. This sign indicates the closest Internet access point

Initiatives towards internet access points The aim of projects are to increase the number of Internet users in Lithuania and achieve the Internet penetration ratio of EU over the period of three years Project “Establishment of Internet Access Points in Rural Areas” implemented by the Ministry of the Interior together with Information Society Development Committee. Project will enable to create internet access points in remote rural areas, in this way creating conditions for all inhabitants of the country to become members of the information society Project “Integrated Network of Public Internet access points”, tendered to get support from the Structural funds

Enhancement of the competence of the population Program of Overall computer literacy (adopted in year 2004). It is planned that about 1 million people will achieve computer literacy from year 2004 till 2012 Computer training programme has been prepared together with “Window to the Future” alliance and the Ministry of Education and Science. People could take free-of-charge Internet course for beginners and get a certificate. 20.000 people were trained in 9 months Training of the officials and issuing ECDL certificates Distance learning or self-studying to operate in main computer programs via Internet

Promotion to use and to trust to electronic services In Lithuania users can access to almost all electronic public services offered by central and municipal authorities via the Government Electronic Gateway portal (www.govonline.lt, www.evaldzia.lt, www.epaslaugos.lt) Iniciative towards the use of gov.lt General requirements for state institutions web pages

Implemented projects Development of Secure State Data Communication Network (SSDCN), connection to EU IDA/TESTA network TESTA EuroDomain EuroGate SSDCN National Agencies Ministries and departments Other institutions

Implemented projects Personal Identity card - the document of new generation produced in accordance with the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and requirements of the EU directives Data (name, surname, personal number, etc), photo and signature are engraved in polycarbonate layer of the Identity card by using laser engravers New international standards demand to put subsidiary microchip (biometric data) into personal Identity card from year 2007. Lithuania is almost ready to implement this requirement

Implemented projects Identification system, a tentative project on electronic documents exchange using e-signature Development of regional centers IT security projects of the most important state’s information systems Tax reimbursement to people who buy computer with legal programs and establishes internet connection

Electronic content The projects of the Implementation plan of the Conceptual Framework of the eGovernment: Re-engineering of public administration Common horizontal projects Projects of electronic services Development of the systems of regional electronic services EU programmes (eContent, IDA, eTEN)

Nearest actions Development of public administration, simplification of legal environment Development of electronic services Implementation of pan-European eGovernment Services (PEGS’s) Interoperability, Open Standards

Conclusions The main indicators of using IT are increasing at the moment in Lithuania, but they still remain conditionally low, that is why necessary actions towards the promotion of the use of IT are important More and more eGovernment projects are implemented and developed in Lithuania, people use electronic services and acknowledge their value Challenges of electronic services and EU processes (pan-European eGovernment Services (PEGS’s), interoperability, EU Structural funds)

Thank you! October 2004