IIAS Knowledge Portal on Public Administration » Innovation

News on Innovation (List)

Melissa Monaco — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:37:29 +0000

News about the “Innovation in Public Administration” theme from IIAS Members and our partners. You can also find them on a GoogleMap here.

Belgium

Federal Staff Portal

On 26 October 2010, the Federal Public Services Personnel and Organisation and the Chancery of the Prime Minister organised a day of discovery “Administration 2.0: the Loch Ness Monster? “ devoted to Web 2.0 in the Belgian Government. A first in the Belgian civil service.

Some 180 members of COMMnet (the Federal Communicators Network) and KMnet (the network of knowledge managers federal) participated in this event whose purpose was twofold:

Compile an inventory of the use of web 2.0 and public utilities
Launch the debate on the issues raised by the use of Web 2.0 and its applications (blogs, wikis, social media, …) in public services.

Canada

Institute of Public Administration of Canada(IPAC)

New Network of Networks to improve public administration – The Institute of Public Administration in Canada (IPAC) announced the creation of Public Service Without Borders, a virtual forum for the discussion and sharing of best practices in public administration. PSWB is envisioned as a ‘network of networks’ using the internet and other social media to create a virtual community of professionals involved in all aspects of public administration, in Canada and abroad.

France

Qualité Publique (France)

Révision générale des politiques publiques (RGPP) e-government: what works? – As part of its overhaul of public policies (RGPP), the government has implemented an action plan to develop e-government based on the online procedures and dematerialization of certain acts.

Le Carrefour de l’Innovation Participative 2010 -The Association Innov’Acteurs organised on 25-26 November 2010, Carrefour de l’Innovation Participative 2010 on the theme:” Participative Innovation : societal issue?” . The association was greeted by his partner Advancia – great entrepreneurial school CCI of Paris – Porte de Champerret, 75017.

This year, some 250 professionals from leading French and European organisations, small businesses, communities, governments and experts were expected to discuss and debate the great issues of the involvement of every employee in the process of innovation in organisations. Report coming soon!

Secteurpublic.fr.

Computer and personal data: towards an international agreement ? – - At their Conference, held in Jerusalem in late October, the data protection authorities around the world have highlighted the urgency to adopt a specific international convention in the field of protection of personal data. They pledged to promote this project with their respective governmental and parliamentary authorities. They pledged to promote this project with their respective governmental and parliamentary authorities. They also called for convening an intergovernmental conference on the subject, if possible in 2011 and later in 2012.

Three years of e-government - At the Council of Ministers held Wednesday, November 24, the Minister of Budget, Public Accounts, the Civil Service and State Reform, presented a paper on e-government. It follows the general revision of public policy, initiated by the government since 2007 to improve the quality of public services and develop e-government.

Germany

Verwaltung innovativ (Innovative Management)

Newsletter management innovation – November 2010 Issue (11/2010)

Dear subscribers, The following information is currently available for you:

Italy

PloneGov Italia

The materials of the Seminar for the exchange of solutions PloneGov (Modena, 3 November 2010):

The materials are available and photos of the seminar which was held November 3 in Modena.

South Africa

Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI)

2010 CPSI Public Sector Innovation Awards Announced – The Minister for Public Service and Administration, Hon. MR Baloyi recognised 12 innovative public sector initiatives at a prestigious event on 5 November 2010.

Via UNPAN

South African Space Agency to Launch Soon – The Southern African Large Telescope is one of South Africa’s notable space projects. South Africa will soon have its own space agency to promote and coordinate space science and technology programmes in the country. The long-awaited South African National Space Agency (Sansa) will be launched in Midrand, Johannesburg, on 9 December 2010.

South Korea

S. Korea to Invest W26b into Developing Energy Technologies – The government plans to inject 26.2 billion won ($22.7 million) over about five years in a range of energy technology projects aimed at developing resources and improving energy efficiency, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said Sunday, Nov. 29.

From ‘IT Korea’ to ‘Smart Korea’ – The following was contributed by Minister of Knowledge Economy Choi Kyung-hwan celebrating the G20 ICT Innovation Forum. Ed. (05/11/2010)

Switzerland

Swiss Society of Public Administration

Innovation and management of extreme situations – In a turbulent age, the question of national crisis management arises. “What role can national innovation management play?” was also the subject of the SSPA meeting on 18 November 2010. A report gives a first impression.

Administration tomorrow – The administration is currently living its biggest revolution since its inception. What can we do with the administration tomorrow? The article provides an overview of likely developments.

United Kingdom

Local Government Improvement and Development

Birmingham turns up the pilot light – Birmingham Energy Savers was developed as a partnership project led by Birmingham City Council. In the autumn of 2010, it piloted a scheme to fit photovoltaic (PV) panels on 60 buildings. This case study looks at what the council learned from that pilot.

United States

CNet

Google scores big federal government contract – Google has won a major contract to provide Google Apps for an entire federal government agency. Teaming up with Unisys and two other companies, Google will deploy Google Apps for Government to all 17,000 employees and contractors at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

Business of Government

Getting It Done! – Taking advantage of centralized IT services sometimes requires a change in how departments or agencies regard their business processes.

Commonwealth Association for Public Administration & Management

CAPAM Caribbean Regional Conference: Public Service Excellence: Embracing Innovation and Change. Trinidad, 14-16 February, 2011 – CAPAM is currently accepting paper proposals for the Embracing Innovation and Change Conference, Feb. 14 – 16, 2011 to be held in Trinidad. The conference is organized in partnership with the Ministry of Public Administration, Government of Trinidad & Tobago.

The latest issue of Commonwealth Innovations publication is out. This edition features articles on innovation and the public service including the 2010 CAPAM International Innovations Awards Finalists. Additional articles on performance and innovation (Australia), leadership and innovation (United Kingdom) and citizen participation in local government (Canada) are included. To submit articles and notices for publication, or for copyright and further information about the publication, please contact awong@capam.org. Editor: Ada Wong, Manager, Membership& Communications.

2010 CAPAM International Innovations Awards Winners – CAPAM would like congratulate the following winners in each awards category as well as the overall Gold medal winner.

European Union

ICT 2010: Digitally Driven, Europe’s most visible forum for ICT research and innovation – This biennial event has become a unique gathering point for researchers, business people, investors, and high level policy makers in the field of digital innovation. It was held at Brussels Expo, 27-29 September 2010 and documents, videos, etc. are available on the event’s website. NEXT ICT: 2012.

European Parliament

MEP organises classes to maximise social media potential – Facebook, Twitter – This autumn one MEP is leading the way and organising classes on how fellow MEPs can use social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to reach out to voters. French Member Damien Abad (EPP) is behind the course and here we speak to him as well as Portuguese Socialist MEP Edite Estrela, Italian Liberal Sonia Alfano and Spanish Green Raül Romeva i Rueda.

The Lisbon Council

Public Sector Innovation: Co-Creating for a Better Society - In a forceful intervention, Christian Bason, director, author and Ph.D fellow at MindLab, the Danish innovation agency, introduced his new book Leading Public Sector Innovation: Co-Creating for a Better Society. He explained how the current crisis can act as an historic catalyst for innovation and better, more responsive government. Mr. Bason’s enlightening presentation was followed by inspiring comments from Peter Dröll, head of unit for policy development for industrial innovation in the directorate-general for enterprise and industry at the European Commission.

Open Source Observatory and Repository

PT: Parliamentarians propose to make open standards mandatory — published on Dec 03, 2010 Two left-wing political parties in the Portuguese parliament want to make the use of open standards mandatory for public administrations. Next week Friday, the parliament will discuss two motions, filed by the Left Bloc, with sixteen of the 230 seats in the parliament, and the Portuguese Communist Party, which has thirteen seats.
IT: Considering the use of open source is mandatory in South Tyrol — published on Dec 02, 2010 Considering whether it is possible to use free and open source software is mandatory for public administrations in the Italian Province of Bolzano-Bozen – South Tyrol that are renewing their existing IT or purchasing new IT solution, according to Kurt Pöhl, head of the Department of Information Technology at the province.

MT: ‘Culture of open standards disseminated within Government‘ — published on Dec 02, 2010 The culture of open standards is to be disseminated within government and the local ICT industry, Malta’s governmental Information Technology Agency (MITA) explained last week. The institute’s open source vision was called a ‘most important policy document’ by senior government adviser, the month before.

More news

United Nations Public Administration Network

E-government to Create Opportunities for All

The current global financial and economic crisis is putting tremendous pressure on governments to do more with less. Although financial markets stabilized in 2009 due to massive and internationally coordinated government intervention, the real economy is still in a state of shock with high rates of unemployment and tremendous squeeze on government revenues in many countries. E-government – once a bold experiment and now an important tool for public sector transformation – has progressed to the point where it is now a force for effective governance and citizen participation, both at national and local levels.

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News on Innovation (List) – Archives

Melissa Monaco — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 10:26:04 +0000

News about the “Innovation in Public Administration” theme from IIAS Members and our partners. You can also find them on a GoogleMap here.

Belgium

Federal Government Portal

Grande campagne nationale sur la eID date: D’ici fin 2009, tous les Belges devraient posséder une carte d’identité électronique (eID). Parce que peu de personnes utilisent ses nombreuses applications pratiques, le SPF Intérieur et Fedict lancent une campagne d’information intitulée “Ton eID, ça simplifie”.

Federal Staff Portal

Des eCommunities/eWorkspace à beConnected La nouvelle plateforme collaborative qui verra le jour dans le courant de l’année 2010 a été baptisée. Suite à l’appel lancé fin 2009, le SPF P&O a reçu plus de 100 propositions de noms différents : un vrai succès ! Le choix s’est finalement porté sur beConnected. Moderne et dynamique, ce nom suggère l’idée de mise en relation, de partage et de collaboration. De par sa similitude avec le .be, la première partie de beConnected fait également référence à l’environnement fédéral. Plus d’infos sur beConnected.

Pdata obtient le label Anysurfer
: Les pouvoirs publics, tout comme les entreprises ou les citoyens, doivent réagir rapidement aux nouvelles tendances de la société et rendre compte plus souvent et de manière précise de leur gestion. Ils doivent pouvoir extraire rapidement, des données disponibles, toute l’information pertinente dont ils ont besoin et communiquer en toute transparence le volume et la composition du “personnel” aux acteurs concernés: parlementaires, institutions internationales, syndicats, citoyens, universités, presse, … Le site web www.pdata.be a été développé à ces fins en 2003. www.pdata.be vient d’obtenir le label d’accessibilité Anysurfer.

Solution eHR (electronic human resources)
A terme, un guichet électronique vous permettra de demander vos congés par voie électronique, d’avoir un aperçu de votre dossier personnel en un simple clic. Les fonctionnaires dirigeants disposeront en permanence d’une situation actualisée de leur personnel, ce qui facilitera l’analyse de données et la prise de décisions. Les formations de base ont déjà débuté.

“Médiateur fédéral, un pont entre le citoyen et l’administration“. Depuis le 1er octobre 2008, le citoyen a la possibilité de contacter gratuitement le médiateur fédéral grâce au numéro de téléphone “vert” 0800 99 961. Ce numéro gratuit devrait contribuer à améliorer l’accessibilité de l’institution.

Canada

Institute of Public Administration of Canada(IPAC)

Innovative Management Award 2010: Submit your organization’s/ministry or department’s entry for IPAC’s 2010 Innovative Management Award sponsored by IBM and KPMG which will recognize governmental/public sector organizations that have shown new and innovative ways of cutting across bureaucratic boundaries and silos to address the complex issues facing society.2010 Theme: Collaboration at Work – Deadline: April 30 2010

2009: The finalists are known : The IPAC Award is sponsored by IBM and KPMG to celebrate and encourage innovative managerial initiatives in the public administration of Canada.To recognize the exceptional management within the public sector of Canada, the Institute of Public Administration of Canada launched “The IPAC Award for Innovative Management” in 1990. The theme of the 2009 competition is “Turn Arounds”. Here is a list of the finalists.

The Innovation Journal

The Innovation Journal launches a call-for-papers, for its Special Issue on Research and Innovation Process. This issue will explore the links between innovation process and research production. Authors do not need to limit themselves as several areas will be examinded.
Deadline for submission of completed papers: By March 1, 2010.

France

Qualité Publique (France)

5,6,7 juillet – Les Rencontres de la Modernisation de l’Etat – Acteurs publics

Tous les acteurs de la modernisation de l’État pourront échanger au cours de 16 tables rondes, 24 ateliers, 3 conférences plénières, 2 débats politiques, 2 petits-déjeuners débats et la traditionnelle remise des Victoires de la Modernisation de l’État à l’Assemblée nationale le 7 juillet.

Secteurpublic.fr.

Creation of ATHENA, the human and social sciences alliance

Under the reform of the French academic and research system, ATHENA is the fifth alliance to emerge. It aims to open up relations between actors, promoting initiatives for coordination and partnership.

La nouvelle politique d’aménagement numérique du territoire pour la prochaine décennie

Ce plan pour l’aménagement numérique du territoire illustre la priorité donnée par Michel Mercier à la lutte contre la fracture numérique et vise à permettre à tous les Français et à tous les territoires de relever le défi de l’innovation, de la croissance et de l’emploi durables.

Stratégie numérique : le plan d’action de la Commission européenne

La mise en œuvre de l’ambitieuse stratégie numérique pour l’Europe dévoilée par la Commission européenne permettrait de contribuer notablement à la croissance économique de l’UE et de faire profiter tous les secteurs de la société des avantages de l’ère numérique. La moitié des gains de productivité réalisés dans l’UE au cours des 15 dernières années étaient dus aux technologies de l’information et des communications et cette tendance est susceptible de se renforcer.

Création d’une commission pour le développement du haut-débit dans le monde

L’Union internationale des télécommunications (UIT) et l’UNESCO ont annoncé le 10 mai dernier la création d’une Commission de haut-niveau pour le développement numérique. Elle sera chargée d’élaborer des stratégies favorisant la mise en place de systèmes de transmission haut-débit dans le monde entier et d’étudier les applications possibles pour que le haut-débit améliore l’accès à des services sociaux comme la santé, l’éducation, la gestion de l’environnement, la sécurité, et bien d’autres.

Les collectivités locales de l’ouest de la France se mobilisent ensemblent pour la constitution d’un campus d’excellence

Les Pays de la Loire et la Bretagne revendiquent leur place dans le peloton de tête des régions de la connaissance. Dans le cadre du grand emprunt, l’Etat va dans les prochaines semaines lancer un appel à projets pour sélectionner un nombre limité de Campus d’excellence, synonyme de recherche de haut niveau, de qualité des formations et d’ouverture internationale.

Des chantiers TIC pour une modernisation incontournable de l’administration française mais à budgets maîtrisésMARKESS International, société d’études et de conseil basée à Paris et à Washington, D.C., spécialisée dans l’analyse de la modernisation et de la transformation des entreprises et administrations avec les technologies de l’information, annonce la parution de sa dernière étude dédiée au secteur public et intitulée « Bilan et Perspectives des Logiciels et Services IT dans l’Administration Française, 2009-2011 ».

Germany

Verwaltung innovativ (Innovative Management)

Newsletter management innovation – June 2010 Issue (06/2010)

Dear subscribers, The following information is currently available for you:

“The responsibility of the individual for the big picture” – Authorities leadership meeting of the Federal State
Clear commitment to 115: Federal Government decides on the participation of key points in the single federal authorities call
Published: Guide to Online Consultations
Published: Guide to ITcontrol in the federal administration
Adopted: Concept for the benefit and impact in controlling the IT investment program
Introducing: GeoPortal.Platform
Bookmarked! Mass Modern State, 27-28. October 2010 in Berlin

Italy

PloneGov Italia

Un momento di scambio delle esperienze italiane (A Moment to Exchange Italian Experiences), was held on 25 novembre 2009:

The workshop included the illustration of several case studies from some member organizations, and will provide the needed space for discussion among members, some of which have already started to share their Plone solutions and to work in synergy on new projects. Find the papers presented by clicking on the following link

South Africa

ICIMT 2010 : “International Conference on Innovation, Management and Technology
The International Conference on Innovation, Management and Technology aims to bring together academic scientists, leading engineers, industry researchers and scholar students to exchange and share their experiences and research results about all aspects of Innovation, Management and Technology, and discuss the practical challenges encountered and the solutions adopted.
Centre for Public Service Innovation (CPSI) Annual Public Sector Innovation Awards
CIDA City Campus Scoops the Prestigious 2009 Public Sector Innovator of the Year Award The purpose of the awards is to promote and encourage best practice in public sector innovation and service delivery and celebrate the successes of individuals, teams and departments in the quest for a more effective, efficient and accountable government.

South Korea

Gov’t to Spread Flexible Work Hours System

The government has set up the delivery plan to spread flexible work scheme in the second national employment strategy meeting chaired by the President on Feb. 18, 2010 so that more people can benefit from more convenient job opportunities.

What is Green e-Government ?
Since Aug. 15 when President Lee Myung-bak declared an era of green – an era of low carbon and green growth – green growth policy has been adopted as the nation’s first priority.

Sweden

Eurocities

The city of Linköping, Sweden, will host the Summer Event 2010 of the Knowledge Society Forum.The date for the event is 9th-11th June 2010. Increasing social inclusion and decreasing poverty through ICT. The event is organised as part of the activities taking place under the European Year for combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

It will be held in the framework of the three days meeting of the EUROCITIES Knowledge Society Forum Summer Event – ‘How to plan and build the inclusive, sustainable and desirable city’; the latter will focus on ICT as a basic necessity when planning and building inclusive and sustainable cities.

Attendance to this open event is free of charge but prior registration via the website of the EUROCITIES Knowledge Society Forum Summer Event is required.

Switzerland

Administration fédérale

La Suisse en tête de l’innovation internationale: La Suisse présente la meilleure capacité d’innovation au monde. C’est la conclusion de la dernière enquête sur l’innovation dans l’économie suisse que mène depuis 1990 le KOF, le Centre de recherches conjoncturelles de l’Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Zurich, sur mandat du Secrétariat d’Etat à l’économie SECO.
Or la stagnation conjoncturelle risque d’affecter fortement l’innovation, ce qui pourrait rejaillir sur le potentiel de croissance
à moyen terme. L’enquête a été réalisée en automne 2008, peu avant l’éclatement de la crise économique, sur la base du panel d’entreprisesdu KOF, qui repose sur un échantillon de 6000 firmes.

Turkey

International Informatics Law Congress

International IT Law Conference The conference will discuss the importance of legal arrangements and practices in a digitalised society. Representatives of Turkish public institutions and associations will take part to this eventThe conference will host 1 opening session, 6 panel meetings, 8 workshops, 15 seminars and almost 30 academic notices.

Attendance to this conference is free of charge; registration can be performed online until 31 May 2010.

United Kingdom

The National Council of Voluntary Organisations

Transforming together -innovation, public services and the voluntary sector.
The Public Service Delivery Network annual conference, jointly organised with the Sustainable Funding Project Innovation Initiative was held on 3rd March 2009 . Keynote Enabling innovation – supporting and growing innovative public services This’s a summary of the Geof Mulgan’s intervention. Innovation much talked about inpublic services-but not systemitically understood and not systtemitically supported or managed resulted- a society full of innovative people and organisation that failed to make the most of them. Download
Geoff Mulgan’s presentation (PDF, 1MB).

Commonwealth Association for Public Administration & Management

The latest issue of Commonwealth Innovations publication is out. Commonwealth Innovations is published
quarterly by the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management.
To submit articles and notices for publication, or for copyright and further information about the publication, please contact awong@capam.org.
Editor: Ada Wong, Manager, Membership& Communications
CAPAM 2010 International Innovations Awards: CAPAM is pleased to announce the launch of the 2010 International Innovations Awards! We are now accepting applications for this awards cycle. The 2010 CAPAM International Innovations Awards theme is Cultivating Innovation for the Public Service of the Future.

European Union

Innovation & Creativity in Europe’s public sectors

This debate took place on May 13,2009 in Brussels under the European Year of Creativity and Innovation.
Emphasis was placed on the role of innovation in delivering public sector services. How the European public sector can innovate faster and increase productivity so as to be able to continue to provide high standards of social services with fewer resources? Download the reference document, report and profiles of the debate .

The Lisbon Council

Innovating Indicators: Choosing the Right Targets for EU 2020

With reflection on the EU 2020 in full swing, Ann Mettler weighs into the debate with an analysis about the political economy of indicators, as well as concrete recommendations on targets for the EU’s new economic blueprint. “Innovating Indicators: Choosing the Right Targets for EU 2020” is a unique reflection on how to measure and evaluate societal progress and make the policy process more inclusive and meaningful to a broader number of people.Newsletter: Eco-Innovation, Government of the Future, and more

Read the latest Lisbon Council Newsletter, full of information about recent and upcoming activities, including Eco-Innovation Summit, EU 2020, Government of the Future Centre, Digital Europe, Why Skills areKey to Europe’s Future and much more.

Open Source Observatory and Repository

Breaking the mould: Grosseto develops the OpenPortalGuard eID system

In 2003 the Italian Ministry of the Interior decided to launch a pilot project for the use of eID cards in Italy, and asked a contractor to develop the necessary software. Grosseto became part of an international network of public bodies working on open source eID solutions. The content and conduct of this project are available on this link .

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Economics : OECD Forum and Ministerial meeting to focus on innovation, growth from 26-May-2010 to 28-May-2010

New OECD forecasts for economic growth and strategies to boost innovation will be at the heart of discussions at the OECD’s annual Forum and Ministerial meeting in Paris on 26-28 May 2010. The OECD’s latest Economic Outlook will be released by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría with Chief Economist Pier Carlo Padoan.

United Nations Public Administration Network

E-government to Create Opportunities for All

EuropeanCivil Registry Network

ECRN (European Civil Registry Network) is a project funded in the EC initiative, Information and Communication Technologies Policy Support Program for Competitive and Innovation.

The ECRN project is striving to become the European Service Platform for the Civil Registry with the establishment of an ECR_Platform among the Civil Acts Registries of National Administrations. It is implementing an ambitious policy of strategic cooperation with key players of the Civil Registry in Europe with the set-up of an experimental system designed to ensure the safe and certain identification of the Civil Acts (birth, death, marriage, divorce etc.) exchange. Together with the cooperation in the public arena, ECRN is active in cooperation with European market technology leaders of the Civil registry and Demographic Services in Europe.

iGov Global ExchangeThe iGov was held 16-19/6-09 in Singapore. iGov Global Exchange is an open platform that brings together policy makers, implementers and developers to share experiences and best practices on the future e-Government model worldwide. It also showcases successful projects in building e-Government infrastructure and applications to better serve the needs of customers in the digital age. Read the conference proceedings.

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News on Innovation (GoogleMap)

Melissa Monaco — Thu, 27 May 2010 10:16:09 +0000

Click on the pins to display the different news on the theme of “Innovation”. You can also find the list by countries and institutions by clicking here

Google map

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Focus: Innovation in Public Administration

Melissa Monaco — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:01:17 +0000

Each month, a new theme will be developped in the Knowledge Portal.
For this edition, we will be focusing on “Innovation in Public Administration”.

This month’s theme is « Innovation in the Public Sector ». In fact, innovation is a major public sector challenge, especially as the public sector must remain inventive and imaginative to confront the ever growing request for public services. For this reason, in a period seriously affected by the financial crisis, civil servants and the public service are urged to be more innovative and to set up even/always better public services; this is all the more difficult to achieve as the public service must innovate while reducing costs. This file thus includes current information on the panel countries and on the innovation process in the public sector in diverse countries and organisations.

Fabienne Maron

News on Innovation (List)
News on Innovation (GoogleMap)
Interview with Mr. Christian Henrard about e-Procurement
About the e-Procurement Website

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About the e-Procurement Website

Melissa Monaco — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:19:58 +0000

The PublicProcurement.be website is the official public markets portal of the Belgian federal civil service. On the website may be found all necessary information for concluding public markets.

The PublicProcurement.be website, is meant for:

the anonymous user who may use the applications as long as the information consulted remains “open”. He/she may then, in one way or another, set up an account.
the civil servant, for whom the website provides management tools, optimalisation of deadlines, security, transparency and simplification.
businesses, for whom the website brings facility and rapidity of access, a greater visibility, a multitude of tools, optimalisation of deadlines, simplification, security of transfers and data management.

e-Procurement includes:

The e-Notification represents website changes for a better utilisation: as an example, the e-Procurement service organises monthly information sessions for public servants and businesses. For participation please consult the calendar on www.publicprocurement.be.
On the same page may be found Contracting Authority Services (the system offers contracting authorities a collaborative e-Procurement environment for organising public procurement competition. The system provides the tools to support the management of Call-for-tenders workspaces (Publication File) and the publication of notices, with the possibility of registering as a Contracting Authority or as an Organisation Registration Request) and Economic Operator Services (the system provides the tools and services for searching public procurement competitions and supports all activities that suppliers may need to undertake to participate in a competition, including the selection and downloading of publication materials, the customisation of their search profile, the participation of online Questions and Answer forums and the possibility of registering as an Economic Operator.

e-Tendering is an open, secure, interactive, and re-configurable e-procurement platform based on European standards and EC directives where contracting authorities and economic operators can perform their daily e-procurement activities.

On the same page may be found the Contracting Authority Services (the platform offers contracting authorities a collaborative e-procurement environment for organising their tender-related activities and provides the management tools for tender files, including their visualisation, modification, submission, qualification and opening of a tender) and the Economic Operator Services (for which tools and services are provided for carrying out automated, transparent and secure preparations and submissions of requests for participation in tenders. E-Tendering provides a non-discriminatory solution to fundamental procurement procedures and allows economic operators and candidates to carry out efficiently their procurement activities, thus assisting the acceleration of tender preparations and submissions; users may register.

e-Catalogue is an autonomous e-Procurement application that offers, via internet to public officers and companies, a multilingual platform. It is based on open source building blocks and is comprised of an electronic purchase process in two parts: electronic catalogue and electronic ordering. The platform provides possibilities to manage contractual activities relating to electronic catalogues, such as the electronic order. The security of the application accessed is ensured.

The system is designed for civil servants in Public Services (the platform provides public servants a collaborative e-Procurement environment for consulting catalogues and placing purchase orders) and for Companies (the e-Catalogue provides companies with a collaborative e-Procurement environment for uploading their catalogues and managing their files. In addition receiving electronic orders and modifying the order status are possible options.

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Interview with Mr. Christian Henrard about e-Procurement

Melissa Monaco — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:02:11 +0000

by Fabienne Maron, Mélissa Monaco and Ladislas Nzé-Bekele

Christian Henrard

Mr. Christian Henrard is project manager of e-Procurement, a new Belgian Federal Service. We asked this practitioner with an eclectic background, his views on innovation in public services.

IISA: What does innovation in the public sector mean to you?

Christian Henrard: To me, the public sector is innovative the moment it puts into place teams, who are responsible in the various fields of administrative management, to develop and implement appropriate management tools. These tools must now make use of modern technologies to the maximum and in the most optimal way and be developed in such a way that they are useable directly at all levels of authority, with a possible customisation that must be minimal.

IISA: Knowing that the public sector is reticent to change, is there a particular time to solicit the innovation?

C.H.: Not that I know of. Also, we cannot impose on potential users the tools that we have developed. We are therefore attempting to put into place ways to motivate these users in such a way as to “force their hand”; but before attaining a significant use of the online tool, this requires – in our particular case certainly – waiting up to 2 years.

IISA: The setting up of the Federal Service e-Procurement has been relatively recent. Can you describe, in a few lines, the factors that led the Belgian government to this innovation? What obstacles have been encountered?

C.H.:Our service exists under its present form since January 2005, but we began to prepare and implement the first developments within the Defence department in early 2000. We then migrated towards another agency because Defence no longer wished to support these activities which were not, of course, part of its core business.
It should be clearly understood that the process depends on a very long and complicated procedure, certainly in the phase of defining needs and working methods. Once this phase was completed, we defined and developed the first module which was JEPP. Success was not immediate and we had to pass by a very long phase of adaptation, which was then followed by a consolidation phase that started giving results in 2005. It was only then that we began to finalise other applications defined in the global e-Procurement process.
For all applications and tools slightly modified within these modules, the greatest difficulties encountered were the limitation of technologies and a very great resistance to change encountered both among civil servants and enterprises.

IISA: Your service is innovative in what areas? What are the essential contributions of this initiative?

C.H.:Via the tools that we put in place, we attempt to simplify the work of each actor involved in public markets. We have succeeded in shortening deadlines for making Info available in its simplest expression, notably by putting all official documents to be disseminated directly to those who must be informed, online practically instantaneously.
In this way, we have abolished postal delays and other handling; also the information is available during a much longer period of time and the use of intermediaries has become superfluous.
In addition, our applications are not just the publication pure and simple of information, but we also manage and make use of all useable data directly by exit systems so as to avoid a maximum of redundant introductions and, in this way, lessen the risks of errors. The applications likewise intercommunicate; in this way e-Tendering may be activated from e-Notification.

IISA: After a month of operation, what are the first results? What are the first snags?

C.H.: e-Procurement has been making modules available for 4 good years now (even longer). The e-Tendering application has been operational since 2006. e-Notification has been operational since June 2008, but is the follow up to JEPP. We also have an e-Catalogue which is available but is in a test phase and must be developed much more fully.
The results are that with regard to notices published, we publish 97% of all that is published in Belgium and this percentage should increase further to attain 100% by early 2010. We have been joined by most of the major public agencies, the others operate with us via an automatic data exchange system that is ever developing, too.
We have also taken note that the e-Tendering application has slowly begun to have some success among civil servants, but businesses still have difficulties introducing their offers electronically.

IISA: From your point of view, what are the perspectives that this new service opens in terms of efficiency for public administration and facility for the user (whether an ordinary user, a business or a civil servant)?

C.H.: From the point of view of perspectives, all of our applications are integrated, in such a way that we provide a unique, as complete as possible, access platform for civil servants. For businesses, we wish to become the unique national point of access to public market information.
The anonymous user may use the applications as long as the information consulted remains “open”. He/she may then, in one way or another, set up an account.
For the civil servant, we bring visibility, management tools, optimalisation of deadlines, security, transparency and simplification.
For businesses: facility and rapidity of access, plus a great visibility, a multitude of tools, the optimalisation of deadlines, simplification, security of transfers and data management.

IISA: According to you, will your new service contribute to more transparency in public markets and how?

C.H.: Our tools are designed so as to be able to garner a multitude of information and to disseminate it, or make it available for security or control bodies. Their utilisation is just a question of will.
For example we have made available in the e-Notification application, pre-approval systems of files before publication, forums of questions/responses, the possibility of publishing all necessary documents online and instantaneously. There is the possibility for each role player to set up a personal work space, storage and consultation.
We shall continue to improve visibility and possibilities of consulting files (those that can be seen) in e-Tendering.
We are also at work developing an even better performing electronic catalogue management application that can operate from the definition of the catalogue, independently from its complexity, to the announcement of materials or services received. For all of our applications, we study the possibility of communicating directly with budgetary management institutions or other management bodies, with a view to carrying out information transfers at all phases of the purchase file where this kind of information exchange is necessary.

Lastly, we have set up a website (www.publicprocurement.be) which is directly linked to most existing electronic tools and that also contains a legislation section as well as user assistance.

Christian Henrard was receiving officer for equipment and projects within the Belgian army, before returning to the civilian life and join the Government Procurement Division of the federal government. He is now project leader and manager of the e-Procurement Federal Service.

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