Summary

The General Secretariat for the modernisation of public action (SGMAP), which is responsible for shaping the modernisation of the state in France, launched in 2013 a collaborative web portal to promote citizen consultation. Called Faire-simple.gouv.fr, this platform aims at integrating citizens’ proposals to improve and streamline administrative procedures, transforming people’s suggestions into real measures. It aims also at modernising public action by integrating the eParticipation concept in the creation of public services. This platform allows individuals, state officials and private companies to exchange ideas, make suggestions for improvement and comment on proposals from other citizens.

 

Case Description

Policy Context

Faire-simple.gouv.fr is part of a global programme of the French government aimed at modernising administrative procedures using digital technologies. SGMAP has been tasked with coordinating the digital transformation of the state and orchestrating reforms.

In October 2012, Jean-Marc Ayrault, former French Prime Minister, said that “citizens and users must be re-integrated at the centre of our action”.

In December 2012, the CIMAP committee (“Comité interministériel pour la modernisation de l’action Publique”) formalised the requirement to collect information on citizens’ needs in terms of the simplification of administrative procedures. “The CIMAP is asking ministries to amplify, with SGMAP, the collecting and analysis of users’ needs, and to identify actions which could help improve users’ satisfaction.”

 

Case Abstract

 

Putting citizens at the centre of state modernisation

Faire-simple.gouv.fr is SGMAP’s web portal which invites citizens and the civil service to collaborate and elaborate ways to simplify administrative procedures in France.

This platform is a dedicated exchange site on which users can share their ideas, submit their own proposals and add their comments on others’ suggestions. Globally, the theme is finding ways to simplify public action in France by including a co-construction programme.

One of the objectives of the portal is to create a unique area, using Web technologies, which bring together users, public services and private companies to promote debate. This platform allows all citizens in France to participate in the modernisation of public services.

Faire-simple.gouv.fr puts citizens and public services users at the centre of the state’s modernisation. “French people can testify and share their ideas to identify real solutions to problems“, French Secretary of State for State Reform and Simplification Thierry Mandon  said during the initial launch of the platform.

“The logic is reversed. Instead of asking the central administration, we start with the users and the challenges they face. We analyse the difficulties they experienced, in order to rebuild a new system. This puts the users at the heart of public policy construction”, he added.

 

Three areas where users can make suggestions, share ideas and monitor modifications

The platform offers three areas:

• Topics of the day (“Sujets du moment”). Here people can make proposals and share ideas on simplifying public procedures. They can also add comments and support a suggestion already published on the platform. Suggestions are moderated by the SGMAP to make sure they are compliant with the terms of use.
• The Solutions Factory (“La Fabrique de Solutions”). This is a collaborative area in which users, civil servant and experts can share and exchange ideas to co-construct new solutions on a specific topic. They also can work on a document, make recommendations and enrich projects already underway in ministries.  Working groups and workshops can be open online and people can discuss through forums, forms and comments. Debate can be public or private (for an internal project, for example).
• The measures initiated by CIMAP ("Mesures engagées"). Suggestions are regularly extracted by SGMAP to help build the modernisation and simplification plan of the French government. “We make a snapshot of about fifty difficulties every three or four months. Requests are then processed. Six months later, we publish the measures we take”, Thierry Mandon said.

To date, 200 measures have been approved, of which 59 are currently underway . For example, 12 measures have been put in place to improve online citizenship (e.g.: synchronise the population census with the voters’ register). A state of work is also published for all the measures. Currently, three measures are also being initiated to help civil servants.

 

The Gendarmerie Nationale: a Success Story

The French Gendarmerie Nationale has used the faire-simple.gouv.fr portal as a private project to help its agents find ways to improve internal business processes.

The project aimed to equip agents with tablets and smartphones – and the related mobile applications. This huge project should allow agents "to process more tasks directly in the field and provide a better service to citizens by providing greater proximity," Lieutenant Colonel François Brémand said on the modernisation.gouv.fr website. He also animated the workshop on the platform. In this case, The Solutions Factory was used.

The Gendarmerie Nationale has retrieved information on what agents really need. In a short period of time (three months), 50 operational agents made contributions. In the end, an experimental program will be launched in September 2015 with the deployment of 450 smartphones and tablets, François Brémand said.

Lessons learnt

Scope: National