The European Commission, Directorate-General for Informatics, Interoperability Unit launched on 1st March 2019 the data-collection activities for the yearly update of the eGovernment factsheets (from now on Digital government factsheets). This will constitute the eleventh edition of this exercise. The factsheets are published as part of the National Interoperability Framework Observatory (NIFO) project of the ISA2 programme, and constitute a vital step in the process of monitoring the development in Digital Government in Europe, covering more than 34 European States.

A novelty in this year’s factsheets is the new scope of the factsheets, providing streamlined information concerning the legal frameworks, strategies and infrastructure in place to support the Digital Government activities in each country. This has been done to reflect the ongoing paradigm shift from the concept of eGovernment to the broader one of Digital Government, covering also back-office processes and new digital policies, domains and technologies.

The goal of these factsheets is to become an outstanding source of country intelligence on all digital government-related matters in Europe, while capturing useful information on the main trends and developments in  this field. At the same time, the factsheets provide information on European countries’ main actors and institutions responsible for the maintenance and delivery of Digital Government services.

To provide a detailed picture on the state of Digital Government development in Europe, the Digital Government factsheets will be updated through a comprehensive research process which involves the following phases:

a) sharing of a dedicated eGovernment questionnaire with national representatives, designed to capture the latest development in Digital Government;

b) a qualitative review of the information already available on the factsheet and update of the key document information (e.g. individuals responsible);

c) the incorporation of the national representatives’ questionnaire input, and;

d) a final validation process involving the national representative.

The new Digital Government factsheets are due to be published in May 2019, following these data collection and validation processes.

For more information concerning the development of Digital Government in Europe, please visit the NIFO collection on Joinup, where you will find an additional resources assessing the state of play of Digital Government and Interoperability in Europe, such as the European Semester studies.