Policy Context

Description of target users and groups

Description of the way to implement the initiative

In 2014, VARAM and ‘Lattelecom’, together with partners, launched the partnership initiative ‘Latvia’s e-index’, in order to develop a system for the evaluation of the use of digital tools for improvement and transformation of administrative work by municipal and state institutions.

• Information necessary for the creation of ‘Latvia’s e-index’ was basically acquired via a questionnaire, i.e., by special inquiry forms, which were sent to each authority.
• In order to ensure the inclusion of sensible and measurable indicators in the measurements of authorities of ‘Latvia’s e-index’, in the process of designing the eIndex methodology, members of the working group visited authorities and municipalities to discuss the ‘Latvia’s e-index’ initiative and the possible indicators to be included in the e-index.
• Additional data for the questionnaire was acquired from other trustful sources, for example, the information collected by the State Employment Agency and ministries, and other types of objective data at the disposal of partners.
• A press conference was organised in order to provide an overview of the overall situation and indicators concerning the e-environment of public authorities of Latvia. The press conference was supplemented by communication with the media.
• Winners of ‘Latvia’s e-index’ were celebrated in an official ceremony, together with the announcement of the Annual Award of Public Services of Latvian Chamber of Trade and Commerce, with the participation of the top management representatives of all project partners (‘Lattelecom’, Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments, and Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association), as well as heads of local governments and representatives of authorities etc.

‘Latvia’s e-index’ contains two measurements – e-index of state institutions (developed by VARAM) and e-index of municipalities (developed by ‘Lattelecom’ and partners).

Development of the e-index of state institutions of Latvia is based on a survey prepared by VARAM to develop an e-government index of central state institutions in order to evaluate and highlight the implemented activities regarding the use of modern technology. The survey includes a questionnaire of 102 initially selected state institutions, including the State Chancellery, Chancery of the President, ministries and subordinate institutions, institutions under the supervision of the Prime Minister, and independent institutions. The overall efficiency of e-government in the institutions is analyzed in five fields: efficient organization of internal processes within the institution, efficient inter-institutional cooperation, efficient circulation of documents, efficient provision of services, and efficient involvement of society.

The e-index of municipalities of Latvia analyzes practices in the fields of e-government and e-environment carried out by municipalities. In connection with ‘Lattelecom’ social responsibility initiative ‘Connect, Latvia!’ which provides computer training for seniors, ‘Lattelecom’ expanded the project’s focus by initiating an annual measurement for the development of the e-environment of municipalities of Latvia.  Participation in the measurement is voluntary, and 116 out of 119 local governments have participated. They are able to use the acquired results to become aware of their situation, compare their achievements with other municipalities, and get inspired by the best examples.

Technology solution

In order to ensure effective collection and analysis of information, a special data extraction tool was created, providing an opportunity for the authorities to collect information and use it for analysis. State and municipal surveys used different tools. The institutions were very responsive, because filling in of the data could be completed at comfortable times, with the assistance from colleagues and expert specialists.

The initiative’s website displaying the results and examples of best practices, as well as relevant news: www.eindekss.lv.

Social networks for the communication and involvement of the society and parties involved in the measurements: www.twitter.com/eIndekss, www.facebook.com/Latvijaseindekss, http://www.draugiem.lv/latvijaseindekss

Main results, benefits and impacts

Since the e-index scope is fairly wide, the results not only helped in understanding the maturity level of using ICT on the level of institutions, but also marked the current status of using ICT solutions in the public sector in general. For institutions, benchmarks provide a detailed view of the existing imperfections for mutual comparison.

The results are detailed enough for institutions to use them in developing a plan for further improvements.

An important aspect of the e-index benchmark is the information regarding the provision of services, such as access to information, e-services and feedback from citizens. The benchmark is an expedient tool for analyzing all public services, because authorities have provided detailed information about services, the frequency of using the services and channels provided, taking into account the interrelated service processes of institutions.

Similarly, the study helps to identify Latvia’s progress in the implementation of various European initiatives, such as open data, give information once and others that are prerequisites to build an efficient and client-oriented public administration.

Return on investment

Not directly applicable, because the study is a strategic initiative, the aim of which is to analyze the current situation in order to build a sound and effective management of the common services and ICT policy throughout Latvia.

Track record of sharing

• The analysis phase was finished in the beginning of 2015. Results were presented during press conference; more detailed reports were prepared and sent to all involved institutions.
• In 2015 "Latvijas eIndekss" has been nominated as European Public Sector Award Best Practice example. 
• ! Currently, after discussions with institutions, VARAM has refined methodology and is in process of collecting data for the next year’s measurement. Results are expected to be announced on February 2016. 

Lessons learnt

In the beginning of the e-index activity, VARAM Ministry identified that two different views of the e-index were required - one for national authorities, taking into account the specifics of such institutions, and the other for municipalities.

The biggest challenge was to build a research framework and methodology (choose questions and indicators), which would take into account specifics of different institutions and would allow to provide meaningful comparisons of different aspects of institution work (e.g. internal processes, inter-institutional cooperation, communication with citizens, etc). In this aspect, municipalities are more comparable to each other, because they operate based on a pre-defined regulatory framework and common principles.

This has been planned as an annual study to compare the progress of a particular indicator, but it is also intended to improve the methodology of the study and the content of the questionnaire.

In order to receive the necessary responses and obtain valuable information from the authorities, the Ministry implemented a number of activities:

1. Successful e-index branding – only focus on the best solutions and positive experience, the awards ceremony with the participation of government officials, and intensive communication through media (www.eindekss.lv, www.twitter.com/eIndekss, www.facebook.com/Latvijaseindekss, http://www.draugiem.lv/latvijaseindekss).

2. Online solution – an online tool created by VARAM specifically for this survey, where representatives of institutions may conveniently fill out information. All historical and known information (about information systems and services) is prefilled.

3. The interest of the institutions – state and municipal institutions, especially top management are interested in the evaluation of the current situation of e-government implementation, and their progress in comparison to other institutions. In several institutions e-index is used as a guidance to set improvement targets.