The sharing and reuse of digital resources is a core principle for the revamped technology roadmap agreed upon by France’s central and local public services. The strategy emphasises a common, modular base of applications and building blocks, to accelerate public services’ digital transformation.
Other core parts of the roadmap include the sharing of governance, a common approach to government data, and a focus on scalable digital public services. The strategy lists some 35 actions, including on IT security, the use of state start-ups to incubate eGovernment services, and identifying ways to finance digital transformation of local public services.
Entitled “Programme de développement concerté de l’administration numérique territoriale (DCANT) 2018-2020” (programme for the joint development of digital public services, DCANT), the strategy was published on 12 December.
Co-construction, participation and collaboration are the three words that best summarise DCANT, according to Atte Oksannen of the French Association of Small Towns (L’Association des petites villes de France APVF). Oksannen is quoted by SGMAP, France’s government modernisation unit.
About DCANT
This is the second DCANT strategy. The initial meetings for what would become DCANT took place in 2011, resulting in the first DCANT, which ran from 2015 to 2017. DCANT “is part of a broader strategy, on the principle that the digital resources used and successfully tested by the administrations must be open and reusable by other administrations”, SGMAP writes. The sharing of ICT solutions also contributes to new public services, and to the digital convergence of state and local organisations.
The DCANT 2018-2020 actions will be evaluated every six months, SGMAP said, to introduce new ideas and actions, and to determine progress in implementation.