Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council - Final evaluation of the implementation of the IDABC programme
Date: 2009-05-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, electronic government, project evaluation, public administration, telematics, transmission network

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 29.5.2009 
COM(2009) 247 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

Final evaluation of the implementation of the IDABC programme 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL 

Final evaluation of the implementation of the IDABC programme 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

By Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council (the IDABC Decision)1 
the  five  year  programme  on  interoperable  delivery  of  pan-European  e-Government 
services to public administrations, businesses and citizens (the IDABC programme) 
was launched on 1 January 2005 as follow-on to the IDA and IDA II programmes. 

The purpose of this communication is to present the findings and recommendations 
of the final evaluation of the implementation of the IDABC programme. The need to 
carry  out  the  evaluation  stems  from  Article  13(1),  (3)-(4)  of  the  IDABC  Decision, 
which  also  requires  the  European  Commission  to  forward  the  results  of  the 
evaluation to the European Parliament and the Council. 

The evaluation was performed by the Commission with the assistance of an external 
consultancy company2. Representatives of Commission services and Member States 
have  provided  their  contributions  to  the  methodology  and  conclusions  through  a 
Commission  steering  group  and  through  the  IDABC  management  committee 
(PEGSCO). 

The  full  evaluation  report  of  the  consultancy  company  is  available  online  at 
http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/5707/3. 

The  evaluation  report  was  largely  positive  describing  the  IDABC  programme  as 
being in line with the eGovernment policy priorities of the European Commission, as 
expressed  in  the  i2010  strategy3  and  the  related  eGovernment  action  plan.  The 
programme  plays  a  unique  role  to  foster  the  integration  of  Europe  through 
the 
interoperable  public  administration  and 
implementation. However, the report also offers some suggestions for improvement 
for  future  programme  management 
the 
implementation of the follow-on programme (ISA)4. 

track  when  assessing 

into  account  during 

is  on 

to  be 

taken 

1 

2 
3 
4 

Decision 2004/387/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on interoperable 
delivery  of  pan-European  eGovernment  services  to  public  administrations,  businesses  and  citizens 
(IDABC),  OJ  L  144,  30.4.2004 
(See  OJ  L  181,  18.5.2004,  p.  25.  http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2004/l_181/l_18120040518en00250035.pdf  
Deloitte Consulting 
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/index_en.htm 
Commission's proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on interoperability 
solutions for European public administrations (ISA), COM(2008)583.  

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2. 

BACKGROUND 

The  objective  of  the  IDABC  programme  is  to  identify,  support  and  promote  the 
development  and  establishment  of  pan-European  eGovernment  services  and  the 
underlying interoperable telematic networks. It is designed to help to achieve targets 
set in the area of eGovernment by 

–  continuing  to  promote  the  introduction  of  information  technologies  to  policy 

domains, especially where this is facilitated by legislation, 

–  building a common infrastructure for cross-border information exchanges between 

public administrations in order to ensure efficient communications, 

–  encouraging the emergence of novel services for businesses and citizens. 

For  this  purpose,  the  IDABC  programme  provides  funding  to  actions  under  two 
headings, namely Projects of Common Interest and Horizontal Measures, which are 
listed  in  the  rolling  IDABC  work  programme5,  to  which  the  Commission  at  least 
once a year adopts amendments after consulting the Member States via the IDABC 
management committee. 

Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) are actions in the policy areas of the European 
Union concerning the establishment or enhancement of pan-European eGovernment 
services in support of public administrations, businesses and citizens. Such actions, 
that  address  European  policy  requirements  and  improve  cooperation  between 
administrations  across  Europe,  are  implemented  by  the  sectors  responsible  for  the 
different  policy  areas  of  the  EU,  i.e.  the  Directorates  General,  and  monitored  by 
sectoral committees. Projects of Common Interest launched under the programme are 
described in detail in the IDABC Work Programme.  

Horizontal  Measures  (HMs)  are  actions  designed  to  support  Projects  of  Common 
Interest  but  also  eGovernment  in  general.  Firstly,  they  provide  and  maintain 
infrastructure services for public services in the Community. Such services provide and 
maintain  technology  and  software  solutions  and  comprise  network  services,  security 
services  and  guidelines.  Secondly,  they  initiate,  enable  and  manage  the  provision  of 
horizontal  pan-European  eGovernment  services  to  businesses  and  citizens  in  Europe, 
including  related  organisational  and  coordination  aspects.  Horizontal  Measures  are 
mostly 
in  close 
the  Directorate-General 
collaboration  with  the  other  Commission  services  and  monitored  by  the  IDABC 
management  committee.  Horizontal  measures  launched  under  the  programme  are 
described in detail in the IDABC Work Programme. 

implemented  by 

Informatics 

for 

3. 

METHODOLOGY 

The  evaluation  relied  on  multiple  methods  of  investigation,  namely  desk  research, 
online surveys, interviews, a focus group meeting with the members of the IDABC 
management  committee  as  well  as  case  studies,  involving  a  broad  range  of 

5 

C/2008/1881, see http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/5101 

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stakeholders, in all close to 300 representatives of sectoral committees, the IDABC 
management committee and EU services. 

4. 

EVALUATION ISSUES AND QUESTIONS 

The evaluation focused on the following issues: 

–  Relevance:  To  what  extent  have  the  IDABC  programme's  objectives  and  actions 
been pertinent in relation to the evolving needs and priorities at both national and EU 
level,  first  and  foremost  the  needs  and  priorities  relating  to  i2010  and,  more 
generally,  those  established  by  the  Lisbon  objectives?  To  what  extent  does  the 
programme contribute to the achievement of the overarching policy objectives? 

–  Efficiency:  How  economically  are  the  various  inputs  and  actions  being  converted 
into  outputs  and  results?  What  aspects  of  the  programme  are  the  most  efficient  or 
inefficient, especially in terms of resources mobilised?  

–  Effectiveness:  How  far  are  the  IDABC  programme's  results  and  impacts  in  the 
process  of  achieving  its  specific  and  general  objectives?  Are  there aspects  that are 
more  or  less  effective  than  others,  and  –  if  there  are  –  what  lessons  can  be  drawn 
from this? 

–  Utility: How do the IDABC programme's actions, results and impacts, achieved and 

anticipated, compare with the needs of the target populations? 

–  Sustainability:  To  what  extent  is  the  financial  and  operational  sustainability  of 
infrastructure services ensured? To what extent is the sustainability of horizontal Pan 
European eGovernment Services and Projects of Common Interest ensured? 

–  Coherence: to what extent do the actions form part of a "holistic" approach within 
the  framework  of  the  programme  and  how  well  are  synergies  achieved  between 
programme  actions  and  other  Community  activities  in  the  area  of  pan-European 
eGovernment  and  infrastructure  services?  If  relevant,  to  what  extent  are  there 
spillovers onto other economic, social or environmental policy areas? 

Apart  from  specific  questions  linked  to  these  evaluation  issues,  two  cross-cutting 
questions were raised in relation to  

–  the current state of progress of the actions funded by the IDABC programme, and 

–  the co-ordination with and involvement of Member States. 

5. 

FINDINGS 

5.1. 

Relevance  

The  evaluation  report  concludes  that  IDABC  contributes  to  the  i2010  initiative  of 
modernising  the  European  public  sector  by  promoting  the  use  of  state-of-the-art 
information  and  communication  technologies,  developing  common  solutions  and 
services  and  by  providing  a  platform  for  the  exchange  of  good  practice  between 

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public  administrations.  Furthermore,  the  programme  has  been  adjusted  to  the 
evolving  European  policy  priorities  expressed  in  the  Manchester  and  Lisbon 
ministerial conferences6 by integrating its actions into the eGovernment action plan7 
and  by  launching  several  actions in line with the action plan such as eProcurement 
(including  eOrdering  and  eInvoicing)  and  eSignatures.  IDABC  has  become  a 
recognised  interlocutor  for  cross-border  interoperability.  The  programme  has 
contributed to nine sectoral policy objectives, with a particular  emphasis on  Health 
and  Consumer  Protection,  Statistics,  Employment  and  Social  Affairs  and 
Agriculture8.  

5.2. 

Efficiency 

According  to  the  stakeholders  consulted,  the  programme  achieved  its  objectives 
efficiently,  with  an  increasing  level  of  efficiency  over  time.  It  was  noted  that  the 
programme experienced a significant delay in 2005, due to the lengthy procurement 
process for some of the actions. These delays have been partly recuperated due also 
to  the  flexibility  that  the  rolling  work  programme  brings,  particularly  for  the 
reallocation of budget amongst actions.  

Furthermore,  the  shift  in  balance  between  the  financing  of  PCIs  and  of  HMs, 
reflecting  directly  the  decreasing  need  for  PCI  funding,  is  highlighted  by  the 
evaluation  report  as  an  important  development.  This  shift  was  foreseeable  as  today 
most  Community  policy  initiatives  imply  some  sort  of  use  of  ICT  solutions  and 
therefore should now cater for the related costs9. 

5.3. 

Effectiveness 

The  evaluation  team  concluded  that  the  IDABC-financed  actions  have  overall 
contributed  to  the  construction  of  common  infrastructure  services  for  cross  border 
information exchange between public administrations and that the IDABC financed 
studies  have  demonstrated  a  high  added  value.  According  to  several  of  the 
stakeholders,  the  overall  effectiveness  of  the  programme  could  have  been  further 
increased  if  it  had  established,  since  its  inception,  a  top-down  strategy10.  However 
such a strategy would have to be limited to the scope of the IDABC programme as 
such.  The  different  policy  sectors  implementing  PCIs  act  under  their  own  fields  of 
competence and strategy.  

Furthermore,  it  was  found  that  the  outcome  and  uptake  of  the  actions  are  not 
systematically reported to the different stakeholders.  

6 

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10 

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/egovernment/conferences 
http://archive.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/egov2005conference/ 
http://www.egov2007.gov.pt/ 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52006DC0173:EN:NOT  
In addition to competition, education and training, enterprise, environment and internal market.  
This  is  one  of  the  main  reasons  for  which  the  Commission  has  proposed  to  focus  only  on  horizontal 
actions in the follow-on programme. 
Work  to  develop  a  European  Interoperability  Strategy  was  included  in  the  5th  revision of  the IDABC 
WP in spring 2008. 

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5.4. 

Utility 

The  evaluators  found  that  the  programme  responds  to  the  needs  of  the  EU  public 
administrations and that no other programme satisfies the need for the development 
of common interoperability tools for cross border eGovernment services. It has been 
remarked  by  IDABC  management  committee  members  that  the  programme  can  act 
as  a  driving  force  in  the  eGovernment  area  even  at  national  level.  With  regard  to 
business and citizens, the evaluators found that the IDABC responded to their needs 
in  a  more  indirect  way,  mainly  because  the  subsidiarity  principle  basically  implies 
that relevant services are to be delivered by the Member States. 

The  European  Commission  has  established  stakeholder  interaction  mechanisms, 
including meetings, workshops, forums and blogs, but the evaluators found that the 
understanding of the demands and needs of the stakeholders could still be enhanced.  

5.5. 

Sustainability 

Whereas the long-term financial and operational sustainability of PCIs is assured in a 
sectoral  context based on specific  sectoral legal bases, the sustainability of IDABC 
horizontal  measures  can  at  present  only  be  ensured  via  a  Community  programme. 
Decisions  on  ensuring  sustainability  depend  on  the  actual  use  and  usefulness  of  a 
measure.  This 
the 
implementation of a follow-on programme. 

therefore  an  essential  element 

to  be  considered 

in 

is 

Furthermore,  the  evaluation  reported  that  a  correct  distribution  of  the  available 
resources  between  the  development  of  new  applications  and  the  maintenance  of 
existing  applications  is  an  important  issue  for  the  Member  States,  likewise  to  be 
considered in the context of a follow-on programme.  

5.6. 

Coherence 

The external coherence of the programme vis-à-vis other Community activities in the 
area  of  eGovernment  is  increasingly  well  ensured.  The  collaboration  between  the 
IDABC programme and the ICT Policy Support programme of the Competitiveness 
and  Innovation  Framework  Programme  (CIP  ICT  PSP)11  has  been  improving  since 
the  mid-term  evaluation.  Nevertheless,  many  stakeholders  are  still  not  sufficiently 
familiar with the synergies and complementarities between the different programmes 
and actions.  

As  regards  the  internal  coherence,  the  cross-sectoral  integration  of  horizontal 
measures is judged as adequate, whereas the coherence between PCIs and HMs could 
be improved. On the other hand, HMs are widely used outside the PCIs in the wider 
scope of the IDABC programme.  

5.7. 

The current state of progress of the actions funded by the IDABC programme 

According to the fifth revision of the work programme, 54 actions, 22 PCIs and 32 
HMs, have been supported by IDABC, totalling around 110 million EUR (around 20 
million EUR to PCIs and around 90 million EUR to HMs).  

11 

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/ict_psp/index_en.htm 

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that  no  major  problems  occurred  so  far.  Nevertheless, 

The  evaluation  concludes  that  the  actions  have  been  developed  and  implemented 
the 
smoothly  and 
implementation of some of the actions is found slightly behind schedule. Delays in 
some  horizontal  measures  can  be  partly  explained  by  the  circumstances  referred  to 
under point 5.2. 

Most IDABC actions were still ongoing when the evaluation report was finalised, for 
which  reason  their  use  could  not  be  fully  assessed.  The  evaluators  found  clear 
evidence  that  the  actions  already  implemented  were  widely  used  and  documented 
that  stakeholders  were  confident  that  ongoing  actions  will  be  used  after  their 
implementation. 

5.8. 

Co-ordination and involvement of Member States 

The Member  States play an important role in driving the programme and in giving 
suggestions with regards to future orientations. The representation of national public 
administrations in the IDABC programme's management committee and in the many 
expert  groups  makes  the  programme  a  forum  also  for  the  coordination  of  national 
eGovernment  policies.  However,  the  strategic  alignment  between  the  national  and 
European priorities is not always optimal as cross border interoperability is currently 
not of high priority in several Member States.  

At the operational programme management level, the evaluation finds that Member 
States have over the recent years made numerous suggestions for future orientations 
of the programme and that these suggestions have been taken on board to the extent 
possible,  even  if  the  number  of  actions  directly  initiated  by  the  Member  States  is 
limited.  On  the  other  hand,  Member  States  felt  that  the  way  information  about  the 
rolling  work  programme  and  individual  actions  is  shared  between  the  Commission 
and the Member States could be improved.  

6. 

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

Overall  the  evaluation  concludes  that  the  programme  is  in  line  with  the 
eGovernment Policy priorities of the European Commission, plays a unique role 
within  the  European  instruments  to  foster  the  integration  of  Europe  through 
interoperable  public  administrations  and  is  on  track  in  the  implementation  of 
actions.  

Efforts to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the programme, some ongoing, 
should concentrate on:  

–  The strategic environment in which the programme should operate12  

–  The stakeholder communication tools13  

–  The development of monitoring methods14  

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14 

Recommendations 1, 2, 3 
Recommendations 4, 5, 10, 11 and aspects of 1 and 8 
Recommendations 6,7,8 

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Furthermore, for future programmes the evaluation recommends that the appropriate 
contractual  frameworks  are  put  in  place  in  due  time,  to  avoid  the  risk  of  a  delayed 
start of the actions15. 

6.1. 

The strategic environment in which the programme should operate 

The  evaluation  suggests  raising  the  programme's  profile  in  order  to  increase  its 
political standing and enhance awareness at national level16. 

In  the  context  of  the  proposal  for  the  IDABC  follow-on  programme,  ISA17,  the 
Commission  has  suggested  to  Member  States  to  nominate  management  committee 
members at the level of the national Chief Information Officer. This is in line with 
the evaluation that proposes that the IDABC management committee is strengthened 
by  ensuring  a  higher-level  engagement  of  senior  policy  and  organisational 
management. 

The  Commission  is  in  the  process  of  developing,  in  close  co-operation  with  the 
Member States, a European Interoperability Strategy (EIS) which will form the basis 
of the ISA programme. In addition to the EIS, the ISA programme will be based on 
the  European  Interoperability  Framework  (EIF),  which  is  in  the  process  of  being 
finalised. This is along the lines of the evaluation that recommends the Commission 
to  elaborate  a  strategic  framework  based  on  a  problem  analysis  of  interoperability 
and interchange of data across Europe, comprising a stakeholder analysis as well as a 
vision and a strategic definition of goals and objectives18. 

Priorities  established  in  the  EIS  will  be  translated  into  concrete  actions  which  will 
form  the  basis  of  the  rolling  ISA  work  programme  (WP)  covering  the  complete 
duration  of  the  programme  (six  years).  In  this  WP  the  allocation  of  resources  to 
various priorities, including development and operational activities, will be specified 
and agreed in close co-operation with the Member States19.  

6.2. 

The stakeholder communication tools 

the 

The  evaluation  highlights 
in  place  appropriate 
communication  and  consultation  mechanisms  for  interacting  with  stakeholders,  in 
particular the policy sectors and the Member States, but also the ICT industry. These 
mechanisms  should  be  used,  as  an  example,  for  discussing  the  sustainability  of  the 
different actions20 with Member States. 

importance  of  putting 

The  Commission  will  pursue  and  intensify  the  communication  efforts  made  by  the 
IDABC  programme  in  the  future  ISA  programme.  In  function  of  the  priorities  and 
activities of  the  programme, a communication strategy will  be developed,  targeting 

15 
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20 

Recommendation 9 
Recommendation 1 
Proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on interoperability solutions for 
European public administrations (ISA) , COM(2008)583 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52008PC0583:EN:NOT 
Recommendation 2 
Recommendation 3 
Recommendation 8 

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the  various  stakeholders21,  such  as  administrations  at  various  levels,  industry, 
standardisation  organisation  and  open  source  communities.  The  Commission  will 
involve these stakeholders in the activities of the ISA programme in function of the 
issues  in  question,  making  use  of  the  most  appropriate  communication  and 
consultation  mechanisms.  To  that  end,  the  Commission  will  organise  meetings, 
workshops  and  conferences  and  continue  with  awareness-raising  activities.  The 
Commission  will  also  make  use  of  on-line  platforms,  which  allow  for  wide 
community-building and provide fora for discussions with and between stakeholders. 
The  Commission  will  continue  and,  where  necessary,  reinforce  the  use  of  public 
consultations  for  ensuring  broad  and  comprehensive  involvement  of  the  relevant 
stakeholder groups22. 

6.3. 

The development of monitoring methods 

In  the  ISA  proposal23  the  Commission  has  defined  indicators  for  the  ISA 
programme's general and specific objectives and expected results. The indicators will 
be  the  baseline  for  the  Commission  to  measure  the  performance  of  the  future  ISA 
programme.  This  is  in  line  with  the  evaluation  recommendation  stating  that  the 
Commission  should  create  a  monitoring  tool  for  the  programme,  based  on  the 
strategic goals and objectives of the actions it finances24. 

For the monitoring of individual actions, the Commission foresees in the future ISA 
programme  that  the  phases  and  milestones  of  an  action  are  aligned  with  the 
Commission's  internal  methodology  used  for  management  of  ICT  projects.  This 
methodology will facilitate the continuous monitoring and measuring of ISA projects 
and  will  facilitate  the  regular  updating  of  stakeholders  on  the  status  of  ongoing 
actions,  for  instance,  on  the  basis  of  performance  indicators  identified  at  the 
beginning  of  the  actions.  Online  reporting  practice  used  currently  in  the  IDABC 
programme will be continued and reinforced by setting up a solution for continuous 
monitoring. These activities are in line with  the evaluation recommendation stating 
that  stakeholders  should  be  regularly  updated  on  the  status  of  ongoing  actions25, 
including the sustainability aspects26. Finally actions will continue to be implemented 
on  the  basis  of  the  rules  of  public  procurement,  in  the  context  of  which  the 
Commission will endeavour to ensure that the necessary contractual frameworks are 
in place in due time for the launch of the ISA programme27. 

For  the  evaluation  of  the  future  programme  and  its  actions,  the  Commission  will 
continue to use its established and proven evaluation process and methods. 

21 
22 
23 
24 
25 
26 
27 

Recommendation 4 
The above takes into account recommendations 1, 5, 10 and 11 
Annex to COM(2008)583 
Recommendation 6 
Recommendation 7 
Recommendation 8 
Recommendation 9 

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7. 

CONCLUSIONS 

Several  conclusions  and  recommendations  of  the  evaluation  clearly  support  the 
directions taken by the Commission for the ISA programme.  

This  concerns  notably  the  recommendations  on  the  higher-level  engagement  of  the 
Member  States  representatives  in  the  management  of  the  programme  and  on  the 
elaboration of a strategic framework, which are fully integrated in the Commission's 
proposal for the ISA programme. 

Other  recommendations,  like  the  definition  of  a  stakeholder  management  and 
communication  strategy  and  that  of  a  monitoring  system,  are  considered  by  the 
the  ISA 
Commission  as  pre-requisites  for  a  successful 
programme. 

implementation  of 

The  Commission  will 
the 
implementation  of  the  ISA  programme,  as  well  as,  for  the  actions  still  to  be 
implemented in the remaining period of the IDABC programme, to the extent this is 
possible in the current time-frame. 

take  all  recommendations 

into  consideration 

in 

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