Towards faster implementation and uptake of open government : executive summary : English.
Date: 2016-11-07
Institutions: Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology
Subjects: EU Member State, access to information, administrative transparency, digital technology, electronic government, impact of information technology, information technology, public service, report

Towards faster implementation 
and uptake of open government 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – ENGLISH 
A study prepared for the European Commission 

DG Communications Networks, Content & Technology by:  

Digital 
Single 
Market 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This study was carried out for the European Commission by 

Authors' names:  

Joan Bremers – PwC EU Services 

Wouter Deleu – PwC EU Services 

Internal identification 

Contract number: SC244DI07171 

SMART number 2015/0041 

DISCLAIMER 

By the European Commission, Directorate-General of Communications Networks, Content & Technology.  

The  information  and  views  set  out  in  this  publication  are  those  of  the  author(s)  and  do  not  necessarily 
reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data 
included  in this study.  Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf  may  be 
held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. 

ISBN 978-92-79-63162-7  

doi:10.2759/143988 

© European Union, 2016. All rights reserved. Certain parts are licensed under conditions to the EU. 

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

This study aimed at providing input to the European Commission to support the new 
dynamically  evolving  eGovernment  Action  Plan  2016-2020.  In  addition,  the  study 
aimed  at providing support on how to make the new eGovernment Action Plan more 
open and include citizen participation in the process. The study consists of four major 
parts, which will be described below. 

I.  Report  on  the  current  landscape  of  innovative,  open  and  collaborative 
government in Europe 

The first part of the study provides a definition for open government, analyses existing 
practices  of  open  government  in  the  EU  institutions  and  EU  Member  States,  and 
presents  an  analysis  of  digital  enablers,  drivers and  barriers  related to  implementing 
an  open  government  approach.  Based  on  the  analysis  of  existing  literature,  the 
following definition of open government is proposed:  

Open  government  refers  to  public  administrations  breaking  down  existing  silos, 
opening up and sharing assets - making data, services and decisions open – enabling 
collaboration  and  increasing  participative  forms  of  service-  and  policy  design, 
is  based  on  the  principles  of  transparency, 
production  and  delivery.  It 
collaboration,  and  participation; 
functioning  within  an  open  governance 
framework. 

According to the definition, open government is about opening up government to the 
whole  of  society  via  increased  interaction  with  citizens,  businesses  and  other  public 
administrations in the areas of public policy, public services, and government assets. 
Government  assets  refer to  intellectual  property  such as  government  data,  software, 
technical  specifications,  etc.  Open  government  requires  elements  such  as 
transparency of government, participation in policy making, increased collaboration on 
the  design  and  delivery  of  public  services,  and  an  increased  reuse  of  government 
assets.  Governments  hope  that  by  adopting  an  open  government  approach  they  can 
increase  citizen’s  trust  in  governments,  make  better  public  policies,  release  better 
public services, and unlock the economic potential of government assets.  

The  first  part  of  the  study  also  contains  a  mapping  of  the  current  landscape  of 
innovative,  open  and  collaborative  government  in  Europe.  The  mapping  of  395 
practices  of  open  government,  of  which  many  practices  are  also  represented  in  the 
‘Analysis  of  the  value  of  new  generation  of  eGovernment  services’  [EC15a],  are 
available  via  this  web  application1.  Some  general  conclusions  based  on  this  dataset 
are presented below, however, it is important to mention that our dataset may not be 
representative  for  the  entire  European  landscape  and  the  conclusions  can  therefore 
only  be  seen  as  indicative  at  best.  Therefore,  based  on  our  dataset,  the  following 
conclusions can be made:  

  There are practices of open government in all 28 EU Member States and in the 

EU institutions; 

  The  majority  of  practices  are  about  opening  up  government  assets  and  public 

services;  

1 http://opengov.testproject.eu/  

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  All  phases  of  the  delivery  lifecycle  (design,  implement,  monitor  and  evaluate) 

are represented;  

  Most practices cover the executive branch of the government;  

  The majority of practices are delivered by national public administrations;  

  Practices can be found in all sectors of government;  

  Open  engagement  is  mostly  delivered  by  national  authorities  and  non-

governmental organisations; and 

  Opening  up  towards  other  public  administrations  is  done  for  different  reasons 

than when public administrations open up third parties.  

Via  desk  research,  a  comprehensive  summary  of  digital  enablers,  drivers,  and 
barriers  related  to  open  government  has  been  compiled.  This  analysis  has  been 
complemented with interviews with key government stakeholders. Digital enablers are 
reusable building blocks that can be used by public administrations or third-parties to 
compose  new  digital  public  services  or  support  open  policy  making.    The  following 
digital enablers have been identified for open government: 

  Authentic sources and open data; 

  Reusable or shared solution building blocks; and 

  Standards and technical specifications. 

Drivers  are  the  main  motivations  for  public  administrations  to  adopt  an  innovative, 
collaborative,  open  government  approach.  The  following  seven  drivers  have  been 
identified: 

  Democratic aspects: better control of 

government and better policy making; 
  Better quality of service and enhanced 

user experience; 

  Cost efficiency; 
  Economic growth and jobs; 
International mobility; and 
 
  Demand from civil society 

  Social benefits and public value; 

and/or business associations. 

Last,  we  have  identified  the  barriers  which  are  factors  that  discourage  public 
administrations to adopt an innovative, collaborative, open government approach. The 
following 14 barriers have been identified: 

  Lack of leadership and political 

commitment; 
 
Inertia of the status quo; 
  Lack of financial resources; 
  Lack of institutional an individual 

capabilities and skills; 

  Legal constraints; 
  Uncertainties regarding sustainability 

and business model issues; 
  Legal uncertainties regarding 

responsibility and accountability; 

  Poor data quality; 

  Lack of representativeness; 
  Multilingualism; 
  Lack of common standards and 
specifications (interoperability); 

  Perceived loss of control; 
  Difficulties identifying and 

creating demand from citizens 
and businesses; 
  Lack of trust; and 
  False or unrealistic 
expectations. 

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II. Recommendations on the effective policy mix 

The  second  part  of  the  study  proposes  a concrete set  of  policy  instruments  to  foster 
the  uptake  of  open  government.  These  policy  instruments  were  identified  based  on 
the analysis of practices and the interviews with key stakeholders and address several 
high-level  policy  objectives  for  open  government.  To  reach  each  of  these  high-level 
objectives, the following recommendations have been made, each of them supporting 
a different high-level policy objective. 

Objective: A more transparent functioning of government: 

  Recommendation 1: Take further legislative action on ‘access to information’; 

  Recommendation  2:    Prioritise  and  follow-up  on  commitments  for  publishing 

government information of high democratic value; and 

  Recommendation 3: Align practices for government records management. 

Objective: Better policy making via enhanced participation: 

  Recommendation 4: Prioritise and make commitments on participation in policy 

making; and 

  Recommendation  5:  Enhance  usage  of  participatory  ICT  to  enhance  youth-

government communication and interaction. 

Objective: Better (digital) public services via enhanced collaboration:  

  Recommendation  6:  Take  further  legislative  action  to  reinforce  the  once-only 

principle; 

  Recommendation 7: Identify the ICT standards and technical specifications that 

can define stable interfaces for digital public services; 

  Recommendation  8:  Develop  and  apply  open  methodologies, 

licence 

agreements, and methodologies for collaborative public service design; and 

  Recommendation  9:  Collaborate  to  build  a  shared  infrastructures  of  reusable, 

decomposed digital services based on open standards. 

Objective: Unlocking the economic potential of government assets: 

  Recommendation  10:  Prioritise  to  make  high-value  datasets  and  other 

intellectual property open for reuse; and 

  Recommendation 11: Support new data ecosystems. 

Objective: Supporting the update of open government in general:  

  Recommendation 12: Develop an action plan for open government; and 

  Recommendation  13:  Create  a  community  feeling,  disseminate  practices  and 

experts, organise meet-ups. 

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III.  Report  on  the  methodology  for  the  design  and  implementation  of  the 
new dynamically evolving eGovernment Action Plan and its supporting digital 
platform 

The  new  eGovernment  Action  Plan  2016-2020  emphasises  the  major  role  of 
stakeholders’  participation  in  the  definition  of  actions  selected  to  be  part  of  the 
eGovernment  Action  Plan.  Specifically,  the  new  eGovernment  Action  Plan  2016-2020 
provides  citizens,  businesses,  organisations  and  public  administrations  with  a  means 
to  come  forward  and  express  their  needs  for  eGovernment  on  a  stakeholders 
consultation  platform,  propose  new  eGovernment  services  at  the  European,  national 
or  even  regional  level,  and  have  the  opportunity  to  collaborate  on  the  proposals  for 
actions  to  address  these  needs.  Their  proposed  solutions  will  be  then  examined  and 
can  be  selected  for  implementation  by  several  Member  States  and/or  European 
Commission DGs. Furthermore, stakeholders have access to the results of monitoring 
and evaluation on the benefits of individual actions which are made publicly available 
on the stakeholders’ consultation platform.   

The methodology to support the processes and interactions implied by the dynamically 
evolving  eGovernment  Action  Plan  focuses  on  defining  the  actors  involved  in  the 
Action Plan and assigning their responsibilities, envisioning the mechanisms and tools 
needed to engage the stakeholders to share and discuss eGovernment needs, to work 
on  eGovernment  solutions  and  to  receive  feedback  on  their  work.  The  methodology 
also  ensures  a  transparent  approach  for  the  selection  of  proposed  actions  and  the 
monitoring  of  the  selected  actions’  benefits  through  measurable 
indicators. 
Importantly,  the  methodology  entails  collaboration  between  public  administrations  at 
regional and national levels and between public administrations from different Member 
States  and  DGs.    Positive  outcomes  of  such  collaborations  are  the  exchanges  of 
experiences, good practices and lessons learned in eGovernment, the reuse of existing 
solutions, and by consequence a means to achieve comparable levels of eGovernment 
services  across  the  EU.  Finally,  the  methodology  provides  recommendations  for  the 
evaluation  of  eGovernment  Action  Plan  in  its  integrity  allowing  setting  targets  based 
on objectives and following the evolution of eGovernment from year to year. 

IV. Stakeholder engagement and communication plan 

The stakeholder engagement and communication plan was the last part in this study 
towards  a  faster  implementation  and  uptake  of  open  government.  This  stakeholder 
engagement and communication plan aims at helping the European Commission to: 

 

Inform stakeholders about the content and evolution of the Action Plan; 

  Create  a  broad  coverage  in  the  different  European  Member  States  and  create 
awareness  regarding  the  eGovernment  Action  Plan  and  the  Futurium  platform 
in public administrations, but also in the non-public sector; 

  Attract citizens and organisations, both governmental as non-governmental, to 
the Futurium platform in order to engage and share opinions and propose new 
ideas for action in order to improve the public sector; 

  Bring people together and create a community to encourage collaboration and 
to  leverage  people’s  skills/knowledge  to  bring  real  change  to  the  public  life; 
and 

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  Keep  people  involved  and  interested  over  the  entire  lifetime  of  the 

eGovernment Action Plan 2016-2020. 

In order to reach these goals, several steps were undertaken to answer questions like 
who  must  be  contacted,  what  will  be  the  key  messages  to  get  across,  when  do  you 
need to contact your stakeholders and how are you going to communicate with them? 

Who? - In order to communicate and engage with your stakeholders it is important to 
get to know them. During the study several stakeholders where identified and several 
locations/methods were pointed out to find more stakeholders or where the European 
Commission  could  leverage  stakeholders  from  other  organisations.  In  addition,  it  is 
advised to use the networks of other organisations to your advantage. By using other 
organisations as multipliers it is possible to further extend the reach of your message. 

Next  to  identifying  stakeholders,  stakeholders  were  classified  in  order  to  customize 
the messages to the appropriate stakeholders. Stakeholders were classified according 
to: Organisation type, the influence and interest of the stakeholders by making use of 
the influence-interest matrix and the digitisation and penetration rate in each Member 
State, based on the results of the eGovernment Benchmark Insights Report [EC15b]. 

In order to get a better understanding of your stakeholders identify their motivations 
and  frustrations.  Stakeholder  motivations  are  the  psychological  drivers  that  make 
stakeholders  contribute  to  the  dynamically  evolving  eGovernment  Action  Plan.  While 
that  would  prevent 
stakeholder 
stakeholders to contribute to the eGovernment Action Plan. 

the  psychological  barriers 

frustrations  are 

Motivations 

Frustrations 

  Recognition 
  Political influence 
  Financial compensation 
  Knowledge 
  Networking and creating value 

  Noise 
  Perceived  difficulty  of  reaching  a 

political consensus  

  Lack of perceived progress 
  Lack of funding / unfair funding 
  Lack of feedback 
  Negative feedback 
  False  expectations  of  scope  and 

purpose 

  Lack of structure and facilitation 
  Lack of usability 
  Lack of inclusion 
  Lack of information  

What?  -  The  eGovernment  Action  Plan  is  a  useful  way  to  frame  the  new  actions  to 
implement  in  the  different  Member  States.  However,  talking  about  the  eGovernment 
Action Plan and its purpose will not inspire stakeholders. Showing concrete examples 
(practices,  open  government  leaders)  in  different  Member  States  and  providing  a 
proof-of-concept  will  inspire  them.  Indicate  for  each  inspiring  example  to  which 
principles of the eGovernment Action Plan they relate to (digital by default, once only 
principle,  inclusiveness  &  accessibility,  openness  &  transparency,  cross-border  by 
default, interoperability by default and trustworthiness & security). This indicates the 

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alignment  with  the  eGovernment  Action  Plan.  Next  to  that  it  shows  them  concrete 
benefits  that  can  be  realised  by  implementing  these  actions.  Additionally,  inspiring 
examples  must  be  provided  to  inspire  on  a  European  level,  but  also  on  a  national, 
regional  and  local  level  and  they  must  not  only  relate  to  public  administrations  but 
also to businesses and civil society. 

Next, it is important to make sure stakeholders understand the process, for example 
through  an  infographic,  in  order  to  avoid  confusion  in  the  future.  An  infographic  is  a 
visual  representation  of  the  process  that  will  be  followed  on  the  Futurium  platform. 
The infographic explains to stakeholders how the process for the eGovernment Action 
Plan  works,  how  the  process  starts  from  submitting  needs  to  proposing  actions  to 
enable  change,  but  also  how  the  selection  of  actions  works  and  who  will  be 
responsible  for  each  of  these  steps.  In  addition,  the  infographic  should  be 
complemented  with  a  short  summary  of  each  step  in  the  process  that  in  layman’s 
terms  explains  how  the  dynamic  eGovernment  Action  Plan  works  and  who  is 
responsible during each phase of the process.  

Finally,  display  the  progress  to  the  stakeholders,  therefore  all  actions  should  be 
monitored  and  evaluated.  Not  only  to  show  whether  the  actions  are  still  going 
according to plan, but more importantly to put them in the spotlight and increase their 
visibility. 

When? – This section explains when to communicate and engage with stakeholders. 
Based  on  the  digitisation  and  penetration  rate  in  the  different  Member  States  it  was 
possible  to  identify  which  stakeholders  have  to  be  reached  in  order  to  make  the 
eGovernment  Action  Plan  a  success.  This  classification  allows  to  focus  the  attention 
and  resources  to  a  limited  amount  of  stakeholders  instead  of  spending  it  all  on  all 
stakeholders at once. In addition a high-level cycle of communication milestones was 
provided. 

How?  -  Finally  a  list  of  methods  was  provided  that  can  be  used  to  attract 
stakeholders,  going  from  sending  out  newsletters,  organising  and  attending 
conferences  to  organising  an  entire  eGovernment  Action  Month  in  order  to  put  the 
eGovernment Action Plan more in the spotlight. These methods allow to share the key 
messages and increase the involvement of public administrations, businesses and civil 
society in the eGovernment Action Plan. In addition, these methods can be tailored to 
reach different stakeholders in different Member States and as a result customize the 
approach to the different stakeholder groups. 

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European Commission 

Towards faster implementation and uptake of open government  
Executive Summary English 

Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union 

2016 – 10 pages 

ISBN 978-92-79-63162-7  

doi:10.2759/143988 

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doi: 10.2759/143988  ISBN 978-92-79-63162-7  

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