Developing and Promoting E-Services (LT0008)

To carry out projects for online service dissemination at public library. a. The capacities of the people to use electronic services have been enhanced, together with their awareness of new technologies and e-services. b. Digital exclusion across Lithuania has been reduced – people are encouraged to learn more and develop their skills towards a successful application of the ICT. The share of individuals using electronic public and administrative services in 2014 has accounted for 46 percent, in 2015 – 50 percent, in 2016 – 52 percent. 2. By employing new technologies, to develop solutions for improving public and administrative services geared to promote the use of e-services and the provision of services through a centralized portal, e-Government Gateway (www.epaslaugos.lt). a. Public and administrative services have been brought online to the maximum extent possible. In 2014, the share of major public and administrative services brought online (at the highest level of electronic maturity) has accounted for 83 percent, 2015 – 90 percent, 2016 – 93 percent. b. A high level of bringing services of public relevance online has been ensured, electronic solutions are being developed and implemented making it possible to receive services at one contact point. The number of e-service users has been growing, while ensuring the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination. A year-on-year growth in the number of visitors at eGovernment Gateway (www.epaslaugos.lt): in 2014 – 737.4 thousand, 2015 – 759.5 thousand, 2016 – 782.3. c. The quality of life of Lithuania’s population and the productivity of enterprises have grown up by using opportunities offered by the ICT. The goal is to make sure that by 2020 at least 85 percent of the Lithuanian population use the Internet (75 percent in 2015) and 100 percent of enterprises use high-speed internet (50 percent in 2015).

Commitment 2. Developing and Promoting E-Services

Commitment Text:

Initiative 1: customer-focused public services

Area: to develop and promote e-services

Responsible authority: Information Society Development Committee under the Ministry of Transport and Communications

Actions:

1. To carry out projects for online service dissemination at public library.

a.     The capacities of the people to use electronic services have been enhanced, together with their awareness of new technologies and e-services.

b.     Digital exclusion across Lithuania has been reduced – people are encouraged to learn more and develop their skills towards a successful application of the ICT. The share of individuals using electronic public and administrative services in 2014 has accounted for 46 per cent, in 2015 – 50 per cent, in 2016 – 52 per cent.

2. By employing new technologies, to develop solutions for improving public and administrative services geared to promote the use of e-services and the provision of services through a centralized portal, e-Government Gateway (http://www.epaslaugos.lt).
1. Public and administrative services have been brought online to the maximum extent possible. In 2014, the share of major public and administrative services brought online (at the highest level of electronic maturity) has accounted for 83 per cent, 2015 – 90 per cent, 2016 – 93 per cent.
2. A high level of bringing services of public relevance online has been ensured, electronic solutions are being developed and implemented making it possible to receive services at one contact point. The number of e-service users has been growing, while ensuring the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination. A year-on-year growth in the number of visitors at eGovernment Gateway (www.epaslaugos.lt): in 2014 – 737.4 thousand, 2015 – 759.5 thousand, 2016 – 782.3.
3. The quality of life of Lithuania’s population and the productivity of enterprises have grown up by using opportunities offered by the ICT. The goal is to make sure that by 2020 at least 85 per cent of the Lithuanian population use the Internet (75 per cent in 2015) and 100 per cent of enterprises use high-speed internet (50 per cent in 2015) .

[emphasis added]

Responsible institution: Information Society Development Committee under the Ministry of Transport and Communications

Supporting institutions: Not specified

Start date: 2014 ....................   End date: 2016

Commitment aim:

This commitment aims to increase the online provision of public and administrative services and to promote their wider public usage. Lithuania has achieved significant progress in e-governance. The country ranks eleventh out of all EU states in the annual Digital Economy and Society Index, which summarises relevant indicators on Europe’s digital performance and tracks the evolution of EU member states in digital competitiveness.^{[Note 7: EU Digital Agenda document can be found here: http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/desi.]} In terms of actual use of e-services, Lithuania ranks eighth in the same index, with 43 percent of citizens requesting information from public institutions online. This commitment aims at further growth of e-services usage in Lithuania.

Status

Midterm: Limited

The commitment had demonstrated limited progress. The government put significant effort in creating outreach tools (http://www.prisijungusi.lt, for instance) and campaigns, as well as further developing central e-service provision platform http://www.epaslaugos.lt. While the percentage of citizens using e-services has been increasing (from 40 percent in 2014 to 44 percent in 2015), this milestone had not yet reached the target outlined in the action plan (the target was 46 percent in 2014 and 50 percent in 2015), falling short by six percentage points both years.

For a detailed analysis, please refer to the midterm report.^{[Note 8: The midterm report can be accessed here: http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Lithuania14-15_final_Eng.pdf. ]}

End of term: Limited

The government made no further progress towards completion of this commitment. Since the milestones are worded in a way to measure impact of the actions of the government and since 2016 surveys to quantify that impact are not yet available, the achievements are evaluated against the available data of 2015. In 2015, 88.3 percent of public and administrative services were provided online (the target was 90 percent in 2015 and 93 percent in 2016). The e-service portal http://www.epaslaugos.lt was visited by 1.8 million unique visitors (the target was 759,000 in 2015 and 782,000 in 2016), and the internet penetration rate was 71 percent (the target was 75 percent in 2015).

Did it open government?

The majority of the commitment’s outputs are linked to better service provision through digitisation, but it is unclear how this would open government. The relevance of the commitment on access to information, civic participation, and public accountability is unclear, and implementation of the commitment did not change government practice in any of these areas. However, growth in internet penetration rates and an increase in IT literacy have created a better environment for the government to employ internet technologies in its openness efforts.

Carried forward?

The commitment to develop and further promote e-service usage in Lithuania was not carried forward to the third national action plan.