e-Services Online (MT0010)

MITA and various other Ministries, in charge of eServices, are currently working on the "Public Services Online" project. The aim of the project is to research the reasons which are negatively impacting the current take-up of eGovernment services; and to raise awareness with the general public on government’s drive towards simplification of public administration through the availability of eServices, and on the convenience that these eGovernment services provide to citizens. This commitment will enhance the accessibility of such services extending to citizens and businesses from other EU member states and implement initiatives to increase the up-take of online services and engage citizens and businesses to interact with Government. OGP challenge addressed by the commitment

Commitment 3. E-services online

Commitment Text:

MITA and various other Ministries, in charge of eServices, are currently working on the 'public Services Online' project. The aim of the project is to research the reasons which are negatively impacting the current take-up of eGovernment services; and to raise awareness with the general public on government’s drive towards simplification of public administration through the availability of eServices, and on the convenience that these eGovernment services provide to citizens. This commitment will enhance the accessibility of such services extending to citizens and businesses from other EU member states and implement initiatives to increase the up-take of online provides and engage citizens and businesses to interact with Government.

Milestones:

Deliver transformational eGovernment services to citizens and businesses through active use of mobile technologies.

Improve the existing online authentication mechanism, re-engineer to reflect industry trends, and adopt a federated approach.

Implement initiatives to increase the up-take of online services and engage citizens and businesses to interact with Government.

Responsible Institution(s): Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA)

Supporting Institution(s): Office of the Prime Minister – Department of Information

Start Date: 1 January 2015 End Date: 31 December 2017

Commitment Aim:

The commitment is directed toward increasing public interaction with public services by providing a more engaging experience through online tools and mobile apps.

Status

Midterm: Substantial

This commitment was substantially completed by the midterm assessment. Having reviewed the Digital Media Performance Report for 2015 and the 2016 Programme of Initiatives, the researcher noted the list of mobile applications that were developed with a view to facilitating the interaction between the public and services provided by public entities. Furthermore, information provided by the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) confirmed that the online authentication system was radically overhauled through the eID system, which was successfully completed in 2016. The activities intended to be implemented in relation to the third milestone were insufficiently clear for an assessment on completion levels to be made.

End-of-term: Substantial

The commitment is substantially complete. Different public services were created since the midterm report and are currently available through the following mobile apps: the generic ‘maltapps’; and the more specific ‘Valletta2018’, ‘MyTaxToolkit’, ‘112mt’, and ‘Planning App Malta’, among others. However, according to the government point of contact, the user statistics of these apps indicates a relatively low uptake level for most apps, with the highest number of downloads being over 14,000 for the generic ‘mother’ app ‘maltapps’.

As noted in the government self-assessment report, MITA has substantially improved the existing online authentication mechanism. Moreover, the point of contact informed the IRM researcher that additional simplification and integration of the eID activation system was performed, achieving positive outcomes in the European Commission’s tests on the Pan-European Proxy Service implementation in Malta.

Did It Open Government?

Did not change

The commitment improves the online authentication mechanism but does not disclose new information to the public or create mechanisms for civic participation. Moreover, no information was provided by CSOs, such as the Association for Consumer Rights Malta,^{[Note17: IRM staff contacted Grace Attard from the Association for Consumer Rights Malta at the beginning of May via email and website contact form but received no answer. ]} regarding the impact of this commitment. There is no publicly available information pointing to any changes for opening up the government as a result of this commitment.

Carried Forward?

In view of the above findings, the researcher does not recommend carrying this commitment over to the next action plan in the same form. For the next action plan, the researcher recommends a commitment that seeks to increase online or mobile access to government-held information or public decision-making processes; and to implement online or mobile monitoring tools, such as tracking options for public procurement, public employment, and budgetary issues.