Accessibility and Digitalization of Government Services (MN0056)

Statement of public problem ● Availability, accessibilty, transparency and prompt delivery of government services for individuals and businesses needs improvement. ● Inequality is caused by disparities in the access to digitalized services in remote rural areas and among such groups of population as the disabled people, visually impaired individuals, seniors and herders. ● Organizational structures of public institutions with different functions need streamlining, operational costs and efficiency should be improved.

Commitment description ● Increase the types of services accessible via the “eMongolia” integrated government services system, introduce digital single window services to eliminate bureaucracy, irresponsiveness, procedural delays and other challenges, introduce information dissemination and public notification systems using AI based technology.

Contribution to addressing public problem • Expansion of public services delivered via the “eMongolia” integrated system, targeting 30 new types in 2022 and 20 more in 2023 with user friendly interface. • Identification of types of services with access and delivery problems for individuals and legal entities, their digitalization for easy access • Prompt public notification of available government services and latest decisions • Filing of requests and complaints by citizens with public agencies and officials, and response from the latter are resource-efficient (less wastage of time and paper) • Timely and hassle-free delivery of accurate information on government services to individuals and business enterprises. • Improved accessibility of information through the introduction of iniform standards for public service websites and mobile applications.

Relevance to the OGP values Transparency The commitment is aimed at increasing the scope and quality of open data, and improving its availability and with extended, streamlined and user friendly technologies . . Public participation The commitment will strengthen people’s access to open data on government services and activities which in its turn will be conducive to increased public participation in government’s policy and program decision-making. Government accountability Complaint resolution and application handling online tracking system reveals government bodies operational delays on time which would push the authority to act responsibly.

Additional information • “Vision 2050” Long-Term Development Policy • Government Action Plan for 2020-2024, objective “provide public services promptly, efficiently anf transparently“ • National Development Policy and Guidelines, sectoral and local development plans • [UN] Sustainable Development Goals. Target definition Individuals and companies promtply receive accurate and full information on goernment services and decisions.

Follow-up actions Plan the next stage of the systems upgrade.

Milestones Start date: End date: Increase the types of public services available via the “eMongolia” integrated system, make its interface more user-friendly 2021.12.15 2023.06.15 Streamline Hotline operation to reduce red tape, irresponsiveness, procedural delays and other challenges encountered by inviduals and business entities 2021.12.15 2022.02.15 Develop an AI technology-based integrated platform for prompt delivery of information on public services and tax returns and credits notifications. 2022.02.15 2022.05.15 Improve the 1111 Call Center’s management of incoming queries and complaints on government agency bureacracy and malfeasance, and of the outgoing feedback to further strengthen the transparency and up-to-dateness of the information on government services 2022.05.15 2022.07.15 Monthly reports on the Hotline 1111 information and complaints management delivered to relevant authorities and posted on the Government website 2022.02.15 2023.12.31 Uniform standards for online public services developed and introduced 2022.07.15 2022.09.15 Ongoing activity: Transforming Large Government into Smart Government, and developing citizencentered public service 2022.07.15 2022.09.15

Action Plan Review

Commitment 9. Digitalization, Availability, and Accessibility of Government Services

Results Report

Commitment 9. Digitalization, availability, and accessibility of governme

Results Report

Implementing Agency: Ministry of Digital Development and Communications

Context and Objectives

This commitment aimed to improve access to public services in the digital space by increasing their availability on the e-mongolia.mn platform as well as enhancing accessibility for users. The platform offers services tailored for regular citizens (such as civic registration, employment, and law enforcement support) and businesses (such as legal registration, taxation, and real estate).

Prior to commitment implementation, the E-Mongolia portal was already widely used. As of 9 December 2021, a few weeks before the action plan’s entry into force, there were 1,934,723 active users with over 500 public services available online. [72] By this point, the portal had already facilitated the provision of 6,145,809 individual services for its users. [73] With this commitment, the government intended to improve the number of services available by integrating more online government services into the portal (creating a one-stop service portal) and the number of individual services delivered.

Early Results: Moderate

The government improved public access to government services by making upgrades to the E-Mongolia platform, completing all of the commitment’s milestones. However, efficient access to government services is not directly relevant to open government values. Regarding open government results, the platform’s byproduct was a moderate improvement in the accessibility of information on government services.

During the implementation period, access to the platform increased with the introduction of a free-to-download mobile application available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, as well as improvements to the web-based portal. Additionally, the prime minister launched a separate platform called E-Business in April 2023, tailored to integrate government services for businesses and legal entities. [74]

The E-Mongolia platform offered access to information on a greater number of government services (1,448 in August 2023 compared to 500 in December 2021), which was previously not available in a central location. [75] The number of active users declined from 1,934,723 in December 2021 to 1,603,678 in August 2023 due to the creation of a separate portal for businesses and legal entities. However, this number still represented almost half of Mongolia’s population (3,398,366 people as of 2022), [76] which indicates high uptake by citizens.

In addition to accessing integrated information about various government services, users applied the information to directly access individual services through the portal, which the Democracy Education Center considers to be a notable improvement. [77] For example, citizens can complete all steps required to get an official ID or passport issued by the government entirely online through the portal. [78] Similarly, the E-Business platform allows new businesses seeking an official license to operate online within as few as two working days. Overall, the platform significantly increased the number of individual services that had been accessed and completed online (29,052,441 in August 2023 compared to 6,145,809 in December 2021). [79] By cutting down on the otherwise lengthy and inefficient bureaucratic procedures, the government sees the platform as helping to tackle corruption, which "is vital in making Mongolia more business-friendly and attracting the foreign investment needed." [80]

While the internet penetration rate had increased significantly from 66% in 2020 to 84% in 2021, [81] this commitment responded to IRM recommendations from previous reports on facilitating access to similar information and services for citizens who remain unable to access the internet due to infrastructure or capacity gaps, especially among people with disabilities, the elderly, and citizens in rural areas. E-Mongolia staff are stationed in 395 public service centers across the country and "khurdan" centers in 3 counties, 13 capital cities, and 8 rural locations. [82]

Upgrades made to the E-Mongolia platform during the action plan implementation period also ushered in new accessibility features in line with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) [83] that allow users to adjust screen resolution, font size, and spacing between text and letters, as well as ability to switch to a night mode display and special ID for persons with disabilities. These features were introduced especially to aid people with conditions such as blindness, visual impairment, and hypersensitivity. [84] Additionally, a live chat feature was also added to provide instant help for users who encounter difficulties and receive feedback. [85] The Ministry of Digital Development and Communications identified problems such as infrastructure gaps, especially in remote areas, low technological literacy, and inadequacy of the country’s postal address system as key implementation challenges. [86] To maintain efficient operation, the platform is equipped with AI-based functions that adjust its processing capacity based on user access, network traffic, and load levels. [87]

Overall, this commitment benefited from strong institutional support—both in terms of technical, capacity, and financial support—from the Ministry of Digital Development and Communications as the implementing agency, as well as the inclusive approach taken in designing the improvements to the E-Mongolia platform and developing the new E-Business platform. This is further institutionalized by the Agency for Standardization and Metrology’s approval of the General Requirements for the Provision of Public Services by Operator Mode (MNS 6984:2022). [88]

Looking Ahead

The moderate early results generated by this commitment serve as an important marker for Mongolia in its five-year plan to become a "digital nation" by 2025. [89] Going forward, the government could leverage the OGP platform to co-create data management standards to ensure that citizens are protected when processing their personal information online. It could also introduce stronger mechanisms for citizens to provide feedback on the quality of government services and ensure accountability in government responses to this input.