THE GOVERNMENT WANTS to introduce an “Amazon-style” citizens portal to make it easier for the public to deal with state bodies.

That’s according to Barry Lowry, the government’s chief information officer, who introduced the concept at a briefing in the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin today.

“The whole idea is if you’re a citizen in Ireland, (you’ll have) a very easy way to transact with government and understand where you’re going to get certain services,” he said.

Lowry, a former director of IT in the Northern Ireland civil service, was appointed to his current role in April this year, making him the third government chief information officer in three years.

He is tasked with helping to get more public services online so people can interact with them easier.

Dubbed the ‘government digital service gateway’, Lowry said the proposed citizens portal will address the “lack of structure and cohesion” the public currently experiences when dealing with government departments and state bodies.

“It’s about registration and relationship-building with government,” he said.

Minister for Public Expendture Paschal Donohoe Source: Eamonn Farrell/Rollingnews.ie

Citizen-led experience

He said the concept is similar to Amazon’s website, which gives users the choice of erasing their transaction history or sharing more information to get “a better user experience”.

“That might mean if government knew that you had a child doing their Leaving Cert this year, when you logged on to the portal, it will push stuff to you about third level choices, he said.

“We can start to bring together all our knowledge of you to bring together a better experience.

“(For example) we’re not going to put you through the stress of having to apply for free healthcare, because we already know you’re entitled to it. We start to have a much more engaging relationship with citizens.”

Policy making

Lowry said that the service will allow the public to contribute more to policy making, similar to how retailers consult loyal customers before introducing a new product to the market.

He said that he has met with the chief information officers in every government department and has built an 18-step plan to implement the strategy,

The plan was submitted to the Civil Service Management Board in July and it is hoped that a formal approval will be given by the end of this month, “although we’re going ahead anyway”, he said.

A prototype of the site has been developed, but Lowry would not disclose when it will be rolled out.

He said in order to fund the structure, the government must simplify its IT infrastructure by reducing the number of data centres, computer rooms and network lines it currently has.

Barry Lowry speaking at the IIEA Source: IIEA

Data protection

Addressing sensitivities around data protection, he said, “In Ireland, we see the counterbalance to e-government as the Data Protection Commissioner. We shouldn’t. We should see the counterbalance to e-government as openness and transparency.

“We need to start putting in our citizens’ minds that it’s all about transparency and trust. The whole argument now is effectively about a core lack of trust of government. We need to redefine that argument.”

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Lowry said the plan also includes setting up a ‘digital programme office’, which is essentially an online dashboard for ministers to manage and prioritise tasks.

He noted that similar schemes exist in countries that rank high in the European Commission’s e-government scoreboard like Denmark and Estonia, where a high percentage of individuals interact online with public authorities.

He acknowledged that public trust in government in Denmark is already particularly high.

Source: European Commission

Click here for a larger image.

Ireland ranks 13th on the scoreboard, where just under half of its citizens interact with government bodies online.

Lowry said there is no reason why Ireland shouldn’t be at the top of the table, but that “we don’t encourage enough digital transactions” with the government.

Written by Conor McMahon and posted on Fora.ie