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Denmark

User Friendliness Requirements Regarding Digital Self-Service Solutions (DK0037)

Overview

At-a-Glance

Action Plan: Denmark Action Plan 2013-2014

Action Plan Cycle: 2014

Status: Inactive

Institutions

Lead Institution: NA

Support Institution(s): NA

Policy Areas

Capacity Building, Public Service Delivery

IRM Review

IRM Report: Denmark End-of-Term Report 2014-2016, Denmark IRM Progress Report 2014-2015

Starred: No

Early Results: Did Not Change

Design i

Verifiable: No

Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information Technology

Potential Impact:

Implementation i

Completion:

Description

Up to 2015, there will be more and more areas where citizens are to encounter public authorities by going digital. It means that we ourselves must enter data, apply for e.g. support, and check the digital mailbox. The Government will facilitate the encounter with public authorities to maximum extent. Therefore, work is in progress to make self-service solutions as user friendly as possible – among other things by creating conditions for better data quality and by establishing coherence in the systems. It will mean that data are to be entered only once and subsequently shared across public authorities to an increasing extent.
For this purpose, the Government has drawn up a development guide for self- service solutions with 24 minimum requirements regarding user friendliness and accessibility in public self-service solutions when suppliers are to develop or revise a solution. The guide will be revised on an ongoing basis against the background of user tests, lessons learned and input from the users. All self- service solutions that become mandatory up to and including 2015 must meet all the requirements listed in the development guide regarding user friendliness and accessibility.

IRM End of Term Status Summary

Commitments 4, 5, and 6: Digital communication and inclusion

Commitment text

4: User friendliness requirements regarding digital self-service solutions

Up to 2015, there will be more and more areas where citizens are to encounter public authorities by going digital. […] The Government will facilitate the encounter with public authorities to maximum extent. Therefore, work is in progress to make self-service solutions as user friendly as possible - among other things by creating conditions for better data quality and by establishing coherence in the systems. […]

For this purpose, the Government has drawn up a development guide for self- service solutions with 24 minimum requirements regarding user friendliness and accessibility in public self-service solutions when suppliers are to develop or revise a solution. […] All self- service solutions that become mandatory […] must meet all the requirements listed in the development guide regarding user friendliness and accessibility.

5: Plan for inclusion during the transition to digital communication

Public authorities’ plan for inclusion covers a broad spectrum: from ensuring that help is integrated in the public self-service solutions to preparing and training the employees who encounter citizens on a day-to-day basis. The citizens who need help will find that it is provided at citizen service centres, at libraries, and in readily accessible data rooms nationwide that provide computer assistance to senior citizens.

Focus is at the same time also placed on stimulating citizens to explore the digital tools by showing examples of how digital technologies can open up an altogether new world of opportunities. The effort is planned and implemented in collaboration with e.g. the organisations representing older persons and the libraries that contribute to extending the reach of the work.

6: Common public sector digital communication campaign

A comprehensive common public sector digital communication campaign will be launched in November 2013 with a view to supporting the effort to bring everybody on board the “digital express”. The idea of the campaign is to place focus on the fact that help is available.

The website “Learn more about ICT” (laermereomit.dk) provides contact information about the many organisations, e.g. libraries, organisations representing older persons and adult education associations that offer ICT courses for special target groups. Instruction videos and other help and support are also available to citizens.

Danes will experience the campaign in the press and mass media, and all public authorities will have material at their disposal to be able to communicate the messages directly during encounters with citizens.

Responsible Institution: None specified for any commitment

Supporting Institutions: Commitment 4: None specified

Commitment 5: Senior Citizens Associations;

Commitment 6: Senior Citizens Associations and organizations having ICT courses for special target groups

Start date: Commitment 6 - November 2013                    End date: Not specified

Editorial Note: The full text of the commitment can be found in the action plan

 
Commitment Aim:

Commitments 4, 5 and 6 are part of the national IT strategy.[Note 8: The national IT strategy for 2011-2015, AFD, http://www.digst.dk/Strategier/Digitaliseringsstrategi-2011-15 ]

These commitments aim to improve the quality and user experience of self-service solutions in public IT. This is particularly important as more and more services can only be done online.

Status

Commitment 4:

Mid-term: Substantial

The government published the user friendliness requirements and the guide on the open government website. However, the Agency for Digitisation (AFD) recognized that more work needed to be done for all mandatory self-service solutions to meet the minimum requirements stipulated in the guide and in the commitment language. For further information, please see the IRM mid-term progress report.[Note 9: Denmark IRM mid-term report 2014-15, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Denmark_IRM%20Progress%20Report%202014-15_Final_eng.pdf]

End of term: Substantial

No additional progress on this commitment has been made since the midterm progress report, but Denmark’s initial IT strategy named eGovernment 2011-2015 has been replaced with a new strategy named Digital Strategy 2016-2020. The new strategy also sets out a goal to develop a “user friendly and simple digital public sector.”[Note 10: Focus Area 1, A user friendly and foreseeable public sector, AFD, http://www.digst.dk/Strategier/Initiativer/Let-hurtigt-og-god-kvalitet/Fokusomraade-1] According to the government, this new strategy is the next logical step of user- friendliness and designing the services to fit the needs of citizens and companies. One of the commitments in the new strategy is to develop more cohesive user journeys, which will provide more user-friendly and coordinated online-services to citizens and companies. Another commitment seeks to promote better and more cohesive welfare services, which will provide citizens with more cohesive service when responsibility is split between authorities.

Commitments 5 and 6 were completed at the time of the mid-term evaluation.

As described in Denmark’s self-assessment regarding Commitment #5, the AFD established a National Network for Digital Inclusion in 2015 that outlines citizens’ challenges with digital communication. The government organized events for target groups - including senior citizens, the disabled, youth, and immigrants – to inform the inclusion plan.  As part of the inclusion plan, citizens now have access to online training to get better acquainted with the portal (borger.dk) and self-service solutions.[Note 11: Online training in borger.dk: https://www.ekurser.nu/kursus/185]  More details about this commitment’s implementation can be found in the IRM Progress Report 2014-15.[Note 12: Denmark IRM Progress Report 2014-15 http://www.opengovpartnership.org/country/denmark/irm]

Fulfillment of Commitment #6 was a large-scale digital communication campaign between August 2014 and January 2015, as reported in the IRM progress report 2014-15.[Note 13: Denmark IRM mid-term report 2014-15, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Denmark_IRM%20Progress%20Report%202014-15_Final_eng.pdf]  The government worked in close cooperation with local authorities on this comprehensive media-based campaign (online, press and outdoor advertising) as well as conducting Generation Rallies to encourage digital communication with public authorities.

Did it open government?

Commitment 4

Access to information: Did not change

Several stakeholders emphasized that this commitment, along with several other commitments in the Danish action plan, conflates eGovernment with open government. This commitment aims to improve user services, but not to make them more open or transparent. A better or user-friendlier service does not ensure better access to more information. The commitment’s relationship to open government is thus not clear and as a result there is no change with respect to opening government.

Commitment 5

Access to information: Did not change

Echoing the previous commitment, this commitment is part of Denmark’s national IT strategy spanning 2011-2015. The inclusion plan, aimed at bringing stakeholders into the digitization process to improve individuals’ access to technology, was meant to ensure that the elderly are not left behind - that would worsen the intergenerational “digital divide.” The information and services in question were available offline before the introduction of e-government, but are now only available online - there is no additional information and the level of access is the same, thus there is no change in access to information.

As stated in the IRM progress report,[Note 14: Denmark IRM mid-term report 2014-15, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Denmark_IRM%20Progress%20Report%202014-15_Final_eng.pdf] various groups opposed to e-government (including the DaneAge Association, the senior citizens group Ældresagen, and leading Danish newspapers) had argued that making government services available only online would exclude some citizens from accessing important government information.

Commitment 6

Access to information: Did not change

Civic Participation: Did not change

Public Accountability: Did not change

The digital communication campaign to increase awareness of the importance of ICT and ICT training represents a laudable effort to reach out to stakeholders, but is not relevant to OGP values and did not change government openness.

Carried forward?

User friendliness of public IT infrastructure is part of Denmark’s next national IT strategy, including the following focus areas:[Note 15: Focus Area 9, Digitization for everyone, AFD, http://www.digst.dk/Strategier/Initiativer/Tryghed-og-tillid/Fokusomraade-9]

  • Focus area 9.2, “digitization for everyone,” outlines strategies for educating children in the use of ITC as well as increasing knowledge of ITC to citizens and companies. The focus area is part of a ‘security and trust’ track within the IT strategy.
  • Track 2 of the national IT strategy [Note 16: Track 2 of the national IT strategy, AFD, http://www.digst.dk/Strategier/Initiativer/Gode-vilkaar-for-vaekst] characterizes public ITC as a motor for growth, and aims to improve the ITC-environment for the business community, increase  efficiency within the supply sector, and use public data as a motor for growth.

Commitments

  1. Open Data for Citizens and Media

    DK0050, 2017, E-Government

  2. Data Registers on a Shared Public Distribution Platform

    DK0051, 2017, E-Government

  3. Information Portal for Day-Care Facilities

    DK0052, 2017, E-Government

  4. Open Data and Smart City Forum

    DK0053, 2017, Capacity Building

  5. Open Data DK

    DK0054, 2017, Capacity Building

  6. Overview of Own Cases and Benefits

    DK0055, 2017, E-Government

  7. Nationwide Deployment of Telemedicine

    DK0056, 2017, E-Government

  8. My Log

    DK0057, 2017, E-Government

  9. Civil Society National Strategy

    DK0058, 2017, Marginalized Communities

  10. Report a Rule

    DK0059, 2017, E-Government

  11. OGP Forum

    DK0060, 2017, OGP

  12. Denmark’S Country Program for Uganda

    DK0061, 2017, Aid

  13. The 18Th International Anti-Corruption Conference

    DK0062, 2017, Anti-Corruption Institutions

  14. IATI (International Aid Transparency Initiative)

    DK0063, 2017, Aid

  15. Service Check of Local Government Consultations

    DK0034, 2014, Public Participation

  16. Call on All Municipalities to Facilitate Advance Voting

    DK0035, 2014, Marginalized Communities

  17. Letter of Invitation to First-Time Voters Urging Them to Vote

    DK0036, 2014, Marginalized Communities

  18. User Friendliness Requirements Regarding Digital Self-Service Solutions

    DK0037, 2014, Capacity Building

  19. Plan for Inclusion During the Transition to Digital Communication

    DK0038, 2014, Capacity Building

  20. Common Public Sector Digital Communication Campaign

    DK0039, 2014, Capacity Building

  21. Principles for Collaboration on the Modernisation of the Public Sector as Well as the Establishment of a Centre for Public Innovation

    DK0040, 2014, Capacity Building

  22. “Free Municipality” Pilot Projects

    DK0041, 2014, Subnational

  23. Recommendations from Growth Teams

    DK0042, 2014, Private Sector

  24. Strategy for Digital Welfare

    DK0043, 2014, E-Government

  25. Implementation of a New Charter for Interaction Between Volunteer Denmark/Associations Denmark and the Public Sector

    DK0044, 2014, Civic Space

  26. “Open Data Innovation Strategy” (ODIS)

    DK0045, 2014, Capacity Building

  27. Data Distributor for the Distribution of Basic Data

    DK0046, 2014, Open Data

  28. Open Government Camp 2014

    DK0047, 2014, Capacity Building

  29. Open Government Assistance to Myanmar

    DK0048, 2014, Aid

  30. Opening Key Public Datasets

    DK0049, 2014, Capacity Building

  31. Online Open Government Partnership Community

    DK0001, 2012, E-Government

  32. Online OGP Handbook for Public Authorities and Institutions

    DK0002, 2012, E-Government

  33. Starred commitment Management Labs and New Forms of Co-Operation

    DK0003, 2012, Public Participation

  34. Consultation and Transparency of Development Aid Programmes: Design Aid Programmes

    DK0004, 2012, Aid

  35. Innovate with Aarhus

    DK0005, 2012, Capacity Building

  36. Citizen Self-Services: Increasing the Use of User Ratings in the Citizen’s Port Borger.Dk

    DK0006, 2012, E-Government

  37. Open Government Camp

    DK0007, 2012, OGP

  38. Renewed Effort for Open Government Data

    DK0008, 2012, E-Government

  39. Regional Initiative on Open Data

    DK0009, 2012, Open Data

  40. Reuse of Open Source Software in the Public Sector

    DK0010, 2012, E-Government

  41. Citizen Self-Services: Binding Guidelines for Self-Service Solutions

    DK0011, 2012, Capacity Building

  42. Citizen Self-Services: Guidance and Information on Accessibility to Digital Solutions

    DK0012, 2012, E-Government

  43. Citizen Self-Services: Peer-To-Peer Learning Programmes to Help Citizens Use Digital Self-Service

    DK0013, 2012, Capacity Building

  44. Citizen Self-Services: Location-Based Content and Re-Use of Content in Borger.Dk

    DK0014, 2012, E-Government

  45. Less Reporting Through Increased Re-Use of Key Data

    DK0015, 2012, E-Government

  46. Mypage” for Businesses

    DK0016, 2012, E-Government

  47. Companies to Be “Born Digitally”

    DK0017, 2012, E-Government

  48. Creating a Mediation and Complaints Institution for Responsible Business Behaviour

    DK0018, 2012, Human Rights

  49. International Human Rights Conference

    DK0019, 2012, Human Rights

  50. Promote Social Responsibility in the Fashion Business

    DK0020, 2012, Private Sector

  51. Reporting on Human Rights and the Climate

    DK0021, 2012, Human Rights

  52. Country by Country Reporting in the Extractive and Forestry Industries

    DK0022, 2012, Extractive Industries

  53. Legislative Principles for the Digital Age

    DK0023, 2012, Legislature

  54. Consolidated Key Data

    DK0024, 2012, E-Government

  55. App Store for Digital Learning Resources

    DK0025, 2012, E-Government

  56. Starred commitment Preparing a Digital Reform of the Public Welfare Areas

    DK0026, 2012, E-Government

  57. Consultation and Transparency of Development Aid Programmes: Transparency in Aid

    DK0027, 2012, Aid

  58. Tracking Progress of Universities’ Transition to Digital-Only Administrative Communication

    DK0028, 2012, Education

  59. Disclosure of Status Reporting From the National IT Project Council

    DK0029, 2012, E-Government

  60. Overview of Public ICT Architecture

    DK0030, 2012, E-Government

  61. Publication of Educational Materials on the Government’s ICT Project Model

    DK0031, 2012, Capacity Building

  62. Smart Aarhus and Smart Region: Smart Aarhus

    DK0032, 2012, E-Government

  63. Smart Aarhus and Smart Region: Smart Region

    DK0033, 2012, E-Government