M-Government (MT0013)

Bridging the Gap through M-Government – Commitment Number 1
January 2019 – December 2020
Lead implementing
agency/actor
Servizz.Gov Agency
Commitment description
What is the public
problem that the
commitment will
address?
This Commitment will address the notion of accessibility of
government services. It will increase accessibility of important
government services and thus offer an alternative method on how
to reach such a service. Accessibility is an important element in
providing services to communities even considering the rise during
the last years in electronic devices including smartphones.
What is the
commitment?
The Commitment focuses on the development of new mobile
applications in a manner that renders government services more
accessible, easier to understand by the public.
How will the commitment
contribute to solve the
public problem?
The Commitment will enable societies to connect with government
services that they will need to access. This will be provided in an
alternative manner and considered the fastest manner to date to
access services in general, given that electronic devices have
become an integral part of societies.
Why is this commitment
relevant to OGP values?
This Commitment is aimed at disclosing information traditionally
available only at certain Offices. This is certainly an improvement in
the quality of the services provided through increased accessibility
of government services. This is because this Commitment aims at
enabling the public to access different government services in a
simpler and more convenient access. The improvement in
accessibility will apart from facilitating people’s lives, societies will
be encourages to actively participate by making better use of such
services. In this way, the Government is also acting in a proactive
manner in the sense that through such initiatives, it is making sure
that advances in technology are made available to the public. This
also fosters ground for “open government” concept, responsivity
and this accountability is increased.
Additional information
https://digitalmalta.org.mt/en/Documents/Digital%20Malta
%202014%20-%202020.pdf
Malta Digital Strategy 2014-2020 Milestone Activity with a
verifiable deliverable
Start Date: End Date:
Mobile Services: the
continuation of the
ongoing process of
introducing new mobile
applications in order that
there will be a wider
access to services.
January 2019 December 2020
Contact information
Name of responsible
person from
implementing agency
Mr. Winston Pirotta
Servizz.Gov Agency
Title, Department CEO Servizz.Gov
Email and Phone 356 22001336 winston.pirotta@gov.mt

1. Bridging the Gap through M-Government

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

The Commitment focuses on the development of new mobile applications in a manner that renders government services more accessible, easier to understand by the public.

The Commitment will enable societies to connect with government services that they will need to access. This will be provided in an alternative manner and considered the fastest manner to date to access services in general, given that electronic devices have become an integral part of societies.

Milestones:

• Mobile Services: the continuation of the ongoing process of introducing new mobile applications in order that there will be a wider access to services.

Start Date: January 2019

End Date: January 2020

Editorial note: For the full text of this commitment, see Malta’s action plan 2018-2020: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Malta_Action-Plan_2018-2020.pdf

Context and Objectives

This commitment aims to develop new mobile applications to make government services more accessible to the public. According to a survey conducted by the National Statistics Office of Malta, 76.4 percent of regular internet users accessed the internet via smartphones throughout 2016. [1] Moreover, a mobile consumer perception survey conducted in 2018 revealed that just 3 percent of respondents reported not having a mobile subscription, with most of these aged over 65. [2] Considering that the use of electronic devices has increased in Malta, the objective of this commitment is to simplify access to public services through mobile phones, “disclosing information that was traditionally only available at certain governmental offices in the country”. [3]

This commitment is part of the Digital Malta Strategy 2014-2020, an existing initiative that aims to provide national policy direction on ICT initiatives and addresses topics such as infrastructure, digital business and digital government. [4] The commitment is not clearly relevant to OGP values as it is not clear if any information will be publicly disclosed, or how these new applications will enhance public accountability or civic participation.

This commitment is too vague to be verified as it does not clearly state what type of mobile applications will be developed, what type of information will be disclosed, nor does it express how it will contribute to the “ongoing process of introducing new mobile applications”. Although the Digital Malta Strategy 2014-2020 is quoted in the commitment text as “additional information”, it is not clear what the added value of this commitment will be, in respect to the overall digital strategy. Pages 42, 43 and 44 of the Digital Malta Strategy refer to “Citizen and Business-Centric Government”, although no specific milestones or activities are listed. The commitment’s low level of specificity makes it difficult to assess its potential impact. The action plan does not define the intended results and how this commitment would impact the ongoing implementation of the digital strategy. For these reasons, the commitment is considered to have no potential impact. It should be noted that Malta’s e-Government services have judged the best in Europe, on the basis of the number of services available online and on mobile phone. [5]

Next steps

During the implementation period, the IRM recommends the following:

• Outline clear activities, and determine which concrete actions will be taken during the implementation phase (e.g. which mobile applications will be developed; which public services will be improved; what will the target audience of the commitment be; what clear implementation timelines will the commitment have, etc.)
• Clearly determine and specify the value added of this commitment in relation to the Digital Malta Strategy (2014-2020)
• Establish a target number and a clear timeline for the development of mobile applications per sector (e.g. education, healthcare, environment, etc.)
• Include the opinion and feedback of the private sector and ultimate beneficiaries of commitments to determine which mobile applications should be developed
• Ensure compliance with international standards while designing mobile applications (safeguarding personal information, complying with open data publication standards, etc.)

Commitment 1. Bridging the Gap through M-Government

No evidence available

The commitment was part of the Digital Malta Strategy 2014-2020, an existing initiative aimed to provide national policy direction on ICT initiatives, and addresses topics such as infrastructure, digital business and digital government. [1] The commitment called for introducing new mobile applications for wider access to services. However, it lacked verifiable activities, making it difficult for the IRM to assess the level of implementation.

The government has not reported any mobile applications that were made available and the CSOs consulted by the IRM stated they were not aware of any advancement on this commitment. [2] To the contrary, civil society pointed to examples of the government restricting access to (company register) data over the course of the implementation period. [3] Although the Government of Malta maintains a webpage dedicated to the 2014-2020 Digital Malta Strategy, it does not provide information on any specific activities carried out during the action plan period (2018-2020) that would help the IRM ascertain the level of completion of this commitment. [4]