| NOTAS: | This study was carried out for the European Commission by Wavestone
"Modern and efficient public administrations are necessary to ensure fast and high-quality services for firms and citizens. This, in turn, may lead to more efficient public spending and increase the focus on measures reinforcing economic growth. In this context, the use of ICT and the deployment of digital public services are instrumental to achieve both efficiency gains and reduce costs. Country Specific Recommendations (CSRs) and National Reform Programmes (NRPs) are essential instruments to set and implement the reform priorities of each Member State. EU financial instruments like the European Structural and Investments Funds (ESIF) provide resources that can be used to address these priorities and increase the quality and efficiency of state administrations through the modernisation of their operations and procedures, as well as deployment of digital public services. ESIF builds around 11 thematic objectives, which describe the main funding priorities that Member States can address through these funds. In particular, for the purpose of this study, we focus on thematic objective 2 (TO2, Enhancing access to and use and quality of information and communication technologies) and 11 (TO11, Enhancing institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders and efficient public administration). Access and utilisation of these funds can be discerned in the Operational Programmes (OPs) of the Member States, which frame the funding opportunities in support of investments in jobs and growth and thus contribute to the EU political priorities, as well as the structural reforms recommended in the CSRs and then addressed in the NRPs. The study aims to collect all data relevant to digital government in the European Semester process, which is set up to monitor and coordinate the macroeconomic governance at the European level." |
