Tal
European Public Sector Award, Maastricht 5 november 2009
Mats Odell, Kommun- och finansmarknadsminister

Innovations for Europe: Increasing Public Value

Ladies and Gentlemen,
This is an exiting day. We are here to celebrate the most innovative and efficient performers from the European public sector. As the Minister responsible for central government administration and local government issues in Sweden, I am proud to take part in this event and eager to learn from the outstanding administrative performances that have been selected. Selected, that is, after undergoing a stringent multi-step evaluation.

Nevertheless why do we need these awards? Should we not be able to take good public governance for granted? We are all paying for the service - are we not? Though the inhabitants of our respective countries all deserve the very best when it comes to public services we know that many don´t get it. We all know that in many cases and places there is room for improvement. One tool we can use in this regard is bench-marking which essentially is what EPSA is doing. I agree whole-heartedly with EPSA´s objective which is to make these valuable experiences transparent, known to the public and usable.

Some say that we in Europe should become world leaders in this area. That is ok with me, but more important than that is to do the best we can. Thus we can s lay a foundation for long-term economic development and first-class service to our citizens and businesses.

The implementation of the Lisbon Strategy is an important step in this direction. To succeed in this work we have to improve the potential for cooperation and integrated services. In spite of different structures, different languages, different legislations and different problems our 27 nations are becoming more and more integrated. We learn from each other by exchanging experiences. Also in the public sector. We can be role models for each other and in some cases maybe also role models for the rest of the world.

It is important to put the EPSA winners into focus. But it is also important to exchange experiences. Many of you are developing new projects and I am sure that you are sharing the same problems in trying to develop the public administrations. The social networking and a virtual exchange on the European level that complements occasions and awards like these give us all an excellent opportunity to learn from each other. I only wish we could find methods to make such exchanges possible on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Reflections on Public Value

What is public value? I will give you an answer using the themes of EPSA. They are:
- Performance Improvement in Public Service Delivery
- Citizen Involvement
- New Forms of Partnership Working
- Leadership and Management for change

Starting with theme one I will give you examples from the county I know best which is Sweden. The theme is: Performance Improvement in Public Service Delivery and let me mention a nationally based network project for benchmarking on the local government level. Work with comparative statistics of local authorities and regions has been intensified during the last few years. The most important change is that it is now used as a tool in development of activities. The purpose of the project is to systematically compare the quality and the efficiency in different local government activities. I am referring for example to geriatric care, pre-schools, treatment of drug addiction and social services. We aim for concrete activities for improvement benefiting the local governments that are participating. On the national level it gives us improved statistics.

For example, the elderly who want to influence their geriatric care should have an opportunity to make active choices based on fact. The project has just started and we are very much looking forward to the outcome .

Another important development to increase efficiency, promote interoperability and improve the performance in public sector delivery is the move towards the use of open standards and open source alternatives in new procurements. It is my belief that we need a clear definition of openness in the European Interoperability Framework and that the definition of open standards and open source software as defined by the European Interoperability Framework version one has served us well so far. The use of open standards and open source solutions decreases the public sector´s reliance on specific vendors and platforms and it increases European competiveness as well as the transparency and ability to interact with third party developers of services built on public data. Which brings me to the second theme:

Citizen Involvement. Involvement and satisfaction of citizens, civil society, administrators and business is the core in forming the third generation of public administration. That is supporting citizens involvement through new technologies.

For example: eGovernment is emerging as a key factor for the integration of European public administrations and an important factor for the ultimate success of the Single Market. It is not possible to improve public services successfully without the involvement and participation of all the front-line actors and above all - the citizens.

This involvement can be achieved in many different ways. By making public sector information digitally accessible for third party developers and thereby helping them to develop their own products and services. Also by making API:s available to developers for a more direct access to the core of our public e-services. By engaging in a dialogue with citizens, businesses and the civil society regarding the development of new e-services. And by using the many various forms of new social media such Facebook and Ning, micro blogging tools like Twitter and Cuzo or social media sharing like YouTube and Flicker.

Theme three: New Forms of Partnership Working.
New forms of Partnership are becoming increasingly important when it comes to induce public administrations to cooperate within as well as between states and on the European level. The citizens of Europe belong to the third generation of e-citizens and they will demand correct and accurate service from authorities.
Swedish authorities have for years been intertwined with their European counterparts. They form growing numbers of public administration networks. Most of them have a component of IT at there core. Given this trend it is only natural that eGovernment becoms a central feature in an increasing number of EU-Directives.

An example from Sweden which can demonstrate a new form of public-private partnership. It is a cooperation between the public and the private pension companies. There is a new portal on the net witch is called [mypension.se]. On the web you will get prognoses over how large your pension will become if you retire at such and such an age. The amount is calculated with the help of facts and figures from the authorities and the different companies. This information is upgraded continually.

Theme four is Leadership and Management for change.
I have heard somebody say: "People are inclined to be drawn in if their leaders have a compelling vision". This is true and should be kept in mind when European authorities embark on a journey towards a more efficient public and citizen oriented administration.

In this endeavour you must make sure to put forward a clear vision for your organisation on every level. The key to a successful implementation of reform programs is clear political leadership and inter ministry coordination.

We have put up a vision of e-government and have organized the decision making so that many of the government agencies involved are making decisions that are primarily for the common good and not primarily for their own agency.

Services that nowadays can be carried out on the Internet are for example filing tax returns, reporting for parental benefit and registering vehicles and companies. This year 3.9 million people in Sweden chose to file their tax return via the Internet, a text message or the phone. This corresponds to 53 per cent of the total population of taxpayers in our country that could file an electronic tax return.

A strategic government-wide approach to eGovernment is needed to achieve the improvements and efficiency gains that developing eGovernment brings within reach. You need to coordinate at the central level the action taken by individual agencies.

Let me sum up. The mission of public sector institutions is to increase public value. In order to achieve this goal, policy development and service delivery processes must be reformed and shared between us.

This last year of financial crisis and an economic downturn all over the world may have slowed down the process we want to enhance. But remember there will always be financial ups and downs and we can not let these uncertainties stand in our way for long. We need to cooperate and find new forms of integration and cooperation to solve future problems at home but also within our common community the European Union. One way of demonstrating our aim and our efforts is very pleasant. It is by taking part in today´s event. I am convinced that when we leave this symposium we will have learnt more that we can use at home because we have seen the good examples of excellent frontrunners. Without the initiative of EIPA this would not have been possible. Their people have done a great work.

Let me end by highlighting a coming event. As EU Council President, Sweden is pushing our joint efforts on eGovernment forward. Between the 18th and the 20th of this cold November month Sweden will host a Ministerial Meeting on eGovernment followed by a conference arranged together with the European Commission on the same theme: Teaming up for the eUnion. In the preparations for the meeting we are working and drafting a Ministerial Declaration that will form the basis for further active work on eGovernment within the EU.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
During the EPSA-event, the result of great efforts to increase Public Value is presented and awarded. I would like to pay tribute to all those who have contributed to its success.
Thank you for listening.