IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Deputy communications minister Elmir Velizadeh of Azerbaijan emphasized that Azerbaijan actively developing ICT area hopes for co-operation with Latvia in it.

“Over the past 5 years ICT sector growth in Azerbaijan made up about 32%. Its growth is expected this year as well despite the global economic crisis. To the large extent, this is a desert of private companies making 80% in this sector,” Velizadeh said.

Ministry of Economic Development of Azerbaijan reported that the visit’s main purpose is to familiarize with e-registration system (“single window”) based on the Latvian companies’ experience.

The two-year, 179,000 euro project is a joint effort of the University of Tartu and the Riga-based Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital and will involve three hospitals in southern Estonia and one in Latvia.

Estonia was the highest ranked Central and Eastern European country.

The table of rankings for 2013 was topped by Finland, followed by Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the UK, Denmark, US and Taiwan.

The cards, or eIDs, “will not only secure citizens’ identification while traveling abroad or receiving government or municipal services, but also authenticity in the electronic environment,” the government said in a press release.

Latvia will be the last of the three Baltic countries to introduce the eID, which first appeared in Estonia several years ago.

"This system will be used for municipal and European parliamentary elections," Latvia's e-government minister Ina Gulde told AFP.

"It is meant to give an extra opportunity to voters to express their opinions," she said.

The information, which is stored in public registers and is accessible free of charge to all Latvians, has been made available online at the national eGovernment portal 'latvija.lv'.

The eHealth services include 'My state-funded health care services’, which uses the current health payments centre’s database and provides users with information on their own or their children's medical visits and diagnoses.

According to the European Commission eGovernment Benchmark 2017, Latvia ranks 8th by e-government performance with results that are higher than the EU average, the Latvian Ministry of Environment and Regional Development said, cites LETA.

Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Spain and Latvia are in the group of advanced countries with effective e-government. Latvia also is one of the nine EU member states where the main public services are available to people and businesses online, said the ministry's spokeswoman, Laura Jansone.

The implementation of the Programme brought many considerable achievements, among which are: the introduction of a secure eSignature infrastructure, the establishment and the expansion of the national eProcurement system, the set up of new State and municipal information systems and the launch of the eGovernment portal www.latvija.lv providing both a public services directory and eServices. Moreover, the web-based document flow system (DAUKS) was launched, allowing the standardised and automatic circulation of documents between the State Chancellery and the ministries.

The eHealth services include:

• 'My state-funded health care services': The users can find information on their own or their children's medical visits, diagnoses and use the current Health Payment Centre's database.
• 'My data in the register of diabetic patients': This service - part of the Centre of Health Economics - provides information that is stored electronically in the register of patients with diabetes mellitus.
• 'My newborn baby data': This service - part of the Centre of Health Economics - provides information that is electronically stored in the register of neonatal information system.
• 'My family doctor': The users can get information on their own or their children's family doctor.

Almost half of the Latvian municipalities have already started working towards providing citizens and businesses with a single access point that offers high quality public services. The survey found, moreover, that 11 municipalities are working well towards achieving the one-stop-shop principle in Riga, Jūrmala, Liepaja, Ventspils, Jelgava, Jēkabpils and Rezekne city, as well in Tukums, Dobeles, Ilūkstes and Gulbenes municipality.

On 3 November 2009, the Ministry of Regional Development and Local Government of the Republic of Latvia, the State Regional Development Agency (SRDA) in collaboration with the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs (OCMA), which is under the supervision of the Ministry of Interior of Republic of Latvia presented a jointly developed electronic service: the ability to online declare a residence.

The Latvian Ministry of Regional Development and Local Government is preparing the Electronic government development plan 2010-2013. In this context it launched on 29 April 2010 a public consultation process which is open to anyone's suggestions and/or objections. Contributions' can be sent via Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist vor Spambots geschützt! Zur Anzeige muss JavaScript eingeschaltet sein! or by regular post to the Ministry of Regional Development and Local Government, Information Society Policy Department (address: 27 Lāčplēša Street, Riga, 1011, Latvia).

Early this year 81.6 percent of housholds in Latvia had access to the internet which is by 3 percentage points more than a year ago and by 2.18 percentage points more than in 2010, according to the Central Statistical Bureau.

The internet is available almost to all households with children (98.1 percent), while households without children have access to the internet less frequently (76.4 percent). The lowest share of households having access to the internet was recorded among households of single persons (64.9 percent), while the largest in households consisting of two adults with children (98.6 percent).

All actions thus far regarding the implementation of the so-called e-health project in Latvia were aimed at only absorbing the European Union funds, not achieving specific goals, reports LETA, according to the State Audit Office.

Thus, the State Audit Office is concerned that Latvia could lose the relevant EU funding.

If the audit finds that the project's goals have not been achieved and the EU funds have been spent for purposes other than intended, Latvia will have to provide EUR 11.3 million to cover the cost of the project.

Implementation of the e-health project in Latvia stumbled because of inefficient project management and insufficient supervision from the part of the Health Ministry, said Chief Auditor Elita Krumina at a joint meeting of Saeima committees on February 21st, informs LETA.

Krumina said that the sector had not defined its requirements during the implementation process, a number of different developers were involved, there was a rotation of employees. The implementation time was too long, and also there were problems because a decision was made to introduce the system at once instead of gradually as it happened in Estonia, for example.

Apart from being a physical identification and travelling document within the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Swiss Confederation, Latvia’s eID card ensures secure authentication for services online and the creation of a legally binding digital signature. This is provided by the appropriate authentication certificate, a means for creating and signing electronic documents, and 120 free-of charge time stamps included in the eID card. Residents of Latvia now have a choice to dispose of the identification card, passport or both the aforementioned documents for personal identification.