The prize was presented by European Commissioner Erkki Liikanen in a formal ceremony, held in the presence of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Italian Minister for Innovation and Technology Lucio Stanca, during a conference on eGovernment on 7 July. More then 350 applications were received for the award, from which 65 projects were selected, addressing themes such as the role of eGovernment in European competitiveness, European, e-cooperation between European, central and local government and a better life for Europe citizens.
Accepting the award on behalf of the HELP project was administrative director from the Austrian Chancellery, Elisabeth Dearing. She told CORDIS News that winning the award had provided the HELP team with a very 'big and new impetus'.
The HELP portal is a virtual guide offering citizens information about real life situations, such as the procedure to follow in order to apply for child allowance or to establish a business. Citizens can also access an array of information on other official procedures, deadlines and fees, as well as forms to fill in or download.
When it first began in 1997, the project had only ten 'life situations' mapped out on the portal. Since then, the portal content has grown and now hosts approximately 200 such situations. In addition to information for Austrian citizens and businesses, the portal has also extended its services to foreign citizens seeking to live or work in Austria, as well as people with disabilities, enabling them to access official documents according to global web accessibility guidelines.
However, as Ms Dearing told CORDIS News, the concept of offering life situations on line is already widespread. 'What makes our portal special is that we have totally integrated the electronic signature, payment and delivery. This means that the whole process is fully electronic. I also think that we are the first to implement the mobile signature,' said Ms Dearing.
The HELP project has also sought to promote the use of its services by citizens throughout Austria. In cooperation with tobacconist's shops and post offices, HELP has been able to install terminals in the most remote municipalities of Austria. Ms Dearing believes that making HELP services available in such a way is crucial to the success of eGovernment.
Indeed cooperation and communication with citizens and partnership have been key to the success of the project. 'We have a very large cooperative network that spans all levels of government,' said Ms Dearing. Through cooperation, the cost of HELP is kept to a minimum: 'All our experts in the ministry or even the private sector are contributing to our services voluntarily because they want to be part of HELP.' HELP has also successfully developed a citizen feedback mechanism using a virtual guest book and a user questionnaire, ensuring that improvements are made quickly and accordingly.
Recognition of the benefit of such online services and applications has gathered so much momentum that in October, HELP will extend its services to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia.
Asked to identify challenges still facing the full implementation of eGovernment in Europe, Ms Dearing referred to need for better communication with citizens, saying that the success of eGovernment is based not on technology, but on 'making public authorities more democratic by facilitating the involvement of people in the legislative and decision process.'
In the ministerial declaration made at the eGovernment conference on 8 July, ministers of the EU Member States, acceding countries, candidate countries and EFTA also underlined the need for citizen involvement, stating that the eGovernment approach should be centred on citizens and businesses rather than administrative formalities. Ministers therefore gave their backing to the European public administrations network's proposal of making organisational recommendations on this topic. They also invited the Commission to consider the findings of the conference when preparing the forthcoming communication on eGovernment.
For further information, please consult the following web address: www.help.gv.at/HELP-FC.html
Quelle: Cordis
