The European eGovernment conference “Simple, secure and transparent public services” was a two-day event organised by the Luxembourg State IT Centre (Centre des technologies de l’information de l’État - CTIE) in the context of Luxembourg’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. It took place at the brand new "Maison du Savoir" in Esch-sur-Alzette, the main building of the Beval campus of the University of Luxembourg and brought together approximately 150 eGovernment professionals from very diverse backgrounds and from all over Europe.
Participation to the conference was by invitation only. The conference was built around the following main themes:
- Digital strategies and policies
- Once only principle (OOP)
- Citizen engagement in the design of public services and policy making
- Cross-border public services and interoperability
- Open data
- Electronic identification and trust services (eIDAS)
Andrus Ansip, Vice-President of the European Commission for the Digital Single Market, opened the conference the morning of December 1st 2015 by a committed speech in favour of a profound transformation of public administrations through the means offered by information and communication technologies, and via a better and more intense use of the tremendous potential of these technologies.
In the course of his speech, the Vice-President enumerated three fundamental principles leading the actions of the European Commission in eGovernment matters:
- Digital by default: For all interactions and transactions between administrations and between administrations and citizens or businesses, it should be possible to do them electronically.
- Open by default: Administrations and public bodies have to open up and be open to citizens and civil society, and have to allow them to participate in the definition of policies and the design of public services. They should also systematically publish their data and documents in open and reusable formats.
- Cross-border by default: Online services and administrative procedures have not only to work on a national level but throughout the whole European Union. It’s only like this that we can achieve a true digital single market.
The conference offered a platform for European public sector organisations to share their projects, best practices and experiences in the eGovernment field, both on EU and Member State levels. Speakers who are acknowledged experts in their field presented key issues faced in European public administration modernisation. The panel discussions that addressed some of the hottest topics of the moment in the field allowed for multiple angles to be explored and diverse points of view to be expressed, and were to a large extent engaging, dynamic and controversial.
The agenda also gave participants plenty of time and opportunity to network, debate and exchange ideas during both the conference and the social events that took place in the context of the conference.