the online portal is progressing
We live in an era of services where availability and friendliness are more important than ever before in the history of our society. In Switzerland, an international service stronghold, administrative services (online portals and e-government services) have been greatly expanded in recent years. For some time now, E-Government has been an unavoidable political issue in our country that can no longer be ignored.
In 2018, the Federal Council approved the “Swiss E-Government Strategy 2020-2023”, which sets out the measures for the expansion of E-Government until 2023. In a nutshell, the government intends to focus more on digital instead of analogue solutions for government services and thereby increase both efficiency and quality for the population. But where do we stand today and how satisfactory are the solutions implemented today?
Good but unstructured expansion.
In Switzerland, about 90 percent of the cantons provide administrative services via the digital channel. The top of the list is the extension of the deadline for tax returns, which is offered completely digitally by 88 percent of the cantons and partly digitally by 8 percent of the cantons. Compared to the cantons, it is surprising to note that the development of E-Government services is significantly weaker in the municipalities. This was due in particular to the lack of human resources and a lack of legal bases, as the managers indicate in the interviews. However, residents would like to see more expansion of services at the municipal level. Another challenge seems to be the use of existing solutions for E-Government portals: The cantons and municipalities apparently use a wide variety of systems, but from the user’s point of view there is at least no defined line in usability or processes. This considerably complicates the interaction – especially when a person or company needs to obtain similar services in several cantons, for example in the case of people with several jobs or residences.
Modern services
In international comparison, Switzerland is relatively well ranked, but it is not at the top of the list: in the E-Government Development Index, it ranked 15th out of 193. Measured against the exceptionally high quality of life, the almost unique physical infrastructure and Switzerland’s role as an innovation centre for technological development, this is a result that can confidently be questioned. In surveys – for example for the National E-Government Study 2019 – a large part of the population judges the current offer to be sufficient. An acceptable result, but only acceptable if we are honest. So there’s certainly more.
Switzerland is a country of services with the highest standards and international standards. It is therefore high time that this is reflected in our E-government services.
Matthias Wintsch
