Benefits of eGov? Finnish government has been able to automate many traditional administrative duties of citizens. This is done by using the central databases and by collecting information from employers, banks, insurance companies etc. Administrative reporting from companies is common practice but in Finland this information may be used more effectively. The result is a very small number of C2G transactions per citizen per year. On the other hand companies have many reporting duties. For that Finnish agencies have developed electronic services and integration of administrative reporting into the ERP and HRM systems used in companies.

Accuracy? The central databases on population, companies, real estate etc are rather accurate. E.g. informing about change of address is made very simple – one phone call or web form and the Post Office and Population Register have the change and then it is available to e.g. tax administration.

Trust? A crucial question. The Finns are generally happy with tha way government acts as it makes life easier. Some agencies like Population Register and Central Pensions Register give on-line access so that you can see what information they have on you. The authentication is done with the web banking passwords or electronic ID card (PKI). In any case you always get a printout of your information free of charge if you ask for it.

Expenditure on ICT? In the central government some 5 – 6% of operational expenses is used in ICT. In some agencies the share is much higher. The municipal sector uses much less per employee but expenditure is growing especially in health care.

As I recall, a few years back, when the Canadian finance ministry proposed a large cross referenced record as the basis of some new system other, which was ultimately rejected, the figure of over 2000 pieces of information being held on each Canadian citizen was mentioned.

How can there be a realistic debate on strategies for e-government if the scope and magnitude of the exisiting data holdings by Government etc. on individual citizens is not actually known ?

How can the UK public be expected to trust “Big Brother” government with more personal information if it continues to operate in a Kafkaesque “faceless bureacrat” mode ?

N.B. anti-spam “captcha” codeword entry seems to get lost if one tries to Preview and then post a comment.

We’re interested in user experiences of convenience, openness, and why people trust the state with information. Also efficiency – less hassle and lower cost (tho I think lower tax is not one of the advantages Finland offers?)

Kable did work out that countries like Finland (also Denmark, Sweden and to a lesser extent the UK) spend 4 to 6 times as much per head of population on IT for public services as Mediterraenean EU countries like Greece and Portugal, which is interesting given that they all signed up to the same e-Europe 2005 targets.

Anyone who wants to be an author please email me for username and password. Thx

What I’m not disputing is that the government does hold quite a lot of data on individuals and that the individuals do have a high trust on the government’s handling of that data…

So, I think this question should be whether more unified datasets should exist whether people trust government or not. Cor – worra paternalist.

e.g. whether the electoral register is used to identify potential tax payers or sold as a commercial mailing list makes areal difference to people putting their names on it.

I daresay that most of the British public do not feel the same way. No one I know feels happy for the government to hold stacks of information – purchasing habits, library activities, etc – just as long as they know that the government is tracking it.