Riga, January 26, 2021 - Environment Protection and Regional Development Minister Artūrs Toms Plešs (AP!) today presented the representatives of the E-Government Sub-Committee of the Saeima's Commission for Sustainable Development his priorities and informed of the ongoing reform of digital transformation.
Minister Plešs (AP!): “We are in times of change where we can put the country on a much more timely development path by making the right and strategic decisions. Covid-19 has also introduced its own adjustments and the challenges we face today have no precedent, so fragmentation and indecision have no place to go. VARAM committed to providing appropriate tools for enabling every citizen to be fully oriented in the digital environment."
In order to implement the reform of digital transformation, the Ministry is working in a number of directions: in coordination, the Digital Transformation Guidelines for 2021-2027 have been passed on to ministries and social partners, as well as work has been undertaken on the reform of Information and Data Management, the reform of Service Management and the implementation of the ICT governance reform of the State administration. . The digital skills of society and public administration workers play an important role in the successful implementation of digital transformation, and therefore, in cooperation with responsible ministries and authorities, particular attention is paid to skills policy and its adaptation to modern needs.
Minister Plešs (AP!): “The reform centre has three pillars: data, services and infrastructure. In order to promote the digital transformation of the economy and to create the necessary conditions for growth, these three interrelated areas need to be systematically sorted, in addition to strengthening the digital skills of the population and providing access to services. U. The digital leap is inevitable, so we must act decisively, wisely and responsibly!"
In presenting the reforms in the digital field under the direct responsibility of the Ministry, the Minister outlined in detail three successful reforms for the digital transformation needed to make efficient use of the digital infrastructure capabilities of the public administration, to make data available freely, which would also create new services, as well as to prevent the fragmented and non-reciprocal state data being switched on. converging systems, thus not sharable.
Information and data management reform, aimed at achieving significantly wider data sharing opportunities between national and commercial sectors and across sectors, while also ensuring greater data availability in the single European Union (EU) data spaces (e.g. sharing health data, financial sector, etc., while strengthening the control capacity of individuals over and using their data. The data will therefore be fully managed and used as an essential national resource for economic growth and for the efficiency of public administration.
The reform of service management aims to ensure that the day-to-day functioning of the administration is focused on creating value for society, increasing the quality of systemic public services and providing efficient delivery. . The operational lines of this reform include: establishing a single national framework for service management; measuring the quality and effectiveness of the provision of comprehensive services; developing a systemic approach in the management of services from planning to use and continuous development; improving the usability and accessibility of digital services; increasing cross-border access to services; developing a unified network of national and municipal customer services – expanding it into regions and increasing the remote service of the population.
The reform of national digital technology management aims to ensure efficient and green functioning of the country's digital infrastructure by eliminating the fragmentation of public administration ICT, by developing specialised competence centres, and by concentrating ICT resources in institutions that are able to ensure their sharing or re-use for all management, and by gradually switching to modular, computing resources efficiently, architecture. . In addition, it is planned to develop centralised computing infrastructure sharing services by creating a “national cloud” for their providers, which is also open to attracting commercial resources in line with the need to: I. The reform also provides for a clear responsibility and a common policy for developing the country's overall digitalisation, where the coordination of ICT use in the national administration (including municipalities) is based on a single national policy where WE can be managed and coordinated.
In addition, the Minister stresses that there is a need to ensure the availability of comprehensive communications throughout the country, which is in line with the current situation, with significantly increased demands on the availability and quality of communication data, particularly by strengthening the availability of communications in the regions. . Further development of the country's digital transformation will not be possible without sufficient digital skills for citizens and public administrations. Skills to apply the opportunities provided are essential, both by offering and receiving services, so that people's capital constraints do not become an obstacle to the development of Latvia's digital economy I. The Ministry sees the need to target the digital skills and capabilities of society, while ensuring a free-access infrastructure and a motivational supporting ecosystem. . The Ministry, in cooperation with other institutions, will continue to implement measures to ensure the development of the digital basic skills of public administration and citizens.
Information prepared by
Miks Strazdiņš
Adviser to the Minister on Communications
Ministry for Environment Protection and Regional Development
Tel. 67026430
e-mail: miks.strazdins@varam.gov.lv
www.varam.gov.lv