eGovernment in Europe’s Regions: Approaches and Progress in IST Strategy, Organisation and Services, and the Role of Regional Actors

The proliferation of eGovernment and its successful implementation in the regions of Europe is largely dependent on the prevailing cultural and historical climate of individual regions.
Many regions have good, well-written eGovernment plans and strategies, but the real value and success of the eInitiative can ultimately only be judged in terms of what has actually been put into place and the tangible results it has brought about.
This publication gives an in-depth insight into the approach to and progress of eGovernment in six important regions of Europe (i.e. Baden-Württemberg, Catalonia, Flanders, Lombardy, Scotland and Wales). From the cases studied, not only is it possible to identify strengths, progress and perhaps even some omissions, but �" looking objectively at the results �" also to identify where current good practice could be expanded so as to facilitate the development of useful trans-European projects in order to support the purpose of the eEurope initiative, namely to encourage and facilitate European cooperation and free movement.
In this context, the eEurope Action plan has clearly been a big influence in the shaping of policies, plans and programmes in the regions studied, as well as having been used as a tool to benchmark progress.
This publication shows how time and other resource-intensive the implementation of eGovernment is when done properly. We all want to develop appropriate and useful pan-European services, but resources are scarce, so why not concentrate on enriching the information already available through the pan-European programmes with information about local and regional best practices?
This publication not only shows the �" often very different �" levels of progress achieved by six regions in a very short space of time, but also gives scope for reflection on the way forward. The issues dealt with were the strategy and launch of individual eGovernment initiatives, the organisation and management of such ambitious projects, the provision and performance of eServices in the regions and, particularly, the role of regional players in the development of Information Society Technologies (IST) in their territory.
The challenge over the coming years will be to continue the work underway and enrich it through its development at the European level.