Assessment and government policy for 2004-2007

Report has been written which discusses an assessment of how Icelandic government policy on the information society has been implemented. Entitled Resources to Serve Everyone, this policy spans the period of 2004 to 2007.

The report comprises, on the one hand, an evaluation of each policy objective and, on the other, an evaluation of how the policy has been organised and implemented.

Capacent carried out its assessment in accordance with the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) Excellence Model, which measures four factors in relation to each objective. These factors are the following: deployment, take-up, performance and impact.

In the judgement of Capacent, much has been achieved during the period up till now: the web portal www.island.is has been launched, digital certification has almost been accomplished, and companies and other bodies have to some extent begun to take advantage of electronic procurement. Not only has the public acquired access to various Portals, but its access to mobile phone and high-speed connections has progressed substantially, and its access to international data banks such as www.hvar.is has already been secured. Even though this list could be lengthened considerably, however, the government still falls short of achieving every objective expressed in the policy. Out of the 64 objectives appearing in the policy, 18 have been completed in full, 23 are at an advanced stage and 11 more are in progress. This leaves 12 objectives practically untouched. Finally, if quality of outcome, impact and take-up are taken into consideration, only 5 objectives earn the highest grade, besides 25 which earn the second highest grade.

In the opinion of Capacent, the main reasons why results have not been better are the following:

• The objectives were inadequately defined, with most of them being neither quantitative nor time-specific, making it difficult to assess the results.
• The objectives were not prioritised in the policy statement. Even though the project management has issued a priority ranking for 2007 and 2008 allocations, Capacent feels that the publication of this ranking along with the policy statement would lead to better results.
• A considerably stronger effort must be undertaken to enhance the awareness of ministries and public bodies regarding the practical potential of information technology for increased efficiency and improved service. Although significant attempts have been made to raise this awareness, there are several ministries still remaining which have done little to carry out the policy. Since ministries and other bodies enjoy virtual autonomy as to whether and how the policy is executed, the project managers have limited means of ensuring implementation.
• The supervisory role of the project management needs bolstering. Currently, ministries have no formal obligations of reporting to project management, so that even if they have always eventually submitted brief annual status reports, these have in some instances not been easy to procure.
  When the status of these 64 objectives is examined in regard to Iceland's international position, it is clear that the nation has not maintained its former rank in the use of information technology. While no detailed international comparison has been undertaken, a few aspects of utilisation are examined in Section 4.5.