Iceland is well known for its high quality of life, the protection of human rights, low crime rate and stunning scenery.
And when it comes to digital government efforts, it is also one of the frontrunners worldwide, leading the digital revolution in public services.
The country has started working on offering public services digitally since 1996 and now has one of the highest digitalisation rates in the world, with more than 99% of its population having Internet access.
So, a Kepios analysis indicates that internet users in Iceland increased by 0.6% between 2021 and 2022.
Scoring high in digital service and infrastructure
According to the UN’s annual digital government assessment, the eGovernment Development Index, Iceland is ranked fifth globally (out of 193 countries)
This is up from the country’s twelfth-place ranking in 2020.
If you haven’t seen the report, Denmark ranked first, followed by Finland, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, and then Iceland in fifth.
The UN bases its assessment on three main areas and indexes:
- Online Service Index
- Human Capital Index
- Telecommunication Infrastructure Index
Iceland ranked exceptionally high in both Human capital and infrastructure.
Iceland’s digital infrastructure has two elements.
One is the creation of an ‘e-ID’ that citizens use as a digital signature to access different public services, with more than 90% of adults having one.
The second is digitizing documents and services used to prove who someone is, such as driving licenses – used by more than 50% of the population.
According to European Commission’s Benchmark report, Iceland is Europe’s eID frontrunner.
In this country, online documentation can be uploaded or obtained for all relevant services.
Coordination of digital government at all levels
What usually happens with most governments is that the majority of central government services are offered online
Meanwhile, only a small percentage of local services are offered.
This disparity in service provision and the lack of coordination between different levels of government can be significant barriers to digital government.
However, in Iceland, there is a seamless integration of all three levels of government.
A high level of digitalisation of local, central and regional governments is often an accurate indication of good eGovernment in general.
Transparency of service design
Citizen consultation and participation channels help users understand the policy and digital service design.
Based on this, they can choose to have their say if they wish to.
In Iceland, almost all public organisations are transparent about how policy is being made, and they engage with citizens in these policymaking processes via public consultations.
Iceland manages to use digital technologies to stimulate citizen engagement and policy participation.
There is clarity on how digital public services are being designed.
Additionally, more than half of administrations provide information about how they design digital services and explain what panels, processes, panels, expert groups and stakeholders are involved.
Staying consistent
The Icelandic government has become more and more reliant on open data, and the vast majority of Icelanders have access to the internet.
This allows many aspects of Icelandic life to be run digitally, with citizens interacting with their government electronically rather than physically.
All these efforts have made it one of the five strongest countries in this field, whether we look to the UN Survey or the European Union.
However, moving forward, the goal is to do even better and be at the forefront of all aspects of digital government, including the OSI( Online Services Index)
The focus in the country should be on making all services available digitally by improving their scope and quality.
If Iceland wants to be leading Europe or the world regarding the digitalisation of its government, it needs to be more proactive in web 2.0 applications and provide more tailor-made e-services for different segments of citizens.
Sources:
https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/egovernment-benchmark-2022
https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/Data/Country-Information/id/76-Iceland
