Arturas Gruodis, Alna Software Director

We usually see solutions of e-government from the point of view of public institutions that exercise these solutions: how to realize the conception of e-government or what we have to do to improve the infrastructure. Sometimes we look at this subject as IT specialists do: what we do better than is done abroad, where there is still room for improvement, what innovations we can offer, etc.

Perhaps the rarest case in the public sector is when problems in this sphere are dealt with from the point of view of an ordinary user. How can life be made more comfortable? How can the document-handling processes be simplified? What is needed to make e-services become more popular or even fashionable?

Some time ago it was popular to organize experiments: a person was given a computer with internet access and had to earn a living, buy food, and gain money without leaving home. Of course, all this had to be done only through the internet. Today these things are already possible and do not surprise anybody. But is it possible for a Lithuanian citizen dealing with public institutions to settle all matters through the internet? And how will this situation change in five years?

Let us review the present situation in Lithuania. Solutions of electronic government are classified according to what extent each of them reduces the necessity for a person to carry the paper documents from one institution to another. Solutions of the first level enable an institution to provide only general information. A ministry or service’s ordinary website that provides information about, for example, what documents the applicant should submit can be taken as an example.

According to the statistics of Information Society Development Committee under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, the total number of public e-services in Lithuania currently amounts to 417, and first-level services make up 211 of these services. The number of intermediate second-level and third-level solutions is 166 and 31 respectively. Electronic public services of the fourth level, which are best suited to the clients’ needs, comprise only 9. Thanks to these services, a person can settle certain matters with public institutions electronically, without paper documents.

One of the best-known solutions is the Electronic Declaration System (EDS) of the State Tax Inspectorate. It is a standard fourth-level solution. Today, about 650,000 people use EDS in Lithuania. That is impressive, is it not? That number probably exceeds the number of Skype users in the country.

The electronic informational system of SODRA may also become quite popular. This system will help the insurers save time and expenses related to the preparation and submission of social insurance reports. SODRA has recently offered a new service to individuals: employees will be provided the possibility to receive reports via the internet about their social insurance contributions, the periods for which these contributions were paid by their employers, the amount of insured income, etc. In my opinion, the number of such services will grow in the future, and since most of us are clients of this social insurance system, these services will undoubtedly be popular.
Participants in real estate transactions will be interested in the Real Estate Transaction Public Electronic Service of the Centre of Registers, which is currently being created by Alna Software. After the launch of this system, a “one-stop shop” principle will be implemented: parties to a transaction will not have to apply to the Centre of Registers in person; a notary will be able to do this on their behalf. Moreover, documents of transactions will be drafted and stored at the Centre of Registers in an electronic format.

All these systems that are already operating or are still being developed perform a very important function; they enhance confidence in electronic solutions and form the basis for their faster implementation in the future. It is also important that after implementing a “one-stop shop” principle in public institutions and creating the infrastructure of electronic signature there will be no more technological obstacles for the development of e-services. The only thing that will be needed is demand from users.

Let us think what electronic solutions we would like to have available after five years. For example, how could e-solutions change our health care system?

First of all, each person could have an electronic medical history. It could be filled throughout the patient’s life and would enable easy review of previous diseases and results of analyses. This database has already been created and could be used for storing medical histories.

Registration could also be electronic; patients could see the specialist’s schedule and choose the most suitable time for consultation. Such a system would guarantee the transparency of processes and be convenient to people. In one of the primary health care institutions in Vilnius, such a possibility is already being offered. According to health protection specialists, another step would be the integration of presently operating e-solutions into a common system.

With the help of a unified system of information interchange among medical institutions, physicians could easily share results of analyses and hold consultations. The most important innovation for patients could be an electronic book of prescriptions, which would simplify the process of prescription, enable delivery of compensated pharmaceuticals to a patient’s residence, etc.

These are just few of the innovations that lack only the initiative of citizens and the decisions of the proper authorities to be realised. Today technological possibilities hardly restrict the flight of fantasy. We must not stop dreaming about a more convenient future and start creating it today.