The UK public sector operates in over 145 countries; there are over 4 million UK Citizens living abroad who still require public services from the UK; there are many international agreements which our technology and systems must interface with.

If we look towards Europe, UK citizens are free to live and work in any Member State and UK businesses are free to trade anywhere within the Union. Similarly, citizens and businesses from Europe are free to live and work or trade in the UK. ICT-enabled public services are often the enabler to making this happen and more simply than traditional paper-based methods. To make this a reality, Europe needs common policies and agreements which require Member States to join efforts to implement the objectives of European legislative requirements.

To deliver ICT-enabled cross-border services and polices set out in a wide range of European Union agreements, decisions and treaties, Member States need secure electronic networks, agreed data protocols, and common information frameworks to work to. The information sent over these networks varies widely – from farm subsidies to vehicle details, to professional qualifications and social security information. Enabling such networks and agreements across 27 Member States is challenging and every effort is made to ensure Member States avoid duplicating the same solutions and instead add value by sharing common business and technical processes.

The UK is seen as one of the world leaders in ICT-enabled service delivery and makes every effort to continue to share our experience with other governments around the world. Learning from our international peers helps the UK to improve existing services and innovate in new areas.

Historically, the Office of the Government CIO and its predecessors have engaged internationally, be it through ongoing policy and delivery commitments with the rest of Europe, or through multinational networks for knowledge and best practice sharing, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The Office of the Government CIO also maintains two substantial commitments within a European Union (EU) context: taking forward the i2010 Ministerial eGovernment Declarations, which form part of the umbrella i2010 EU Information Society strategy and delivering against the subsequent Action Plans; and, along with other Member States, providing committee oversight of the current ‘Interoperable Delivery of European eGovernment Services to Administrations, Businesses and Citizens’ programme.

We are also involved in other wider networks such as the ‘OECD Network for Senior eGovernment Officials’, the ‘5-Nations CIO Group’ (members of which are the relevant government bodies in Australia, Canada, United States, New Zealand and the UK), the ‘International Council for IT in Government Administration’ and the ‘European Public Administrations Network’.

Bringing together senior policy and delivery officials across government and the Devolved Administrations, the OGCIO is the secretariat for the European Interest Group, the aim of which is to share knowledge and best practice, solve common problems and overcome barriers in the delivery of ICT-enabled Europe Community projects and programmes.

As individual strategy leads, OGCIO officials provide specialist policy and delivery guidance to other government departments who work on their own sectoral commitments to Europe. Much progress has been made in recent years to build understanding, common ground and approaches, although more remains to be done.

• Best practice: we will engage further with our International and European counterparts, learning from their best practice in service delivery. We will work with other European Member States and will continue to be a force of strength in overcoming obstacles which hinder our progress in the delivery of efficient and effective delivery of public services across Europe
• Aligned interoperable strategies and technology: in order to continue being at the forefront of ICT Strategy development, we will continue to engage with European and multinational networks. Without the support of our external peers, we risk developing our own strategy in a vacuum. When so much of our service delivery crosses borders, it is imperative that we maintain these links
• Simplification, standardisation, interoperability: to deliver on the aims of the various initiatives, common frameworks and guidelines must be established. The OGCIO will increase its engagement in the development and implementation of the European Interoperability Strategy and Framework. Without common agreement, duplication will be rife and business processes multiplied unnecessarily

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