September 14, 2020, Kyiv. An online presentation of the report “Anti-corruption and Economic Potential of e-Services” was held. This is the first attempt to comprehensively assess the economic and anti-corruption effect of e-government services introduction in Ukraine in the context of 7 areas.
The study’s purpose is to show how much time and money users have already saved and could save in the long run by being able to receive services without visiting government agencies and without the involvement of intermediary service providers/officials. Also, it aims to show the possible impact of the online format of services on the corruption level.
The event was attended by Oleksii Vyskub, First Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Victor Liakh, President of the East Europe Foundation, and Oleksii Dorogan, CEO of the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO).
The report was prepared by the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) at the request of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and with the support of the USAID/UK aid project “Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services/TAPAS”, the Swiss-Ukrainian E-Governance for Accountability and Participation (EGAP) program and the East Europe Foundation.
The study evaluated 17 e-services in 7 areas:
- Online registration of private entrepreneurship, changes in private entrepreneurship data, and ending private entrepreneurship (Ministry of Justice, introduced in March 2017);
- Childbirth assistance (Social Policy Ministry, introduced in March 2017);
- Criminal record certificate (Ministry of Internal Affairs, introduced in September 2017);
- Declaration of compliance with fire-safety regulations (State Emergency Service, introduced in February 2018);
- Issuance and extension of e-licenses for road transportation of goods and passengers, notification on changes in carrier’s details (State Service of Transport Safety, introduced in August 2018);
- Obtaining and revoking permits on special water use (State Water Resources Agency, introduced in March 2019).
- Notification on the launch of pre-construction activities and launch of construction activities, declaration of readiness for commissioning (State Construction Inspectorate, introduced in December 2019);
Almost 1,200 individuals, private entrepreneurs, and representatives of legal entities were interviewed in the online, offline, and combined survey. Data on the number of services provided (including distribution by format (online or offline) were obtained from primary holders of the relevant information.
Analysts assessed both the real (taking into account only those users who currently use online services) and the potential effect (what it would be if all potential users opted for electronic procedures) of the e-services introduction based on respondents’ surveys and researchers’ calculations.
The analysis showed that the potential economic effect in seven areas that were analyzed is nearly UAH 495 million annually (this is nearly a two-thirds reduction in costs compared to the offline format). In absolute terms, the annual savings are almost 514 person-years, as most of the costs for obtaining government services offline (58%) are related to the users’ time spent: logistics, queues, filling out documents, and so on.
The savings potential is calculated, provided that all users opt for the online format of receiving services. Meanwhile, the real savings are UAH 36.7 million per year as a still small percentage of users chose online procedures.
A significant anti-corruption effect has also been recorded. The potential savings on bribes in the analyzed areas is UAH 841 million per year, and this is greater than the economic effect, while the real savings amount to UAH 32 million. Most (two thirds) of the recorded cases of probable corruption situations are related to the traditional (offline) way of providing administrative services.
Additionally, the survey results showed that the vast majority of respondents believe that corruption has decreased due to the introduction of electronic services. This opinion was expressed by 78% of respondents, of which 52% believe that corruption is significantly lower. All other respondents believe that the situation has not changed. And only 1% of respondents say that the corruption situation has worsened.
The full text of the report can be found at http://bit.ly/Economic_and_anti-corruption_impact_of_eServices
If you have additional questions, please contact the Ministry of Digital Transformation press office, tel: (097) 92-450-92, Anastasia Rymarchuk.
For reference
- The USAID/UK aid Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services / TAPAS Project, funded by the U.S. Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the UK Government through UK aid, is aimed at supporting the government of Ukraine to implement visible and successful reforms in public administration and services to reduce and eliminate corruption greatly. The TAPAS project promotes e-government reforms within three components: ensuring the large-scale use of e-procurement; supporting effective open data programs throughout Ukraine; creating effective e-services to fight corruption. The project is implemented by the Eurasia Foundation, which is an international development organization located in the United States and promoting effective governance and development of civil society. Read more at http://tapas.org.ua.
- The e-Governance for Accountability and Participation (EGAP) Program is being implemented by the East Europe Foundation and Innovabridge Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine over 2015-2023. The program is implemented with Switzerland’s support through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The target regions are Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, and Odesa oblasts. The work involves two key components: developing electronic services and electronic democracy at all levels. Details at https://egap.in.ua/
- The Better Regulation Delivery Office is an independent expert and analytical center funded by international donors, including the European Union, as part of the FORBIZ project and the EU4Business Initiative. We focus on improving the Ukrainian business environment, attracting investment in Ukraine, promoting entrepreneurship development, and establishing a public dialogue between the government and businesses.
For reference: (Calculation of time savings) The potential savings are 4.354 million person-hours (or almost 500 person-years) for 1.745 million annual service operations that have been analyzed. The number of annual operations for 17 services used by citizens was calculated, multiplied by time savings that a person receives by using a certain online service and divided by 365 days.