Key Questions

Clearly, a transition from “e” to “m” is about more than just screen size. Meeting service design, usability, infrastructure and security needs will require a completely new approach among service providers and – in the case of digital government – within the public sector. At the same time, “mobile” offers a completely new service dimensions for users. With the launch of the mobile application "Digital Office" by the Federal Ministry for Digitization and Economic Affairs, Austria has become one of the first European countries to pioneer the transformation of its administration from electronic to mobile government.

The “Digital Action Plan” – Austria’s digitalization strategy – aims to increase the service level for Austrian citizens and enterprises even further by introducing a single point of contact for the most important, digitally-available administrative services. By this means, we in Austria wish to contribute to “a Europe fit for the digital age”.

• How can we bring forward a MOBILE FIRST STRATEGY that ensures Member States’ individual approaches will be compatible with cross-border service objectives, thereby ensuring that all European citizens and businesses can make use of mobile systems?
• How can we ensure that existing approaches and regulations are free of blocking factors and that they enable administrations to benefit from their new mobile approaches?
• How can we ensure that existing and future instruments support the piloting and implementation of mobile applications, such that m-Government structures can be offered to the private sector in a way that promotes broad take-up (or adoption)?

Conference outcomes – to be summarized by Austria as a “European Statement for m-Government” – will then be provided as a concrete input into the strategic reflections and discussions of future joint priorities on an EU-level. Specifically, Austria will present results and recommendations within the Council Working Group on Telecommunications and Information Society as well as within the Council Working Group on Competitiveness and Growth (Internal Market).

Together with the Member States and the European Commission, we want to help shape the future of digital public services with the European Statement for m-Government, which should lead to a European Commitment.