Microsoft souhaite des normes pour les services publics en ligne[en] 

The European Commission considers the ability to offer public services online - so-called 'e-Government' - as a priority in order to reduce public expenses, provide better services and widen the knowledge-based European society. In the EU's view, paying taxes, acquiring a certificate or finding a job are activities that should be carried out via the Internet. 

E-Government is one of the pillars of the i2010 strategy launched by Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding in 2005 to promote convergence in information and communication technologies by the end of the decade. 

The European Services Directive (also known as the Bolkestein Directive), scheduled to enter into force in 2008, will further increase Europe's focus on e-Government. Indeed, the text requires public authorities to offer a range of online services to citizens by 2009. 

The majority of public services provided to citizens remain the reponsibility of local authorities. But currently they are "hugely fragmented", according to Graham Colclough, Vice President of Global Cities and Regional Government for CAP Gemini , a business consultancy. Colclough was speaking at the 'Government Leaders Forum – Europe' organised by the American giant in Berlin on 22-23 January.  

In a recent report commissioned by Microsoft, CAP Gemini highlighted that half of public spending in Europe is delivered locally. At the same time, the online services provided vary considerably among European countries and regions, with a gap of "around 50% among the first and last". 

The Commission considers reducing this fragmentation as essential to increasing cooperation between public authorities, with 'interoperability' the keyword. Indeed, Brussels is progressing in this direction with the launch, scheduled for May 2008, of the SEMIC platform aimed at harmonising the format and content of online public services. 

Microsoft is also approaching the problem with a new range of software, the Citizen Service Platform (CSP), launched at the Berlin conference. The idea is to facilitate cooperation by offering the same products to everybody, as has already occurred in offices and households worldwide with its Windows operating system. 

"This kind of application is very, very easy to build, and so having that as a standard platform for people to start with will mean that you can execute on projects within a matter of months instead of years", Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said yesterday speaking in Berlin at the GLF.

Microsoft insists that the new platform will guarantee interoperability. Indeed, it is designed to be used by public authorities in conjunction with the other software currently at their disposal. But even if smaller operators do not question its interoperability, there may be a new cause for concern for Microsoft's main competitors in this sector, IBM and Oracle. 

Last week, the European Commission opened a new probe against Microsoft to assess the interoperability of its Office Suite, several server products and the programming language .NET (see Euractiv 15/01/2008) following a complaint filed by ECIS, whose members include Oracle and IBM. 

"For the good of Europe, we should aim to become leaders in transforming public services through e-Government", said Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding after the launch of the i2010 strategy in 2005. 

Her colleague, Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla, confirmed the Commission's line. He told the 'Government Leaders Forum – Europe' that "e-Government is an essential element in modernising governments and administrations". 

However, after over two years and halfway towards the 2009 target, "fragmentation remains a huge problem, with around 200,000 European public local authorities and scarce communication among them”, pointed out Gareth Hughes, CEO of eris@, a network of regions aimed at increasing the exchange of best practice and services. 

Graham Colclough, Global Vice President of Cities and Regions for CAP Gemini, said: "Local authorities are the big uncracked nut in e-Government. They are hugely fragmented and because of that, they need industrialised, repeatable solutions". 

"CSP arose from a series of projects between Microsoft, our partners, and local and regional governments. By incorporating past lessons and achievements, we will be able to provide governments with technologies they can cost-effectively and easily deploy for the direct benefit of their citizens", said Jean-Philippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International.