Will we become more Resilient and Digital?

What will be the impact of the Recovery and Resilience Plan on Public Administration?

The Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) is in public consultation on the ConsultaLEX Portal until March 1st.

The document can be read here and the process of listening to citizens, which is now being carried out and which precedes its formal submission to the European Commission, is well representative of its importance: “For its dimension and strategic relevance, for its structural impact and ambition, for its symbolism as a joint response of the European Union to an unprecedented crisis, the PRR must be the Plan of all the Portuguese, responding to the challenges we face and which, together and with determination, we will overcome”.

Therefore, the challenge for the participation of each one of us, citizens, recipients of the 36 Reforms and 77 Investments foreseen in it is launched, framed in three structuring dimensions: Resilience, Climate Transition and Digital Transition (accomplished through 19 Components) .

The PRR is nationally applicable, with an execution period until 2026, with resources amounting to around €14 billion in grants, a set of reforms and investments that are expected to allow the country to resume sustained economic growth, thus strengthening the goal of convergence with Europe over the next decade.

It can be read in the Introductory Note:

“At the end of 2017, Portugal started to prepare a medium-long-term strategy, embodied in the Portugal 2030 Strategy. In March 2020, the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus made it inevitable to revisit the work that had been completed until then. , with the need to introduce mitigation measures in the short and medium term, aiming at the recovery and resilience of the economy and society. In this context, Professor António Costa Silva was asked to promote the elaboration of a “Strategic Vision for Portugal's 2020-2030 economic recovery plan”, which was the object of a broad process of public consultation of Portuguese society, having merited a broad consensus with regard to most of the priorities listed”.

“In early 2021, the Government approved the Portugal 2030 Strategy which, having benefited from the contributions collected, is the benchmark for the application of the various policy instruments to be adopted in the near future, including the Multiannual Financial Framework (Portugal 2030 ) it's the Next Generation US, a temporary European instrument – ​​which includes the national Recovery and Resilience Plans (PRR) – designed to boost economic and social recovery, bearing in mind the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic”.

“In global terms, this will be the biggest package of stimulus measures ever financed by the European Union budget, totaling 1,8 billion euros, to help rebuild post-COVID-19 Europe, creating a more Europe. green, more digital and more resilient”.

Auspicious? Very.

The document is organized into four large chapters. In the first chapter, the global framework of the Recovery and Resilience Plan is systematized and how it responds to the needs of structural reform and recovery of the Portuguese economy and society; the second identifies the main strategic objectives and the challenges that the PRR intends to respond to at national and community level; the third details what is intended to be done and the results to be achieved in terms of reforms to be undertaken and investments to be made, identifying, in the fourth chapter, the governance model and the form of implementation of the Plan.

 

I will focus, in particular, on the impact of the PRR on Public Administration (AP).

Regarding the dimension of the Digital Transition, despite the efforts made, there are constraints to overcome, namely with regard to digital skills and capacity for digitalisation.

The pandemic demonstrated the need to have effective digital structures and networks that make it possible to dematerialize learning, transactions and processes and, where appropriate, enable remote work, accelerating, in an inclusive way, the digital transformation that was underway.

It is a process that will allow important structural efficiency gains, namely in terms of context costs for companies and people. The potential of the digital transition will make it possible to prepare and adapt the skills of the Portuguese to the new needs as citizens, for participation in a labor market marked by new production processes, new modes of business organization and new products and services, resulting from the growing digitization of economic activity.

At the same time, the improving the quality of public finances, reinforcing institutional resilience, and reducing context costs, with focus on economic justice and promoting administrative and legislative simplification, will guarantee a closer, more efficient and more transparent public administration for citizens and businesses.

These actions will be further enhanced by greater training, through the growing digitization and innovation of its processes and procedures and its relationship with all agents, including higher education.

The Digital Transition process, in its breadth, will be reinforced by the other dimensions of the PRR, Resilience and Climate Transition.

Digitization induces a more efficient use of resources and potentially promotes more sustainable behaviors. By promoting a more competitive economy, enhancing the evolution of national production in global value chains, and more inclusive, where everyone has a place and no one is left behind, digitization promotes the continuous reinforcement of the country's economic, social and territorial resilience, which will gain external competitiveness while strengthening internal cohesion.

Thus, and to ensure that Portugal accelerates the transition to a more digitized economy and society, within the scope of this Plan, the national options are based on 5 components: empowerment and digital inclusion of people through education, training in digital skills and promotion of digital literacy , digital transformation of the business sector and digitalization of the State.

 

Specifically, as far as the Public Administration is concerned, it is intended:

>>Promote the digitization of public administration, reinforcing interoperability and facilitating access to public services, in particular to Health, Social Security, finance and justice, significantly reducing context costs for citizens and companies;

>>To strengthen the qualification and rejuvenation of the public administration human resources framework;

>>Promote the development of advanced information systems, integrating artificial intelligence and the use of advanced computing forms in Portugal, stimulating their use by the public administration and companies.

The Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 55/2020, of 31 July, established the Strategy for Innovation and Modernization of the State and Public Administration 2020-2023 with the objective of strengthening the commitment to administrative modernization to better serve citizens and companies.

It is above all in this strategic document that the package of reforms and investments that embody the component is anchored. 19 | Public Administration - Digitization, Interoperability and Cybersecurity, which is structured in 4 axes: a) investing in people; b) develop management; c) explore the technology; and d) reinforce proximity.

To carry out this important transformation in public administration, the following reforms are to be implemented:

Digital public services, simple, inclusive and safe for citizens and companies. This reform aims to strengthen the relationship between the citizen and the State, including with regard to consular services, improving the digital experience, in an omni-channel and uniform logic, eliminating discrepancies in usability and accessibility, which leverage on the digital, but guaranteeing inclusion of all people, simplifying the State's relationship with companies and citizens in the most varied areas of State intervention, thereby reducing context costs.

The recommended reform is based on the following pillars, considered necessary to enhance the reach and impact of the investments associated with it:

a) Promote coordinated governance of the digital transformation of Public Administration, exploring the potential of technology in alignment with the needs of services and always aiming to better serve citizens and businesses;

b) Promote in a coordinated way the adoption of cloud solutions throughout the Public Administration;

c) Promote coordinated management of Public Administration data, with security and transparency for all interested parties, and value for society in general;

d) Strengthen the national cybersecurity framework and reform the current cybersecurity and information security coordination model;

e) Ensuring that all Public Administration services carry out transversal processes among themselves, or sharing infrastructure, technology or services. Indirectly, this is expected to have significant impacts on improving services to the general population.

 

It is intended, with the Reform of Connected, Safe and Smart Public Administration, prepare the State for the changes that result from the digital transformation process, integrating the solutions resulting from technological progress in the administration modernization strategy, providing economic and social advantages for society in general.

In this context of digital transformation, and in line with what is recommended by the National Reform Plan, the challenges associated with cloud computing, in the area of data science and cybersecurity.

Furthermore, the Public Administration must prepare its managers and workers to respond to today's demanding challenges, which is why it is urgent to: (i) increase the level of qualifications and skills of workers in public functions, with emphasis on the increasingly pressing digital skills and (ii) create conditions for the adoption of more agile and adaptive models for providing work in public functions, facilitating the management of professional, family and personal life (eg telework).

It is intended, therefore, a Public Administration empowered to Create Public Value guided by the development of skills of workers and managers, preparing them for the new paradigm of providing digital public services, whether by strengthening the bodies responsible for this matter, or by developing training offers suited to emerging needs.

To carry out these reforms, a set of investments in the amount of 812 M€ will be implemented, through:

Reformulation of public service services, with the creation of the National Single Digital Portal, the redesign of the most used digital services and the development of the multichannel service capacity (198 M€);

Sustainable electronic services, based on interoperability and use of data to increase transparency and efficiency (102 M€);

Reinforcement of the general cybersecurity framework on the basis of trust for the adoption of electronic services (47 M€);
Training of Public Administration – training of workers and management of the future (98 M€).

 

 

This last investment will implement three programs:

training programs where is included:

a) Infoexclusion Zero, aimed at public workers in a situation of infoexclusion (with potential complementarity with the Qualifica AP Program);

b) AP Digital 4.0, based on three axes, in close articulation with higher education institutions: a) Training in productivity tools; b) Training aimed at technicians in the IT career and/or who perform related functions; c) Training in emerging technologies and management, aimed at managers and workers in the Public Administration;
c) Higher and advanced training in management and administration, given by the INA and/or in a consortium with Higher Education Institutions, preferably aimed at managers.

Qualify AP Program – development of the Action Plan 2021.-2026 for the implementation of the objectives of the Qualifica AP Program approved by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 32/2019, of January 31, 2019;

Professional internship program in Public Administration which consists of a space for the development of skills of young people with higher education, allowing a first contact with the labor market, in which trainees and employers benefit mutually from a logic of transmission and renewal of institutional and intergenerational knowledge.

Note that the Recovery and Resilience Plan has a clearly programmatic nature. However, it is important to indicate the clear intention of investment, at various levels, in Public Administration.

The Public Administration today is struggling with complex structural problems, especially the aging of its workforce and managers, lack of motivation and a feeling of devaluation of the importance of public service, almost total inability to attract young talents, the result of a disinvestment of years the thread.

The current pandemic situation has highlighted the unavoidable relevance of a robust public sector. And it also came to demonstrate the AP's adaptability and the deep sense of mission of workers in public functions in a context of particular demand.

Last Thursday, the Council of Ministers approved the Decree-Law that alters the PA education and training model, creating the INA as a public institute. The resolution creating the extraordinary program of internships in direct and indirect administration “EstágiAP XXI” was also approved.

The organizational structure of the Planning, Policy and Prospective Competence Center – PlanAPP was also approved, and the Administration now has its 3rd Competence Center in addition to JurisAPP – State Legal Competence Center and TicAPP. These are demonstrative steps of a journey with a good direction: Form and Empower, Rejuvenate, Specialize.

A few weeks ago, the Algarve Regional Development and Coordination Committee successfully launched its (co-financed) Training and Qualification of Workers in Public Functions Program at regional level, developing a close collaborative work in a network with the other deconcentrated services, Algarve municipalities and remaining CCDR.

In the organizational context of CCDRAlgarve, the Transversal Structure of Good Governance and Transparency was also created.

What do these good practices have to do with the PRR? They are demonstrations of a strategic vision on the part of those who took over, at the end of last year, after election, the reins of the challenging and demanding commitment to bring to fruition, at a regional level, the fulfillment of the mission and attributions of a public service as relevant as is the CCDR.

But these good practices are also evidence that the Public Administration does more and better, more efficiently, more effectively, more transparently, with better quality.

And the materialization on the ground of the Recovery and Resilience Plan within the scope of the Public Administration will require managers and workers in public functions aligned with these purposes, people, who have already been noticed, are committed to giving their best contribution to building the Future.

 

Author: Inês Morais Pereira is a lawyer and worker in Public Functions

 

 

 

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