19 minute read
Government CIO Barry Lowry explores catalytic impact of Covid
Government of Ireland CIO, Barry Lowry, discusses the importance of delivering the building blocks of transformation and the Covid-19 pandemic’s catalytic impact on the use of digital services.
In December 2019, the Government issued a public commitment to making digital transformation a priority for the year ahead. Usefully, the Government’s statement also included extensive detail and outlined four major principles of this transformation, namely:
1. appointment of a board member responsible for digitalisation in each department;
2. to ensure the most frequently used services are used digitally rather than simply being available online;
3. to ensure that all digital services have the same look and feel, are understandable and easy to use, and use available infrastructure as building blocks; and
4. to ensure that all services are developed in line with best practice, for example, transformational, userdriven, mobile-centric and accessible by all.
Responding to a question posed on whether Ireland is ready to transform its digital public services, Lowry says he believes so and points to the digital foundations for digital transformation which the Government has been utilising for some time now.
Progress to date, he asserts, has been underpinned by the driving principle of enabling people to use government services at the time and place of their choosing and a central plank of that principle has been the delivery of MyGovID. Highlighting the growth in use of MyGovID from a base of fewer than 10,000 accounts five years ago, Lowry indicates that a milestone of over one million verified users was surpassed in February 2021.
The Government’s CIO believes that the pandemic has accelerated uptake of MyGovID accounts and attributed to 29 million logins to online government services to date.
Another major component of digitalisation has been Gov.ie, the portal from which all government services are presented and something which Lowry describes as “absolutely critical” throughout the pandemic as the go-toplace for information for citizens on available services.
Additionally, the Government is in the process of enacting the Data Sharing and Governance Act, signed into law in March 2019, and the Data Governance Board will meet in early 2021. Alongside the Public Service Data Strategy 20192023, which sets out a detailed vision to deliver a more coherent whole-ofGovernment approach to how data is used and managed within the public service, Lowry contends that Ireland is more advanced than any other country in Europe in relation to data and is worthy of its rating as the best in terms of open data.
Discussing the Government’s progress in digital transformation, Lowry states that digital government is something quite different from the previous process of the move from analogue government to egovernment. “E-government is when we took bits of our analogue model and computerised it, whereas digital government is something quite different, where we reimagine services because digital is now available,” he says.
“That’s a space which we are now moving into. We are starting to consult and involve customers more, through various means such as workshops, to really get an understanding of their journeys before we design our digital services.”
By way of example, Lowry points to a partnership between his department and Trinity Business School, where the Department asks 120 digital marketing master’s students to navigate and report on life events, such as entering the higher-level undergraduate education system, navigating the small claims court, registering a business in Ireland, or applying for Irish citizenship. Outlining how recommendations then inform improvements to the services, Lowry adds: “What is really interesting is that not only are we getting feedback from the generation which is using digital and mobile digital the most but that it is with a group with digital marketing expertise. Additionally, 80 per cent of the students are non-indigenous. At a time when our population is moving towards 20 per cent non-indigenous, it is critical that our digital services meet the demands of all, not just those native to the country.”
Lowry identifies the Covid Tracker app, developed in response to the pandemic, as the “perfect example” of how digital government should work. A user-centred approach to development, ranging from how the app looked to the features embedded within it, alongside utilisation of local SMEs, multi-nationals and internal capability has delivered what is widely regarded as a global exemplar for an app of its nature.
“I think it is a very good example of how government needs to be rather than how we used to be,” states Lowry.
Looking towards the future, Lowry believes that the Government should never be satisfied with its performance in relation to digital government but alludes to many positive developments.
The OECD references the concept of ‘Government as a Platform’, which relates to government setting out the standards and approaches to the use of data, and this is intended not just for all public services but for the private sector also.
Lowry suggests that this approach is a major component of the current workstream and points to e-Credentials, a current programme looking at how citizens can use their government verified credentials for personal use, as a prime example.
Another important element is inclusivity and Lowry points to a further example of ongoing work with a start-up company relating to AI supported apps to enable citizens, whose first language is not English, to better access government services.
He elaborates: “Transparency is another major part of what we are doing and everything we do, including the Covid Tracker app. We work with the Data Protection Commissioner in advance where possible to ensure that what we are doing is transparent and will meet the needs of GDPR.
“All of this gives us an opportunity to deliver offline services better too because we appreciate that we are not likely to, in the near future or even in the medium-term, get to a situation where 100 per cent of people are using digital government services.
“I believe for those who can’t, we can use the freed-up capacity to deliver a much better service,” he concludes.
eInvoicing: Smart collaboration to drive adoption among suppliers
From EU research projects to AI and Blockchain initiatives, IT Sligo’s collaborations with public bodies and business are helping to deliver innovative eInvoicing implementations across the public sector. Padraig Harte, Lecturer in Computing at IT Sligo, outlines the role his organisation has had in Ireland’s eInvoicing journey, some of the initiatives that are underway and the importance of an education and supports based approach to increasing supplier uptake of eInvoicing going forward.
While legislation and the national approach are key drivers for establishing an eInvoicing capability within the public sector, academia is also playing an important role in the digital transformation of invoice processing in public procurement. Over the last 10 years, IT Sligo have built up an extensive body of knowledge and expertise in the area of electronic invoicing (eInvoicing). This includes research and development work and collaborations with technology, policy, public administration and business stakeholders, both in Ireland and across Europe.
“We first became involved in eInvoicing in 2012, providing research support and coordination for a pilot electronic invoicing project for the Irish Government. That pilot successfully proved that suppliers could send invoices electronically to Irish Government agencies irrespective of the formats used by the Government Agency or the supplier,” recalls Harte.
Subsequently, a Multi-Stakeholder Forum on eInvoicing was established by the EU Commission, which resulted in an eInvoice standard. It was approved through EU National Standards Bodies, and the NSAI in Ireland, and became the only accepted eInvoice standard for the EU.
Since April 2020, all public bodies must be able to receive and process electronic invoices in accordance with the European Directive (2014/55/EU) and the European standard for eInvoicing in public procurement. The implementation of the Directive in Ireland was led by the Office of Government Procurement which established the eInvoicing Ireland Programme to facilitate and enable public bodies to make the necessary provisions to meet their legal obligations.
The eInvoicing standard, Directive and the availability of EU funding facilitated public bodies to collaborate in order to establish their eInvoicing capability. With their expertise in this field, IT Sligo coordinated several important public sector CEF Digital eInvoicing projects in both Ireland and other EU States.
One such project was with the Department of Education and Skills’ Education Shared Business Services function (ESBS). This project upgraded the ESBS’ existing eInvoice processing system to support the European eInvoicing standard (EN) and promoted the uptake of eInvoicing across SMEs in Ireland. The project helped both large organisations and SMEs to adopt eInvoicing and send them to ESBS, thereby minimising administrative and cost overheads. The project also interfaced purchase card bank-produced files for processing via the eInvoicing system. This has proven to be a very successful European standard compliant eInvoicing initiative in the public service with a significant number of suppliers on-boarded and increasing volumes of eInvoices now being processed by ESBS.
Another agency with centralised responsibility for coordinating invoice processing for their sector is the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA). In excess of one million invoices are processed annually across 31 local authority’s. IT Sligo coordinated a project, in collaboration with the LGMA, to establish a central eInvoicing gateway for three local authority’s. Suppliers can now submit eInvoices, via the national Peppol-based approach, to the LGMA’s eInvoicing exchange gateway which integrates with each local authority’s ERP system. eInvoices are automatically received and validated for compliance with the European standard. Local requirements are also validated, such as the existence of mandatory information that might be required for processing the invoice as ready for payment. This approach and the lessons learned during the project is being used to roll out eInvoicing within the other 28 local authorities.
Another ongoing project is the eInvoicing
for Communities project which uses a community-based model. The Tubbercurry area in Sligo is involved and they are Ireland’s first smart community who are focused on how local citizens and businesses can use technology, including eInvoicing, to enhance the way they interact with public bodies to transform their community in significant and positive ways. There is also work ongoing to explore the potential of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to further improve the invoice processing, provide data analytics and to help detect and prevent fraud. One of IT Sligo’s projects involves using an AI machine learning system to identify, and divert into an exception workflow, invoices that are liable for Withholding Tax while another is focused on the automation of invoice processing.
In addition to establishing and promoting the use of digital, “these projects have generated valuable insights into how to encourage the adoption of eInvoicing among suppliers. Our research and the learnings from these projects point to the need for the public sector to take a cohesive national approach and to take proactive measures to educate and assist their suppliers on eInvoicing in terms of how it works, the benefits and the options available to get setup,” explains Harte.
To help address this, IT Sligo developed an innovative massive open online course (MOOC) that deals specifically with eInvoicing, covering these areas and certifying participants who complete the course.
While the European Directive, the national approach and the OGP’s Framework for procuring eInvoicing services have been key to building the roadmap for the eInvoicing journey in Ireland, Harte believes “that the eInvoicing standard and a common National and European approach are gaining momentum and will be key in transitioning eInvoicing from being an innovative development to become the predominate method for invoice processing in both public and private sectors”.
Office of Government Procurement eInvoicing supports for Public Bodies
To facilitate public bodies in reaching compliance with the eInvoicing Directive, the Office of Government Procurement established a National Framework Agreement for the provision of eInvoicing and Peppol networking services to the public sector in Ireland.
The eInvoicing service providers on the Framework connect public bodies to the Peppol network and offer solutions and services to enable basic compliance with the Directive as well as a more fully integrated approach to eInvoicing, facilitating ‘straight-through processing’. eInvoicing and straight-through processing helps businesses pay and receive money faster and more efficiently.
Oonagh Hackett, Assistant Principal eInvoicing Ireland Programme Office of Government Procurement
Office of Government Procurement, 3A Mayor Street Upper Dublin 1, D01 PF72
E: einvoicing@ogp.gov.ie
For further information
Please log onto www.ogp.gov.ie/einvoicing or contact: einvoicing@ogp.gov.ie
Accessing the Framework
For anyone looking to access the OGP eInvoicing Framework, please log onto the OGP Buyer Zone via www.ogp.gov.ie and select/ search as follows:
Category: Managed Services
Keyword: ‘PEPPOL’ or ‘eInvoicing systems’
OGP Clients must register to gain access to the Buyer zone available to all public service buyers accessing live contracts/frameworks.
European Digital Green Certificate on track for summer 2021
In April 2021, EU ambassadors agreed a mandate for negotiations with the European Parliament on the proposal for a Digital Green Certificate, also known as a Covid passport, as the EU looks to digitally “facilitate the safe free movement of citizens within the EU during the Covid-19 pandemic”.
The legal framework of the Digital Green Certificate is made up of two legislative proposals, the first concerning EU citizens and their families and the second concerning third-country nationals legally residing in an EU member state. Going by these proposals, it will be possible to use the certificate across all EU member states, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
After the European Commission presented the proposals for regulations in March, EU ambassadors approved the establishment and mandate of an ad-hoc working party in order to accelerate the matter as a priority. With the negotiation principles now agreed after several working party meetings, the European Parliament is expected to adopt its position by the end of April, with interinstitutional negotiations beginning soon after. Member states have agreed that the framework should be ready for summer 2021.
Five key amendments were introduced by the European Council to the legislative texts:
• a reference to the fact that the Digital
Green Certificate will not be a precondition for people to exercise free movement and is not a travel document “in order to stress the principle of non-discrimination, in particular towards non-vaccinated persons”;
• a new article on the international dimension governing certificates issued to EU citizens and thirdcountry EU residents;
• data protection provisions have been strengthened, “in particular on the basis of the joint opinion of the
European Data Protection Supervision and the European Data Protection
Board”; and
• a transitional provision to ensure that member states can continue to use the systems currently in place during a six-week period after the entry into force of the main regulation until the framework is fully operational; and
• the text of the draft allows Ireland and other member states to mutually accept certificates issued to thirdcountry nationals based on reciprocity.
National authorities will be in charge of issuing the certificate, which could be provided by institutions such as hospitals, test centres or health authorities. The certificate will act as digital proof that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19, returned a negative test, or recovered from Covid19. It will be accepted in EU member states to ensure that restrictions currently in place can be lifted in a coordinated manner. Member states who choose to continue to require certificate holders to quarantine or test upon their arrival must notify the Commission and the other member states to justify their decision.
From a technical standpoint, the certificate will contain a QR code with a digital signature to protect it against falsification; to check the certificate the code will be scanned, and the signature verified. Each issuing body has its own digital signature, with each of these to be stored in a database in their country. The European Commission will build a gateway, through which all certificate signatures can be verified across the EU. The personal data embedded in the digital signature is not necessary for its verification and thus will not pass through the gateway with the rest of the digital signature. The Commission has also pledged to help member states to develop as software to check these QR codes.
George Maybury, Public Sector Director, Dell Technologies
The “data deluge” thrives with an explosion of data that continues to be created as more and more organisations accelerate their digital transformation. The challenge faced is how to create value from this digital gold, writes John O’Donoghue, Emerging Technologies Consultant, and Ryan Heynes, Healthcare Leader, Dell Technologies Ireland.
Today, many organisations are beginning to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools to provide interesting insights into their data, with the goal of developing new products and services, solving problems faster, and attracting new customers.
Organisations must consider the layers of complexity which come with the adoption of AI including data management, ethical bias and, of course, security. Not to mention overcoming the resistance of staff to utilise where there are concerns that the AI solution may reduce staff numbers in the future.
Operational and ethical issues aside, Dell Technologies continues to develop AI reference architectures that make it easy to deploy and consume in a safe and secure manner, allowing organisations to spend less time on the technology and more time on the outcomes; time that can be spent supporting staff to understand how AI can support and enhance their roles, replacing repetitive tasks that take valuable time away from their core duties thereby opening up new working opportunities.
“Ireland continues to have a shortage of skills in AI,” says John O’Donoghue, Emerging Technology lead for Dell Technologies, “and it’s vital that we continue to develop skills and prepare students for future work environments.” A collaboration between Dell Technologies and Munster Technological University has been underway for some time, to develop a system to train the next generation of data scientists as part of the universities master’s degree in AI.
However, this shortage in skills is not limited to Ireland, and governments across the globe need to look deeper into how they develop new talent in the field of AI in order to support greater adoption of this technology into public services. AI has the potential to drive more efficiency and better-quality public services, but adopting the technology involves a cultural shift in how we think about data.
A critical need for Ireland is to appoint a Minister for Data, whose responsibility would span how citizens data can be securely managed across departments to deliver better quality services for everyone. There are many legitimate concerns being raised about the inappropriate use of data by governmental bodies. Safeguarding the data and its use is paramount in providing assurance to citizens that their
data will not be accessed without their consent or used for any purpose other than that which it was originally collected for.
Healthcare services are a prime example of how data can be misused, albeit in the patient’s best interest in most cases. There has been a lot of scrutiny about the use of patient data over the years, but with the emergence of the Covid 19 pandemic, we have seen a mind shift in how data can and should be used to support improvements in patient care.
Utilising emerging technologies has enabled governments to move from reacting to events, to proactively preparing for or avoiding them completely. Public departments are now starting to collaborate to create new improved services and experiences for citizens. Healthcare services are working across all public service departments to create a holistic view of care provision, moving from the sickness model of treating an illness to a wellness model where they are proactively avoiding it in the first place.
Beyond data being created within healthcare providers, people are now creating their own healthcare data through the growth in wearable lifestyle devices such as fitness watches. Users have the option to share this data as part of their wider patient data profile, which can give additional context to the overall picture of their health and lifestyle.
The potential to utilise this data to improve the patient experience and improve the general health of all citizen needs to be a priority of governments globally. With the development of new medical devices, wearables and environmental data streams, which are collecting data in real-time, our core focus needs to be on driving data and messaging standards to ensure we can use this data effectively.
Ryan Heynes, Healthcare lead for Dell Technologies says: “AI is rapidly becoming a critical tool in healthcare across a number of areas. We see AI used in decision support, to help make faster and more accurate diagnosis of diseases. It’s used widely in planning and logistics to optimise pathways of care and treatment, and of course it’s being used to speed up genomic sequencing, driving down the cost and time of personalised treatment.” Dell Technologies are currently developing an artificial intelligence Digital Health Twin, in collaboration with the University of Limerick Cancer Network (ULCaN) and the HSE, which has been established as part of the network of Living Labs. The use of AI will enable a new profiling of cancer tissue using digital pathology, advanced AI and machine learning to create a digital twin to determine how patients will respond to treatment and the best pathway of care.
The digital twin is a developing simulated environment of a physical object/being to test potential scenarios. To create a digital twin to evaluate cancer treatments, multiple data sources are required, starting with digital pathology images and then merging this data with medical record information, genomic data and other environmental sources which use AI to paint a complete picture. With the advanced analysis of this data, researchers and data scientists can then develop predictive models of how patients will respond to cancer treatment and develop a personalised treatment plan with the goal of better patient outcomes and improved utilisation of public services.
The collaboration across industry, research and government bodies was key to the development of this project, drawing skills from across several domains. ULCaN has established a team of researchers across multiple disciplines and leveraged the skills of Dell Technologies and the HSE to enable the program.
Governments and organisations across all industries must prepare for a future where machine learning, deep learning and high-performance data analytics are commonplace to stay competitive. Harnessing the power of AI with high performance computing is closer than you think and within reach for organisations that are ready to take the next step forward on their digital transformation journey.
Ryan Heynes, Healthcare Leader, Dell Technologies
John O’Donoghue Emerging Technologies Consultant Dell Technologies Ireland j_odonoghue@dell.com
Ryan Heynes Healthcare Leader Dell Technologies Ireland Ryan_Heynes@dell.com
