The 2024 edition of the State-of-play report on Digital Public Administration and Interoperability in Europe is out!

Interoperable Europe, through the National Interoperability Framework Observatory (NIFO), is pleased to announce the publication of the 2024 edition of its State-of-play report on Digital Public Administration and Interoperability.

The 2024 edition of the State-of-Play report on digital public administration and interoperability puts emphasis on four key policy areas which are at the heart of the current policy landscape: 

• Digital transformation of public administrations and public services,

• Interoperability and data,

• Trust and cybersecurity, and 

• Innovative use of technologies.

These areas were selected in response to the adoption of key European initiatives linked to the digital remit, including the Interoperable Europe Act, and the ambitious objectives set by the Digital Decade policy programme 2030. The report highlights trends, good practices, and areas for improvement across 39 European countries, as well as actions undertaken at the EU level.

To provide a comprehensive understanding of the current landscape, each chapter of this report includes a section on the analysis of the national and European state-of-play but also dedicates space to the international stage. Additionally, this year’s edition features the latest results from the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) monitoring mechanism, supporting the analysis presented. Three chapters are further enriched with interviews on current topics related to the trends identified (i.e., EU Green Deal, Interoperable Europe Act, and GovTech).

The report underlines that European countries have adopted a wide array of initiatives aimed at supporting the digitalisation of the public sector. In this context, particular efforts were noticed in the health sector, as well as sustainable digitalisation, and initiatives linked to digital inclusion and skills development in order to overcome the current digital divide. Likewise, the interrelation between interoperability and data has received wide attention thanks to the focus on data governance and reusability, and the development of data platforms and registries to streamline public service delivery. Moreover, the need for trust and security in the digital sphere has never been more critical. Consequently, it appears that European countries have established cybersecurity centres and institutions to combat cyber threats, and boosted their efforts in awareness-raising and training to ensure that everyone understands risks that may incur both online and offline. Lastly, public administrations seem always more inclined to embed innovative technologies in their modus operandi, with AI, GovTech and cloud solutions being at the forefront of such a transition. 

Overall, Europe emerges as a key player in the digitalisation of the public sector. The establishment of different initiatives at both the national and EU levels has equipped citizens and businesses with a plethora of tools aimed at ensuring a secure, interoperable, and user centric digital future.