Estonia’s take on creating trust in digital government services
Oleh Si Ying Thian
As governments reach a certain point of digital maturity, trust will be a key enabler for effective governance as data sharing becomes a technical requirement, according to a whitepaper detailing four recommendations for public agencies to pursue.
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One recommendation made was to ensure continuous small improvements over large reforms. This suggests that citizens value consistent small improvements more than infrequent but significant reforms. Image: Nortal's report
Unlike businesses that lose customers without trust, governments with low trust often face political instability and slower socioeconomic progress.
Digital transformation both requires citizen trust to succeed and can help governments to foster greater trust among citizens in delivering public services.
For example, Estonia’s highly trusted Tax and Customs Board exemplifies how public trust enables widespread digital service adoption (99 per cent digital tax declarations), which in turn contributes to Estonia's lead in tax collection efficiency in the European Union.
This showcases the mutually reinforcing relationship between trust and effective governance.
This was the stance taken in a whitepaper published by the University of Tartu and Nortal last November that was co-authored with Estonian Tax and Customs Board’s Deputy Director General, Janek Rozov.
The authors put forward four key recommendations for public agencies to build citizen trust in digital services.
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Formula for creating trust
According to an OECD report, citizen’s satisfaction with services that provide outcomes has by far the most impact on trust and positive perception of their government.
On the other hand, simply providing information online about public service does not significantly improve trust.
Other considerations that have substantial impact on trust include public agencies’ legitimate use of personal data, government institutions prepared for emergency, and fair treatment of benefit claims.
Nortal’s whitepaper provided four recommendations:
- To adopt digital channels for seamless user experience over fractured or siloed ones, as well as invest in secure digital public infrastructure (DPI) to enable more mature digital services.
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To establish clear rules (and interpretation of rules) for data ownership, usage, protection, as well as to make physical and digital services legally equal.
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To create mechanisms (tools, services, processes, nudging strategies and incentives) that enable real-time transparency and increase voluntary compliance.
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To ensure continuous small improvements over large reforms. For instance, to break down big public procurement projects into smaller, more manageable parts with observable outcomes and better risk management.
From traditional e-government to personal government: Estonia’s tax case study
The whitepaper illustrated in the case of the Estonian Tax and Customs Board on how public agencies can put some of the recommendations in practice.
The agency leveraged tech to create user-friendly services that empower citizens to comply with tax submissions.
“By automating processes and reducing tax filing to a single click, the Board has significantly cut the effort required for compliance,” the whitepaper stated.
It added that paying taxes now takes less than a minute as the companies are directly integrated with the tax authority to automate tax returns.
This essentially means that “tax administration [becomes] invisible to the taxpayer.”
Beyond making it more convenient for citizens to file taxes, the agency also emphasises on clarity and education.
Through the “what I pay for” tab, citizens will understand how their taxes are used and how state finances are distributed to benefit the citizen.
Another thing that is key to note is that the tax authority uses a nudging behavior known as targeted transparency by using the taxpayer data to show individuals their risk profile and industry standing.
This approach reduces the need for audits for high-scoring taxpayers, optimising resource allocation.
On the other hand, the agency encourages greater adherence to tax regulations thereby creating a mutually beneficial relationship between taxpayers and tax authority.
GovInsider recently covered Estonia's move to digitalise e-divorce as the final step to achieving 100 per cent digital government services.
Now that it has fully digitised its public services, Estonia’s developers are exploring how to push boundaries of Estonia’s digital government further – mainly through automation and proactive services, according to its official statement.
To read more about GovInsider's coverage of Estonia's digital development, click here.