"Parthenay s experiment in modernizing local government"

Transcription

1 SM/MH- DRAFT version 4-28/02/00 "Parthenay s experiment in modernizing local government" Written contribution to the European Conference on Quality in Public Administration - Lisbon, May 10-12, 2000 Introduction For many outside observers, Parthenay a small, rural community in western France (population 11,000 intra muros, 17,000 including the surrounding area) is recognized above all for its innovative, trail-blazing experiment in acquiring new communications technology: the «digital town» project. And yet, this dimension is only the tip of a much older and more ambitious approach, spearheaded for nearly 20 years by Mayor Michel Hervé, aimed at reviving local public action and profoundly modernizing the organization of local government services. This paper presents the main lines of the Town of Parthenay s municipal management and a brief, non-exhaustive and provisional survey of the District of Parthenay s main achievements in the area of «electronic administration" A new public action philosophy: from user-consumer to citizen-player!"the "method" of active citizenship, catalyst of creativity 1 However, it is a good idea to recall that the "digital town" project pioneered by Parthenay is not limited to local government and public services. The project puts all the features of the entire local community in all their diversity on line. That is why it also involves the areas of education, the economy and business, grass-roots organizations and local democracy, cultural development and other arenas with which this paper is not directly concerned. -DISTRICT DE PARTHENAY Page 1 16/03/01

2 The point of departure for Parthenay s approach is local development and a special method of public management called «active citizenship», which involves creating the conditions under which citizens are not only participants but true players in public life. At first, this long-term effort consisted of assisting citizens to become autonomous and creative by helping them create businesses, organizations, activities and events. The role of the public player changed: the role of the municipality and its services was no longer to «do things in the citizen s place» but to «catalyze» action by contributing assistance (by making premises, equipment and financial aid available) or by facilitating relationships between players. Hence there was a need to constantly pay close attention to initiatives and projects and to know how to create «empty» spaces for creation. The result has been a gathering momentum that can be noticed especially in the fabric of grass-roots organizations in Parthenay over 250 groups in a wide range of areas organize many events. This is a new concept of public action and citizenship. Increasingly, it seems that local government s main role will no longer be limited to offering services to consumers-users, but to catalyzing creativity and the production of services by citizens themselves. 1. A new form of municipal management This new approach to government action has resulted in a new organization of municipal services. Alongside internal management services, approximately twenty new types of services have been created whose mission is to act as development agents (development in the areas of culture, the economy, social services, education, heritage, etc.). Made up of relatively small teams, the purpose of these services is to catalyze the local players in a given area. In addition to purely administrative functions, the municipal administration has defined local development missions. With regard to players in the community, -DISTRICT DE PARTHENAY Page 2 16/03/01

3 services have become catalysts of creativity and group action, giving rise to a local identity and a «community project». In its general functioning, it should also be pointed out that the functioning of Parthenay s municipal administration is highly decentralized. Each department is very autonomous with regard to its activities and managed by a two-person team consisting of a technician and an elected official. Parthenay is one of the few municipalities that does not have a secretary-general. Therefore, the inter-departmental synergy occurs outside the monthly meetings chaired by the mayor. Since the «digital town» project got under way in 1996, Parthenay s municipal administration has stepped up the intensive use of new information and communication technology to increase the network s functioning, facilitate cooperation and boost internal transparency and efficiency. To help achieve those goals, a very high percentage of municipal workers are equipped with personal computers. They are also connected to the Intranet and the Internet, and all of them have an address. In 1997, a municipal Intranet was set up that has become a place where all the municipal employees can exchange information. Because of the Intranet, all the activities and projects under way in every municipal department is transparent. The network includes a certain number of tools that help facilitate the management of municipal information. All of these information technology developments are carried out internally by the computer department, but all the municipal services are in charge of putting the information regarding them on line. The rule now is that any important information, any internal document and all the minutes of department meetings are now put on line on the Intranet, and therefore accessible for all the municipality s elected officials and employees. Use of the Intranet has brought about a veritable "organizational revolution" by increasing the decentralization and transparency of information, breaking down -DISTRICT DE PARTHENAY Page 3 16/03/01

4 barriers between activities and making it possible to follow all the municipality s activities and projects in real time as they develop. The intensive use of electronic communication tools has strengthened the already innovative organization of municipal services (lack of a town secretary-general, decentralized services, autonomy and devolvement of responsibility upon services with a local development mission, a two-person team made up of an elected official and a department head for decision-making, etc.). This organizational change and the intensive use of new information and communication technology within the administration have necessarily had repercussions on relations with citizens. Because the municipal administration itself appropriated this technology, local officials were able to spearhead "digital town" projects and electronic administration in the local area of Parthenay. All the elected officials in the District of Parthenay, the municipal services and municipal employees are wired and have an electronic address. As a result, citizens can directly, electronically exchange information on a given topic with the responsible individual or entity within the municipal administration. An interesting application in this area has been the implementation of a "general hotline 2 ", by which citizens may request services directly on line from technicians, thus short-circuiting the usual town hierarchy, which slows down the process. This application is already accessible on line for all the municipality s employees and staff in Parthenay s schools. At the mayor s request, it will soon be extended to all the organizations and citizens in the urban district. That should make it possible to put citizens in direct contact with the municipal administration s service providers. 2. The appropriation of NICT within the administration and public life 2 The "hotline" has been developed within the framework of the European IMAGINE project supported by the European Commission s DGXIII. Developed at first for the world of education, after an initial experimentation stage this application will be extended to all sectors for all citizens. -DISTRICT DE PARTHENAY Page 4 16/03/01

5 To catalyze the creation of a true local communications network, the community of Parthenay has taken a certain number of steps intended to update public service practices.!"a digital public service to democratize access to NICT for all citizens As a public service, the community of Parthenay at first took measures aimed at increasing citizens democratic access to NICT: - Development of digital spaces: free, public places managed by municipal employees where citizens may learn how to use NICT. There are 11 of them today. One was opened in the town hall s office of vital records. An Internet training center was set up in the "Maison de la Citoyenneté Active" («Active Citizenship House») where all citizens can obtain free training in everything from how to use electronic mail to designing web pages to become information publishers. These "digital spaces" play a pioneering role as a new type of public service 3. - Free Internet access for all citizens in the district. Being its own Internet access provider, the community believes that allowing access to the network is part of its public service mission, at least during the start-up stage. The town s information technology department also contributes assistance to the public in the form of a permanent «computer hotline» that helps citizens become connected. - Operation "1,000 computers" (in partnership with manufacturers) intended to help citizens acquire computer equipment at lower cost.!"in-town-net: the urban Intranet. The community created the conditions for equal access to the network before developing an In-Town-Net, a kind of urban Intranet or the local link in the Internet chain. Having invested in a server, the municipality hosts all the sites and home pages created by its citizens free of charge.. The In-Town-Net» site (see is not institutional. Rather, it is the result of creative, volunteer work on the part of local residents, grassroots organizations, small and medium-sized businesses, schools, the local 3 They are a sort of privileged interface between citizens and municipal government services. -DISTRICT DE PARTHENAY Page 5 16/03/01

6 government administration and the town hall. So far 4, over 370 different individuals and entities have created more than 59,000 pages on this site. The themes cover every area of public life, from town planning to the cadastre, vital records, business (with a cyber-market), health, social services, employment, education, a telephone directory, electronic mail, media, classified ads, culture, sports and leisure activities, tourism and heritage.!"putting all the municipality s administrative information available to the public on line on the In-Town-Net. The In-Town-Net includes a wealth of on-line administrative information and services. All locally-relevant public information is put on line to increase the transparency of the local administration s functioning and the sources of information available to citizens. - In addition to information on administrative formalities, citizens can order documents pertaining to vital records such as marriage and death certificates on line. The order is processed within 48 hours. The Office of Vital Records at Parthenay s town hall also allows organizations to parthenay.fr/servicemairie/administrationgenerale/etat- Civil/developpement/debois1.htm on line. Other documents will soon also be available on line, such as building and demolition permits, town-planning certificates and child-care center pre-registration forms. All the administrative information, electronic transaction modules and on-line services will be added to a group of sites and services that a host of players has implemented on the In-Town-Net.!"A new relationship between the District and the central government The District of Parthenay has also taken the initiative of stepping up cooperation with various government services in order to digitize all the exchanges between the local community and the central government. The idea is to lay the foundations for 4 As of February 1, DISTRICT DE PARTHENAY Page 6 16/03/01

7 creating "work-flows" and "group-wares" between the various central government offices that are active on the local level. The District also encourages local players and the municipality s institutional partners to create addresses. The District of Parthenay also organizes free training courses on how to use the Internet and its advanced applications for administrative employees (including the gendarmerie, Sub-Prefecture, etc.) In April 1998, the District of Parthenay made a proposal to the sub-prefecture to conduct a "digital legal review 5 " experiment. As part of the European IMAGINE project supported by the European Commission (DGXIII), studies and developments have been jointly carried out by the Parthenay municipality and the sub-prefecture to develop the application of "digital legal review ". This is one of the first applications of this kind to be developed in France. It has been operational throughout the entire district between the services of the municipality and the sub-prefecture since February However, the spread of this project is hindered in France by the lack of an electronic certification system recognized by the State. Conclusions The experiment conducted in Parthenay shows us that breathing new life into public action, changing relationships between government and citizens and reorganizing internal administration are inseparable. In this context, the use of NICT appears as a worthwhile vehicle of organizational change and modernization of the public service. Because local development issues concern them directly, some communities such as Parthenay have perceived what they have to gain from NICT as an instrument to change local administration as well as a networking tool to mobilize local players. 5 "Legal review" is specific to the local political and government system in France. The acts and decisions of the mayor and the municipal council (elected by universal suffrage) are subject to a formal -DISTRICT DE PARTHENAY Page 7 16/03/01

8 The implementation of electronic networks does require concomitant changes in practices. Working methods within local government, relations between government agencies and relations between citizens and local government must be transformed. A veritable «culture» of cooperation and working in networks is needed to make the most of new information technology. This cultural change inevitably brings up questions pertaining to the essential nature of public service and intermediation with citizens. This cultural change brings about a veritable "Copernican revolution". It involves putting the citizen at the center of local government s concerns and issues. In the world of business, the customer-consumer has become the central concern of all sales strategies. A similar change must occur in the sphere of public services. The citizen must become the central pillar at the service of which government must put itself. review of their legality by a local representative of the central government (the sub-prefect) before they can be applied. -DISTRICT DE PARTHENAY Page 8 16/03/01