Paul Pateman Social Security Lead IBM EU Core Team

1. Addressing evolving needs for cross-border eGovernment services Paul PatemanSocial Security LeadIBM EU Core Team

2. Migrant workers are important sources of competitive advantage for modern economies and as such migration patterns are changing • Worldwide, by late 2005 there were approaching 100 million migrant workers who had left their home country to find better jobs in terms of wages, working conditions, social protection, and/or career prospects • Patterns of migration are changing • Some countries are becoming more attractive for immigrants (eg. in the last 10 years migrant number increases: Spain +400%, Italy +300%) and there are new movements of migrant workers eg South and South East Asia to the Middle East • However, trends in traditionally popular destination countries like Germany and Netherlands are stable • In the context of global competition and the shift towards the knowledge economy in developed nations the talent war is continuing to heat up • The widely discussed demographic changes (including when baby-boomers retire during the next 20 years) will influence migration patterns Source: OECD: *Migration for Employment, Paris, 2004; **OECD: International Migration Outlook, Paris, 2006

3. Where they are recognized, the social protection needs of migrants are addressed through bilateral/multilateral social agreements incorporating five core principles • Equality of treatment: an immigrant worker should have the same rights and obligations as regular residents (e.g., medical treatment) • Determination of the applicable legislation: such a worker has to be sure which country is responsible for his/her social protection and to which agency he/she goes to for these services • Maintenance of acquired rights and provisions of benefits abroad: any right should be guaranteed even in foreign countries (i.e., a migrant does not lose any entitlements due to the fact he is working abroad) • Maintenance of rights in course of acquisition: if a right is conditional upon completion of a qualifying period, account should be taken of periods served by the migrant in each country (known as totalization) • Reciprocity: a country which refuses equal treatment to workers from another country cannot expect that the other country will grant equal treatment to its own workers Source: *International Labour Organisation, Social Security Department, March 2006

4. A founding principle of the European Union is the right to free movement of the citizen for both employment and residence. Increasingly, it is trying to support this principle through the use of technology • The European Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI) project’s objective is to allow cross border electronic exchange of data around the citizen’s eligibility for social benefits and payment of benefits that have been accrued in other member states, replacing the existing paper based systems • The stated objectives of EESSI include: • Improved quality & reliability of data • Wider use and efficient verification of data • Faster processing of requests • Improved fraud protection • The European Health Information Card (EHIC) has been implemented to enable EU citizens to gain access to healthcare anywhere in the EU area • However, while the technology is being put place it is primarily automating existing processes rather than working to modernize them for the benefit of the citizen • The underlying infrastructure provides national governments and mobile citizens with the ability to transform e-services if the willingness is there

5. More effective use of the data made available by cross border services can be used to deliver a range of benefits and improvements • Fraud and Error: • This is a major issue in social welfare and healthcare across the EU, both within country borders and also through cross border activities • EESSI and EHIC can provide timely and accurate data on claims being made in other member states allowing agencies to better work together to identity potential issues such as: • Working in one country while claiming benefits in another • Declaring false information on family members or their status • Ensuring accuracy of data to make correct payments • Improving the handling of fraud and error both improves the financial health of the benefits system within the member state, but also has a strong social impact in providing confidence in the fairness and equity of the system to the citizen • Improved Service for the Citizen: • As citizens move more widely through the EU in the future they will increasingly expect government to have a similar approach to managing their data as commercial organisations such as banks, retailers, airlines etc where access is available anywhere in the world • Both EESSI and EHIC can be used as a catalyst to bring together all relevant information about the citizen into a “single view” replacing the widely dispersed and disparate sources of information usually available • Local systems such as the Crossroads Bank in Belgium are already proving the citizen benefit of cross agency data access, and removing some of the privacy objections

6. Once EESSI and EHIC are established as trusted and reliable systems in the minds of the citizen, they can provide the foundation to go further in terms of making citizen access to government systems faster and simpler • Single European Identity: • A number of EU initiatives around electronic identity have been launched (eg STORK) but have often hit road blocks due to member state objections and privacy issues • With increasing citizen mobility, there will be a demand for stronger proof of identity from both government agencies and citizens • Based on commercial experience of the deployment of e-identities, acceptance of the principle is best driven “bottom up” from the citizen or user • Access to benefits and healthcare in a fast and accurate way may be a strong incentive for citizens to look at taking up some form or portable electronic identity, accepted throughout the EU • Citizen Self Service & Accessibility: • “In country” systems for social benefits and health are increasingly moving to provide a range of self service access methods, but cross border issues have been slow to move down this route • The implementation of the EESSI infrastructure, and the wider deployment of EHIC, allows initial access to benefits and services for migrant workers to move down the self service route, with direct access to e-forms in multiple languages • New EU initiatives around accessibility, and emerging technologies to support interactive language translation and better technology access for the older citizen will also enable more widespread use of cross border systems by non-nationals

7. For cross border e-services at the citizen level to show real benefit there needs to be a clear message on their value and purpose, and demonstrable proof that they are there to benefit the citizen as well as the Government • Fairness and Eligibility: • In the area of social protection & healthcare, cross border availability is still seen by many citizens as a threat rather than a benefit • A climate of fear can be created around migrant workers going from country to country claiming benefits or receiving healthcare and taking available resources away from local citizens • EESSI must be positioned as a positive step by the EU to move towards preventing these activities from happening, and for apprehending the current perpetrators • Ease of Living & Working Abroad: • EESSI, and to a degree EHIC, are currently seen as tools for government to reduce paperwork, if indeed the EU citizens are aware of them at all (take up rates of EHIC vary hugely from member state to member state) • Claiming benefits, getting medical care, or relocating to a new country is seen by many citizens as difficult, despite these EU initiatives which are designed to smooth the process • To deliver confidence in getting EESSI & EHIC used for wider benefits, they must be marketed positively to the citizen as enablers for them, not just beaurocrats

8. There are many examples of a range of e-Services being aggregated within national boundaries, and occasionally going into international delivery. These messages now need to be adopted across common areas such as the EU