Riga, February 5, 2021 - The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (VARAM) has met with the State Audit Report “Is the effective use of the official electronic address ensured in the country?” regarding the use of the official electronic address in Latvia. In our view, the recommendations made in the report will help to promote the reception of digital services and interaction between authorities, citizens and business.
As of 2019, citizens and public administrations in Latvia have the possibility to use a digital mailbox – an e-address that was created as a safe alternative to recorded paper letters and e-mail. E-address provides modern and secure communication between citizens and business and serves as a single communication platform for all national authorities m. The main State control conclusions and recommendations aim at increasing the use of e-address solutions in electronic communications between individuals and authorities, emphasising the need to further inform users of the benefits of e-address: providing official communication electronically and secure documents.
The national control audit was carried out at the time of the completion of the implementation of e-address technical solutions, or the first strategic phase, resulting in the use of e-addresses by more than 3.4 thousand institutions and the transmission of 1.7 million messages since the beginning of the e-address operation. . Work is ongoing on extending the number of users to the next stage, making e-addresses an important element in the interaction between citizens and authorities.
“The Ministry is currently working actively with partners on the digital transformation of public administration and its services. . The introduction of an e-address as an analogue for solutions that are commonly used in paper form creates not only the possibility of modernising the circulation of documents, saving costs for official communication and sending time, but also significant savings in paper resources. s. Already, the use of the platform has allowed more than 5 tonnes of paper to be saved over 2 years. “Work on further development of the e-address is continuing, extending citizens' capacity to apply for public administration services,” said Āris Dzērvāns, Deputy State Secretary for Digital Transformation.
In 2019, according to the Digital Economy and Society Index, Latvia holds 7 th place in the European Union following digital public services. National progress in this area is particularly important, along with significant improvements over the past two years, driven by both the wider use of e-government and the availability of automatically partially completed forms and the availability of open data. There is a high level of online communication between public authorities and citizens: 81% of Latvia's total number of Internet users use e-government services, which is well above the EU average.
In general, the Ministry is in agreement with the conclusion of the State Audit Office: there is great potential for extending and adapting the use of e-address to user amenities. From 2023, an e-address is intended to be introduced as a mandatory communication channel with legal entities – companies, associations, foundations, political parties, etc. C. Therefore, WE CAN continue to work on the analysis of the behaviour of e-address users, the deployment of user communications and the planning of strategic objectives, taking into account the recommendations contained in the report. . Further work will focus on promoting the solution among citizens and institutional staff, raising awareness of e-address functionality and benefits. m. The volume of electronic communications in e-mail continues to grow gradually, reaching nearly a million messages per year.
Thus, the e-address will not only continue to reduce the administrative burden, but will also safely replace a traditional mailbox that can be particularly convenient for people with different declared and actual addresses or those who cannot or do not want to receive official paper-based consignments.
We encourage citizens and entrepreneurs to connect to an e-address in this link - https://mana.latvija.lv/e-address/and to familiarise themselves with a modern communication tool that can be used at any time and wherever the Internet is connected. . It is an opportunity for citizens to optimise the flow of documents and to contribute to the conservation of natural resources.
Information prepared by:
Public Relations Department
Ministry for Environmental Protection and Regional Development
20200305; 67026533,
e-mail: prese@varam.gov.lv
www.varam.gov.lv