Electronic administration in Spain: from its beginnings to the present

TL;DR

This paper reviews the development of electronic administration in Spain, highlighting legislative frameworks, technological investments, citizen access, and the role of civil service personnel in advancing the country's e-government initiatives.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of Spain's electronic administrative evolution, emphasizing the interplay between central and regional authorities and legislative developments.

Findings

Growth in ICT investment across Spanish administrations

Increase in internet-based citizen services and access

Role of civil service personnel in e-government success

Abstract

This study presents the basic lines of electronic administration in Spain. The complexity of the Spanish political-administrative system makes such a study challenging, in view of the considerable degree of autonomy and competences of the regional administrative bodies and local agencies with respect to the central government, the former being more visible in the 17 regions of Spain. Nonetheless, the central government maintains a series of legal instruments that allow a certain common framework of action to be imposed, aside from what is put into effect through diverse programs aimed precisely to develop common tools for the regions and municipalities of Spain. After an introduction that provides some necessary background, this study describes the legislative framework in which Spain's electronic administrative system has developed. The data included in the study refer to investment in information and communication technologies (ICT) and the services offered by the different Administrations on the internet; internet access by citizens, homes, businesses, and employees, as well as the interactivity existing with administrations by means of the internet; the origins and rise of various political initiatives of the Central Government involving electronic administration; and finally, the situation of civil service personnel, as catalysts of the success of Information Society in the Public Administration within Spain.