How you can interact with the Public Administration online

Just as companies have had to adapt to the new needs brought about by digital transformation and have therefore had to turn to digitisation in order to show themselves as strong and competitive entities, the Public Administration has also taken several steps in favour of digitisation. 

In fact, Spain currently ranks seventh in the European Union for digital public services in the Digitalisation of the Economy and Society Index (DESI). This means that there is a high level of online interaction between public authorities, citizens and businesses in the country. In this regard, according to the DESI report, 67% of Spanish internet users actively participate in eGovernment services, compared to 64% of the EU average. 

However, the reality is that the digital relationship of citizens is currently characterised by being transactional, atomised, generalist and not personalised, according to the Plan for the Digitalisation of Public Administrations 2021-2025. 

For this reason, the Spanish Government has established a Public Administration model based on the use of information and communication technologies to improve internal efficiency, administrative relations and the Administration's relations with individuals, companies and organisations. 

In this context, interacting with the public administration online allows services to be presented more effectively, quickly and efficiently. In addition, it facilitates the rapprochement of citizens, multiplies communication channels and simplifies relations. In this sense, online public administration offers a series of benefits for both citizens and administrations. 

Benefits for citizens: 

• Accessibility to public services 24/7. 

• Simplicity in dealing with the Administration. 

• Speed and agility in obtaining the required service. 

• Elimination of the need to physically go to the Administration, which saves time and effort. 

Benefits for administrations: 

• Improvement of the service and, therefore, of the Administration's image. 

• Improved internal efficiency. 

• Integration of the different delivery channels. 

• Promotion of the widespread use of new technologies. 

Although there are many advantages that new technologies bring to the citizen's relationship with the Public Administration, there can be a downside, such as the dispersion of information in different portals and web pages.  

For this reason, the Government of Spain has specified in 2020 a Public Administration Digitalisation Plan for the modernisation of the General State Administration, especially in key areas such as health, justice and employment, as well as increasing the digitalisation of local and regional administrations. 

In this sense, within the framework of this Plan, the Punto de Acceso General (PAG) has been created as a single point of access for citizens and entrepreneurs to information of interest of a horizontal nature of the Ministerial Departments and related or dependent public bodies. It also provides information on public employment, aid, subsidies, grants, scholarships and regulations of interest of the Public Administrations and the European Union. 

In addition, the PAG offers both citizens and businesses access to the procedures, formalities and electronic services of the Public Administrations grouped by subject, as well as information on the functioning and organisation of the Public Administrations. 

In this way, the PAG seeks to address the potential difficulty in accessing administrative services, the generation of duplicate information and the lack of adequate coordination. 

Ways to interact with the public administration online 

Among the services that can be found in the PAG are: 

• Request for appointments. 

• Cl@ave registration. A system to identify yourself electronically to the Public Administrations with security guarantees. 

• Electronic certificates. Certificates with which you can identify yourself and carry out procedures securely over the Internet. 

• Electronic notification service in which your business appears as the recipient of communications issued by the different Public Administrations. 

• Access to the General Electronic Register. 

• Access to Social Security certificates. 

• Among others. 

As you can see, being able to offer citizens and businesses the possibility of interacting with the administration through the Internet has been and continues to be one of the government's objectives in the task of driving the country's digital transformation. The goal is to continue moving forward and making progress so that at least 50% of all public services are digital by 2025.