The SAI of Denmark has conducted an audit of the use by the government and public authorities the benefits from the implementation of IT projects, systems, and infrastructure. According to the auditors, despite significant efforts to digitalize processes and projects, public authorities do not fully use the benefits obtained from the implementation of IT projects.

As for the possible reasons for the inefficient use of digital tools and projects, the auditors note the following:

• Ministries do not strictly and systematically monitor and record the implementation of digital projects, as well as the possible benefits of using digital systems;

Due to the lack of systemic control measures for the benefits obtained, many of them are not fully implemented.

The National Audit Office of Estonia has studied the dynamics of expenditures and investments growth in public information infrastructure. The SAI auditors note that the growth rate of information infrastructure expenditures in public authorities is significantly ahead of budgetary allocations and investments. Personnel costs are a focal area that causes concern of the SAI. However, the increase in salaries did not affect the decrease in the turnover of public authorities IT systems personnel.

The auditors note that the "turnover" of personnel is partly due to the uneven growth of revenues in the public sector and in the economy as a whole. Thus, during the indicated period, the revenues of IT specialists in government bodies increased by 6.7%, while the national average revenue growth was 7.4%.

The National Audit Office of Estonia has analyzed the development of nine state information systems, whether the state software development projects may fail, and what sore spots exist in this area. The audit has shown that four of the nine software development projects were unsuccessful. The auditors state the following as the reasons for the failure of the projects:

• Weak or inadequate planning leads to systems becoming obsolete at the development stage;
• Lack of consideration of users' needs and qualifications;
• Continuous and rapid changes in regulations, rules, and legislation in this area;
• Lack of knowledge and skills of project and program managers;
• Incompetence of contractors; lack of proper control at all stages of project implementation;
• Poor coordination between the actions of the customer and the contractors.  

According to SAI, the success of information systems implementation depends on a number of factors:

1. The main processes within the government body should be defined and optimized before the information systems are being implemented;
2. Systems should be implemented by competent staff;
3. Civil servants (users) should be involved in the development of the system terms of reference at the design stage;
4. A user feedback form should be created to assess the performance of the system;
5. The development of systems should be taken into account in the legislative process.

Federal Court of Auditors of Germany carried out a number of audits regarding the implementation of national Digitalization Strategy in federal state agencies. In particular, SAI examined the federal government's measures to achieve the goals of the Digitalization Strategy, as well as the relevant actions of the Federal Ministry for Digitalization and Transport (Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr).

SAI revealed that federal agencies have not coordinated their strategies in the field of digitalization with the national program documents of Germany. In some cases, the auditors revealed a complete lack of ministerial strategy, in some agencies digital projects were implemented exclusively within a specific unit, and not the entire agency.

In addition, federal agencies incorrectly assessed the priority of digital development in their activities, inexpediently defining the goals and deadlines for the implementation of projects. As a result, insufficient financial and human resources were allocated for digitalization. SAI added that an interdepartmental committee created specifically for these purposes was not involved in the strategic management of digital projects. It resulted in a significant decrease in the coherence of digital strategies of agencies.

SAI recommended that agencies develop their own digital development strategies consistent with federal program documents. SAI also positively assessed the plans of the federal government to revise the Digitalization Strategy and recommended that the Federal Ministry for Digitalization and Transport actively interact with agencies on digital projects.

The State Audit Office of the Republic of Latvia has audited the optimization of digital infrastructure management in public sector. Improving the performance of public administration as a whole is impossible without the effective use and optimization of this infrastructure. According to the auditors, only one agency, the Ministry of Justice, has made significant progress in centralizing its own digital systems and optimizing their work.

 The auditors believe that for the digital transformation of government bodies to be successful, a number of conditions must be met:

• A system for collecting and analyzing the maximum amount of data should be available;
• A consistent plan for the digital tools and platforms to be applied to the work of the government body;

A system of feedback and continuous assessment of whether the implementation of digital solutions is effective.

In 2019, the Swedish National Audit Office audited the digital systems used by the 60 largest public authorities. The auditors note that most government bodies continue to use obsolescent systems. In addition to the lack of funding, the main reasons why these systems are still in the focus of the SAI include the following:

• a significant part of government bodies does not have a clear strategy and principles of work with digital systems;
• employees and management of government bodies lack specialized skills in working with digital systems;
• there is no process of continuous assessment of whether the information systems comply with the needs and tasks of the government body;

the government has not taken appropriate measures aimed at correcting the situation (in particular, at establishing a single digital ecosystem for government bodies, forming a centralized request for the digital systems performance assessment, and assisting to government bodies in updating information systems and regular monitoring of this process).

Based on the data obtained, the SAI of Sweden makes a number of recommendations for government bodies to work with obsolescent systems:

• it is necessary to identify the responsible body/person in the public administration system that will monitor the operation of obsolescent systems and assist the departments faced with this problem;

it is necessary to develop special tools for assessing (methodology and metrics) the IT systems use performance, as well as the need for their modernization and/or replacement.

The Swedish National Audit Office audited the use of automated decision-making systems in public administration in 2020. The SAI notes that, while the widespread implementation of such systems can significantly improve both the performance and compliance of decisions with existing legislation, these systems often suffer from operator errors, as well as from the initial errors appeared during their creation and configuration. Possible errors in such systems could have serious consequences for citizens and undermine public confidence in State authority. 

The SAI of Sweden proposes to pay special attention to the development of "knowledge bases" and algorithms for working with automated decision-making systems. These databases and algorithms should contain answers to the questions most frequently asked by operators, as well as standardized solutions for the most common problems.

Interaction between public authorities on the one hand and business and citizens on the other is carried out either through a number of specialized sites, or through portals and digital platforms combining several functions and services. These platforms were developed, operated, and improved independently of each other.

The Swiss Federal Audit Office has explored synergies between several federal information portals. According to the auditors, it will take systematic and long-term work to eliminate duplicative functions, as well as to enhance the platforms' performance.

The SAI believes that the key issue is to coordinate strategies for the development of federal information portals and synchronize the updating of their functions, databases, etc. In addition, it is important to achieve a coherent vision of the long-term architecture of government digital solutions.

The UK National Audit Office has audited the National Law Enforcement Data Programme. The Programme, led by the Home Office, was aimed at creating a single database and information service to replace the two existing independent police services. However, according to the SAI, the program faced serious problems, in particular in terms of the initial formulation of the terms of reference (which led to the restart of creating a new service), as well as increased costs. According to the SAI, the current results should be recognized as unsatisfactory, since in the absence of a new service and due to the problems with the support of old ones, this has led to significant problems for end users.

 As part of the further development and implementation of the system, the SAI of the UK recommends that attention be paid to the following issues:

• To re-evaluate the project taking into account the main requirements of stakeholders and financial costs throughout the implementation cycle;
• To develop a strategy for a gradual transition to the new information system, taking into account the risks of failure to meet deadlines and the need to eliminate errors and shortcomings;
• To conduct a regular assessment of the technical capabilities of the system, as well as the skills and competencies of employees;

When purchasing under a public contract from different suppliers with regard to the system development, to ensure coordination from a single center (Interior Ministry) based on a risk analysis and interest of the stakeholders.

IoT generally refers to devices – from sensors in vehicles to building thermostats –  that collect information, communicate it to a network, and may complete a task based on that information. In the course of its study, GAO analyzed how the technology is used by government agencies in the United States. The study summarized the information on departments using this technology, areas of application of IoT, opportunities and risks of using the technology, as well as on internal regulation of the use of IoT. Despite the opportunities of using the technology, many departments refuse to implement IoT, both because of the lack of funds for long-term investments in modernizing the infrastructure, and because their leadership does not see the long-term positive effects of the implementation of this technology.

According to estimates of the GAO U.S., as of 2021, the USA spends up to $100 billion annually to support the operation and maintenance of information systems. However, many of the information systems used by the U.S. government bodies are either obsolete or rapidly becoming so. The cost of supporting and maintaining these systems is steadily increasing. In addition, these systems are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks and other types of threats to their operation. A number of information systems, ranging in age from 8 to 51 years, have been identified by the SAI of the U.S. Typically, the modernization and/or development and implementation of new systems is challenged by the transfer and adaptation of data and its processing and use, as well as the high degree of integration of legacy systems with each other and with public administration processes. Finally, the problem of the special competence of personnel to work with legacy systems is important.

As part of its recommendations, the SAI of the USA highlights the need to develop comprehensive plans for upgrading and/or replacing these information systems. At the same time, these plans must meet a number of criteria:

• taking into account the key needs of the customer in terms of improving the performance of the government body when introducing new systems;
• compliance with budgetary constraints;

the timing of the new system introduction and the related issues of improving employee competencies.

In 2021, as part of a study, the SAI of the USA identified current and potential applications of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) in government operations. During the audit, the auditors of the SAI interviewed 24 federal public authorities. As expected, this technology is used most actively in public security area, as well as for the public authorities’ data and information protection. At the same time, it is noted that given the increasing spread of FRT technology and FRT systems, the government lacks a holistic understanding and a holistic strategy for the development and implementation of this technology.

As In view of the further spread of technology, the SAI of the USA considers it important to develop a holistic strategy for this technology to be applied to the work of government bodies. This strategy should include both an analysis of the opportunities for technology development and the potential risks of their introduction, including the possibility of personal data leakage.