The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) Project Information Document/ Integrated Safeguards Data Sheet (PID/ISDS) Concept Stage | Date Prepared/Updated: 23-Jun-2017 | Report No: PIDISDSC20543 Dec 15, 2016 Page 1 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data OPS TABLE Country Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) Project Name Uruguay P161989 Uruguay - Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through E-Government Project (P161989) Region Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Practice Area (Lead) LATIN AMERICA AND Jun 26, 2017 Aug 03, 2017 Governance CARIBBEAN Financing Instrument Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Investment Project Financing Oriental Republic of Uruguay Ministry of Economy and Finance Proposed Development Objective(s) To improve the quality of selected e-government services for citizens, businesses, and the Borrower's public entities, and facilitate their access. Financing (in USD Million) Finance OLD Financing Source Amount International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 12.00 Total Project Cost 12.00 Environmental Assessment Category Concept Review Decision C-Not Required Track II-The review did authorize the preparation to continue Other Decision (as needed) Dec 15, 2016 Page 2 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) B. Introduction and Context Country Context 1. Uruguay is a modern society of 3.4 million people, which has consistently given high priority to achieving broadly-shared economic growth and a sustainable reduction in poverty. A strong and progressive social compact has been a defining feature of Uruguayan society and politics, with consistent emphasis placed on protecting vulnerable groups, assuring worker dignity and promoting equitable growth. This compact, combined with strong economic growth over the last decade, contributed to the development of a sizeable middle class—at 60 percent, the largest in Latin America as a proportion of the population1—as well as effective institutions, good governance and, in consequence, a high degree of public trust in government. The resultant political stability has been a fundamental element of Uruguay’s success in attaining standards of living—measured by indicators such as life expectancy and institutional quality—that are relatively high compared to countries with similar levels of per capita income across the world.2 2. Following a decade of rapid and inclusive economic growth Uruguay joined the ranks of high-income countries, and made remarkable inroads in reducing poverty. 3 Following the 2002 economic and financial crisis, Uruguay’s economy grew rapidly, achieving an annual average rate of 5.2 percent between 2005 and 2014. Growth over the past decade and a half has been inclusive, contributing to a sharp decline in poverty: the incidence of moderate poverty fell from 32.5 percent in 2006 to 9.4 in 2016 and extreme poverty declined from (an already-low) 2.6 percent to just 0.2 percent by 2016. Uruguay has one of the largest middle classes in the region, and is one of the least unequal countries in the region, with a Gini coefficient of 0.383 in 2016. The decade-and-a-half period of economic expansion and reduction in poverty and inequality were underpinned by the Government’s adherence to sound fiscal and monetary policies, a careful expansion of social programs, and a surge in private investment. Favorable external circumstances, such as high prices for Uruguay’s commodity exports (albeit offset by high prices in oil and other imports) also contributed to the economic and social outcomes. 3. In the context of current regional deceleration, Uruguay faces a number of challenges that could threaten continued progress towards poverty reduction and shared prosperity, suggesting that structural measures are needed to consolidate and sustain the gains of the past decade. Over the 2015-2016 period, economic growth decelerated markedly, undermined by recessions in key regional trade partners and weak domestic demand. Rising unemployment, marked deceleration in real income growth and confidence effects have dampened private consumption and investment. The fiscal deficit has widened to 4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016, up from 3.6 percent, largely on account of higher spending on pensions, health transfers and wages in the education sector. A fiscal consolidation plan is being implemented starting this year to reduce the fiscal deficit to 2.5 percent by 2019. Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2017 inflation decelerated to 6.8 percent (year-on-year) and entered the target range set by the Central Bank. There are signs that economic deceleration has bottomed out, and growth has accelerated starting in the third quarter of 2016, a trend that is expected to continue. Recent studies show that Uruguay’s level of competitiveness remained unchanged in 2016-2017, ranking 73rd in the Global Competitiveness Index, with levels near or below the LAC average in measures of the macroeconomic environment, labor market efficiency, market size, business sophistication and innovation.4 The real exchange rate declined 7.9 percent between April 2016 and April 2017, as the peso 1 World Bank (2015). Uruguay: Systematic country diagnostic. Washington, D.C., World Bank Group. 2 OECD/ECLAC (2014), Multi-dimensional Review of Uruguay: Volume 1. Initial Assessment, OECD Development Pathways, OECD Publishing. 3 World Bank (2015). Uruguay - Systematic country diagnostic. Washington, D.C., World Bank Group. 4 Schwab, Klaus; Sala i Martin, Xavier; World Economic Forum, "The Global Competitiveness Report 2016-2017", World Economic Forum, 09/2016 Global Competitiveness Index, 2016-2017 edition, p. 358. Dec 15, 2016 Page 3 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) appreciated by 10.5 percent during the same period. To sustain growth and continue advances in social progress Uruguay will need to implement important structural reforms. 4. The current administration has a clear vision for the next two years. It is committed to consolidating the strong social compact, while simultaneously moving more aggressively to unlock the economy’s growth potential. High on the administration’s agenda are fiscal consolidation, infrastructure reforms, reducing crime and violence and fostering deeper integration into global markets. Sectoral and Institutional Context 5. Since the 1990s, Uruguay has undertaken a series of reforms aimed at strengthening the public administration. By the mid-2000s, in the face of continuing efficiency and transparency challenges, the Government made improving core public sector institutions a key element of its reform platform, and in August 2006, it relaunched the State Modernization process. Over the following years, it made important progress in strengthening the public administration, and today, Uruguay is at the regional forefront5 in the implementation of public sector reforms promoting transparency, economic development, and social equity. Accompanied by the World Bank through the Institution Building Technical Assistance Loan (IBTAL, P097604), the Government made improvements within a number of the targeted areas, including monitoring and evaluation, procurement, social program information management, among others.6 6. As part of this effort, over the last decade, Uruguay placed a strong emphasis on reducing the digital divide and improving service delivery using information and communication technologies (ICT), with the accompaniment of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Following the creation of Uruguay’s e-government agency, AGESIC (Agencia para el Desarrollo del Gobierno de Gestión Electrónica y la Sociedad de la Información y del Conocimiento) in 2005, under IBTAL, a general e-government strategy was defined and the first applications of online administrative processes launched. This agenda continued to strengthen over the following years, supported by three consecutive Digital Agendas, and has been accompanied by IDB operations targeted at supporting e-government management (UR-L10427, UR-L10658, and UR-L11099). 7. Uruguay has made important advances in connectivity and the introduction of e-government services. Today, citizens can initiate many administrative procedures online, and in general, government entities are generating electronic information. Eighty-seven percent of people have internet access at home, and 71 percent on their mobile phones.10 Nearly all schools have wireless internet and 96 percent of public school students have access to a personal laptop provided by the State – providing access to online learning materials and a computer to use at home to students 5 At regional level, Uruguay scored top or in the top three places in the following indicators by 2015: Democracy Index (EIU), Corruption Perception (Transparency International), Rule of Law (World Justice Project), Governance Indicators (World Bank), Economic Freedom Index (Heritage Foundation). 6 Luciana López Acosta, 2016, “Evaluación de Cierre del Proyecto, Programa de Asistencia Técnica de Modernización Institucional (MEF/BIRF). Préstamos Nos. 7451-UR y 8116-UR (IBTAL).� Mimeo, December 31, 2016. 7 IDB Loan UR-L1042. “E-Government Management Program Assistance in Uruguay ,� US$5 million, of which US$5 million is IDB financing and US$2.5 million is country counterpart financing. 2008-2012. 8 IDB Loan UR-L1065. “Program to Support E-Government Management in Uruguay II.� US$20 million, of which US$10.85 million is IDB financing and US$9.15 million is country counterpart financing. 2011-present; fully disbursed. 9 IDB Loan UR-L1109. “Program for Improvement of Public Services and State-Citizen Interaction. �US$40 million, of which US$35 million is IDB financing and US$5 million is country counterpart financing. 2015-present. 10 “Estudio de Conocimientos, Actitudes y Prácticas de Ciudadan ía Digital.� Primary results 2016. AGESIC. Dec 15, 2016 Page 4 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) and families whom might otherwise lack access - thanks to work by Centro Ceibal11. Since 2009, the National Research and Innovation Agency (Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación, ANII), has offered citizens free access to the most relevant scientific and technological publications through Portal Timbó. E-invoicing services for large taxpayers has been available from the Tax Administration Agency, (Dirección General Impositiva, DGI) since 2010, and in 2013, Uruguay XXI, Uruguay’s investment and export promotion institute, implemented the Ventanilla Unica de Comercio Exterior (VUCE), which allows for the processing of selected export related requirements through a single electronic gateway. 8. These and other measures taken are reflected in significant improvements in international e-government measures over the period. From 2005 to 2016, Uruguay rose from 49th (0.5387) to 34th (0.72367) in the United Nations’ e-government development index, in part due to its improved performance in the online services sub-component.12 Today, using the conceptual framework set forward in the 2016 World Bank’s Digital Dividends World Development Report (WDR), Uruguay can be largely characterized as a “transitioning� country in the second stage of digital reforms, on its way to becoming a “transforming� one undertaking third generation policies, which has succeeded in laying a strong foundation for effective institutions and is now focused on making those institutions more capable, accountable, and collaborative. 9. Despite this significant progress, the Government is currently facing supply (i.e. availability, quality, and accessibility of services) and demand (i.e. use) side challenges in the delivery of e-government services, which it is keen to resolve to move to the next stage of digital transformation. On the supply side, while nearly all schools have wireless internet access, only 60 percent of the schools covered by Plan Ceibal have broadband internet access, with the other 40 percent facing problems with streaming educational content through narrowband connections. Significant work also remains to be done to meet the Government’s goal that all administrative processes be able to be completed online by 2016.13 To date, of the more than 1,400 administrative processes, approximately 600 can be started online and 400 can be completed entirely online. In the case of processes which are already online, government entities have identified the need for second-generation reforms including further process simplification, more effective utilization of data, and implications of automation for their back-office management. For example, while almost 4,000 taxpayers emit electronic invoices, the State is not equipped to accept them from its providers, meaning that paper invoices still need to be presented to the Government. 10. On the demand side, as is observed across countries, there is evidence of low levels of take-up of e-services.14 According to recent data, 43 percent of people preferred to go to a public office in order to learn about an administrative process; in contrast, only 27 percent preferred to use the internet for this task.15 Survey data from 2013 provide some evidence on the factors impacting take-up.16 The vast majority of individuals who had not used the 11 The entity responsible for implementing Plan Ceibal, the Government’s plan for supporting integration and equal opportunities through support to education policies through technology 12 United Nations. United Nations’ E-Government Survey 2005 and United Nations’ E-Government Survey 2016. https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/en-us/#.WJETHk3fOmQ 13 Discurso del Presidente Tabaré Vázquez emitido en transmisión simultánea por radio y televisión. March 1, 2015. 14 Across the world, the need to increase e-government service uptake is a common challenge. While high proportions of individuals (more than 75 percent) in Nordic countries like Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland use the internet to obtain information from the government, the OECD average is 49 percent, and an even smaller percentage (33 percent) submit forms online. Usage by businesses tends to be higher: on average, 83 percent of businesses use the internet to obtain information, and 78 percent use it to submit information. Source: OECD Government at a Glance. 2015 Edition. Data on individuals’ use are for 2014; data on businesses’ use are for 2013. 15 AGESIC, “Estudio de Conocimientos, Actitudes y Prácticas de Ciudadanía Digital, Principales Resultados 2016.� 16 AGESIC and INE (National Statistics Institute, Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas).“ 2013 Survey of ICT Use.� Dec 15, 2016 Page 5 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) internet to access any government services cited a preference to appear in person (76 percent) as a reason limiting their use of e-government services. The next most common reasons were concern about information security (33 percent), followed by a lack of knowledge that services could be accessed online (29 percent). 11. In response to current challenges, the Government is pursuing an ambitious e-government reform agenda. Founded in the Digital Uruguay Agenda for 2020, AGESIC’s Digital Government Plan 2016 -2020 lays out a holistic plan that addresses supply and demand side issues by taking advantage of recent technological advances. An important part of this work is advancing under the IDB supported “Program for Improvement of Public Services and State-Citizen Interaction�17, which aims to lower transaction costs associated with citizen and business interaction with the government by developing horizontal tools for e-government service simplification and modernization; implementing sectoral transaction simplification and online access (targeting the pending 1,000 processes not yet online (mentioned in paragraph 9)), and supporting the development of a new model for the State-citizen relationship. 12. The proposed World Bank operation supports a set of highly innovative activities embedded within the Digital Uruguay Agenda. These are complementary to the Government’s ongoing reform effort and its engagement with the IDB to develop the needed horizontal tools for effective e-government and supporting their universal application across the administration. In particular, within the current Project, the Government has prioritized seven agencies (AGESIC, ANII, CGN, Centro Ceibal, DGI, MEF, and VUCE) with important roles in the e-government agenda. These agencies have already undertaken the first generation reforms to lay the foundation for more effective institutions by making e- government services available to citizens, businesses, and other government entities, and now face second and third generation challenges related to the next stage of the digital transformation (e.g. administrative process improvement, better management and interoperability, take-up, etc.). 13. The planned activities within the Project are well-aligned with global thinking on how to increase e- government service use through supply and demand side interventions. Across the world, a variety of factors impacting usage have been identified, including basic threshold issues linked to lingering fear and distrust, availability of ICT infrastructure, awareness, digital skills, and difficult to use sites, and differing rates of use observed across types of users, suggesting that factors may play different roles across individuals. A variety of strategies to address these issues are being used, ranging from multi-channel access including use of e-government intermediaries (public kiosks), improved usability and website design (including easily navigable one-stop-shops), usage monitoring and tracking, user feedback and training, usage promotion, and service personalization. Currently, the Government agenda, including under the ongoing IDB operation and that planned under the proposed World Bank Project touches upon all of the main strategies. In particular, under the proposed Project, proactive citizen services, a mobile citizen access point, and the design of new services targeted at specific needs are planned. It also contemplates space for activities to strengthen monitoring and evaluation capacity to research the impact of activities; key for identifying future adjustments to improve effectiveness. 14. The operation centers on reforms to systems and processes of public sector institutions rendering e- government services to the three core beneficiaries of such reforms—citizens, businesses, and the Government itself—in sectors with the potential to have an important impact on Uruguay’s ability to sustain its development path. As with the IBTAL operation, which the Government highly valued as a means to concentrate on the most critical aspects of public sector reforms, the proposed operation has been designed to target innovative areas of the Government’s e-government agenda in which the World Bank’s sharing of global expertise and implementation support is expected to have the greatest value-added. The proposed activities are expected to play an important role in the 17 “Program for Improvement of Public Services and State-Citizen Interaction.� US$40 million, of which US$35 million is IDB financing and US$5 million is country counterpart financing. 2015-present. UR-L1109. Dec 15, 2016 Page 6 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) country’s progress in the next stage of e-government reforms by enhancing the capacity of the seven prioritized public sector institutions to improve the quality of the selected e-government services and facilitate their access. They are also expected to provide a channel through which these new and innovative approaches to e-government service delivery can be showcased within and beyond Uruguay to support wider adoption. Relationship to CPF 15. The Project is also aligned with the Country Partnership Framework (CPF) FY16-FY2018. The Project’s work to strengthen competitiveness through improvements in the Government’s delivery of e-government services to businesses, is well-aligned with CPF Pillar 3 (Integrating into global value chains), which includes an objective related to increasing research and development opportunities to facilitate integration into global value chains. Its support to strengthening the Government’s management and provision of e-government services for citizens also aims to help enable CPF Pillar 2’s objective of rebalancing the social compact broadly, and specifically, activities linked to services provided by Centro Ceibal and a subset of those provided by ANII, to the Government’s capacity to manage a program aligned with the CPF objective of strengthening quality and access to education to prepare the bottom forty percent to acquire marketable labor skills. C. Proposed Development Objective(s) 16. To improve the quality of selected e-government services for citizens, businesses, and the Government’s public entities, and facilitate their access. Key Results 17. The following Project Development Objective (PDO) level results indicators are proposed: a Improved delivery of distance learning materials to targeted schools; b Reduced processing time of foreign trade related administrative requirements by VUCE; c Increased accessibility to online administrative processes, as measured by the number of citizens’ administrative processes attended to by the Mobile Citizens Access Point; d Increased number of government executing units managing electronic invoices received from their providers. D. Concept Description 18. Components have been organized based on their downstream beneficiaries: citizens (Component 1), businesses (Component 2), and other government entities (Component 3). Finally, Component 4 supports strategic diagnostics and activities, knowledge sharing, and overall project coordination. Component 1. Improving the Delivery of e-Government Services to Citizens 19. This component aims to improve the quality of e-government services to citizens and to increase their use through activities primarily focused on support to improvements to entities’ delivery systems, provider management and user engagement led by AGESIC and Centro Ceibal. 20. Subcomponent 1.1. Strengthening AGESIC’s e-government service provision. While many government entities are now producing large amounts of electronic data, AGESIC has identified a series of challenges to the supply and demand of e-government services. Back-end data agglomeration is complicated by the use of different data formats; new tools and methodologies capable of analyzing large volumes of data are necessary to translate information into improved services; and there is a lagging uptake of e-government services. As such, this subcomponent will support 18 Report No. 97063-UY, December 21, 2015 Dec 15, 2016 Page 7 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) several innovative activities which aim to strengthen AGESIC’s e-government service provision through, inter alia: (a) the development and implementation of a national government data architecture in alignment with the Government’s digital government plan including, inter alia: (i) the preparation of a preliminary design of a data architecture platform; (ii) the carrying out of a technical and regulatory framework assessment; (iii) the issuance of guidelines related to the Government’s governance structure, security tools and data privacy protocols needed for the national data architecture platform; (iv) the carrying out of a pilot testing of the new data architecture platform; (v) the provision of support for the implementation of the data architecture platform across the Government’s public entities; and (vi) the dissemination of lessons learned; (b) (i) The design of new smart services to enable a proactive engagement with citizens; and (ii) the conceptual design and development of a business analytics and intelligence platform; (c) (i) the development of a framework for citizen participation, transparency and oversight mechanisms to promote effective citizen engagement through electronic means; (ii) the acquisition and implementation of e-participation tools; and (iii) the development of an impact evaluation of the implemented tools; (d) the provision of support for the implementation of the Government’s digital government plan through the development and piloting of collaboration mechanisms between the Government’s public entities and citizens to address key public challenges and boost the development of new smart and innovative public services; and (e) the facilitation of access to government services and information, and the prioritization of access in remote areas, including, inter alia: (i) the acquisition and operation of a mobile unit for engagement with citizens on the use of e-services; and (ii) the design and implementation of a citizen outreach strategy and training. 21. Subcomponent 1.2. Strengthening Centro Ceibal’s Capacity to Manage its Programs. Based on its experience offering educational content through digital services since 2010, Centro Ceibal has identified challenges in its internal management processes as well as persisting connectivity challenges. In particular, it recognizes the need to improve the interface through which users interact, to facilitate multichannel interactions with service recipients, and to adapt to a new diversity of recipient profiles and communication sources (e.g. social media and mobile devices). As such, this subcomponent aims to strengthen Centro Ceibal’s capacity to manage its e-learning programs through, inter alia: (a) the improvement of tools to manage users’ customer service experience including: (i) the development of a proposal for a new customer service model; (ii) the development of a system for the registry of teachers’ lessons and the personalization of course offerings; (iii) the development of a system to provide an integrated overview of educational centers; (iv) the design and implementation of a user self-management system; and (v) the automatization of multichannel customer services; (b) the provision of support for the establishment of a Computer Security Incidence Response Team (CSIRT), including: (i) the carrying out of a diagnostic to deploy a cyber security response strategy; (ii) the definition of initial policies and procedures; and (iii) the provision of training to Centro Ceibal’s personnel to manage the CSIRT’s operations; (c) the strengthening of Centro Ceibal’s management and back-office systems through the development and implementation of new modules within the Government’s enterprise resource planning system, including, but not limited to modules for e-invoicing, human resources management, framework agreements, procurement, supply planning and monitoring, and business intelligence; (d) the provision of support to improve Centro Ceibal’s data management, including: (i) the identification of alternatives and strategies for data management; (ii) the design and implementation of an institutional data management policy and data management methodologies; (iii) the carrying out of an assessment of business intelligence needs; and (iv) the design and implementation of business intelligence tools to integrate various data sources and improve the analysis capacity of Centro Ceibal; (e) the provision of technical assistance and last-mile connectivity to the existing national broadband infrastructure to support the implementation of broadband internet access in approximately 300 rural schools, including, inter alia: (i) the carrying out of an in-situ design survey; (ii) the development of initial and detailed technical specifications; (iii) the acquisition of hardware and the configuration, assembly, and design of the installation strategy; and (f) the provision of support to strengthen Centro Ceibal’s strategic planning capacity, including, inter alia: (i) the elaboration of an integrated technology roadmap to enhance strategic decision-making on the development, implementation, maintenance and Dec 15, 2016 Page 8 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) retirement of technologies critical for service delivery; (ii) the carrying out of technical and academic activities; and (iii) the elaboration of a human resource management strategy to enhance Centro Ceibal’s service delivery. Component 2. Improving the Delivery of e-Government Services to Businesses 22. This component aims to improve the quality of e-government services to businesses and to increase their use through activities supporting improvements to delivery systems (including the scope of services), provider management and cross-entity collaboration within VUCE, DGI, and ANII. 23. Subcomponent 2.1. Improving Export-Related services for Businesses. Building from its experience operating the International Trade Single Window since 2013, VUCE has recognized the need to reengineer some of the processes already within the system to optimize the associated time and costs; to incorporate new processes; and to strengthen its organizational structure, internal processes and user platform to improve the quality and consistency of service delivery. As such, this subcomponent aims to provide support to improve export related services for businesses through, inter alia: (a) the optimization of the administrative processes of the Government’s public entities and institutions involved on international trade and which use VUCE, through the provision of technical assistance and training; (b) the institutional strengthening of VUCE, including its quality management certification system, through: (i) upgrading of VUCE’s internal quality management system; (ii) obtaining international quality management certification ISO9001-2015; and (iii) improving VUCE portal’s functioning; (c) the provision of support for the implementation of a new interoperability platform for international information exchange, including the carrying out of pilots related to the exchange of phytosanitary certificates and digital origin certificates with selected countries of the Latin America and the Caribbean Region in accordance with the criteria set forth in the Operational Manual; and (d) the provision of support for the expansion of VUCE’s integrated platform coverage and the implementation of an administrative process re-engineering across the value chain for priority exports.19 24. Subcomponent 2.2. Implementing e-Invoicing for Small and Medium Businesses. Over recent years, DGI has recognized the need to expand its e-invoicing services beyond large taxpayers to incorporate taxpayers subject to the CFE (Comprobación Fiscal Electronica) (primarily small and medium firms), underpinned by other institutional reform efforts that are underway within DGI and that would strengthen its capacity to deliver e-government services to businesses. As such, this subcomponent aims to provide support for implementing e-invoicing for small and medium business through, inter alia: (a) the development and implementation of an e-invoicing system for small and medium taxpayers which are subject to the Government’s electronic tax invoicing regime; (b) the enhancement of DGI’s fiscal risk management system to enable the strategic planning of taxpayer compliance’s plans and programs, as well as the carrying out of audit case management in alignment with DGI’s new organizational model; and (c) the provision of support for the operationalization of DGI’s new governance model including, inter alia: (i) the design of a human resource management strategic plan to align staff competences with the new governance model; and (iii) the design and implementation of a training program to close capability gaps with DGI’s new governance structure, organizational arrangements, tax administration procedures and computer systems. 25. Subcomponent 2.3. Improving Access to Specialized Information to Businesses. Since launching Portal Timbó in 2009, ANII has identified challenges including the low use of its services by the business community and the need to reach a wider audience, as well as operational challenges related to its proactive and systematized provision of services. As such, this subcomponent includes the following activities aimed at improving access to specialized information to businesses through, inter alia: (a) the expansion of the services provided through Portal Timbó, including, inter alia: (i) 19 Final selection will be determined during implementation. Consultations to date suggest that wood pulp, soy, milk products, and rice could be included. Dec 15, 2016 Page 9 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) the addition of business and scientific literature based on demand; (ii) the establishment of a national system of digital repositories to preserve and disseminate the Government’s scientific output, including the definition of guidelines for streamlined filing and dissemination practices, and the creation of an interoperability layer integrating all databases of national universities and institutes; (iii) the carrying out of an assessment to inform the design of an online database for schoolbooks in Spanish; (iv) the development or acquisition of an information technology solution to launch an online database for schoolbooks and the fostering of its use through public outreach initiatives; (v) the expansion of access to scientific materials based on demand and following a structured testing process to validate take-up of new materials and achieve low per unit costs; and (vi) the design of a new version of Portal Timbó to improve its user-friendliness; and (b) the development of an online knowledge exchange platform containing: (i) a database of projects and ideas of potential interest to investors; (ii) a human resource registry to facilitate firms’ access to the specialized labor force; (iii) socia l network capabilities to facilitate connections among ANII’s stakeholders; and (iv) a section to disseminate the online knowledge exchange platform’s objectives and results. Component 3. Improving the Delivery of e-Government Services to Government Entities 26. This component aims to improve the quality of e-government services to government entities by CGN, MEF, and other entities with a direct link to MEF’s priorities through activities supporting improvements to monitoring of and payments to providers and provider management, government delivery systems, and cross-entity collaboration. 27. Subcomponent 3.1. Enabling the Receipt of Electronic Invoices by State entities. While since the launch of electronic invoicing in 2012, use has grown such that currently, 50 percent of tax receipts issued are electronic, currently, State entities are not able to accept electronic receipts from providers. To address this issue, this subcomponent aims to enable the receipt of electronic invoices by the Government’s public entities through the provision of support to CGN, including: (a) the development of a system to receive and oversee electronic invoices generated by providers for use by all of the budget executing units within the SIIF; (b) the acquisition of the software and hardware needed for the system mentioned herein; (c) the installation of the system mentioned herein in about 243 executing units operating within the SIIF, including the provision of training and the creation of a help desk. 28. Subcomponent 3.2. Strengthening the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s Management of Information. In its position at the center of government, MEF is responsible for managing a variety of economic and financial information for use in policy-making, the volume of which is ever increasing thanks to computerization and process automation. As such, this subcomponent aims to strengthen MEF’s capacity to manage information through the provision of technical assistance for the production, processing, analysis and dissemination of information within MEF’s priorities areas and among other entities responsible for the implementation of activities related to such priorities areas, including the strengthening of the unified national statistics system. Component 4. Strategic Diagnostics, Activities and Knowledge Sharing, and Project Coordination 29. Having identified various challenges in the implementation of the reforms, the Government is keen to further strengthen its analytic knowledge base and identify innovative solutions to improve e-government services that could benefit the country’s next steps and position Uruguay as a global knowledge provider. This component aims to strengthen the Government’s capacity to support strategic reforms in areas that are critical for the achievement of the PDO through, inter alia: (a) the carrying out of activities to strengthen the Government’s monitoring and evaluation capacity to carry out research and learn about the impact of Project activities on the take-up of the associated e- government services and identify potential future adjustments to improve their effectiveness; (b) the carrying out of knowledge sharing and learning activities to disseminate lessons learned on e-government service provision across the Borrower’s public entities and internationally; (c) the provision of selected technical assistance, training and services for improving the quality of e-government services for citizens, business and the Government’s public entities, and for Dec 15, 2016 Page 10 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) facilitating their access; (d) the definition and implementation of change management strategies related to the areas addressed within the Project, including, inter alia: (i) the preparation of a risk assessment in the areas where new services are being launched to help prioritize interventions and develop well-targeted change management plans; (ii) the carrying out of specific stakeholder analyses; and (iii) the preparation of change management plans; and (f) the provision of support for overall Project coordination and management, including the strengthening and maintenance of the project coordination unit (PCU) with adequate fiduciary and implementation capacity. Preparation Advance 30. The PA will finance activities to facilitate project preparation and enhance implementation readiness. Activities financed through the PA are all consulting services and include preparatory assessments, analyses, and diagnostics related to technical features of the proposed Project activities. SAFEGUARDS A. Project location and salient physical characteristics relevant to the safeguard analysis (if known) No safeguards policies are expected to be trigged by the proposed Project as the Project will not finance any civil works. Location of the Project activities focuses on national level central government and the physical footprint of the planned investments will be limited to the purchase of energy-efficient ICT equipment; no disposal of technology is expected during the Project implementation period. B. Borrower’s Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies The Project Coordination Unit (PCU) in the MEF will be the same as for the previous Institutions Building TAL (P097604). It has a strong track record in executing Bank financed operations. As no safeguards policies are expected to be trigged by the proposed Project, related capacity needs are limited. The Project will promote use of relevant good practices in terms of disposal of ICT equipment. The PCU is expected to be have the necessary capacity for said work. However, in case needed, the relevant consulting service can be covered by the Project funding reserved for the support activities under Component 4. C. Environmental and Social Safeguards Specialists on the Team Tuuli Johanna Bernardini D. Policies that might apply Safeguard Policies Triggered? Explanation (Optional) The Project is rated as Category C for environmental assessment purposes consistent with the provisions of OP 4.01. It does not trigger the policy as its likely Environmental Assessment OP/BP 4.01 No environmental impacts have been screened to be limited due to the type and scope of the activities to be financed. The Project will not finance civil works. OP 4.04 is not triggered as none of the planned Project Natural Habitats OP/BP 4.04 No activities imply impacts on natural habitats of any Dec 15, 2016 Page 11 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) type. OP 4.36 is not triggered as none of the planned Project Forests OP/BP 4.36 No activities imply impacts on forests or communities whose livelihoods depend on forests. OP 4.09 is not triggered as the planned Project Pest Management OP 4.09 No activities imply no direct or indirect purchase nor use of pesticides or other agrochemicals. OP 4.11 is not triggered as none of the planned Project Physical Cultural Resources OP/BP 4.11 No activities imply impacts on any type of physical cultural resources. OP 4.110 is not triggered as none of the planned Indigenous Peoples OP/BP 4.10 No Project activities imply impacts on indigenous peoples. OP 4.12 is not triggered, given the characteristics of the Project it is not expected that any activities will Involuntary Resettlement OP/BP 4.12 No imply neither physical and/or economic displacement process, nor any other impact considered as Involuntary Resettlement under this policy. OP 4.37 is not triggered as the planned Project activities do not include construction/rehabilitation of Safety of Dams OP/BP 4.37 No dams nor other interventions which rely on the performance of existing dams. OP 7.50 is not triggered as the planned Project Projects on International Waterways No activities will not be conducted in or influence OP/BP 7.50 international waterways. OP 7.60 is not triggered as the Project will not be Projects in Disputed Areas OP/BP 7.60 No implemented in areas known to involve disputed areas. E. Safeguard Preparation Plan Tentative target date for preparing the Appraisal Stage PID/ISDS Jun 26, 2017 Time frame for launching and completing the safeguard-related studies that may be needed. The specific studies and their timing should be specified in the Appraisal Stage PID/ISDS As per the planned Project design, no safeguards related studies are needed. Applicable legislation and good practices in terms of disposal of ICT equipment will be reflected in the Project’s Operational Manual, yet no such disposal is expected to take place during the Project implementation period. Dec 15, 2016 Page 12 of 13 The World Bank Uruguay - UY Improving Service Delivery to Citizens and Businesses through e-Government (P161989) CONTACT POINT World Bank Henry Forero Ramirez Senior Public Sector Specialist Borrower/Client/Recipient Oriental Republic of Uruguay Implementing Agencies Ministry of Economy and Finance Mariella Maglia Multilateral Organizations mariella.maglia@mef.gub.uy FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects APPROVAL Task Team Leader(s): Henry Forero Ramirez Approved By APPROVALTBL Practice Manager/Manager: Arturo Herrera Gutierrez 23-Jun-2017 Country Director: Emily Sinnott 26-Jun-2017 Dec 15, 2016 Page 13 of 13