Criticism, some heartless, of the public system hurts especially the hundreds, if not thousands, of civil servants who strive to do their jobs well. And also to those responsible for the public administration who have proposed to change the image of these offices. Ester Manzano Peláez, general director of Digital Services and Citizen Experience of the Generalitat, ensures that this task, not an easy one, is there. And it won’t be because of desire and eagerness. “Our goal is to do things right and ensure that the citizen has a positive experience in these offices”, he says. In other words, act in the public sphere as any private company that aspires to succeed would do.
Ester Manzano reveals that many of the efforts of the Administration, due to the digital gap, are currently focused on the creation of the “virtual assistant”. An official prepared to guide or, if necessary, “process the entire process of those people who do not manage the universe of new technologies well. “We are already doing it and the result is satisfactory”, assures this head of the Generalitat. Another measure to speed up citizens’ procedures “has been the reinforcement of the 012 telephone, so that you can ask for help when you have doubts during a digital procedure”. And the citizen must know – this is how Ester Manzano announces it – that he can request the people assigned to the attention of this telephone for a video attention connection, if they do not clarify themselves with just the telephone conversationâ€.
Regarding the appointment – so criticized in recent months by citizens and which continues to be established in many state-owned offices -, the general director of Digital Services and Citizen Experience assures that in Catalonia “this measure is not mandatory in any public office, except in issues related to social rights, issues that are usually complex”. So Manzano announces that at the moment any citizen can go to a public office and ask for face-to-face care. Although this head of the Administration does not hide that “the appointment, well managed, helps to reduce queues and waits”. And he adds that there are citizens who “are happy with this system, since if the procedure is not urgent they can wait a few days and know that when the specified date arrives they will be attended to immediately”.
Ester Manzano goes even further and states that at the moment the citizen can go whenever he wants to these public offices and if he is asked to complete a virtual procedure he has every right to ask an official (this assistant) to “help or directly take these steps on the Internet”. At least it is an order that has been given by the Generalitat.
Manzano also does not hide that some public administration websites are complicated and ineffective. And that’s why the central government has already put a thread on the needle, he announces, to “change the face of these portals with a language that is understood and with easier steps for the user”. A communication project has also been completed, with a web page that explains, in the clearest possible way, the different digital procedures that can be carried out remotely with the Administration.
And finally, aware of the difficulties in overcoming the digital gap, workshops are organized from the office led by Ester Manzano, with free and open assistance, to “explain to the citizen the most basic of digital relations with the Administration” , says Ester Manzano. And he ends: “Sometimes we get stuck in a procedure because we don’t know all the resources and services made available to the citizen. And that needs to be corrected.”
