EasyGov: Digital Navigation of Government Processes
The 10th annual GPPN Conference, hosted by the Sciences Po School of Public Affairs, featured students' solution oriented ideas and prototypes to address public policy challenges identified by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To participate, each GPPN member school carefully selected up to five student teams to present their projects and compete for the GPPN prize. The result: 32 teams from around the world met in Paris to showcase their ideas on how to solve some of the most pressing global challenges of today.
EasyGov was selected as one of the six GPPN finalists at the annual conference.
In contrast to harmonized and modernized centralised e-government websites which are complicated and relatively expensive to implement, we propose a tool that builds on the existing infrastructure of e-government tools. The inspiration for the tool, Easy Government, comes from the success of Google Maps. In comparison to dull drop-down lists, extensive, time-consuming research and confusing online procedures typical for e-government tools, Google Maps employs a different approach. Basically, the user tells Google Maps his location and where he wants to go to and the program gives him alternative routes how he can complete his journey using different means (car, public transport, etc.). It gives detailed instructions how to get there, how much will it cost and how long it will take. There is no reason why citizens experience while navigating e-government tools should be any different.
Meet the team
Michail Schuch is a dual master’s degree student at Sciences Po (Paris) and the Hertie School of Governance (Berlin). He studies Public Policy with a special focus on Management of Public Affairs. He completed his Bachelor in Business, Economics and Social Sciences at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and studied at the City University of Hong Kong during his exchange semester. Previously Michail worked for the Austrian Trade Mission in Moscow and assisted the advisor on Economic Governance and the European Semester at the European Commission’s Representation in Vienna. Before coming to Paris, he was an Economic Department intern at the Austrian Embassy in Washington DC, and a voluntary staff member of the Academic Council on the United Nations System. Michail speaks German, English, Russian, and French.
Julia Burkhalter is a master’s student at Sciences Po’s School of Public Affairs. She is doing a degree in Public Policy with a specialisation in Management of Public Affairs. She is holding a Bachelor degree from the University of Zurich in political sciences with a minor in communication sciences. Besides her studies, she is working part-time for Farner Consulting, a communication agency in Switzerland, in the department for Public Affairs. Previously, she did an internship at the Brussels office of the Swiss Business Federation (economiesuisse). Julia speaks German, English, French and started studying Italian and Arabic.
Marius Stasiukaitis is a master’s degree student at Sciences Po’s School of Public Affairs. He has a Bachelor degree in Economics from Vilnius University and 3 years of professional experience in management consulting. Marius has worked on a number of policy and organizational change projects in various government agencies and other institutions at international, national and local levels, among which are European Commission, Information Society Development Committee, State Tax Inspectorate of Lithuania, Vilnius University, National Commission for Energy Control and Prices, other. Before that, he was a spring analyst at the Office of the President of the Republic of Lithuania. Marius speaks Lithuanian, English, Russian and French.
Filip Stanković is a master’s student in Public Policy at Sciences Po Paris where he is specialising in Management of Public Affairs. Filip graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in International Affairs. Filip is passionate about international cooperation, climate change and digital world. Even though he studies public policy, his main interest lies in the private sector. Prior to starting his graduate studies in Paris he worked at Delta Holding and LafargeHolcim in Serbia while holding various positions in the marketing and strategy departments. He participated in the foundation of an NGO in Belgrade that serves as a network of young leaders across the world. Filip speaks Serbian, French, English and he recently started studying Italian.
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