Ecuador’s drive for better digital public services
Digital transformation is often associated with technology, but its real purpose is much simpler: making government work better for people. This is the vision that Ecuador is pursuing through the TINKUY Digital Interoperability Programme. Instead of asking citizens to navigate complex administrative systems, modern digital government is built around people’s needs, life events, and everyday interactions with public services.
Building the foundations for better digital services
Successful digital transformation requires reliable data, clear governance, secure information exchange between institutions, and a common understanding of how data and services should be managed. Without these building blocks, even the most advanced digital services cannot function effectively.
Through its work in Ecuador, eGA has identified challenges familiar to many countries. Data is often fragmented across institutions, information is exchanged through separate agreements rather than a common framework, and citizens are frequently asked to provide the same information repeatedly. At the same time, Ecuador demonstrates a strong institutional commitment to modernisation and growing recognition that better data governance and interoperability are essential for future digital services and the responsible adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence.
To address these challenges, eGA has assessed Ecuador’s data governance landscape and supported discussions on improving interoperability. More than 50 specialists from around 30 public institutions have worked together to identify practical ways to improve coordination, enable secure data exchange and establish common rules for common governance mechanisms.
From complex procedures to citizen-centred services
A key part of the TINKUY programme is helping Ecuador redesign public services around people’s needs. Four priority services have been identified for digital redesign: birth registration, driving license issuance, legalisation of administrative acts related to employment contracts, and payment of traffic accident benefits.
The goal is not simply to digitalise existing procedures, but to redesign services from the citizen’s perspective, simplifying processes, reducing administrative burdens, and improving user experience.
In October, eGA will launch a citizen-centred digital services training programme to help public institutions of selected services put this approach into action. Working alongside eGA experts, participating teams will analyse existing services, identify user needs, design improved future services, test solutions, and develop practical roadmaps for implementation. The programme will also help public institutions build the skills needed to continue improving services independently in the future.
Turning data governance into practical solutions
Alongside service redesign, eGA will work with Ecuadorian stakeholders to strengthen the national frameworks that enable public institutions to cooperate and exchange information securely. Co-creation workshops will focus on developing Ecuador’s future Data Governance Framework and National Interoperability Framework.
Together, participants will define:
- Clear responsibilities for managing and sharing data
- Common data standards and governance models
- Requirements for describing and organising data
- Mechanisms for monitoring data quality and compliance
- Practical steps for putting the frameworks into use
These frameworks will help institutions work together more effectively, reduce duplication, and create a reliable foundation for modern digital services.
Better services. More trust. More public value.
The long-term vision is ambitious: people should experience simple and seamless public services, while government institutions securely exchange reliable data behind the scenes.
Citizens should not have to provide the same information repeatedly. Public institutions should be able to reuse information securely, with appropriate safeguards, to deliver faster, more transparent and more accessible services.
Estonia’s experience shows that successful digital transformation is primarily about organising government around people’s needs and using technology to make services work better.
Through the TINKUY programme, funded by the European Union under its Global Gateway initiative, Ecuador is taking important steps towards this vision. Working together with Ecuadorian partners, eGA, FIAP and CEDIA are supporting the development of a more connected, efficient, and citizen-centred digital government that strengthens trust and creates lasting public value for all citizens.
Five lessons for improving public services
- Start with people. Design services around citizens’ needs and life events.
- Build strong digital foundations. Reliable data, clear governance and secure data exchange are essential. These foundations should be developed alongside service improvement, not treated as separate technical projects.
- Make interoperability a government-wide priority. Institutions should exchange data securely instead of asking citizens for the same information repeatedly. Common interoperability rules, standards, and responsibilities allow institutions to work together securely and make services simpler for users.
- Bring institutions together to co-create services. Digital transformation cannot be delivered by one ministry or IT team alone. Bring institutions together to agree on governance models, data standards, responsibilities and practical implementation steps.
- Start small and scale. Improve selected priority services, test solutions, and use the lessons to drive wider transformation.