ICT Inception Report template

DG [Name]

Unit [Name]

ICT Inception Report template

Assessment of ICT impacts of the [Name of the initiative]

Date: [Issue Date]
Doc. Version: [6.00]

Page 18 of 18

ICT Inception Report template

This report was carried out for the European Commission by:

Disclaimer

The information and views set out in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Commission. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this document. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on the European Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

© European Union, 2015

Table of contents

Disclaimer 2

1. Introduction 5

2. Methodology 6

2.1. Step I: Define the scope of the ICT assessment 6

2.1.1 Identify the ICT relevance of the policy problem and objectives 6

2.1.2 Define the technical scenarios 6

2.2. Step II: Prepare the ICT assessment 8

2.2.1 Analyse stakeholders 8

2.2.2 Build the ICT cost-benefit model 10

2.2.3 Define the data collection methods 12

2.2.4 Define the assessment criteria 13

2.3. Step III: Assess the ICT impacts 14

2.3.1 Collect and analyse data 14

2.3.2 Compare the technical scenarios and make recommendations on the policy options 15

3. Work Plan 16

4. Risks, Issues and Decisions 17

Table of tables

Table 1 Link between ICT and the policy options 6

Table 2 Mapping between technical scenarios and policy options 7

Table 3 Summary of the stakeholder groups 8

Table 4 Regulatory costs and benefits per stakeholder group and technical scenario 9

Table 5 Mapping requirements and ICT costs 11

Table 6 Benefits per technical scenario (and stakeholder group) 11

Table 7 Mapping of the data collection methods per stakeholder group 12

Table 8 List of documents for desk research 12

Table 9 List of stakeholders to consult 13

Table 10 Summary of the list of assessment criteria and related weightings 13

Table 11 Comparison of the technical scenarios 15

Table 12 Risk Log 17

Table 13 Issue Log 18

Table 14 Decision Log 18

1. Introduction

The ICT Inception Report template is developed to support the policy makers and ICT experts going through a detailed ICT assessment. Pre-formatted so as to follow the Commission proposed methodology for assessing ICT impacts, it serves as a starting point for defining the scope and preparing an ICT assessment.

As a result, this template should be filled-in by policy makers and ICT experts and ideally submitted for review to the Inter-Service Steering group (including the initiative lead DG) before the actual assessment of ICT impacts (including data collection activities).

[The introduction should include:

·  A summary of the context and background of the initiative going under the assessment of ICT impacts;

·  The purpose of any assessment of ICT impacts in general and in the particular case of the concerned initiative;

·  The purpose of the document and how it is articulated.]

2. Methodology

The proposed methodology for assessing ICT impacts comprises three (3) steps, namely: Step I: Define the scope of the ICT assessment; Step II: Prepare the ICT assessment; Step III: Assess the ICT impacts.

2.1. Step I: Define the scope of the ICT assessment

The first step of the methodology aims to define the scope of the ICT assessment of a new Commission initiative: [Include the name of the new Commission initiative and information on its context and background].

For this purpose, the following key elements should be identified prior the actual assessment of ICT impacts: the ICT relevance of the policy problem and objectives (Section 2.1.1) and the technical scenarios (Section 2.1.2).

2.1.1  Identify the ICT relevance of the policy problem and objectives

[Describe the policy problem and objectives related to this new Commission initiative as identified in the regulatory IA and explain how ICT or Internet drivers are linked to the problem and could contribute to achieving the objectives in an efficient and effective way.

In relation to the problem definition, you should address the following questions:

·  Are there insufficient/outdated ICT means influencing the problem?

·  Are there trends indicating that digital technology could change the nature of the problem?

·  How will the problem evolve over time if digital technologies are not used as needed?

Ensure that you set the objectives of the present study so that they are aligned and serve well the policy objectives.]

2.1.2  Define the technical scenarios

[Describe how ICT can leverage the implementation of each policy option, baseline (“do nothing”) included.

Ensure that:

·  All policy options, ICT and non-ICT related are listed (for the non-ICT related options, explain why no ICT relevance exists);

·  The policy options presenting the potential to be "Internet Ready" are clearly identified.

This information can be presented using the following table.]

Table 1 Link between ICT and the policy options

Policy Option code
(PO) / Policy Option Short
Title (POST) / Description / ICT leverage /
PO01 / <POST01> / < Description of the policy option / < Description of how ICT can leverage the implementation of the policy option >
PO02 / <POST02> / … / …
PO03 / <POST03>
… / …

[Based on the information entered in Table 1, define and describe the technical scenarios that should be in the scope of this ICT impact assessment and indicate how these relate to the policy options.

Table 2 can be used to facilitate the mapping between policy options and technical scenarios.

Table 2 Mapping between technical scenarios and policy options

Technical Scenario
code (TS) / Technical Scenario
Short Title (TSST) / Description / Related Policy Option
(code and Short Title)
TS01 / TSST01> / < Description of the technical scenario, including a list of main requirements[1] / < List of policy options for which the technical scenario can be used : PO-<POST>
TS02 / <TSST02> / … / …
TS03 / <TSST03>
… / …

While one technical scenario can be defined for several policy options; one policy option can also be implemented by different technical scenarios. The ultimate objective of the assessment of the costs and benefits of each technical scenario is to provide an input to policy makers on the level of ICT impacts of each policy option.]

Figures and graphs can be added to illustrate the technical scenarios selected.

2.2. Step II: Prepare the ICT assessment

The second step of the methodology aims to prepare the ICT assessment through the identification of four key elements:

·  Stakeholders affected by the technical scenarios (Section 2.2.1);

·  ICT cost-benefit model related to the technical scenarios/requirements (Section 2.2.2);

·  Data collection methods to be employed (Section 2.2.3);

·  Assessment criteria to be used for choosing the preferred technical scenario (Section 2.2.4).

2.2.1  Analyse stakeholders

[Based on the different stakeholder groups affected (either positively or negatively) by the policy options, profile the ones who will be specifically affected by the technical scenarios defined in section 2.1.2 (e.g. size and role of each stakeholder group, description of how they are affected by the technical scenarios).

The profile of each stakeholder group can be summarised using Table 3.

Table 3 Summary of the stakeholder groups

Stakeholder
Group code (SG) / Stakeholder Group Name (SGN) / Size of the stakeholder group / Description of the stakeholder group /
SG01 / < SGN01 > / < Size of the stakeholder group N°01 (in number of persons) / < Description of the role of the stakeholder group N°01 and how they are affected by the technical scenarios.>
SG02 / < SGN02 > / … / …
… / …

At the end of this analysis, all potential impacts – positive or negative – should be mapped out according to the specific parties that would be affected. For this purpose, the impacts identified in Table 3 should be mapped to the regulatory costs and benefits described in the Better Regulation guidelines 2015[2]. A linkage between a regulatory cost or benefit and the related stakeholder group affected can be denoted by ticking  the concerned cell.

The mapping can be performed using Table 4 (for each technical scenario).]

Table 4 Regulatory costs and benefits per stakeholder group and technical scenario

/ Technical Scenario code (TS) and Short Title (TSST): TS-<TSST> /
Category / Sub-category / Stakeholder Group code (SG) and Name (SGN) /
SG01-<SGN01> / SG02-<SGN02> / … /
COSTS / Direct / Direct compliance costs
Regulatory charges
Substantive compliance costs
Administrative burdens
Hassle costs
Hassle costs
Enforcement / One-off adaptation costs
Information costs and administrative burdens
Monitoring
Adjudication
Enforcement
Indirect / Indirect compliance costs
Indirect compliance costs
Other indirect costs
Substitution effects
Transaction costs
Reduced competition and inefficient resource allocation
Reduced market access
Reduced investment and innovation
Uncertainty and investment
BENEFITS / Direct / Improved well-being
Improved market efficiency
Indirect / Benefits from third-party compliance with legal rules
Wider macroeconomic benefits
Other, non monetizable benefits

Assuming that ICT costs are mainly substantive compliance costs or indirect compliance costs (as highlighted in Table 4), for the other categories of costs and for all categories of benefits, estimates should be performed in accordance to the Better Regulation guidelines[3] and toolbox[4] 2015.]

2.2.2  Build the ICT cost-benefit model

ICT costs

[Map the main requirements[5] related to each technical scenario to ICT costs, using VAST[6] taxonomy and taking into account whether these costs are one-off or ongoing. Following VAST, five categories of costs should be analysed while defining the mapping between requirements and ICT costs:

1.  Infrastructure costs provide the total (anticipated) cost of the hardware (e.g. network, servers, storage) and software (e.g. licences, libraries) required to develop, support, operate and maintain the online collection system;

2.  Development costs provide the total (anticipated) cost (human resources) for the development of the system (e.g. analysis and process re-engineering activity, coding activity, project management activity, test activity, configuration & change management activity, deployment activity);

3.  Maintenance costs provide the total (anticipated) cost (human resources) in person days per year to maintain the system (e.g. activities related to both corrective maintenance and evolving maintenance);

4.  Support costs provide the total (anticipated) cost (human resources) in person days per year to support the system, its users and end-users;

5.  Training costs are related to the costs to train systems’ users.

Table 5 can be used to perform this mapping. For one-off costs, a simple linkage between the requirement and the category of costs can be denoted by ticking  the concerned cell. For ongoing costs, the number of years during which the cost is foreseen should be added in the concerned cell.]

Table 5 Mapping requirements and ICT costs

Requirements / Infrastructure / Development / Maintenance / Support / Training
One-off / Ongoing / One-off / Ongoing / One-off / Ongoing / One-off / Ongoing / One-off / Ongoing
TS01
·  <Requirement n°01> /  / <number of years> /  / <number of years> /  / <number of years> /  / <number of years> /  / <number of years>
·  <Requirement n°02> /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / …
·  … /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / …
TS02
·  <Requirement n°01> /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / …
·  <Requirement n°02> /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / …
·  … /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / …
…
·  <Requirement n°01> /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / …
·  … /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / … /  / …

At a later stage the ticks and number of years will be replaced by the ICT costs associated to each requirement. These costs will provide an estimate of the Total Cost of Ownership[7] (TCO) for each technical scenario assessed.

ICT benefits

[Identify all the benefits related to each technical scenario and for each stakeholder group and map them to their corresponding category of regulatory benefits, as defined in the Better Regulation guidelines[8] and toolbox[9] 2015.

Table 6 can then be used to describe each type of regulatory benefits, at least qualitatively and, when possible, quantitatively.]

For more information on how to identify and estimate benefits, please refer to the ISA method.

Table 6 Benefits per technical scenario (and stakeholder group)

TECHNICAL SCENARIO /
Qualitative description / Quantitative description
Stakeholder group N°1
Benefits / Improved well-being
·  / · 
Improved market efficiency
·  / · 
·  / · 
Benefits from third-party compliance with legal rules
·  / · 
Wider macroeconomic benefits
·  / · 
Other, non monetizable benefits
·  / · 
Stakeholder group N°X
Benefits / Improved well-being
·  / · 
·  / · 
Improved market efficiency
·  / · 
Benefits from third-party compliance with legal rules
·  / · 
Wider macroeconomic benefits / · 
·  / · 
·  / · 
Other, non monetizable benefits
·  / · 

The assessment of the benefits will provide inputs when comparing the technical scenarios against a set of assessment criteria (please refer to Section 2.3.2).

2.2.3  Define the data collection methods

[Based on the stakeholder analysis results and on the specificities of each data collection method, define the most appropriate data collection method(s) to get inputs on the ICT impacts of the technical scenarios for each stakeholder group, whether positive or negative, qualitative or quantitative.