Audit no. P/24/065/LKI
According to the report of 2022 called Digital inclusion, which investigated the level of digital exclusion in Poland and accessibility of the internet infrastructure, as much as 15% of persons in Poland have never used the internet and Poland was one of the most digitally excluded states in the EU – the average in Europe was 9%. Approx. 3.8 million Polish people were digitally excluded, of whom over 3.6 million (80%) were persons between 55 and 74 years of age, 2.7 million (63%) were nonaffluent persons and 2.5 million (55%) were inhabitants of villages. Primary reasons for digital exclusion included too little budget to buy necessary equipment (82%) or access to the internet (15%) and the lack of sufficient digital skills (52%).
According to the report of GUS (Central Statistical Office) entitled Information society in Poland in 2024, the percentage of persons aged 16-74 regularly using the internet in 2024 reached about 88%. Less than 70% used email and approx. 57% took benefit of internet banking. Only about 16% of individuals filed electronic applications for some benefits or rights. About 25% of persons aged 55-64 and 10% of persons aged 65-74 could change settings, such as the font size, etc.
The GUS data show that in 2024 general digital skills of nearly half of persons using a computer or a mobile device were definitely insufficient or significantly limited.
Digitisation of public administration may not discriminate
It is a constitutional duty of public authorities to ensure equal treatment to all citizens, without discriminating them for any reason. According to the Ombudsman, though, the way digitisation has been implemented in the public administration is questionable and alarming. He has doubts not only about the adequacy of legislation but also about compliance with the principles of non-discrimination and respect for “the rights of the elderly to lead a life of dignity and independence” (Article 25 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union). The Ombudsman underlined that the issue of digital exclusion applies to many areas, among others to digital reporting, tax settlements e.g. of NGOs bringing together elderly persons, mostly without required digital skills, and even the principles of using city transport which forces cashless payments.
More and more digital applications
In recent years there has been more and more institutions taking advantage of the digital technology development not only for their own needs but also in contacts with citizens and with regard to services provided to them. That was related e.g. to services involving, among other things, the transfer of public funds to eligible persons and entities, for instance to financially support investments or companies.
In the audited period, numerous calls for applications for public funds were announced. The applications were to be prepared in digital form and sent to relevant institutions only using a dedicated application or software.
That opportunity was used among others by district employment offices, which offered funds to small and medium enterprises as part of the so-called covid shield, as well as the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARiMR), which paid public funds to support individual farmers and entrepreneurs.
Minister had good intentions but the scale of his activities was too small
The Minister of Digitisation took efforts to limit the scope of digital exclusion. They were insufficient, though, to provide digitally excluded individuals and entities with equal access to public funds that could be applied for only in an IT system using electronic documents.
The key programme to improve digital skills in the society (Digital Skills Development Programme) was prepared improperly and implemented with delays.
The Minister of Digitisation was not appointed the Programme manager and was not directly responsible for timely and reliable implementation of the Programme. The lack of full decision-making rights could be the reason why the Programme was delayed and not properly implemented.
Infringed principles of equal treatment of applicants
ARiMR was not fully prepared to carry out the calls for applications only by means of IT systems. The systems did not function properly and were defective. The Agency CEO and directors of regional branches did not identify, analyse or monitor the level of digital exclusion among potential beneficiaries of ARiMR and problems affecting them in this area.
The Agency did not organise any training programmes addressed directly to digitally excluded persons to improve their skills.
At the same time, there were numerous violations of the principles of equal treatment of applicants and equal access to information. The irregularities were identified in all the audited ARiMR units. Some of the applicants were denied the support, although their failure to meet the procedural requirements resulted from technical- or skill-based issues related to handling computers or IT systems. The opportunity to sign agreements was brought back only in the course of the NIK audit.
ARiMR communicated with beneficiaries via channels convenient for the Agency but not for beneficiaries. Although the applications provided for an opportunity to choose the means of communication (sms or email), at the stage of verifying payment applications ARiMR sent only email notifications to the beneficiaries, ignoring the fact that the digitally excluded persons could have no access to email or no email account at all.
Problem of digital exclusion noticed in district employment offices and district authority offices
The problem of digital exclusion and related limitations of access to public funds were identified in 90% of the district employment offices and in 60% of the district authority offices. The scale of that phenomenon was not measured in most cases, the level of digital exclusion or the citizens’ needs and hence the effectiveness of activities taken were not monitored. In some institutions the fact that the application verification and approval function was not fully separated from the control function could foster corruption mechanisms. Hence, the supervision of district heads over these institutions needed to be strengthened.
According to all directors of the district employment offices the calls for applications for public funds conducted only in IT systems could limit the access of digitally excluded persons to those funds. Although the institutions’ organisation was not always appropriate, they took efforts which contributed to equal treatment of all applicants. Equal access to funds was also ensured for digitally excluded entrepreneurs, allowing for manual correction of applications in case they had problems with electronic correction.
Only one district employment office conducted a reliable audit of propriety of public spending. As much as 40% of these offices resigned from the system audit of beneficiaries and half of the auditees failed to provide a fully efficient information security management.
Strategic documents of most of the audited district authority offices addressed the issue of digital exclusion. However, in two of ten audited district authority offices no measures were designed in this area and in others no measurements were defined to monitor the effectiveness of planned actions. The district heads’ supervision over the activity of district employment offices was sufficient in most cases. However, the inspections and audits carried out in those entities did not cover issues related to digital exclusion or the way of conducting calls for applications in the IT system, including equal access to public funds for the digitally excluded persons. The majority of district heads confirmed that the calls for applications carried out only by means of IT systems made things difficult and did not give equal opportunities to the digitally excluded persons.
Recommendations
NIK has addressed a de lege ferenda proposal to the President of the Council of Ministers to:
- introduce legal regulations obliging the minister indicated by the President of the Council of Ministers to implement solutions ensuring equal access to public funds to digitally excluded persons and entities,
- prepare a draft resolution changing the resolution of the Council of Ministers of 2023 on establishing the government programme called the “Digital Skills Development Programme” to allocate responsibility to the minister of digitisation for adequate and timely implementation of this Programme.
To the Minister of Digitisation to:
- ensure timely implementation of the Digital Skills Development Programme and achieve specified indicators or make them real, particularly with regard to tasks directly related to the improvement of digital skills in the society.
To the President of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture to:
- introduce mechanisms for providing unpaid and direct support to the digitally excluded persons to provide them with equal access to public funds and monitor their needs in this area,
- adhere to the principles of transparency, equal treatment and equal access to information in the process of verifying submitted applications,
- undertake system cooperation with the Minister of Digitisation and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the area of levelling opportunities of the digitally excluded persons in accessing public funds,
- conduct an audit of the functioning of ARiMR’s IT systems used by external users to make sure they operate in an intuitive way, particularly to eliminate imprecise notifications and communications sent to those users.
To heads of district employment offices to:
- ensure full separation of the application verification and approval function from the control function.
