DG [Name]Unit [Name]

ICT Final Report templateAssessment of ICT impacts of the [Name of the initiative]

ICT Final Report template

Date: [Issue Date]

Doc. Version: [5.00]

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

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ICT Final Report template

Table of contentsThis report was carried out for the European Commission by:

Disclaimer 2Executive summary 51. Introduction 62. Methodology 72.1. Step I: Define the scope of the ICT assessment 7

2.1.1 Identify the ICT relevance of the policy problem and objectives 7

2.1.2 Define the technical scenarios 7

2.2. Step II: Prepare the ICT assessment 7

2.2.1 Analyse stakeholders 8

2.2.2 Build the ICT cost-benefit model 9

2.2.3 Define the data collection methods 10

2.2.4 Define the assessment criteria 11

2.3. Step III: Assess the ICT impacts 11

2.3.1 Collect and analyse data 11

2.3.2 Compare the technical scenarios and make recommendations on the policy options 12

3. Description of the technical scenarios 133.1. Baseline 13

3.2. Technical scenarios in the scope of the ICT assessment 13

3.2.1 Technical scenario N°1 13

3.2.2 Technical scenario N°X 13

4. Assessment of the technical scenarios 144.1. Assumptions 14

4.2. Technical scenario N°1 14

4.2.1 Costs 14

4.2.2 Benefits 15

4.2.3 Other 17

4.3. Technical scenario N°X 17

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ICT Final Report template

5. Comparison of the technical scenarios 185.1. Assessment criterion N°1 18

5.2. Assessment criterion N°X 18

5.3. Conclusions 18

6. Appendix 206.1. ICT cost-benefit model 20

6.2. Regulatory costs and benefits 21

Table of tablesTable 1 Regulatory costs and benefits per stakeholder group and technical scenario................................................8Table 2 Mapping requirements and ICT costs.............................................................................................................9Table 3 Mapping of the data collection methods per stakeholder group....................................................................10Table 4 Summary of the list of assessment criteria and related weightings...............................................................11Table 5 List of documents for desk research.............................................................................................................11Table 6 Costs related to technical scenario N°1 (per group of stakeholders)............................................................15Table 7 Benefits related to technical scenario N°1 (per group of stakeholders).........................................................16Table 8 Comparison of the technical scenarios.........................................................................................................19

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ICT Final Report template

Executive summary[The executive summary should first briefly recap the context, objective(s) and scope of the ICT assessment

(description of the baseline and technical scenarios considered).

The main part of the executive summary should then be dedicated to the presentation of the key findings from the

assessment (i.e. the results of the assessment of each technical scenario against the criteria selected) and the

major conclusions and recommendations (if any).]

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ICT Final Report template

1. IntroductionThe ICT Final Report template is developed to support the ICT experts presenting the ICT assessment results.

Based on the key findings from the assessment, this template should provide policy-makers with clear evidence-

based results to support decision-making on the preferred policy option (and related technical scenario).

As a result, this template should be filled-in by ICT experts and ideally submitted for review to the Inter-Service

Steering group (including the initiative lead DG) at the end of the ICT assessment phase.

[The introduction should explain:

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.]

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ICT Final Report template

2. Methodology

The methodology followed 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 aimed to define the scope of the ICT assessment of [Include the name of the

Commission initiative under assessment and information on its context and background].

For this purpose, two key actions were performed, as listed below.

1. Identify the ICT relevance of the policy problem and objectives (sub-section 2.1.1);

2. Define the technical scenarios (sub-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.]

This sub-section should be based on the inputs from the ICT Inception report.

2.1.2 Define the technical scenarios

[Briefly present the policy options and thoroughly describe the technical scenarios that were defined to

support the implementation of these policy options. These scenarios are analysed into detail in this assessment.]

This sub-section should be based on the inputs from the ICT Inception report.

2.2. Step II: Prepare the ICT assessment

The second step of the methodology aimed to prepare the ICT assessment. For this purpose, four key actions were

performed, as listed below.

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ICT Final Report template

Analyse stakeholders (Section 2.2.1);

Build the ICT cost-benefit model (Section 2.2.2);

Define the data collection methods (Section 2.2.3);

Define the assessment criteria (Section 2.2.4).

2.2.1 Analyse stakeholders

A stakeholder analysis was performed in order to identify all the groups of individuals being impacted by the

technical scenarios above mentioned.

Stakeholder analysis provides a means to identify the relevant stakeholders who have a ‘stake’ or interest in the

study under consideration.

[Profile the stakeholder groups who will be specifically affected by the technical scenarios previously defined

by specifying their size and role and describing how they are affected by the technical scenarios (high-level

impacts).

Map these high-level impacts to the regulatory costs and benefits described in the Better Regulation guidelines

20151. A linkage between a regulatory cost or benefit and the related stakeholder group affected can be denoted

by ticking the concerned cell, in Table 1 (for each technical scenario).]

1 SWD(2015) 111 final, Commission Staff Working Document, Better Regulation Guidelines, {COM(2015) 215 final} {SWD(2015) 110 final}, Strasbourg, 19.5.2015.

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ICT Final Report template

Table 1 Regulatory costs and benefits per stakeholder group and technical scenario

Technical Scenario code (TS) and Short Title (TSST): TS-<TSST>

Category Sub-categoryStakeholder Group code (SG) and Name (SGN)SG01-<SGN01> SG02-<SGN02> …

CO

STS

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

BEN

EFIT

S

Direct Improved well-being

Improved market efficiency

Indirect Benefits from third-party compliance with legal rules

Wider macroeconomic benefits

Other, non monetizable benefits

This sub-section should be based on the inputs from the ICT Inception report.

Assuming that ICT costs are mainly substantive compliance costs or indirect compliance costs (as highlighted in

Table 1), for the other categories of costs and for all categories of benefits, estimates were performed in accordance

to the Better Regulation guidelines2 and toolbox3 2015.

2 SWD(2015) 111 final, Commission Staff Working Document, Better Regulation Guidelines, {COM(2015) 215 final} {SWD(2015) 110 final}, Strasbourg, 19.5.2015.3 Better Regulation Toolbox, complementing SWD(2015) 111 final, Commission Staff Working Document, Better Regulation Guidelines, {COM(2015) 215 final} {SWD(2015) 110 final}, Strasbourg, 19.5.2015.

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ICT Final Report template

2.2.2 Build the ICT cost-benefit model

ICT costs

[Explain how the ICT cost model of each technical scenario was built (i.e. by decomposing each technical

scenario into requirements and mapping these requirements to specific cost categories, such as the ones from

VAST, i.e. Infrastructure, Development, Maintenance, Support and Training) and display the result of this ICT cost model using Table 2].

Table 2 Mapping requirements and ICT costs

Requirements Infrastructure Development Maintenance Support TrainingOne-off Ongoing One-off Ongoing One-off Ongoing One-off Ongoing One-off Ongoing

Y1 Y2 YX Y1 YX Y1 Y2 YX Y1 Y2 YX Y1 Y2 YX

TS01 <Requirement n°01>

<Requirement n°02>

…

TS02 <Requirement n°01>

<Requirement n°02>

…

<Requirement n°01>

…

TOTAL COSTS (in EUR)

These costs will provide an estimate of the Total Cost of Ownership4 (TCO) for each technical scenario assessed and each year (Y). We recommend using a five-year period for the estimates.

4 The TCO of an information system defines the total estimated cost to develop the system, to put it into production, to operate it, to support it, to maintain it, to phase it out at the end, etc. The cost estimation should be as comprehensive as possible and include all costs from the very inception of the system until its phase out.

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ICT Final Report template

ICT benefits

[Explain how the ICT benefit model of each technical scenario was built (i.e. by identifying all the benefits

related to each technical scenario, for each stakeholder group and mapping these benefit to their corresponding

category of regulatory benefits, as defined in the Better Regulation guidelines5 and toolbox6 2015).

The results of the ICT benefit model is presented in the sections related to the assessment of the benefits for each

technical scenario (e.g. Section 4.2.2).

2.2.3 Define the data collection methods

[Describe the data collection method(s) used for collecting inputs on the ICT impacts of the technical scenarios,

and the reasons why these were selected (e.g. strengths of the method, purpose).

Depict the mapping between the stakeholder groups and data collection methods selected, using Table 3.]

Table 3 Mapping of the data collection methods per stakeholder group

Stakeholder Group code (SG) and Name (SGN)

Des

k re

sear

ch

Inte

rvie

ws

Focu

s gr

oups

Que

stio

nnai

re

surv

eys

Wor

ksho

p

Oth

ers

SG01-<SGN01>

SG02-<SGN02>

…

This sub-section should be based on the inputs from the ICT Inception report.

5 SWD(2015) 111 final, Commission Staff Working Document, Better Regulation Guidelines, {COM(2015) 215 final} {SWD(2015) 110 final}, Strasbourg, 19.5.2015.6 Better Regulation Toolbox, complementing SWD(2015) 111 final, Commission Staff Working Document, Better Regulation Guidelines, {COM(2015) 215 final} {SWD(2015) 110 final}, Strasbourg, 19.5.2015.

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ICT Final Report template

2.2.4 Define the assessment criteria

[Present the list of criteria (e.g. efficiency, effectiveness), and potentially sub-criteria, used to evaluate the

technical scenarios as well as their related weighting, by filling-in Table 4.

Table 4 Summary of the list of assessment criteria and related weightings

Weighting(assessment

criteria)

Assessment criteria Weighting(sub-criteria)

Sub-criteria

W 1Efficiency N/A N/A

W 2=∑m=1

M 2

w2 , mEffectiveness w2,1 < Name and description of sub-criterion N°1 >

w2,2 < Name and description of sub-criterion N°2 >

w2 , M 2

< Name and description of sub-criterion N°M2>

W K=∑m=1

M k

wK ,m< Name and description of the assessment criterion N°K>

wK ,1 < Name and description of sub-criterion N°1 >

wK ,M k

< Name and description of sub-criterion N°Mk >

This sub-section should be based on the inputs from the ICT Inception report.

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ICT Final Report template

2.3. Step III: Assess the ICT impacts

The third and last phase of the methodology aimed to conduct the ICT assessment . For this purpose, two key

actions were performed, as listed below:

Collect and analyse data (sub-section 2.3.1);

Compare the technical scenarios and make recommendations on the policy options (sub-section 2.3.2).

2.3.1 Collect and analyse data

[In case desk research was used, define the list of documents that were analysed in Table 5. In case interviews,

questionnaire surveys and/or workshop were used, state the number of stakeholders involved in and the main outcomes resulting from these consultations.]

Table 5 List of documents for desk research

ID1 < Title > < Author(s) > < Year of publication > < Country, city of Publisher > < Hyperlink >

2

3

4

X

[Explain the technics used to control the coherence, reliability and validity of the information/data collected (e.g. triangulation, RACER) and how the data was analysed (e.g. cost-benefit analysis, discount rate).]

2.3.2 Compare the technical scenarios and make recommendations on the policy

options

Based on the assessment of each technical scenario, conclusions were drawn and recommendations made (please

refer to Section 5.3).

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ICT Final Report template

3. Description of the technical scenariosPrior to describing each of the technical scenarios that is in the scope of the ICT assessment, this section gives a status on the current situation, with regards to [Include the subject of the initiative] (i.e. Baseline).

3.1. Baseline

The baseline scenario serves as a basis for assessing the potential impacts of the range of possible technical scenarios which are included in the ICT assessment.

[Describe the baseline scenario and explain into detail the main challenges, difficulties, weaknesses of this

scenario for stakeholders.]

Figures and graphs can be added to illustrate the baseline scenario.

3.2. Technical scenarios in the scope of the ICT assessment

[Explain how the technical scenarios analysed in the scope of the ICT assessment were selected.]

3.2.1 Technical scenario N°1

[Describe Technical scenario N°1.]

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

3.2.2 Technical scenario N°X

[Describe Technical scenario N°X.]

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

3.2.3

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ICT Final Report template

4. Assessment of the technical scenariosThis section presents the main assumptions made to perform this assessment and then describe the positive impacts (benefits) and negative impacts (costs) foreseen for each technical scenario.

4.1. Assumptions

While performing the cost-benefit analysis of the technical scenarios, the following assumptions were made:

[Include the list of assumptions made during the assessment, e.g. costs included/ excluded in the calculations,

average cost for Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)]

4.2. Technical scenario N°1

This sub-section aims at assessing the costs and benefits for each group of stakeholders impacted by the initiative,

in case technical scenario N°1 is implemented.

4.2.1 Costs

Table 6 below provides a qualitative and quantitative description of the main costs related to the technical scenario

N°1.

[Fill-in Table 6 with the qualitative and quantitative description of the costs foreseen for scenario N°1. Please note

the following:

The costs included in Table 6 should be based on the estimates provided in Table 2 (and any other

technique/method provided by the Better Regulation guidelines7 and toolbox8 2015) and correspond to

these ticked in Table 1.

When a type of cost cannot be assessed quantitatively, mention that ‘the costs could not be monetised.’

When a type of cost is not relevant to a group of stakeholder, ‘Not assessed’ should be entered in the

corresponding cell.]

7 SWD(2015) 111 final, Commission Staff Working Document, Better Regulation Guidelines, {COM(2015) 215 final} {SWD(2015) 110 final}, Strasbourg, 19.5.2015.8 Better Regulation Toolbox, complementing SWD(2015) 111 final, Commission Staff Working Document, Better Regulation Guidelines, {COM(2015) 215 final} {SWD(2015) 110 final}, Strasbourg, 19.5.2015.

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ICT Final Report template

Table 6 Costs related to technical scenario N°1 (per group of stakeholders)

TECHNICAL SCENARIO 1

Qualitative description Quantitative description

Stakeholder group N°1

Costs Charges

Substantive compliance costs

Administrative burden

Hassle costs

Indirect compliance costs

Other indirect costs

Stakeholder group N°X

Costs Charges

Substantive compliance costs

Administrative burden

Hassle costs

Indirect compliance costs

Other indirect costs

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ICT Final Report template

[Summarise the key findings and first conclusions drawn from the costs analysis of the technical scenario N°1.]

The assessment of the costs will provide inputs when comparing the technical scenarios against a set of

assessment criteria (please refer to Section 5).

4.2.2 Benefits

Table 7 below provides a qualitative and quantitative (when possible) description of the main benefits related to the

technical scenario N°1.

[Fill-in Table 7 with the qualitative and quantitative description of the benefits foreseen for scenario N°1. Please

note the following:

The benefits included in Table 7 should correspond to these ticked in Table 1 and be based on the Better

Regulation guidelines9 and toolbox10 2015.

When a type of benefits cannot be assessed quantitatively, mention that ‘the benefits could not be

monetised.’

When a type of benefit is not relevant to a group of stakeholder, ‘Not assessed’ should be entered in the

corresponding cell.]

Table 7 Benefits related to technical scenario N°1 (per group of stakeholders)

TECHNICAL SCENARIO 1

Qualitative description Quantitative description

Stakeholder group N°1

Benefits Improved market efficiency

Additional utility, welfare or satisfaction

Benefits from third party compliance with legal rules

Stakeholder group N°X

Benefits Improved market efficiency

Additional utility, welfare or satisfaction

9 SWD(2015) 111 final, Commission Staff Working Document, Better Regulation Guidelines, {COM(2015) 215 final} {SWD(2015) 110 final}, Strasbourg, 19.5.2015.10 Better Regulation Toolbox, complementing SWD(2015) 111 final, Commission Staff Working Document, Better Regulation Guidelines, {COM(2015) 215 final} {SWD(2015) 110 final}, Strasbourg, 19.5.2015.

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ICT Final Report template

TECHNICAL SCENARIO 1

Benefits from third party compliance with legal rules

[Summarise the key findings and first conclusions drawn from the benefits analysis of the technical scenario

N°1.]

Just like the costs, the assessment of the benefits will provide inputs when comparing the technical scenarios

against a set of assessment criteria (please refer to Section 5).

4.2.3 Other

[Depending on the assessment criteria defined for the study, additional aspects could be further investigated and analysed for each option, e.g. risks related to the implementation of the technical scenario.]

4.3. Technical scenario N°X

[Structure and proceed the same way as for the technical scenario N°1 for each scenario that is part of the ICT

assessment.]

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ICT Final Report template

5. Comparison of the technical scenariosThis section aims to compare all the technical scenarios in the scope of the ICT assessment according to [indicate

the number of evaluation criteria selected, taking into account that these should correspond to the ones mentioned

in Section 2.2.4] evaluation criteria.

5.1. Assessment criterion N°1

[Describe briefly the assessment criterion N°1. Explain how the technical scenarios were assessed against this criterion and present the related results of this assessment for each technical scenario.]

For efficiency, a table summarising the costs foreseen for implementing each technical scenario could be presented.For effectiveness, the benefits foreseen for implementing each technical scenario could be presented. The complexity and risks related to the implementation of each technical scenario can be the basis to assess technical feasibility.

5.2. Assessment criterion N°X

[Structure and proceed the same way as for the assessment criterion N°1.]

5.3. Conclusions

[Evaluate how well each technical scenario meets the assessment criteria defined in Section 2.2.4, taking into

account the key findings from the data analysis and the weighting attributed to each assessment criterion (and

potentially sub-criterion):

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ICT Final Report template

Assessment criteria could be of both types: quantitative and qualitative. For quantitative assessments, estimate the monetary value (monetised costs minus monetised

benefits). This is usually the case for efficiency, some or all of effectiveness, as well as for other

assessment criteria as appropriate.

In any case, use a scoring mechanism from 1 (lowest) to N (highest) in order to rank the technical

scenarios against each sub-criterion and criterion.

"N" corresponds to the number of scenarios assessed: if three (3) technical scenarios are compared, the scoring mechanism should go from 1 (lowest) to 3 (highest=most favoured); if four (4) technical scenarios are compared, the scoring mechanism should go from 1 (lowest) to 4 (highest).

Compare the technical scenarios and highlight the one(s) scoring the highest.

The result of this step should be presented using the following table.]

Table 8 Comparison of the technical scenarios

Assessment criteria Weighting Technical Scenario code (TS) and Short Title N°1TS01-<TSST>

… Technical Scenario code (TS) and Short Title N°NTSN-<TSST>

Quantitative criteria, e.g. efficiency, effectiveness, etc.

Assessment criterion N°1 (monetised) W 1 S1 ¿) S1 ¿)

Total monetary value (in EUR)

Qualitative criteria, e.g. effectiveness, technical feasibility, coherence, relevance, EU added value).

Assessment criterion N°2 W 2 S2(1) S2(N )Sub-criterion N°1 w2,1 S2,1(1) … S2,1(N )Sub-criterion N°2 w2,2 S2,2(1) S2,1(N )Sub-criterion N°M2 w2 , M 2

S2 , M 2(1) S2 , M 2

(N )Assessment criterion N°K W K SK (1) SK (N )Sub-criterion N°1 wK ,1 SK ,1(1) … SK ,1(N )Sub-criterion N°Mk wK ,M k

SK ,M k(1) SK ,M k

(N )Total Score

[Determine the implications of these results on the policy options and make recommendations.]

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ICT Final Report template

6. Appendix

[Include any information that may be relevant to support the ICT assessment, including the detail of the ICT cost-

benefit model and the definitions of the regulatory costs and benefits.]

6.1. ICT cost-benefit model

[Display the ICT cost-benefit model referred to in Section 2.2.2]

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ICT Final Report template

6.2. Regulatory costs and benefits

[Define each regulatory cost and benefit listed in Section 2.2.2 and explain how these are applicable to specific

stakeholder groups, following the information displayed in Table 1.]

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