Duarte Freitas highlights major transformation in regional public administration over recent decades - Communication

Secretaria Regional das Finanças, Planeamento e Administração Pública

The Regional Secretary for Finance, Planning and Public Administration, Duarte Freitas, stated today that the Regional Government is undertaking a structural reform of the Regional Public Administration, based on the simplification of procedures, the upskilling of staff and technological modernisation, with a view to rendering public services faster, more transparent and more accessible to citizens and businesses.

Speaking at the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores during the urgent debate on bureaucracy in the Regional Public Administration, the government official emphasised that the Government “does not underestimate the difficulties faced by citizens and businesses,” but rejected the idea that the Government is not addressing this challenge.

“The fight against bureaucracy requires a consistent strategy, investment, organisational change and the capacity to transform the way the public administration works,” he stated.

For Duarte Freitas, simplification means eliminating unnecessary procedures, reducing response times, avoiding duplication of documents and making interactions with the public administration clearer, more predictable and more efficient for citizens and businesses.

The Regional Secretary defended that the ongoing transformation is based on a clear priority: “people first, then processes, and only then technology.”

"The biggest mistake would be to think that making forms digital is enough to eliminate paperwork. Digitising complicated procedures merely creates digital red tape. We genuinely aim to simplify the public administration," he emphasised.

Duarte Freitas highlighted that 557 training initiatives have been organised since 2021, involving more than 14,900 Regional Public Administration workers. In this regard, he noted that “a simpler administration begins with better-prepared staff, more capable managers and teams with the autonomy to improve processes.”

The government official also recalled that the Government had approved the Regional Public Administration Rejuvenation Plan and launched the new Azores Public Employment Exchange, which has already received over 15,000 digital applications, paving the way for a generational renewal of public services.

As for administrative reorganisation, Duarte Freitas highlighted the implementation of GIRA – the new Integrated Information Management System – which will help redesign internal processes, eliminate redundancies, reduce paper usage and increase transparency in administrative procedures.

“Citizens do not want to know which department their case is with. They want to know whether it has been received, what stage it is at and when they can expect a response. This is what we are building,” he said.

The Regional Secretary also highlighted the investment of €30.6 million, funded under the RRP-Azores, to accelerate the modernisation of the Regional Public Administration through the creation of new digital platforms, the LINKA technology architecture and the future Regional Public Administration Services Portal, which will provide citizens with a single point of contact with the Public Administration to follow up on their requests.

According to Duarte Freitas, this transformation is also reaching front-line services through the upgrading of RIAC, the Regional Public Administration Contact Centre and the RIAC Móvel project, ensuring that digital transformation does not exclude those who still require in-person assistance.

"Our commitment is to build a public administration that respects citizens’ time, businesses’ investment and the work of its professionals. We need a Public Administration that is simpler, more transparent, more efficient and closer to the people," he said.

Acknowledging that there are still procedures that need to be simplified, Duarte Freitas defended that the difference lies in having a clear problem-solving strategy.

“Modernisation is not about buying technology. Modernisation is about changing how the Public Administration thinks, makes decisions and serves the public. It is about transforming bureaucracy into trust and making the Public Administration a partner to citizens and businesses, rather than an obstacle,” he concluded.