SAP Collaborates With European Commission to Measure Comprehensive Value of eGovernment in Europe

HELSINKI, Finland, August 3/PRNewswire/ -- In support of efforts to extend the reach and impact of information technology in government, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced that it will join European Union Member States at "The Impact of eGovernment in Europe" conference on September 13, 2006, in Helsinki, Finland. Participants of the eGovernment conference, which will be hosted by the European Commission and EU Presidency, will benchmark the status of national and regional impact frameworks, exchange best practice examples, explore partnerships within industries and track the progress being made towards the eGovernment Action Plan of the EU. SAP will present on the following topics:

• Defining Value of Public Sector IT Programs: Ian Swann, vice president, SAP Public Sector, will provide the findings of SAP's ongoing public return on investment (ROI) initiative -- focused on defining, measuring and communicating the economic, social, operational and political returns of government and public services IT programs. This program was started in July 2005 to help address the challenge of calculating ROI for public sector IT initiatives. SAP, in conjunction with the Center for Technology in Government (CTG), has spearheaded a project to explore and document returns on IT investment beyond traditional financial methods. Historically, governments have measured their performance across quantifiable, financially based outcomes, such as reduced transaction costs or cost avoidance. While important, economic returns are only one dimension of a government's effectiveness and do not consider the broader context of how transformed business processes positively impact social and political change. Mr. Swann will present findings based on five case studies conducted by CTG, as well as a resulting white paper which offers a non-proprietary framework and methodology for measurement of public ROI.



• Update on European Commission-funded PICTURE Project: Ulrike Greiner, senior researcher, business process management (BPM), SAP Research, will present information on PICTURE, a web-based instrument that allows government decision-makers to measure the potential impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on organizational processes, enabling more informed choices for long-term ICT investment strategies.

By modernizing business processes with IT, European public administrations can demonstrate transparency to earn citizen trust, promote positive community programs to business constituents, boost efforts for securing public funds and enable faster, more flexible service to European citizens and businesses -- creating higher public value at lower costs.

"SAP realizes there is much more to measuring the success of a public sector project than just financial returns," said Ian Swann, vice president, SAP Public Sector Industry Business Unit. "The goal of our ongoing Public ROI effort is to help governments and organizations optimize operational, political and social return on IT investments -- and to enable these groups to better measure where efficiencies and improved service are realized."

High-level speakers from SAP, Capgemini, the European Commission, European Union Member States and regions will contribute to the event. For full conference agenda, speaker bios and conference registration, please visit http://www.egov-goodpractice.org/event_details.php?&eventid=125 .