In Germany, the “Online Access Act” aims to ensure that federal, state and local governments provide basic administrative services digitally by the end of 2022. This is much more important than a website with an online form. ServiceNow’s Director of Public Services, Life Sciences and Healthcare Sales Stefan Fischer and ServiceNow’s partner company nuvolax’s Chief Operating Officer Christian Wawrzinek explained that the implementation of the law can be troubled and why the real citizen portal also simplifies the work of public agency employees.
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Until 2022, there is not much time left. How is the implementation of the Online Access Act?
Stephen Fisher: The “Online Access Act” has established framework conditions. That definitely makes sense. Innovative solutions are now needed. After all, cooperation between citizens, companies and authorities should not only be done digitally. It should be really good, maybe even fun.
Christine Vaznik: We have had many discussions with representatives of competent departments and authorities. According to our experience, there is no shortage of will and courage.
In recent years, public institutions have invested heavily in modernizing their administrative systems and professional procedures. How does the ServiceNow platform make their services more efficient?
Fisher: In many cases, investments are made in enterprise management systems (such as SAP). These systems are characterized by high “internal” functions. They mapped an extremely extensive management process internally. We call it the “system of record”.
Wawrzinek: On the other hand, in terms of users, the requirements are simple. When submitting a construction application or applying for more complex commercial disposal, it usually involves many management software modules, and sometimes even multiple different systems. Many specialized programs have also been developed for decades. The user should have nothing to do with this. In order to achieve a smooth and simple service, we have built a bridge between these existing software systems. And we did it with the help of Now Platform. Therefore, we ensure simple and easy-to-understand interactions with users, and run the necessary management system in the background-a kind of “action system”.
How’s the effect?
Fisher: We start from the user. Citizens, applicant companies, patients in clinics or employees of administrative departments. Our question is: what does the user need, the competent authority needs to do this work for him…
Wawrzinek: …And how do we design the best process for users?
Providers of enterprise resource planning software also mentioned “best process.”
Fisher: The integration of the existing ERP system (ie publishing system) is an extremely important part of Now Platform. Finally, business management is carried out in the ERP system.
Wawrzinek: But the logic of the reservation system cannot determine how people use it. This requires a meaningful flow of each work step. Not only for citizens, but also for administrative personnel.
Today, the municipality has provided many digital services.
Wawrzinek: We are not interested in building a homepage, which has a large number of online forms. Today, this is the standard for many municipalities. But what happens when you submit an online dog tax registration, resident parking permit application, or building permit application? This is about the coordination of the flow behind it and the current information about the status of the request.
How does something like this look?
Wawrzinek: Example of bulky waste. A seemingly simple service involves multiple service providers and entities. You can check how many bulk goods should be picked online to determine the size of the container or vehicle. However, the city will not be responsible for the collection itself, but will sort the orders by subject and pass them on to the service provider. It is our job to design such a process so that as few employees as possible must intervene manually and everyone involved is up to date.
Fisher: Generally speaking, it is about converting processes with many interruptions into powerful, interactive and consistent workflows that interact with back-end systems and provide transparency. This allows everyone involved to participate directly from the beginning. Now Platform provides a variety of ready-made services that only need to be adjusted for their respective applications.
Wawrzinek: Each of us hopes to have a suitable and effective data collection that meets the requirements of data protection, and supports the correct filling of forms and information about the current state of processing. If this works effectively, it will maintain close relationships with citizens and satisfy the government.
What about the employees of the competent department?
Fisher: When the process cannot be run in the best way, everyone will feel annoyed, and when small things require long-term coordination, it is necessary to laboriously obtain the information that is actually available first from other departments. In addition, there is a chronic shortage of personnel in many departments.
Wawrzinek: From our perspective, the problem is clear: the people we talk to in the authorities or the city administration are very active in improving the process. Everyone wants to show their abilities. After all, when citizens and local companies feel that things are really successful, everyone happily receives “applauds.”
FisherIn short: if people in the authorities become more and more confident to implement their ideas and move forward pragmatically, then public administration will become “agile” and we will be on the right path together.
Wawrzinek: In Baden-Württemberg alone, there are approximately 1,100 cities. I don’t know everyone can do this before 2022. But by then, we will be able to provide many “thumbs up”. I can guarantee from here.
Read here why e-government urgently needs digital push and how to master the challenges of online access law.
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