E-government: the approach of the Belgian federal administration

1. E-government: the approach of the Belgian federal administration Frank Robben General managerCrossroads Bank for Social Security Strategic advisor Federal Public Service for ICT Sint-Pieterssteenweg 375 B-1040 Brussels E-mail: Frank.Robben@ksz.fgov.be Website: http://www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/icri/frobben Crossroads Bank for Social Security Federal Public Service for ICT (FEDICT)

2. What is E-government ? • E-government is a continuous optimization of service delivery and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through technology, internet and new media • external relationships • government <-> citizen • government <-> business • internal relationships • government <-> government • government <-> employees • all relationships • are bidirectional • can be within a country or border-crossing

3. Government • not monolithic • EU • in every country • federal level • regions • communities • provinces • municipalities • parapublic institutions • private instutions participating in delivery of public services • … • integrated E-government is based upon common strategy, multilateral agreements and interoperability • E-government contains the opportunity to realize one virtual electronic government with full respect for every specific competence

4. Advantages • efficiency gains • in terms of costs: same services at lower total costs, e.g. • unique information collection using co-ordinated notions and administrative instructions • less re-encoding of information by electronic information exchange • less contacts • functional task sharing concerning information management, information validation and application development (distributed information systems) • in terms of quantity: more services at same total cost, e.g. • all services are available at any time, from anywhere and from any device • integrated service delivery • in terms of speed: same services at same total cost in less time • reduction of waiting and travel time • direct interaction with competent governmental institution • real time feedback for the user

5. Advantages (ctd) • effectiveness gains • in terms of quality: same services at same total cost in same time, but to a higher quality standard, e.g. • more correct service delivery • personalized and participative service delivery • more transparant and comprehensive service delivery • more secure service delivery • possibility of quality control on service delivery process by customer • in terms of type of services: new types of services, e.g. • push system: automatic granting of or information about services • active search of non-take-up using datawarehousing techniques • controlled management of own personal information • personalized simulation environments

6. E-government: a structural reform process • ICT is only a means by which a result may be obtained • E-government requires • change of basic mindset: from government centric to customer centric • re-engineering of processes and end-to-end integration of these processes • considering information as a strategic resource for all government activity

7. E-government: a structural reform process (ctd) • E-government requires (ctd) • co-operation between • governmental institutions: one virtual electronic government, with respect for mission and core tasks of each governmental institution and government level • government and private sector • adequate legal environment elaborated at the correct level • interoperability framework: ICT, security, unique identification keys, harmonized concepts • implementation with a decentralized approach, but with co-ordinated planning and program management (think global, act local) • adequate measures to prevent a digital divide

9. Customer centric • unique declaration of every event during the life cycle/business episode of a customer and automatic granting of all related services • delivery of services that cannot be granted automatically to a customer • in an integrated way (information, interaction, transaction) • re-using all available information • in a personalized way (look & feel and interface, content, personalized support) • or at least based on the way of thinking of the customer group (life events, business episodes, life styles, target groups)

10. Customer centric (ctd) • declaration of events and service delivery via an access method chosen by the customer • application to application • file transfer • various end-user devices • PC, GSM, PDA, digital TV, kiosks, … • use of intermediaries • accessible to disabled • use of integrated customer relation management tools • contact center

11. Re-engineering and integration of processes • need for re-engineering of processes • within each government institution • within each government level • across government levels • between government and his customers • need for end-to-end integration of processes: concept of value chains for the customers • lack of integration leads to • overloading of the citizens/companies • multiple collection of the same information by several governmental institutions • no re-use of available information • avoidable contacts with citizens/companies due to multiple, unco-ordinated quality checks • waste of efficiency and time • suboptimal support of the policy made by government • higher possibilities of fraud

12. Information as a strategic resource • respect of basic principles concerning • information modelling • unique collection and re-use of information • management of information • electronic exchange of information • protection of information

13. Information as resource: implications • information modelling • information is being modelled in such a way that the model fits in as close as possible with the real world • definition of information elements • definition of attributes of information elements • definition of relations between information elements • information modelling takes into account as much as possible the expectable use cases of the information • the information model can be flexibly extended or adapted when the real world or the use cases of the information change

14. Information as resource: implications (ctd) • unique collection and re-use of information • information is only collected for well-defined purposes and in a proportional way to these purposes • all information is collected once, as close to the authentic source as possible • information is collected via a supplier-chosen channel, but preferably in an electronic way, using uniform basic services (single sign on, arrival receipt of a file, notification for each message, …) • information is collected according to the information model and on the base of uniform administrative instructions

15. Information as resource: implications (ctd) • unique collection and re-use of information (ctd) • with the possibility of quality control by the supplier before the transmission of the information • the collected information is validated once according to an established task sharing, by the most entitled institution or by the institution which has the greatest interest in a correct validation • and then shared and re-used by authorized users

16. Information as resource: implications (ctd) • management of information • information in all forms (e.g. voice, print, electronic or image) is managed efficiently through its life cycle • a functional task sharing is established indicating which institution stores which information in an authentic way, manages the information and keeps it at the disposal of the authorized users • information is stored according to the information model • information can be flexibly assembled according to ever changing legal notions • all information is subject to the application of agreed measures to ensure integrity and consistency

17. Information as resource: implications (ctd) • management of information (ctd) • every institution has to report probable improprieties of information to the institution that is designated to validate the information • every institution that has to validate information according to the agreed task sharing, has to examine the reported probable improprieties, to correct them when necessary and to communicate the correct information to every known interested institution • information will be retained and managed as long as there exists a business need, a legislative or policy requirement, or, preferably anonimized or encoded, when it has historical or archival importance

18. Information as resource: implications (ctd) • electronic exchange of information • once collected and validated, information is stored, managed and exchanged electronically to avoid transcribing and re-entering it manually • electronic information exchange can be initiated by • the institution that disposes of information • the institution that needs information • the institution that manages the interoperability framework • electronic information exchanges take place on the base of a functional and technical interoperabilty framework that evolves permanently but gradually according to open market standards, and is independent from the methods of information exchange

19. Information as resource: implications (ctd) • electronic exchange of information (ctd) • available information is used for the automatic granting of benefits, for prefilling when collecting information and for information delivery to the concerned persons

20. Information as resource: implications (ctd) • protection of information • security, integrity and confidentiality of government information will be ensured by integrating ICT measures with structural, organizational, physical, personnel screening and other security measures according to agreed policies • personal information is only used for purposes compatible with the purposes of the collection of the information • personal information is only accessible to authorized institutions and users according to business needs, legislative or policy requirement • the access authorisation to personal information is granted by an independent institution, after having checked whether the access conditions are met • the access authorizations are public

21. Information as resource: implications (ctd) • protection of information (ctd) • every concrete electronic exchange of personal information is preventively checked on compliance with the existing access authorisations by an independent institution managing the interoperability framework • every concrete electronic exchange of personal information is logged, to be able to trace possible abuse afterwards • every time information is used to take a decision, the used information is communicated to the concerned person together with the decision • every person has right to access and correct his own personal data

22. Changes of the legal environment • organization of integrated information management and electronic service delivery • functional task sharing on information management • obligation to respect unique data collection from the customer • obligation to exchange information in an electronic way • permission or obligation to use unique identification keys • harmonization of basic concepts • ICT-law: only basic principles, technology-neutral, but not technology unaware • data protection • public access to information • electronic signature • probative value

23. Interoperability framework • goal: to guarantee the ability of government organizations and customers to share information and integrate information and business processes by use of • interoperable ICT • common security framework • common identification keys/sets for every entity • harmonized concepts and data modelling

24. ICT interoperability • examples on • www.govtalk.gov.uk and www.e-government.govt.nz (recent frameworks based on actual open ICT standards, to be implemented) • www.ksz.fgov.be (framework started in 1991 and implemented between 2.000 Belgian social security institutions, with unique gateway to foreign social security institutions within the EU, and continuously adapted to evolving and proven ICT standards with backwards compatibility) • tendency to use of open ICT standards • but ICT is so dynamic and fast changing that ICT standards are in an almost constant state of evolution • huge need to agreements on how to ensure functional interoperability, far beyond technical interoperability

25. Functional ICT interoperability • standardized codification (e.g. institutions, return codes, …) • standardized use of objects and attributes • standardized layout of header of messages, independent from information exchange format (EDI, XML, …) and type of information exchange • version management • backwards compatibility • SLA’s on disponibility and performance of services • access autorisation management • anonimization rules • acceptation and production environments • priority management • …

26. Common security framework • issues • confidentiality • integrity • availability • authentication • autorisation • non-repudiation • audit

27. Common security framework (ctd) • specific points of interest • risk awareness based on risk analysis • security policies • structural and organisational aspects • encryption standards • interoperability of • PKI • electronic certificates • procedures (registration authority, certification authority) • difference between identification certificates and attribute certificates • attributes, optional fields • revocation lists • directories • application security

28. Common identification keys • at least common identification keys and identification sets for every entity • person • company • patch of ground • between nations • unique schemes • conversion tables • regulation of interconnection of information based on unique identification keys

29. Common identification keys (ctd) • characterictics • unicity • one entity – one identification key • same identification key is not assigned to several entities • exhaustivity • every entity to be identified has an identification key • stability through time • identification key doesn’t contain variable characterics of the identified entity • identification key doesn’t contain references to the identification key or characteristics of other entities • identification key doesn’t change when a quality or characteristic of the identified entity changes

30. Harmonized concepts and data model • harmonized concepts and datamodel: example on www.socialsecurity.be (best practice of combination of back office integration and e-portal solution in web-based survey on electronic public services by DG Information Society (European Commission) – January 2003)

31. Harmonized concepts and data model • standard elements • with well defined characteristics • used within all services • OO-oriented, e.g. inheritance in a multilingual environment • version management in an ever changing environment • define once, use many (different presentations) • workflow for validation of standard elements and characteristics • multi criteria search • by element • by scheme • by version • …

32. A methodology to harmonize concepts • inventory of all documents (frequently) used for information collection • inventory of collected information • classification of collected information using a clustering methodology • decomposition of collected information into “real life” classes with description of the asked attributes • analysis of goals: what is every “real life” classes used for ? • setting up of simplification propositions (e.g. senseless different treatment of same “real life” object)

33. A methodology to harmonize concepts (ctd) • based on the simplification propositions, framing out of an OO information model for information to be collected • design of XML-schema’s for the collecting of the information, corresponding to the OO information model • legislative adaptations in order to introduce the uniform definitions of the information classes • procedures in order to guarantee the consistency of the OO information model in an ever changing legal environment

34. Preventing digital divide • no creation of information haves and information have-nots • possible measures • promoting automatic granting of services • electronic services are (for the time being) considered as extra services, tradional services remain • access to electronic services in public places • role of intermediaries and front office organisations • education and life-long learning • promoting usability of portals and websites

35. Implementation in Belgian federal government • co-operation agreement between government levels • network of service integrators • towards integrated portal environments • unique identification keys for citizens and companies • electronic identity card • security framework • a case study: the Belgian social security sector

36. Co-operation agreement • co-operation agreement has been signed between federal government, regions and communities • co-ordinated, customer oriented service delivery • guarantee that a citizen/company can use the same tools • terminal • software • electronic signature • guarantee of a unique data collection from the citizen/company • with respect for the partition of competences between government levels • agreements on common standards • mutual tuning of portals, middleware, websites and back offices • use of common identification keys and electronic signature • mutual tuning of business processes when necessary • gradual mutual task-sharing on data storage in authentic form • common policy on SLA’s and security

37. Network of service integrators Service integrator R/CPS R/CPS Services repository Extranet region or community Service integrator (CBSS) Services repository SSI Extranet social security SSI Internet Municipality FPS SSI Publilink FPS FedMAN Services repository Service integrator (Fedict) Province Municipality FPS Services repository

38. Network of service integrators (ctd) • type of exchanged information • structured data • documents • images • multimedia • metadata • business processes • using web services

39. Network of service integrators (ctd) • useful functions of service integrators (FEDICT, CBSS, …) • secure messaging • business logic and work flow support • directory of authorized users and applications • list of users and applications • definition of authentication means and rules • definition of authorization profiles • which service is accessible to which type of user/application for which persons/companies in which capacities in which situation and for which periods • directory of data subjects • which persons/companies in which capacities have personal files in which institutions for which periods • subscription table • which users/applications want to receive automatically which services in which situations for which persons in which capacities

40. Portal sites: actual situation

41. Portal sites: actual situation

42. Portal sites: actual situation intermediaries employees suppliers • customers • citizens • companies partners • PORTAL B • single sign on • personalization • user groups • multi-channel • aggregation • PORTAL A • single sign on • personalization • user groups • multi-channel • aggregation content management business intelligence business intelligence content management directory • back-end • systems, e.g. • ERP • groupware • DB’s • applications directory • back-end • systems, e.g. • ERP • groupware • DB’s • applications

43. Portal sites (ctd) • need to strike the right balance between roles in delivering e-government services: not a single, but many one-stop shops (public and private) Content and Services Public Private Private Channel PPP Public Source: Andrea Di Maio - Gartner

44. Portal sites (ctd) • public institutions need to concentrate on core activities, such as • information • modular • up to date • information blocks concerning public services • with standardized metadata • based on standardized thesauri • in generally accessible content management systems • with separation between content and metadata (reuse, don’t rewrite) • that can be submitted to automatical re-indexation • transactions • applications that can be easily integrated in private or public portal sites

45. Portal sites (ctd) • public portals should have added value • integration of services • information • work flow based on life events of the customers • integration with work flow of customers • coordinated basic services for own customers • single sign on • ticketing • logging • notification service • … • multi channel enabling • citizen/company relation management • contact center

46. Portal sites: to be situation intermediaries employees suppliers • customers • citizens • companies partners • PORTAL A • single sign on • personalization • user groups • multi-channel • aggregation • PORTAL B • single sign on • personalization • user groups • multi-channel • aggregation directory directory • back-end • systems, e.g. • ERP • groupware • DB’s • applications • back-end • systems, e.g. • ERP • groupware • DB’s • applications business intelligence content management content management business intelligence

47. Unique identification keys • citizens • generalization of the use of the social security number (national register number or CBSS-number) • (electronically) readable from the electronic identity card • controlled access to basic identification data in National Register and CBSS • companies • unique company number (based on VAT-number) • unique number for every plant of business • generalized access to basic identification data in Company Register • regulation on data interconnection

48. Electronic identity card

49. Electronic identity card • retained functions • visual and electronic identification of the holder • electronic authentication of the holder via the technique of the digital signature • generation of electronic signature via the technique of the digital signature (non repudiation) • (currently) no encryption certificates • no biometric data (yet) • no electronic purse • only identification data storage

50. Electronic identity card • from a visual point of view, the same information is visible as on the current identity card • the name • the first two Christian names • the first letter of the thirdChristian name • the nationality • the birth place and date • the sex • the place of deliveryof the card • the begin and enddata of thevalidityof the card • the denomination and number of the card • the photo of the holder • the signatureof the holder • the identification number of the National Register