4-page Case Study - Posted 3/29/2007
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Czech Portal Handles 10 Million Online Forms and Frees Officials from Paper Systems
The Ministry of Informatics in the Czech Republic wanted to create a single solution for individuals and organisations to conduct online transactions with government ministries and public-sector agencies. It also decided to create a clearly defined interoperability standard for local software developers to write their own applications for direct communication with the E-Government Gateway, called the Portal of Public Administration (PPA). Working with Microsoft® Services, the ministry based the solution on the United Kingdom’s Government Gateway, which uses open standard Microsoft technology. The project has made a major contribution to the development of e-government in the Czech Republic in just three years. By July 2006, 50,000 users had registered with the gateway and 800,000 online submissions had been made, representing a total of almost 10 million electronic forms.
Situation
The Czech Republic’s Ministry of Informatics was set up in 2003 as the central organisation responsible for information and communications technology (ICT), telecommunications, and postal services. It was mandated by legislation passed in 2000 to establish the Portal of Public Administration (PPA) E-Government Gateway as an electronic administrative service for private citizens and organisations. Without a centralised solution, users would be unable to access electronic government services in a consistent and coordinated way. Different departments would require different user names and passwords and would have used disparate methods of communication. Jindřich Kolář, Head of E-Government, Ministry of Informatics of the Czech Republic, says: “The transactions section of the Czech E-Government Gateway has had several major breakthroughs since its launch in September 2003. The main landmark was gaining the support of the Czech Social Security Administration (CSSZ) and setting up a primary electronic service for submitting annual pension insurance returns (ELDPs).” However, the entire process had to be prepared within the CSSZ site, while at the same time, developers of payroll and human resources systems had to become familiar with how to communicate properly through the E-Government Gateway. This has now been achieved, and the service is operating successfully. Electronic ELDP submissions began in early 2005. In July of that year, the CSSZ launched a further electronic service that ensured employees could be signed on and off for health insurance. Further public administration services have now been added, making the E-Government Gateway a more useful channel for communication between citizens and government.
Solution
The Government Gateway solution originated in the United Kingdom (U.K.). It was the cornerstone of the government’s Internet infrastructure and the key to meeting the target of making all services available electronically by 2005. Based on open standard Microsoft® technology, the solution helps individuals and organisations—or the representatives of such organisations—file documents electronically. An important aspect of the solution for the Czech Republic was the creation of a “single point of entry.” This would help users to communicate with the public sector through a single access point. “Being able to use the U.K. Government Gateway software codes and build on tried and tested experience in the project was a major benefit,” Kolář says. “The initial changes consisted of localisation of the environment and adapting functions to comply with Czech legislation.” This was followed by the independent development of support modules for optimising the operation of the gateway transaction system. The system undergoes continual development because of the use of the latest interoperable Microsoft technologies, the growing number of agencies joining it, and their requirements for new services. The portal runs Windows Server® 2000, together with Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 for the database and Microsoft BizTalk® Server 2002 for the integration layer. Security is ensured by Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2004, Microsoft Commerce Server 2002, and Microsoft Operations Manager 2005.
Benefits
The Czech Republic is delivering improved citizen-centric services through its e-government portal, with interoperability capacity to support a larger range of services. The take up from national government offices is impressive, with public-sector organisations already conducting tax and social security transactions online.
Developers Enhance Gateway’s Success
In addition to the electronic services launched, a major contribution to the success of the PPA Government Gateway transactions section was made by local software developers who incorporated communications with the gateway into their applications.
At present, there are almost 200 IT systems developers in the Czech market, which have developed solutions for the gateway’s transactions section. A Web community for developers has been set up (http://bezpecne.dev.gov.cz/diskuze), and developers can find detailed information about the standards of the gateway’s transactions system and receive technical support through moderated discussion forums.
Connected Government Institutions
There are several institutions participating in the PPA Government Gateway. Each one has benefited from use of its services:
• The CSSZ—currently the biggest user of its services. The CSSZ receives an average of 2,000 electronic submissions daily, representing thousands of individual electronic forms. Electronic submission has resulted in a significant drop in the number of paper forms, which would otherwise have to be scanned, filed, and archived.
• The Ministry of Informatics—uses the gateway to provide a service for annual statements of postal services to be submitted. All entities providing domestic and foreign postal services are required to report regularly, according to the Postal Services Act.
• The Ministry of Transport—launched an e-testing project in July 2006. Every citizen applying for a driving licence is required to pass a computer-based electronic test. The test result is sent through the gateway from test centres to the Ministry of Transport.
• The Ministry of Finance—taxation is administered through its own electronic taxation application, which accepts a range of correspondence between taxpayers and the tax department. The transaction section of the Government Gateway is linked with this project and transmits electronic submissions between taxpayers and the tax department’s IT system. The tax documents handled include value added tax (VAT) returns, road tax, property tax, and the VAT Information Exchange System return.
• Directorate of Czech Customs—the Customs service has used electronic communications since their introduction. Since January 2006, it has been possible to send Intrastat reports through the transactions section of the gateway. Intrastat is a system for gathering information on trade in goods between countries in the European Union. VAT-registered people and organisations that send goods over the duty-free limit are obliged to report to Intrastat.
• Středočeský Regional Government—local government in the Středočeský region is an example of electronic data exchange between local government institutions. The transaction section of the gateway offers services in which planning appeals for building applications from the department of the first instance are submitted to the appeals body. This ensures that the appeals body works faster and more accurately.
Round-the-Clock E-Government Services
With the implementation of an electronic transactions service, individuals and organisations can file documents round the clock, without having to make a trip to the relevant department or post office.
Kolář says: “They are also able to find out immediately whether their document has been accepted or rejected. With the automatic control processes for electronic filing, the information received by government offices is of a higher quality.”
Increasingly Popular Public Service
In the first seven months of 2006, the Czech E-Government Gateway (http://portal.gov.cz) ensured that government departments handled more electronic submissions than for the whole of 2005.
Kolář says: “From January 16, 2006, to the end of July 2006, the gateway processed and submitted 396,869 electronic transactions, compared with 394,849 transactions in the whole of 2005. These figures show the use of the gateway for submitting documents is gaining in popularity.”
Three years after the start of the service, 50,000 users have registered to use the E-Government Gateway and a total of 800,000 submissions have been made, representing a total of almost 10 million electronic forms.
Finally, implementing electronic filing has supported the development of qualifying certificates in the Czech Republic and significantly increased public awareness of electronic signatures.
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