4-page Case Study - Posted 4/13/2007
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Flemish Government Speeds Up Ministerial Decision Making with New Secure Portal Tool
The Flemish government wanted to modernise its ministerial decision-making process and demonstrate its commitment to a reform programme to make government more efficient and accountable. The government had depended on paper-based processes to create and archive files, which were reviewed by 10 different ministerial offices and then distributed by couriers. The government’s outsourcing partner, the EDS-Telindus consortium proposed a portal solution called e-Regeren based on Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003 and electronic identity cards. With the new solution, the government has saved 400,000 sheets of paper a year, improved decision-making, and reduced time demands on ministers. The system, originally built for 450 officials, is now being extended for an additional 1,000 civil servants.
Situation
The Flemish government in Belgium is responsible for the day-to-day running of public services for approximately 6 million people. Around 12,000 civil servants work for the government and are guided by a reform programme called “Better Administrative Policy”, designed to make public administration more efficient and transparent.
In 2003, the government signed a five-year framework outsourcing agreement for the provision of information and communications technology (ICT) with the EDS-Telindus consortium, with an estimated spend of more than €379 million (U.S.$513 million). EDS-Telindus is responsible for a range of services, including application development and maintenance, network, security, and user support, together with the further development and integration of the ICT infrastructure.
The consortium is actively contributing to the achievement of the “Better Administrative Policy” programme through the optimisation of citizen-centric services. One major success story has been e-Regeren, the government’s core e-government project, which creates a secure electronic process for putting a dossier on the government’s agenda.
Previously, the government used paper-based processes to create files for 10 different ministerial cabinets. These files were then reviewed and distributed manually by couriers, which often caused delays and inefficiencies in decision-making.
Geert Mareels, E-Government Manager at the Flemish Government, says: “At least 3 million sheets of paper were copied every year and made available to the various ministers’ cabinets to review. The process was extremely inefficient and expensive. In 2004, we decided to commission a system to ensure that dossiers could be exchanged through an electronic platform and documents signed with an electronic identity card.”
In drawing up the specifications for e-Regeren, the government wanted to reduce paper processes, streamline support for ministerial meetings, improve team working and archiving, facilitate workflow, and employ electronic identity cards (eIDs). It also wanted ministers to be able to make policy decisions and give directions to civil servants quickly and easily.
Solution
EDS-Telindus recommended using interlocking Microsoft® technologies for e-Regeren based on a portal solution using Microsoft Office SharePoint® Portal Server 2003, supported by Microsoft Office InfoPath® 2003 electronic forms and electronic identity cards.
The package included the Windows Server® 2003 operating system, Microsoft Office 2003 for the desktops, and Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server for improved security. Mareels says: “The whole implementation involved an extremely tight timeline from concept in late December 2004 to going live in April 2005. The EDS-Telindus consortium and Microsoft performed remarkably well as our business partners to deliver the project in just four months.”
Nearly two years later, e-Regeren is used by 500 employees who work for ministers, and the government is considering extending its use to civil servants in other agencies of the administration. Mareels says: “Our users find that SharePoint Portal Server works extremely well with Microsoft Office Outlook®, providing them with a central place to manage their information. We are now considering migrating to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and are also piloting the use of Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 unified communications environment.”
Due to the deployment of Microsoft technologies, ministers’ cabinets can now exchange documentation in a secure environment—both within and between cabinets.
Benefits
The robust, secure, and scalable features of e-Regeren based on SharePoint Portal Server have improved the quality of decision-making within the government and reduced the time and effort previously imposed on ministers and their cabinets. An estimated 400,000 sheets of paper have been saved by eliminating manual processes, helping to contribute toward climate change initiatives.
Ministers Show Commitment to Transformation Through E-Government
The e-Regeren project is a major contribution to the government’s “Better Administrative Policy” programme. Mareels says: “By creating a complete digital process with SharePoint Portal Server, the government is keeping up with some of the EU’s leaders in e-democracy.”
Having successfully launched e-Regeren, the Flemish government is extending the portal solution using SharePoint Portal Server to a further 1,500 civil servants. They will use it to communicate securely about projects, which have yet to be signed off by ministers and their cabinets.
Efficiencies Reduce Stress for Employees
The automated procedure for documents has resulted in a more streamlined decision-making process and lower stress levels for employees working in ministerial cabinets. As a result, many employees are now achieving a better life/work balance.
Mareels says: “The e-Regeren system ensures that dossiers can be exchanged through an electronic platform so as to guarantee a professional follow-up for the various stages of the procedure. With the new portal, the stress felt by many cabinet employees in dealing with vast quantities of photocopying and distributing files manually is now a thing of the past.”
Aides Work “Smarter”
Ministerial aides are working “smarter” and more productively with the new portal solution. Gert Bergers, Senior Consultant for EDS in Belgium, says: “We have opened up the possibility for self service for people at different levels to carry out administrative procedures on top of SharePoint Portal Server. Different cabinets are operating in different ways and extending the system to create new and even more flexible ways of working.”
Administrators Cut Costs, Improve Security
With approximately 400,000 fewer sheets of paper in the distribution chain, e-Regeren users are saving money and contributing to the government’s climate change agenda policies. Mareels says: “We have succeeded in facilitating the processes around meetings, not just by reducing paper flow, but also by better archiving and improving quality of documentation.”
Bergers adds: “An important additional benefit is that security has been improved and the risk of information leaks reduced. Previously, it was difficult to trace who had accessed dossiers, but now only people with the right level of permission can see them.”
Digital Storage Helps Cabinet Officials Archive Decisions Electronically
The e-Regeren system makes it much easier to store ministerial decisions though a digital, rather than a manual, process. Mareels says: “Previously, they only existed on paper and had to be physically stored, taking up vast amounts of space. We can now publish decisions, where appropriate, into the Official Gazette, making them more accessible to citizens and businesses.”
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Document published April 2007
