E-government programme of the Belgian social sector for small or medium-sized enterprises

1. E-government programmeof the Belgian social sectorfor small or medium-sized enterprises Frank Robben General manager Crossroads Bank for Social Security General manager Smals Sint-Pieterssteenweg 375 B-1040 Brussels E-mail: Frank.Robben@ksz.fgov.be Website CBSS: www.ksz.fgov.be Personal website: www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/icri/frobben

2. The problem • a lack of well coordinated service delivery processes and of a lack of well coordinated information management led to • a huge avoidable administrative burden and related costs for • the companies • the citizens • the actors in the social sector • service delivery that didn’t meet the expectations of the companies and the citizens • suboptimal effectiveness of the social protection • higher possibilities of fraud • suboptimal support of the social policy

3. The solution • a network between all 2,000 social sector actors with a secure connection to the internet, the federal MAN, regional extranets, extranets between local authorities and the Belgian interbanking network • a unique identification key • for every citizen, electronically readable from an electronic social security card and an electronic identity card • for every company • 190 electronic services for mutual information exchange amongst actors in the social sector, defined after process optimization • nearly all direct or indirect (via citizens or companies) paper-based information exchange between actors in the social sector has been abolished • in 2006 511 million electronic messages were exchanged amongst actors in the social sector, which saved as many paper exchanges

4. The solution • 41 electronic services for employers, either based on the electronic exchange of structured messages or via an integrated portal site • 50 social security declaration forms for employers have been abolished • in the remaining 30 (electronic) declaration forms the number of headings has on average been reduced to a third of the previous number • declarations are limited to 3 events • immediate declaration of recruitment and discharge (only electronically) • quarterly declaration of salary and working time (only electronically) • occurence of a social risk (electronically or on paper) • in 2006 17.9 million electronic declarations were made by all 220,000 employers, 98 % of which from application to application • first Belgian E-government Champion Awardgranted by the Belgian employers organisation Agoria

5. Start/end of an employment relationship Simplification Employment contract Work force register Special work force register Individual document Students contract NOSS Online consultation Inspection Work force register Data- base

6. Activity 3 Activity 2 Activity 1 Quarterly declaration salary & working time Simplification Employer one electronic declaration NOSS INAMI FAT old age pension ONP ONEM FMP CBSS holiday pay ONVA ONAFTS

7. Declaration of social risks • types of social risks • child allowances • incapacity for work ((labour) accident, (occupational) disease, …) • unemployment • old age pension • 3 possible moments of declaration • start of the social risk • recurrence or continuation of the social risk • end of the social risk • structure of the declaration • identification data • if necessary, salary and working time data not yet declared via a quarterly declaration (mini-declaration) • specific data concerning the social risk

8. The solution • coordination by the Crossroads Bank for Social Security • board of directors consists of representatives of the companies, the citizens and the actors in the social sector • mission • definition of the vision and the strategy on E-government in the social sector and of the common principles related to information management • definition, implementation and management of an interoperability framework • secure messaging of several types of information (structured data, documents, images, metadata, …) with business logic and orchestration support • coordination of business process reengineering • stimulation of service oriented applications • management of a reference directory for • preventive control on the legitimacy of the information exchange • organisation of the routing of information • automatic communication of changes of information

9. The solution • reference directory • directory of available services/information • which information/services are available at any institution depending on the capacity in which a person/company is registered at each institution • directory of authorized users and applications • list of users and applications • definition of authentication means and rules • definition of authorization profiles • directory of data subjects • which persons/companies have personal files in which institutions for which periods of time, and in which capacity they are registered • subscription table • which users/applications want to automatically receive what services in which situations for which persons/companies in which capacity

10. Advantages • gains in efficiency • in terms of cost: services are delivered at a lower total cost due to • a unique information collection using a common information model and administrative instructions • a lesser need to re-encoding of information by stimulating electronic information exchange • a drastic reduction of the number of contacts between actors in the social sector on the one hand and companies or citizens on the other • functional task sharing concerning information management, information validation and application development • a minimal administrative burden • in terms of quantity: more services are delivered • services are available at any time, from anywhere and from several devices • services are delivered in an integrated way according to the logic of the customer

11. Advantages • gains in efficiency • in terms of speed: the services are delivered in less time • benefits can be allocated quicker because information is available faster • waiting and travel time is reduced • companies and citizens can directly interact with the competent actors in the social sector with real time feedback • gains in effectiveness: better social protection • in terms of quality: same services at same total cost in same time, but to a higher quality standard • in terms of type of services: new types of services, e.g. • push system: automated granting of benefits • active search of non-take-up using datawarehousing techniques • controlled management of own personal information • personalized simulation environments • better support of social policy • more efficient combating of fraud

12. Lessons learned • define a long term vision on • integrated, customer-oriented service delivery • management of information as a strategic resource for all government activity • interoperability • make the vision enforceable by companies and citizens and amongst government institutions, by formalizing it in regulations • combine long term vision, profound process optimization and quick wins • do not look at e-government as a pure ICT event, but put the emphasis on an improvement of services and use a multidisciplinary approach • optimize processes within each government institution, at each government level and across government levels before their automatization

13. Lessons learned • standardize concepts and, where necessary, adapt regulations in order to introduce those concepts • also regulate aspects such as privacy protection, information security, the protection against ICT crime, unique identification keys, the probative value of electronic information, the electronic signature, the equal access to public services, the transparency of administrations, … • see to a close cooperation with policymakers, other government departments, other governmental levels, users, mandated intermediaries and interest groups • attune the service offer maximally to the needs and the logic of the users and involve them actively in the development of the services • match the governmental processes with the own processes of the users and assure user-friendliness

14. Lessons learned • concentrate on a qualitative and interactive service offering, instead of a mere presence on the web • support users by the implementation of data quality controls, before these are transmitted to the government authorities, and use the available data proactively for an automatic granting of rights, prefilling of information in forms during data collection and a targeted provision of information to the users • make sure that available ICT components and information (networks, data bases, …) are re-used to a maximum; through this, the efforts can be directed towards developing added value services • also develop multifunctional components yourself, conform open standards, and based on a flexible, modular, expandable and service-oriented architecture, so that other developers of services can re-use your components

15. Lessons learned • pay attention to change management, communications and training • see to a good project management • work incrementally and with prototyping, and give special attention to the roll-out by providing test and simulation environments, training and coaching for the users, and a multimodal contact centre for the personal support of end-users • see to it that proper measuring facilities are available, so as to assure permanent monitoring and improvement • make sure that the users have confidence in the electronic services that are provided; develop an information security policy, which is designed to guarantee the availability, confidentiality, integrity, authenticity and auditability of the information systems • create an institution that stimulates and coordinates

16. United Nations Public Service Award

17. LIMOSA: declaration for foreign workers • mandatory declaration for foreign employees, self-employed persons and trainees when coming to Belgium • collecting all relevant information in one declaration • coordination of electronic information flows between Belgian competent institutions • one stop shop: lessening the administrative burden for foreign employers and self-employed persons • statistical information about cross-border employment on Belgian territory • consultation tool for social inspection services

18. LIMOSA: project in different stages • international portal site and mandatory declaration (01/04/2007) • portal site in order to enhance a quick and user friendly declaration tool for foreign employers and self-employed persons • access to application • information on other obligations (labour law, taxes, ...) • a specific user and access management ‘light’ has been created • central database (01/07/2007) • comprehensive database with data of foreign activities on Belgian territory • one stop shop (target: 01/11/2007) • all requests (residence permit, work permit, posting documents, assignments, professional cards,...) and declarations from other countries • automatic triggering and dispatching to competent institutions • by means of the user management system, one can easily follow the status of the processing of his requests

19. Towards a pan-European social service ? • Decision 2004/387/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on the interoperable delivery of pan-European eGovernment services to public administrations, businesses and citizens (IDABC) • “The European Council, meeting in Brussels in March 2003, drew attention to the importance of connecting Europe and so strengthening the internal market and underlined that electronic communications are a powerful engine for growth, competitiveness and jobs in the European Union and that action should be taken to consolidate this strength and to contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon goals. To this end, the development and establishment of pan-European eGovernment Services and the underlying telematic networks should be supported and promoted.” • “This Decision establishes, for the period 2005-2009, a Programme for Interoperable Delivery of pan-European eGovernment Services to (…) European Businesses and Citizens.”

20. Towards a pan-European social service ? • a standardised, pan-European declaration system across all EU-Member States is beneficial for • employers and self-employed persons • unique, multifunctional declaration system across EU-Member States • available 24/7 and everywhere • available in the own language of the user • re-use of national basic services (e.g. portal environment, user- and access management, …) • the EU and the EU-Member States • higher degree of satisfaction of the employers and the self-employed persons • higher degree of notoriety of the system across the EU => higher guarantee of use and avoiding of unnecessary foreign information campaigns • electronic availability of all relevant information

21. Towards a pan-European social service ? • service oriented architecture of LIMOSA permits an evolution towards a pan-European social service • modular, layered architecture • presentation layer (multiple portal environments) • application layer (processes) • basic services layer (user and access management, return of receipt, …) • information layer (databases) • entirely based on open standards • components can be easily integrated in other environments • possibility to valorise the Belgian know how related to eGovernment in the social sector and electronic identity, user and access management

22. Towards a pan-European social service ? • excellent possibility to use the solution for cross-border electronic identification of citizens and companies in execution of the Interministerial Statement of 24 November 2005 in Manchester “By 2010 European citizens and business shall be able to benefit from secure means of electronic identification that maximise user convenience while respecting data protection regulations. Such means shall be made available under the responsibility of the Member States, but recognised across the EU.” “Member States will, during 2006, agree a process and roadmap for achieving the electronic identity objectives and address the national and European legal barriers to the achievement of the electronic identity objectives; work in this area is essential for public administrations to deliver personalised electronic services with no ambiguity as to the user’s identity.” “Member States will, over the period 2006-2010, work towards the mutual recognition of national electronic identities by testing, piloting and implementing suitable technologies and methods.”

23. More info • Crossroads Bank for Social Security • http://www.ksz.fgov.be • social security portal • https://www.socialsecurity.be • personal website • http://www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/icri/frobben