Strategic use of ICT in the Belgian social sector

© 2008 Frank Robben Stakeholders of the Belgian social sector  > 10,000,000 citizens  > 220,000 employers  about 3,000 public and private institutions (actors) at several levels (federal, regional, local) dealing with –collection of social security contributions –delivery of social security benefits child benefits unemployment benefits benefits in case of incapacity for work benefits for the disabled re-imbursement of health care costs holiday pay old age pensions guaranteed minimum income –delivery of supplementary social benefits –delivery of supplementary benefits based on the social security status of a person

© 2008 Frank Robben The problem  a lack of well coordinated service delivery processes and of a lack of well coordinated information management led to –suboptimal effectiveness of social protection –a huge avoidable administrative burden and related costs for the citizens the employers/companies the actors in the social sector –service delivery that didn’t meet the expectations of the citizens and the companies –insufficient social inclusion –too high possibilities of fraud –suboptimal support of social policy

© 2008 Frank Robben Expectations of citizens and companies  effective social protection  integrated services –attuned to their concrete situation, and personalized when possible –delivered at the occasion of events that occur during their life cycle (birth, going to school, starting to work, move, illness, retirement, starting up a company, …) –across government levels, public services and private bodies  attuned to their own processes  with minimal costs and minimal administrative burden  if possible, granted automatically  with active participation of the user (self service)  well performing and user-friendly  reliable, secure and permanently available  accessible via a channel chosen by the user (direct contact, phone, PC, …)  sufficient privacy protection

© 2008 Frank Robben The solution  a network between all 3,000 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 –for every establishment of a company  an agreed division of tasks between the actors within and outside the social sector with regard to collection, validation and management of information and with regard to electronic storage of information in authentic sources

© 2008 Frank Robben The solution  210 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 2007, 656 million electronic messages were exchanged amongst actors in the social sector, which saved as many paper exchanges  electronic services for citizens –maximal automatic granting of benefits based on electronic information exchange between actors in the social sector –8 electronic services via an integrated portal 3 services to apply for social benefits 5 services for consultation of social benefits –about 30 new electronic services are foreseen

© 2008 Frank Robben 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 4 events immediate declaration of recruitment (only electronically) immediate declaration of discharge (only electronically) quarterly declaration of salary and working time (only electronically) occurence of a social risk (electronically or on paper) –in 2007, 23 million electronic declarations were made by all 220,000 employers, 98 % of which from application to application

© 2008 Frank Robben The solution  an integrated portal site containing –electronic transactions for citizens, employers and professionals –simulation environments –information about the entire social security system –harmonized instructions and information model relating to all electronic transactions –a personal page for each citizen, each company and each professional  an integrated multimodal contact centre supported by a customer relationship management tool  a datawarehouse containing statistical information with regard to the labour market and all branches of social security

© 2008 Frank Robben Information security and privacy protection  security, availability, integrity and confidentiality of information is ensured by integrated structural, institutional, organizational, HR, technical 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 actors and users according to business needs, legislative or policy requirements  the access authorization to personal information is granted by an Sectoral Committee of the Privacy Commission, designated by Parliament, after having checked whether the access conditions are met  the access authorizations are public

© 2008 Frank Robben Information security and privacy protection  every actual electronic exchange of personal information has to pass an independent trusted third party (basically the CBSS) and is preventively checked on compliance with the existing access authorizations by that trusted third party  every actual 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 information used is communicated to the person concerned together with the decision  every person has right to access and correct his/her own personal data  every actor in the social sector disposes of an information security officer with an advisory, stimulating, documentary and control task

© 2008 Frank Robben 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 –a functional task sharing concerning information management, information validation and application development –a minimal administrative burden according to a study of the Belgian Planning Bureau, rationalization of the information exchange processes between the employers and the social sector implies an annual saving of administrative costs of about 1.7 billion € a year for the companies

© 2008 Frank Robben Advantages  gains in efficiency –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 –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

© 2008 Frank Robben Advantages  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

© 2008 Frank Robben Critical success factors  common vision on electronic service delivery, information management and information security amongst all stakeholders  support of and access to policymakers at the highest level  trust of all stakeholders, especially partners and intermediaries, based on –mutual respect –real mutual agreement –transparency  respect for legal allocation of competences between actors  co-operation between all actors concerned based on distribution of tasks rather than centralization of tasks  focus on more effective and efficient service delivery and on cost control

© 2008 Frank Robben Critical success factors  reasoning in terms of added value for citizens and companies rather than in terms of legal competences  quick wins combined with long term vision  lateral thinking when needed  adaptability to an ever changing societal and legal environment  electronic service delivery as a structural reform process –process re-engineering within and across actors –back-office integration for unique information collection, re-use of information and automatic granting of benefits –integrated and personalized front-office service delivery

© 2008 Frank Robben Critical success factors  multidisciplinary approach –process optimization –legal coordination –ICT coordination –information security and privacy protection –change management –communication –coaching and training

© 2008 Frank Robben Critical success factors  appropriate balance between efficiency on the one hand and information security and privacy protection on the other  technical and semantic interoperability  legal framework  creation of an institution that stimulates, co-ordinates and assures a sound program and project management  availability of skills and knowledge => creation of an association that hires ICT-specialists at normal market conditions and puts them at the disposal of the actors in the social sector  sufficient financial means for innovation: agreed possibility to re- invest efficiency gains in innovation  service oriented architecture (SOA)

© 2008 Frank Robben Critical success factors  need for radical cultural change within government, e.g. –from hierarchy to participation and team work –meeting the needs of the customer, not the government –empowering rather than serving –rewarding entrepreneurship within government –ex post evaluation on output, not ex ante control of every input

© 2008 Frank Robben Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) “Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is a paradigm for organizing and utilizing distributed capabilities that may be under the control of different ownership domains. It provides a uniform means to offer, discover, interact with and use capabilities to produce desired effects consistent with measurable preconditions and expectations. Enterprise architects believe that SOA can help businesses respond more quickly and cost-effectively to the changing market conditions. This style of architecture promotes reuse at the macro (service) level rather than micro levels (eg. objects). It also makes interconnection of existing IT assets trivial.” (OASIS Reference Group)

© 2008 Frank Robben Why a Service Oriented Architecture ?  need for –cooperation and process coordination between 3,000 actors in the social sector > 220,000 employers > 10,000,000 citizens –respecting their autonomy and legal allocation of competences  SOA offers the possibility to develop processes across actors based on loosely coupled cooperation between actors based on open standards (TCP/IP, XML, SOAP, UDDI, WSDL, …)

© 2008 Frank Robben Why a Service Oriented Architecture ?  need for re-use of ICT-assets –cost control –ability to support partners  SOA offers the possibility to develop multifunctional basic and business services that can be re-used by all interested actors  need for quick adaptation to an ever changing societal and legal environment  SOA offers the possibility to adapt, replace or add services without effect on other services to develop new applications based on the re-use of existing services

© 2008 Frank Robben Concrete implementation Basic services Applications Presentation Business services Data

© 2008 Frank Robben Concrete implementation: basic services user & access mgt electroni c signature ticketin g/ receipt transfor -mation … orches- tration logging persona l pages

© 2008 Frank Robben Example: user and access management  identification of physical and legal persons –unique social identification number for physical persons –unique company number for companies  authentication of the identity of physical persons –electronic identity card –user id – password – token  authentic sources for –management and verification of characteristics (e.g. a capacity, a function, a professional qualification) of persons –management and verification of mandates between a legal or physical person to whom an electronic transaction relates and the person carrying out that transaction –management and verification of authorizations

© 2008 Frank Robben Policy Enforcement Model User Policy Enforcement (PEP) Application Policy Decision (PDP) Action on application Decision request Decision reply Action on application PERMITTED Policy Information (PIP) Information request/ reply Policy Administration (PAP) Policy retrieval Authentic source Policy Information (PIP) Information request/ reply Policy repository Action on application DENIED Manager Policy management Authentic source

© 2008 Frank Robben APPLICATIONS AuthorizationAuthen- tication PEP Role Mapper USER PAP ‘’Kephas’’ Role Mapper DB PDP Role Provider PIP Attribute Provider Role Provider DB UMAF PIP Attribute Provider DB XYZ WebApp XYZ APPLICATIONS AuthorizationAuthen- tication PEP Role Mapper USER WebApp XYZ PIP Attribute Provider PAP ‘’Kephas’’ Role Mapper DB PDP Role Provider Role Provider DB Management VAS PIP Attribute Provider DB XYZ PIP Attribute Provider DB Gerechts- deurwaar- ders PIP Attribute Provider DB Mandaten eHealth-platform APPLICATIONS AuthorizationAuthen- tication PEP Role Mapper USER PAP ‘’Kephas’’ Provider DB Mandaten Social sector (CBSS) Non social FPS (Fedict) Management VAS DB XYZ Policy Enforcement Model

© 2008 Frank Robben Towards a network of service integrators Internet Extranet region or commmunity Extranet region or commmunity FEDMAN Services repository FPS ASS Services repository Extranet social sector ASS RPS Services repository VPN, Publi- link, VERA, … City Province Municipality Services repository Service integrator (FEDICT) Service integrator (CBSS) Service integrator (Corve, Easi- Wal, CIRB, …)

© 2008 Frank Robben CBSS as driving force  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 eGovernment in the social sector definition of the common principles related to information management, information security and privacy protection definition, implementation and management of an interoperability framework –technical: secure messaging of several types of information (structured data, documents, images, metadata, …) –semantic: harmonization of concepts and co-ordination of necessary legal changes –business logic and orchestration support coordination of business process reengineering stimulation of service oriented applications driving force of the necessary innovation and change consultancy and coaching

© 2008 Frank Robben Co-operative governance  CBSS has an innovative model of governance, steering the business process re-engineering with complex interdependencies between all actors involved  Board of Directors of the CBSS –consists of representatives of the stakeholders (employers associations, trade unions, social security institutions, …) –approves the strategic, operational and financial plans of the CBSS  General Coordination Committee with representation of all users acts as debating platform for the elaboration and implementation of eGovernment initiatives within the social sector

© 2008 Frank Robben Co-operative governance  permanent or ad hoc working groups are instituted within the General Coordination Committee in order to co-ordinate the execution of programs and projects  the chairmen of the various working groups meet regularly as a Steering Committee  besides project planning and follow-up, proper measuring facilities are available to assure permanent monitoring and improvement after the implementation of the electronic services

© 2008 Frank Robben Adequate management and control techniques  annual priority plan debated with all users within the General Coordination Committee of the CBSS  cost accounting and zero-based budgeting resulting in financial transparency, an informed budget and a good evaluation of the management contract with the Belgian federal government  internal control based on the COSO-methodology (see in order to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of objectives with regard to –effectiveness and efficiency of operations –reliability of financial reporting –compliance with applicable laws and regulations  external audit with regard to the correct functioning of the internal control system

© 2008 Frank Robben Adequate management and control techniques  program management through the whole social sector  issue management during the management of each program  use of a system of project management combined with a time keeping system to follow up projects that are realized by the CBSS and its partners  frequent reports to all users which describe the progress of the various projects and eventual adjustment measures  use of balanced scorecards and a dashboard to measure, follow-up and evaluate the performance of the electronic services and the CBSS  use of ITIL (see for ICT-service deliverywww.itil-itsm-world.com  use of a coherent set of monitoring techniques to guarantee an optimal control and transparency of the electronic services

© 2008 Frank Robben More information  social security portal –  website Crossroads Bank for Social Security –  personal website Frank Robben –

© 2008 Frank Robben you ! Any questions ?