1. Electronic exchange of information within the social sector Frank Robben General manager Crossroads Bank for Social Security Sint-Pieterssteenweg 375 B-1040 Brussels E-mail: Frank.Robben@ksz.fgov.beFrank.Robben@ksz.fgov.be Website CBSS: www.ksz.fgov.bewww.ksz.fgov.be Personal website: www.law.kuleuven.be/icri/frobbenwww.law.kuleuven.be/icri/frobben Crossroads Bank for Social Security

2. 2 October 29, 2009 Structure of the presentation n electronic information exchange within the Belgian social sector -origins of the CBSS initiative -basic principles on information management and information security -implemented solution -useful legislative changes -implementation order used in Belgium -some concrete services n electronic information exchange within the European social sector -European framework -current situation -EESSI-project -exploration of problems and solutions n conclusion -critical success factors and the possible obstacles -advantages

3. 3 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Origins of the CBSS initiative n 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

4. 4 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Origins of the CBSS initiative n 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 citizens the employers/companies the actors in the social sector -service delivery that didn’t meet the expectations of the citizens and the companies -suboptimal effectiveness of social protection -insufficient social inclusion -too high possibilities of fraud -suboptimal support of social policy

5. 5 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Expectations of citizens and companies n effective social protection n 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 n attuned to their own processes n with minimal costs and minimal administrative burden n if possible, granted automatically n with active participation of the user (self service) n well performing and user-friendly n reliable, secure and permanently available n accessible via a channel chosen by the user (direct contact, phone, PC, …) n sufficient privacy protection

6. 6 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Common vision on information management n information is being modelled in such a way that the model fits in as closely as possible with the real world, in order to allow multifunctional use of information n information is collected from citizens and companies only once by the social sector as a whole, via a channel chosen by the citizens and the companies, preferably from application to application, and with the possibility of quality control by the supplier before the transmission of the information n the collected information is validated once according to established task sharing criteria, by the actor that is most entitled to it or by the actor which has the greatest interest in correctly validating it n a task sharing model is established indicating which actor stores which information as an authentic source, manages the information and maintains it at the disposal of the authorized users

7. 7 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Common vision on information management n information can be flexibly assembled according to ever changing legal concepts n every actor has to report probable errors of information to the actor that is designated to validate the information n every actor that has to validate information according to the agreed task sharing model, has to examine the reported probable errors, to correct them when necessary and to communicate the correct information to every known interested actor n once collected and validated, information is stored, managed and exchanged electronically to avoid transcribing and re-entering it manually n electronic information exchange can be initiated by -the actor that disposes of information -the actor that needs information -the CBSS that manages the interoperability framework

8. 8 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Common vision on information management n electronic information exchanges take place on the base of a functional and technical interoperability framework that evolves permanently but gradually according to open market standards, and is independent from the methods of information exchange n available information is used for -the automatic granting of benefits -prefilling when collecting information

9. 9 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Common vision on information security n security, availability, integrity and confidentiality of information is ensured by integrated structural, institutional, organizational, HR, technical and other security measures according to agreed policies n personal information is only used for purposes compatible with the purposes of the collection of the information n personal information is only accessible to authorized actors and users according to business needs, legislative or policy requirements n the access authorization to personal information is granted by an independent Sectoral Committee of the Privacy Commission, designated by Parliament, after having checked whether the access conditions are met n the access authorizations are public

10. 10 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Common vision on information security n 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 n every actual electronic exchange of personal information is logged, to be able to trace possible abuse afterwards n every time information is used to take a decision, the information used is communicated to the person concerned together with the decision n every person has right to access and correct his/her own personal data n every actor in the social sector disposes of an information security officer with an advisory, stimulating, documentary and control task

11. 11 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Implemented solution n Crossroads Bank for Social Security as a co-ordinator, with co- operative governance n 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 n 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 n 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

12. 12 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Implemented solution n 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 2008, 686 million electronic messages were exchanged amongst actors in the social sector, which saved as many paper exchanges n electronic services for citizens -maximal automatic granting of benefits based on electronic information exchange between actors in the social sector -9 electronic services via an integrated portal 3 services to apply for social benefits 6 services for consultation of social benefits -about 30 new electronic services are foreseen

13. 13 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Implemented solution n 42 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) occurrence of a social risk (electronically or on paper) -in 2008, 23 million electronic declarations were made by all 220,000 employers, 98 % of which from application to application

14. 14 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Implemented solution n 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 n an integrated multimodal contact centre supported by a customer relationship management tool n a data warehouse containing statistical information with regard to the labour market and all branches of social security

15. 15 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Useful legislative changes n legal translation of -the common vision on information management -the common vision on information security and privacy protection -the obligation to use unique identification keys n creation of a public institution (CBSS) that acts as a driving force -mission and tasks -governance -financing principles n creation of a control committee on information security and privacy protection n probative value of electronic information storage and exchange n punishment of abuse of the system n gradually, coordination or harmonization of basic legal concepts n gradually, adaptation of business processes set out in the law

16. 16 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Useful tool: the reference directory n reference directory -directory of available services/information which information/services are available at any actor depending on the capacity in which a person/company is registered at each actor -directory of authorized users and applications list of users and applications definition of authentication means and rules definition of authorization profiles: which kind of information/service can be accessed, in what situation and for what period of time depending on in which capacity the person/company is registered with the actor that accesses the information/service -directory of data subjects which persons/companies have personal files at which actors for which periods of time, and in which capacity they are registered -subscription table which users/applications want to automatically receive what information/services in which situations for which persons/companies in which capacity

17. 17 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Useful tool: the social security card name Christian name date of birth sex social security number period of validity of the card card number sickness fund sickness fund registration number insurance period insurance status social exemption status other data to be added in the future, if useful key 1 key 2

18. 18 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Useful tool: the electronic identity card

19. 19 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Uselful tool: the electronic identity card n identification of the holder -name -Christian names -nationality -date and place of birth -sex -identification number of the National Register -main residence -manual signature n electronic authentication of the identity of the holder (private key and certificate) n possibility for the holder to sign electronically (private key and certificate) n no encryption certificate n no electronic purse n no biometric data

20. 20 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 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, …)

21. 21 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Distributed information servers n information servers -directory of data subjects at the Crossroads Bank -basic identification data of citizens at the National Register and the complementary Crossroads Bank Register -basic identification data of companies at the Company Register -employers directory (WGR) at the ONSS -work force register at the ONSS -salary and working time database at the ONSS and the ONSSAPL -database of contribution certificates -SIS-card and professional card registers n services offered -interactive consultation -batch consultation -automatic communication of updates

22. 22 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 National Register – CBSS Register Past situation National Register Municipalities

23. 23 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 National Register – CBSS Register Present situation National Register Municipalities

24. 24 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Quarterly declaration salary & working time ONSS ONP ONVA Employer old age pension holiday pay ONEM INAMI ONAFTS FAT FMP Simplification Activity 3 Activity 2 Activity 1 one electronic declaration CBSS

25. 25 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Pre-processed messages n pre-processed messages -beginning/end of labour contract, beginning/end of self-employed activity -contribution certificates medical care (employees, self-employed, beneficiaries of social security allowances) -unemployment benefits -benefits in case of career break -benefits in case of incapacity for work ((labour) accident, (occupational) disease) -reimbursement of health care costs -child benefits -old age pensions -holiday pay -benefits for the disabled -guaranteed minimum income – social welfare -derived rights (e.g. tax reduction/exemption, free public transport,...) -migrant workers -…

26. 26 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Pre-processed messages n services offered: -interactive consultation -batch consultation -automatic communication of messages

27. 27 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 ONSS INAMI Employer Employees Sickness funds Control Contribution certificate health care sector Past situation

28. 28 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 INAMI Control CBSS ONSS Employer Employees Sickness funds Contribution certificate health care sector Present situation

29. 29 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Derived rights in tax affairs n a number of people are entitled to an increased refund of the costs for health care n moreover, a number of municipalities and provinces grant these persons reductions or even exemptions of the taxes

30. 30 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Sickness fund Derived rights in tax affairs Past situation

31. 31 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 CBSS sickness funds network Derived rights in tax affairs Present situation

32. 32 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 LIMOSA n integrated electronic service delivery based on a single, mandatory declaration in case of temporary or partial professional activities of foreign employees and self-employed persons in Belgium n 200.000 – 250.000 declarations per year n reduction of process time from 7 days to 5 minutes n integrated service throughout 8 types of institutions (750 concrete institutions) n gains in effectiveness -improvement of social protection of migrant workers -enhancement of free movement of workers and services n gains in efficiency -lower cost due to single, multifunctional and electronic information collection and integrated information processing -shortening of clearance times with immediate return of receipt -availability of integrated services according to the logic of the user at any time and from anywhere n gains in transparency -permanent access for the user to the processing status of its declaration

33. 33 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 European framework n Treaty of Rome: free movement of persons => need for co-ordination between social security schemes of the Member States n Co-ordination Regulation 883/2004 and Implementation Regulation 14516/2008 will repeal Co-ordination Regulation 1408/71 and Implementation Regulation 574/72 as from May 2010 4 basic principles: -only one applicable national legislation per period -equal treatment: no discrimination based on nationality -aggregation of insurance, employment and residence periods -exportability of rights n regulations imply a lot of information exchange between social security institutions of different Member States n scope: EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland

34. 34 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Current situation n a lot of information is still exchanged on paper forms (E-forms) n elaborated by the Administrative Commission on Social Security for Migrant Workers n with same structure and contents in all official languages of the European Union n more than 100 types of E-forms (nearly 2000 E-forms when taking account of the various language versions) n exchange of paper forms appears cumbersome, complicated and expensive n this may deter possible migrant workers

35. 35 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Global aim n the quality level of services provided by a social security institution to an insured person may not decrease because this person (e.g. migrant or frontier worker, tourist, student, pensioner,...) made use of his right to move within the EU n therefore, administrative procedures should be simplified by interconnecting the information systems of the social security institutions involved n in order to improve the acquisition of rights, the award and the payment of benefits resulting from the application of the Regulations mentioned above

36. 36 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Article 76: cooperation The institutions and persons covered by this Regulation shall have a duty of mutual information and cooperation to ensure the correct implementation of this Regulation. The institutions, in accordance with the principle of good administration, shall respond to all queries within a reasonable period of time and shall in this connection provide the persons concerned with any information required for exercising the rights conferred on them by this Regulation.

37. 37 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Article 78: data processing Member States shall progressively use new technologies for the exchange, access and processing of the data required to apply this Regulation and the Implementing Regulation. The Commission of the European Communities shall lend its support to activities of common interest as soon as the Member States have established such data-processing services. Each Member State shall be responsible for managing its own part of the data- processing services in accordance with the Community provisions on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing and the free movement of personal data. An electronic document sent or issued by an institution in conformity with this Regulation and the Implementing Regulation may not be rejected by any authority or institution of another Member State on the grounds that it was received by electronic means, once the receiving institution has declared that it can receive electronic documents. Reproduction and recording of such documents shall be presumed to be a correct and accurate reproduction of the original document or representation of the information it relates to, unless there is proof to the contrary.

38. 38 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Role of EESSI n EESSI = Electronic Exchange of Social Security Information n managed by Technical Commission on Data Processing n under the aegis of the Administrative Commission on Social Security for Migrant Workers n set up to develop telematic services for the implementation of the EU regulations on social security

39. 39 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Feasibility study (2006-2007) n objectives -examination of the current exchanges -within all social security sectors -assessment of the technical and organizational capabilities of countries in order to identify measures to use a common architecture n outcomes -exploration of problems and solutions -identification of required business flows -draft data structures (XML) -common architecture

40. 40 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Business Flows & Structured Electronic Documents (SED) Branches of social security# business flows# SED Pensions (E2xx, E5xx)510 Sickness (E1xx)2287 Occupational diseases and accidents at work1837 Unemployment benefits (E3xx)2040 Family benefits (E4xx)1030 Exchange of periods23 Establishment of residence38 Special non-contributory cash benefits (Art 70)36 Determination of applicable legislation (Art 17)26 Exemptions (Art 18a)24 Additional information (Art 20)47 Overpayment and cross-border recovery1252 Other Business flows1024 TOTAL113314

41. 41 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Volume of SED (estimation in million/year) Pensions3.3 Healthcare5.3 Check for entitlement to free healthcare2.5 Family benefits1.5 Unemployment1.5 Postings1.2 Total 15.3

42. 42 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Architecture

43. 43 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Problems encountered with paper forms n difficulties identifying the insured person n difficulties determinating the competent social security institution in another Member State n problems of interpretation of the exchanged forms n inability to adapt the forms quickly n conflicts between data protection and the obligation to exchange information n difficulties in managing the exchange procedure n difficulties for the insured person in acquiring appropriate advice

44. 44 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Identification of the insured person n Problems -the data necessary for the identification varies from Member State to Member State and sometimes even from one sector of social security to another within the same Member State -each institution only registers the identification data it needs itself n Elements of solution -definition of a basic identification data set for each country -each institution that sends a form agrees to provide the identification set related to the destination state -each institution that receives a form agrees to be able to identify a person on the base of this set

45. 45 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Identification set Main Information -personal identification number (PIN) -surname at birth -current surname -forenames at birth -current forenames -date of birth -sex Complementary information in case of missing PIN -place of birth -surname father -forename father -surname mother -forename mother

46. 46 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Designation of the competent institution n Problems -the criteria defining the competence of institutions vary from Member State to Member State and from one social security sector to another: territorial criteria employment criteria free choice of the insured n Elements of solution -each institution that sends a form agrees to provide the adequate criteria for the designation of the competent institution in the destination state -a unique access point per social security sector in each state is responsible for the routing to the competent institution in that state

47. 47 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Problems of interpretation n Problems -different alphabets -different languages -too much free text -basic concepts vary from Member State to Member State => problems of conceptual translation -insufficient knowledge of the foreign and international law which institutions are rarely confronted with n Elements of solution -maximal structuring of the possible answers -glossary of concepts containing links between the basic concepts of the different Member States -offices specialized in foreign and international law -the law of a Member State is always applied by an institution of that Member State

48. 48 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Inability to adapt the forms quickly n Problems -the elaboration and adaptation procedures of the forms are lengthy and expensive => the official forms are inappropriate => unofficial variants are created and used -result: administrative problems delays for the insured persons n Elements of solution -to encourage the exchange of electronic forms -modular structure of the forms: directory of possible questions, related to the glossary of concepts

49. 49 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Data protection n Problems -some Member States forbid the export of data to other Member States which don’t guarantee an equivalent data protection -lack of coordination of organizational and technical data protection measures n Elements of solution -implementation of the directive 95/46/EC and 02/58/EC in each Member State -minimum organizational and technical security norms

50. 50 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Managing the exchange procedure n Problems -no following up of exchanged forms -no statistics about the exchange procedures n Elements of solution -systematic acknowledgement of receipt of forms -interchange agreements -interchange management by statistics

51. 51 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Critical success factors and obstacles n common vision on electronic service delivery, information management and information security amongst all stakeholders n support of and access to policymakers at the highest level n trust of all stakeholders, especially partners and intermediaries, based on -mutual respect -real mutual agreement -transparency n respect for legal allocation of competences between actors n co-operation between all actors concerned based on distribution of tasks rather than centralization of tasks n focus on more efficient and effective service delivery and on cost control n reasoning in terms of added value for citizens and companies rather than in terms of legal competences

52. 52 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Critical success factors and obstacles n 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 n multidisciplinary approach -business process optimization -legal coordination -ICT coordination -information security and privacy protection -change management -communication -coaching and training n lateral thinking when needed

53. 53 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Critical success factors and obstacles n appropriate balance between efficiency on the one hand and information security and privacy protection on the other n quick wins combined with long term vision n technical and semantic interoperability n legal framework n adaptability to an ever changing societal and legal environment n creation of an institution that stimulates, co-ordinates and assures a sound program and project management n 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 n sufficient financial means for innovation: agreed possibility to re- invest efficiency gains in innovation n service oriented architecture (SOA)

54. 54 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Critical success factors and obstacles n 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

55. 55 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Advantages n 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

56. 56 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Advantages n 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

57. 57 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 Advantages n 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 data warehousing techniques controlled management of own personal information personalized simulation environments n better support of social policy n more efficient combating of fraud

58. 58 Crossroads Bank for Social SecurityOctober 29, 2009 More information n social security portal https://www.socialsecurity.be n website Crossroads Bank for Social Security http://www.ksz.fgov.be n personal website Frank Robben http://www.law.kuleuven.be/icri/frobben

59. Th@nk you ! Any questions ? Crossroads Bank for Social Security - Belgium