The Enschede Virtual Public Counter: Ole 2000 - A Case Study

Abstract

In 1995 the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and the Association of Dutch Local Governments (VNG) initiated an ambitious program to improve public service delivery. The aim of this so-called Public Counter 2000 (in Dutch: ‘Overheidsloket 2000’ or ‘OL2000’) program was a nation wide network of one-stop government agencies, providing citizens and trade and industry with information and public services. These one-stop government agencies should have both physical and virtual incarnations. The services delivered are primarily those of local government. However, also services of the national level and of (semi-) private agencies may be incorporated. The first phase of the OL2000 program consisted of piloting. Enschede was the host of one of the 15 pilot projects. This chapter describes the background to OL2000, its results and its future plans. It will then focus on the Enschede pilot, Ole 2000. Ole 2000 is a virtual, online public counter for a range of local housing and building services. This chapter discusses the problems encountered in the Ole 2000 pilot and draws out some lessons to be learned from this project.