Online One-Stop Government: A Single Point of Access to Public Services

Abstract

One-stop government refers to the integration of public services from a customer’s (citizen, business) point of view. One-stop government suggests that customers may request any public service through a single point of access using the communication channel of their choice (e.g., citizen center, call center, Internet, etc.). The one-stop concept further attempts to reduce the number of contacts with the authorities per service consumption to a minimum— one single interaction at best. The information and public services offered are organized and integrated in a customer-focused manner to address the personal needs and to cover the exact requirements of the citizens and business customers. To exploit the potential of one-stop government, the public sector should be accommodated with a set of information and communication technology tools that allow the back-office processes to interoperate. The public servants may thereafter use these tools in order to create and manage information and integrated public services that match the needs of their customers. In this chapter, the concept of online one-stop government is examined and a framework for realizing one-stop government is proposed. The proposed framework consists of process models and an open interoperable software architecture. A demonstrator that has been developed to implement the architectural design is also presented. Furthermore, the results of the trial use of the demonstrator in three European countries are outlined. Finally, experiences gained are provided and impact is assessed.