2.2 OSS case studies

While governments have invested more and more in improving digital services, there is still a need for more traditional one-stop-shops, since ICT related skills inthe public sector may be poor or private sector ICT capability may be limited.

To learn about the implementation of an OSS from the experience of other countries with similar backgrounds, Vietnam, Cabo Verde, Kazakhstan, Sarawak (Malaysia), and Bangladesh were selected for the study. Table 1 Overview of indicators of countries used in the case study.

General Bangladesh Bangladesh Indonesia Sarawak Kazastan Vietnam Cabo Verde Estonia Timor Leste

Population Area (km2) 146 776 916 147 570 214 427 419 2 907 500 19 082 467 74 910 462 553 000 1 331 000 1 369 429 1 904 569 124 450 2 724 900 331 212 4 033 45 338 14 878

During OSS piloting 2007 2015 2001 2018 (Malaysia) 2005 1995 2008 2003 Latest data

Density per km2 Literacy rate % 1 226 1 226 118 47 61 ca 90 95 95 6 99 230

71 31 89 ca 90 50,8 (2007) 99,7 68

GDP per capita 558 1248 748 11380 3771 276 3721 7203 1442

Poverty rate 40 (2005) 24,3 (2016) 18,4

5,6 4,3 (2018) 6,7 (data 2018); >20 (1995) 35 (2015) 20,2 41,8 Corruption index 26 (2012) 25 32 (2012) 51 28 (2012) 33 (2012) 60 (2012) 64 (2012) 41 Urban population (%) 28 34 43 76 57 37 60 69 31 Individual internet users % 1,8 8 0,9 81 3 0 14 45 27

The information provided in Table 1 originates from two sources: Worldometers4 and World Bank Open Data Portal5 .

Bangladesh6

The pilot phase started in 2007 in two Union Parishads (Union Councils). Main goal: to eliminate the need of citizens to travel great distances, decrease the high cost and endure the considerable hassle of accessing government services. Clients: citizens and private sector OSS provider: Governance by Local Government Division under the Ministry of Local Government. Service centres located at the Deputy Commissioner’s office and coordinated by the District and Subdistrict Administration under supervision of the Cabinet Division. Operating model: Services are provided via the District e-Service Centre (DESC), hosted in government organizations, but operated by private entrepreneurs. Deputy Commissioners are usually micro-enterprises operated by ‘citizen entrepreneurs’ – 1 male and 1 female in tandem

4 Worldometer website 5 Worldbank Open Data Portal website 6 Bangladesh OSS

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with elected local government representatives. Last mile access points are about 3 km from the average rural citizen’s home. The entrepreneurs must generate revenue by providing certain public and private services. This approach allows for the services to be provided on weekends and holidays (Public-Private-Partnership model - PPP). Type of services offered: public and private services (e.g. birth registration, national ID application, citizenship certificate, photocopy service, ICT training, job information, etc.).

Indonesia

In early 2000s, Indonesia initiated a reform related to licensing of businesses as one part of decentralization. This resulted in a heavy increase of bureaucracy at the local municipality level, since local authorities used the initiative as a basis for earning more revenue. The problem was addressed and solved with a One-Stop-Shop7 approach using the one-door principle while there were no instructions on how the backside of the OSS should work.

Main goal: to reduce bureaucracy and corruption in local authorities. Clients: entrepreneurs. OSS provider: Ministry of Home Affairs (circular), municipalities independent in implementation. Operating model: There are three levels of OSS providing face-to-face services. The first level is responsible for receiving applications without any authority to approve them. The second level can receive applications and coordinate the processing of those applications, including field visits by technical departments. The third level is a centre of OSS that can receive, process, and approve the applications in-house.

Type of services offered: business registration and licensing.

Sarawak(state of Malaysia)

Implemented a One-Stop-Shop in 2018. Main goal, purpose: to enhance customer experience in dealing with the government, delivering integrated Government to Citizens (G2C) frontline routine transactional services through multiple channels, namely digital, counter, and contact centre, and to reduce the cost to the government in providing services to the public. Clients: Citizens and businesses.

OSS provider: State Service Modernization Unit of the Chief Minister’s Department Sarawak. Operating model: One-Stop-Shop (Service Sarawak) is operating through the Service Sarawak Centre, Service Sarawak Kiosk, Service Sarawak Portal, and Service Sarawak App. The Service Sarawak Centre offers 51 services from 38 agencies, self-service payment kiosk, and free computer and internet facilities. The Service Sarawak Kiosk provides easy self-service payment channel for payments of utility bills and housing loans. The Service Sarawak Digital was launched in December 2021, and it includes both portal and mobile applications.

7 Business Licensing and One-Stop-Shops in Indonesia

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Type of services offered: a wide range of public services for both citizens and businesses.

Kazakhstan8

Kazakhstan’s pilot phase started in 2005 when the OSS provided services of the coordinating body (Ministry of Justice) – issuance of identity cards and passports, registration of birth certificates, marriages, deaths, and several services from other government agencies such as the Tax Committee of the Ministry of Finance, the Agency for Land Management, etc. In 2011, the OSS was merged with the e-government infrastructure and completely modernized. The coordination of the OSS was transferred to the Ministry of Communication and Information and the Committee on Control Automatization of state services, and coordination of the OSS was established.

Main goal, purpose: to improve the quality of public services and reduce the level of corruption. Clients: citizens.

OSS provider: State Corporation as a single provider of public services in the country integrates all public services into a single system with the aim of providing services to citizens from one place. Regional branches of the State Corporation (SC) were established around the country in 20169 . Operating model: The SC provides advice and services for the collection and delivery of documents through a network of front offices and the central government bodies develop and approve standards and regulations of public services. The SC has 353 front offices, including 12 specialized OSS (special centres equipped with internet and databases). The SC cannot independently make services. The e-government portal and call-centre are not a part of the SC.

Type of services offered: 70% (530 in total) of public services can be acquired through the SC, out of which 215 are provided by the SC information system, and 315 are automated public services. The most popular service among the population is the issuance of the certificate of absence (presence) of real estate, which is required by the employer and by the local government for the inclusion of citizens into the waiting list for subsidized housing.

Vietnam10

The OSS was initiated within a public administration reform in 2001, as part of the "Doi Moi" (renewal) programme. Main goal, purpose: to provide a clear, accessible entry point for the citizens, increase transparency and clarity of service regulations, procedures, and fees, and improve the effectiveness of services and the efficiency of service delivery. OSS provider: People’s councils in various levels. Legal basis and mandate from the Prime Minister, the OSS operate under the direct management of ministries that are responsible for services provides. Operating model: One-Stop-Shops act in different levels. The government has complimentary responsibilities; provincial level departments provide certain services not available at the district or

8 OSS Kazakhstan model 9 Goverment for Citizens 10 OSS in Vietnam

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commune level due their specialty; districts also provide services; and communes, wards and townships provide simple, lower-level services and act as advisory, collection, transfer and referral points for some services carried out at the district level.

Type of services offered: a wide range of public services for citizens (e.g. social insurance, civil status registration, land registration, issuance and changes in business licenses, construction permits, issuing travel business licensing, etc.)

Cabo Verde

The OSS (Casa do Cidadão - Citizen's House) began its operations in November 2007 with only a telephone answering service and included more services over time. Since 2017, the project Balcão Único, started in 19 municipalities out of 22, enabling citizens who need to handle any matter in the respective city council to handle these at the Casa do Cidadão. Main goal, purpose: to act as a single service provider for various transversal public services across the country, focusing mainly on the citizen. Operating model: Public services are provided through the Casa do Cidadão, a service entity and unified front office where both citizens and companies can access the services. There are more than 60 stakeholders, and the service centre works closely together the municipal councils, the Chamber of Commerce, the Directorate General of Registries, Notaries, and Identification. Casa do Cidadão has faceto face front offices located in different regions in the country and abroad in the European, African, and American continents, a phone service, Canal Vos, to support Casa do Cidadão’s services and to act as an interface between the users and the public administration, and the “Porton di nos Ilha” portal11 - a new service concept that essentially aims to facilitate, simplify, and innovate the operation and state services available to national and foreign citizens. Type of services offered: services are based on a citizen’s life events such as birth, housing, issuance of different certificates, payments, etc.

Estonia

In 2003, the approach to expose services to citizens went digital – the government portal eesti.ee was launched. It must be considered that while the eesti.ee portal is the OSS gateway for citizens (or was planned as such) it became operational thanks to other governmental platforms, such as X-tee for data exchange and the eID for citizen digital authentication.12 Main goal: to provide reliable and up-to-date life-cycle information, access to public services, access to the person's own data, an official mailbox (with the @eesti.ee alias but without a real inbox service), and a calendar through which the state communicates with its citizens. OSS Provider: Estonian Information System Authority13 (EISA). Operating model: EISA operates the portal’s technical components and supports other authorities in presenting their services in the portal. All services are integrated through the national data exchange

11 Porton di nos Ilha portal 12 Estonian e-Goverment 13 EISA website

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layer X-tee14 . The portal team is only responsible for the portal framework technology and supportive services (authentication, @eesti.ee e-mail account management, calendar, notifications). The owners of services, which are the different state authorities, are responsible for the development of services - also the user-experience side in the portal. The state portal also includes a contact catalogue for other state authorities to indicate the physical offices where services can be accessed face-to-face.

Type of services offered: services are based on a citizen’s life events such as citizenship and documents, work and labour relation, traffic, doing business, etc.

Conclusion

Based on global attempts at OSS implementation, we can see a clear division between OSS implementations carried out before general digitalization and after it. Earlier implementations (19902000) show that the modality of OSS implementation depends very heavily on local social and cultural aspects. The analysis of the case studies shows that later OSS implementations (from 2000 onwards) present no reasonable alternatives to digitalization. Key aspects of this implementation are increasing the overall awareness and good governance of public administration.

Generalization

Implementation of an OSS means delivering some bigger target or dealing with some more generic problem in the government or society.

Countries with a clearly defined goal and KPIs are more likely to be successful in deploying OSS.

Good horizontal cooperation and interaction between government bodies is a key issue. Development and implementation of an OSS is an organic process depending on the digital readiness of the country and is constantly evolving intime.

A good OSS model requires feedback and a monitoring system for the business service providers and the OSS operators, to ensure the provision of customer-centric services.

If government agencies are not legally obliged to assume responsibility for the provision of customer-centric services through the OSS, the OSS cannot function properly. Political will with a legal obligation is mandatory.

14 Data Exchange layer X tee

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The operational model and responsibilities oftheOSS providers must be clear and well-motivated for participants, otherwise low buy-in can be expected.

Service owners and service providers must be defined at the national level and the responsibilities of service owners and service providers must be clearly defined and agreed to enable optimization of business processes.

Key enablers of a fully transactional OSS are the following: strong digital identity, electronic records, and the existence ofaninteroperability framework across government.

Depending on the problem to be solved, PPP can be a good alternative funding model.

In countries where the risk of corruption is high, hidden opposition to government agencies may emerge.

In countries where digital literacy is low, mobile phones can be a good alternative for connecting with citizens.

It is very important to pay attention to the training and motivation of service providers, to ensure the qualification requirements of employees. Investment in professional capacity-building is essential.

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