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5.2.2 Possible model for piloting an OSS in Timor-Leste
and feedback channels are mandatory forthose responsible for the OSS implementation.
Regular progressreviews and improvementactivities are coordinated by the governing body.
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Establish a transparent decision-making process andensurethe involvement of all relevant stakeholders.
5.2.2.1Overviewof the threelevel OSS model
Based on the key findings from our case studies, field visits to local municipalities, as well as interviews and meetings with key stakeholders, our expert team has proposed the following model for the implementation of an OSS pilot in Timor-Leste, which is described in Figure 7 below:
Figure 4. Proposed OSS model for Timor-Leste The proposed OSS model works on three levels – municipality, administrative posts, and sucos levels. The municipality is responsible for coordinating the work of the OSS at all three levels, including the coordination of the provision of services and the maintenance of the competence level of the employees necessary for the provision of services. Service Centre at the municipality level. There will be 13 OSS service centres at the municipality level, which provide the widest range of public services (from information services to direct public services) as well as first and second level customer support. The first level customer
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support includes sharing information about the services provided by OSS and assisting citizens with submitting the necessary applications and other related documents. The second level of service support involves helping citizens solve more complex service cases. Municipality-level service centres are also responsible for processing applications received from the sucos and AP levels and for optimizing everyday working processes related to services and integrating front-end delivery for public services. Service Centres at the Administrative Post level provide information services and first level customer support. Like the sucos-level, they also collect applications and transfer them to municipalities for processing. Service Centres at the AP level can also provide limited selections of services offered at the municipal level, depending on the complexity of the services. For example, such services could be the issuance of birth certificates and voter cards. At the sucos-level, so-called mobile service cars33 provide information about services, collect applications (and other relevant documents), and transfer them to municipalities at the administrative level. Issuance of birth certificates may also be considered. After processing the applications, the necessary documents would be returned to the citizen. If a stable internet connection can be established in remote areas, service offices can open in all sucosas seen in the case of Bangladesh. Emphasis could be put on the preparation of e-services and building the digital platform, and the sucoslevel could focus more on the vulnerable groups. Convening Municipalities' Committees at the municipal level would allow harmonizing and improving the quality of the provided services. Such committees should involve representatives of citizens, community leaders, and line ministries. Furthermore, the committees should ensure equal treatment of the parties. Discussions and sharing of experience at the municipal level would improve service delivery processes and advance the implementation of best practices. It is critical to decide and legally enforce the role of the municipality – whether it acts as a mediator or a decision-maker. Acting simultaneously as a mediator and a decision-maker for different services is also possible but not recommended, as it would expose an additional complexity that would hinder the service experience for the end-users. The participants of the breakout session did not reach a common agreement on the role of local municipalities after decentralization. However, there was a common opinion that the funding should be provided by the Government.
34 Recommendations for piloting an OSS in Timor-Leste are as follows:
A stable internet connection and electricity should be ensured before starting with the pilot.
33 For example, when the government operated the National Bank of Commerce in Timor-Leste (BNCTL) in 2010, for some municipalities that did not yet have a branch office, mobile service (service cars) used to serve the communities in those municipalities and were even used to make payment to the veterans and elderlies’ pensions at administrative post and village levels until they completely had their own branch offices. 34 The breakout session was held on 17 June 2022, following the presentation of the key findings of the interviews and field visits for the OSS implementation in Timor-Leste.
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Services provided atdifferent administrative levelsshould be the same to ensure equal treatment of citizens and a similar qualityof the services provided.
Service levels should be agreed with the service providers. The service levels should be made available to all parties, including the citizens.
It is important to contribute to customer service training skills at all institutional levels and considercustomer-oriented skillswhen recruiting employees.
5.2.2.2Primary servicesduring OSS piloting
Birth certificates, voter cards and identity cards are currently being issued at the municipality level by the municipal offices of the government agencies and ministries. In some municipalities it is also possible to apply for licenses and passports. Based on interviews with stakeholders, the expert group proposes to include the following public services when launching the OSS pilot, since these are very large in volume and create the biggest value to the end-user:
Priority Public service Explanation
1. Issuance of
the identity card
The identity card is used as a proof of a person’s identity when applying for a passport or a new job in government agencies, particularly in civil service and the national police. Although the issuance of the identity card has already been delegated to the municipality, the maximum benefit and value-offering has not been achieved due to the limited number of staff and supporting facilities. Better user experience can be provided when all services at the municipality level are provided in an OSS so that there is no need for the end-user to spend time communicating with different service providers, finding out whom to turn to.
2. Issuance of
the birth certificate
3 Issuance of
the Voter Card
The birth rate in Timor-Leste is very high (approximately 4.7% per year), while most of the children under age 5 do not yet have a birth certificate. Piloting this service in an OSS in an optimized manner (both in terms of quality and quantity) would motivate parents to register their children and help the government to update demographic data. If provided in a fast and easy manner, the launch of this service would help to get a positive user experience and build trust towards the OSS.
According to the law, every citizen who has reached the age of 17 is required to have a voter card to participate in the village election, presidential election, parliamentary election or in the municipal election (in the coming years). The voter card is the main requirement to attend the election, but in addition it also has multiple functions. Namely, it is the main requirement for accessing health services, education related services,
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Priority Public service
4 Issuance of
a driving license
6 Issuance of
a vehicle and/or motorbike ownership certificate Explanation
bank assistance/documents, social assistance, applying for a job and other public services (elderly pensions and veteran’s subsidies). Additionally, it is used as a complementary document when handling other documents in public institutions.
Issuance of driving licenses at the municipality level is another example of one of the most frequently used services that should be provided at the local level. The number of vehicles (motorbikes) is increasing rapidly and together with it, the need to get a driving license.
Ownership of vehicles (motorbikes) is increasing rapidly, and the increase is expected to continue given the Government's plan and activities to improve infrastructure in the sub-municipalities and villages. This means that there is an increasing need to access such a service.
7 Business
registration
Although SERVE already provides this service in 10 municipalities, and plans to open offices in every municipality centre, there should be a possibility to access this service close to home without travelling. This would be a good opportunity for pilot cooperation with municipalities by providing the service through one door. Furthermore, the public interest in doing business, either as a micro, small and or medium enterprise, is the basic reason for the implementation of the OSS at the municipality or even sub-municipal level. The total number of registered companies in 2020 was 4,182; in 2021 already 4,254 and based on the statistics of the first quarter in 2022, the estimation for 2022 will be 5,104.
Authors of the study recommend starting with the first three services to be able to manage the scope of the pilot. The prioritization of services is based on the results of the breakout session (Annex 6). Business registration has been added to make it easier for citizens to start a business and thereby strengthen the economy. In addition to the previously mentioned services to be piloted and provided at the first phase, the OSS should provide information about all public services (e.g. issue of passport, issue of transportation licenses, etc.). When choosing the next services to be provided in the future, it is advisable to follow the following principles:
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Start with services that do not require a very high level of professional competence from the service provider, to reduce the possibility of errors and buy time for the developmentof competences.
Start with services that are very large involume, such as the issuance of identity cards, birth certificates and voter cards, to reach as large a target group as possible.
Start with services that create the greatest value for the citizen, so that
Move forward in small steps and demonstrate small wins to gain thetrust of citizens.
Take the multiplicityof distinct language groups and dialects into consideration while re-engineering and re-organizingpublic services, includingproviding information.
After the pilot, theOSS could include services provided by the private sector to support the growth of the economy.
5.2.2.3Pilotingmunicipality
As mentioned above, the municipalities of Liquiçá, Ermera and Aileu have been chosen as possible implementers of the OSS pilot. It is possible to run a pilot in all three in parallel, but if there is a need to choose one, the authors of this study would recommend Ermera municipality because of the following reasons: 1. A strong leadership – less barriers when implementing the OSS 2. A growing coffee production industry – there is a need to ease the business environment and communication with the government 3. Bad infrastructure in some locations – this is a good possibility to test all service channels 4. The second largest population – a good possibility for value creation for a large number of individuals
5. A large number of villages – a good chance to test all service channels and communication between service providers and service owners 6. The youngest population – a possibility to test digital channels and communication as well as a good possibility to create value for a vast number of people who require documents to be issued
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7. The biggest poverty rate – a possibility to address vulnerable groups by providing information and services
8. The lowest employment rate – a possibility to support the business environment and address vulnerable groups by informing them about their rights and possibilities 9. Already being provided services by the SERVE, the MoJ and some other government organizations – a good possibility for training and support. It must be noted that Tetum Prasa is not the main language in Ermera and therefore it constitutes a risk during the piloting of the OSS since all information must be provided in several languages. At the same time, it also enables to test the OSS model in a multi-lingual environment.
5.2.2.4Addressingvulnerable groups throughtheOSS
Implementation of the OSS gives a good possibility to address vulnerable groups (the elderly, women, disabled people, etc.) directly close to their home, regardless of their gender or social status.
Firstly, to reach vulnerable groups it is extremely important to establish a single easily accessible information channel (for example mobile application) at an early stage, which would provide standardized, simple, and reliable information to the citizens. It is also important to remember that all people living in remote areas need to be reached in their local languages, as emphasized by Munkhtuya Altangerel, UNDP Resident Representative, in her speech35 . Aiming for smartphones as the main user devices and following responsive design techniques would make it easier to reach more clients at the same time. Timor-Leste’s population is young and almost all citizens have smartphones. Young people are open to new solutions and are eager to learn. Secondly, the OSS enables to decrease the unemployment rate of women by giving them the possibility to apply for a job close to home36. Keeping this in mind, at least 50% of the OSS’ employees should be women. Thirdly, mobile service cars ensure access to services close to vulnerable citizens’ homes, regardless of their gender or social status. This constitutes the importance of involving all levels of the OSS model in the implementation of the pilot, and not just the municipality level. Fourthly, it is also necessary to ensure that people with disabilities have access to the physical offices of the OSS. This should be considered when building or redesigning OSS centers. In the long term, with the maturity increase in the administration, public services should be transformed to proactive e-services, as this would eliminate problems related to vulnerable groups – with proactive services it shall be the service provider’s concern to reach out to the user37 .
35 Presentation of the key findings of the interviews and field visits for the OSS implementation in Timor-Leste. Hosted by the Ministry of State Administration and the UNDP Timor-Leste, June 17th, 2022, 36 Timor–Leste Strategic development Plan 2011 - 2030 37 Proactive government services
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