50 YEARS OF KDZ – A CHRONOLOGY
50 years of KDZ – a chronology Year 1969
1969 1969-1973 ab 1970
1973
1976
Mid 80s 1987
1984 1987 1987 1988
Ab 1989 Late 1980s
1994
Event Foundation of the KDZ at the initiative of the Austrian Association of Cities and Towns, the City of Vienna and the Central Savings Bank of the City of Vienna (today Bank Austria) as the association "Research and Documentation Centre for Municipalities". The institute´s mission is to support municipalities in solving their problems, above all by compiling comprehensive documentation in the field of municipal politics and municipal science, by providing broad-based information and by conducting research. Vice mayor Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner is elected as the first president of the KDZ. She holds this office until 1984. As the first managing director, Prof. Egon Matzner heads the KDZ and puts the main emphasis on financial analyses of public budgets. Establishment of first cooperations with other international (KGSt) and national institutes, universities and federal ministries. The KDZ participates in expert groups of the Council of Europe and the OECD and forms relations with the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) and French municipal institutes. Dr. Helfried Bauer succeeds Prof. Egon Matzner as managing director of the KDZ. In addition to finance-related topics, papers on urban renewal, regional policy, transport policy and transport economics as well as on new public accounting instruments and management control were published. With the first "Account Assignment Guide for Municipalities", the KDZ, together with experts from the field, makes an important contribution to the uniform application of registry according to the Budgeting and Accounting regulation (VRV) 1974. The KDZ seminar programme is established. From an initial 10 seminars held in one year, the programme was expanded to currently 180 seminars per year. After moving from the “Villa Windisch Grätz” in Vienna Penzing to Ebendorferstraße 2 in the 8th district of Vienna, the KDZ relocates to Mariahilferstraße 136 in the 15th district of Vienna in February 1987. Gertrude Fröhlich-Sandner is succeeded by city councillor Franz Mrkvicka as the new president of the KDZ. He holds this office until 1987. City councillor Rudolf Edlinger succeeds Franz Mrkvicka as president of the KDZ and holds this position until 1994. The KDZ library is ceremonially opened on September 4, 1987. With volume 9, "Kommunale Finanzwirtschaft und Haushaltsführung - Eine Einführung", of the KDZ publication series "Arbeitshilfen für Gemeinden", a foundational work on financial and business accounting is published. The KDZ deals with the effects of Austria's accession to the EU on the municipal level and is responsible for training thousands of managers and civil servants. For the first time, the KDZ deals with new strategies of quality assurance in the services sector, the modernisation of politics and administration and, subsequently, with New Public Management. City Councillor Dr. Hannes Swoboda takes over the office of President from
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50 YEARS OF KDZ – A CHRONOLOGY
Mitte der 1990er Mitte der 1990er
1996/97
1997 1997
1997 1997
1999
1999
1999 1999
2000 Ab 2000
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Rudolf Edlinger and holds this office until 1997. Since the mid-1990s, the KDZ has increasingly been active in international networking and the transfer of know-how, firstly in Eastern Europe and afterwards in South-Eastern Europe. Numerous tailor-made curricula for the qualification of managers in different local authorities are developed. Until today, KDZ lecturers are active at the administrative academies of the federal states and the federal government as well as at universities and universities of applied sciences. Tailor-made in-house trainings for cities and municipalities also contribute to the development of executives. When the preparations for the Euro and the consolidation of public budgets to meet the Maastricht criteria began in Austria, the KDZ took over the training of thousands of managers in politics and administration. The work aid no. 28 "Municipalities are converting to the Euro" provides an important guide for municipalities, their businesses and associations. Mayor Ing. Alois Schwarz succeeds Dr. Hannes Swoboda as president of the KDZ. Schwarz holds the office of KDZ president until 2008. The establishment of the first citizen service centres in cities and district administrations is supported. In 2000, our approach and experiences are published in the work aid no. 35, "Citizens' Service - Strategies and Reform Approaches". A close cooperation with the federal government on the subject of administrative innovation and quality management was initiated, which still exists today. The first guideline for the calculation of fees and charges is published - it creates a basis for the implementation of the principle of double equivalence in accordance with the financial equalisation system of 1993. The second extended edition follows in 2007. The KDZ is renamed from "Research and Documentation Centre for Municipalities" to "KDZ - Centre for Public Administration Research" – the focus of activities increasingly shifts to cities/municipalities, federal states, federal government and the EU accession countries. Foundation of the KDZ “Management Consultancy and Professional Training Corporation” as a subsidiary of the association under the management of Mag. Peter Biwald, who has been deputy managing director of the association since 1994. The KDZ celebrates its 30th anniversary in October 1999 in the Ringturm in Vienna. The first sample product catalogue for cities and municipalities in combination with a guideline for the development of key indicators is prepared by the KDZ with a working group of cities and presented at a conference in November 1999. An update follows in 2009. The KDZ establishes the CAF Centre on behalf of the federal government www.caf-zentrum.at - and has been the Austrian CAF Centre ever since. The KDZ increasing wins institutions from the federal states as supporting members. In 2002, the federal state of Burgenland joins the KDZ, followed by the Upper
50 YEARS OF KDZ – A CHRONOLOGY
2001
2002
2003
2003
2004 2005
2005 2006
2007
2007 2007
2007
2008 2008 2008 2008
Austrian Court of Audit, the first controlling body, in 2004. The first manual for the system of financial equalisation, "Handbuch zum Finanzausgleich 2001 mit Kommentar zum FAG 2001", is published - three more will follow to date - in 2005, 2008, 2017. The Summer School of Public Management is being held for the first time in cooperation with the Federal Academy of Public Administration. The two-week intensive course for junior federal and state executives runs until 2011. The first volume on public management is published ("Öffentliches Management in Österreich - Realisierungen und Perspektiven") – and is continued with two more volumes on "Public Governance" (2005) and "Gutes Regieren" (2011). With the conference "Bezirksverwaltungsbehörde NEU" in Eisenstadt, a dialogue and exchange between district administrative authorities on questions of administrative reform is initiated. The KDZ library becomes a member of the Austrian Library Network, meaning that the library's inventory can be accessed at any time via the KDZ homepage. The publication series "Public Management and Finance" - published by Neuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag - is created. The first volume is published on the occasion of the Städtetag 2005 under the title "Handbuch zum Finanzausgleich 2005 mit Kommentar zum FAG 2005". In 2019, with the book on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the KDZ publishes the 22nd volume of the publication series. The KDZ customer magazine "KDZ Rundschau. Information for Public Administration" is reissued as "Forum Public Management". The first WIFO-KDZ workshop in cooperation with the chamber of labour Vienna, the Austrian Industrialists' Association and chamber of commerce is dedicated to the topic of "Financial Management in a Federal State" - nine further workshops follow until 2018. The KDZ membership platform is launched in autumn 2007. It contains KDZinternal knowledge (basic papers, scripts, work aids etc.), which are made available to KDZ members. The series of municipal forums is initiated together with Bank Austria - the platform www.praxisplaner.at is created. The CAF Centre is starting a specific training for CAF facilitators in the form of a qualification programme over the course of several days. Further trainings in the use of the QM instrument follow. The latest CAF feedback expert training was held in 2018 in cooperation with the Federal Academy of Public Administration. On behalf of the Association of Cities and Towns, KDZ takes over the assignment of the funding management of BACID (Building Administrative Capacities in Danube Region). BACID I is successfully managed by KDZ from 2015 to 2017, BACID II is approved from 2018 to 2020. After eleven years as KDZ president, Alois Schwarz hands over the office to Dr. Christoph Platzgummer. Dr. Platzgummer will hold this office until 2013. The KDZ Quick Test - in use since the late 1990s - is made available to municipalities in a practical planning tool. Volume 10 of the NWV publication series is dedicated to "Innovation in the public sector" and appears as a commemorative publication for Helfried Bauer. Helfried Bauer retires at the end of the year after almost 40 years in the KDZ -
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50 YEARS OF KDZ – A CHRONOLOGY
2008 2009
2009 2009
2010/2011
2012 2012
2013 2013 2013
2014 +
2015
2015
2016
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and until today remains associated with us as a consultant. KDZ experts have been teaching at the FH Campus Wien since the introduction of the "Public Management" degree programme. Courses on public management and leadership form a central area of focus of the KDZ´s continuing education program. Different target groups are supported with individually tailored programmes (financial administrations, citizen service, personnel development, building yards, etc.). Peter Biwald succeeds Helfried Bauer as managing director of the KDZ - Centre for Public Administration Research. With the conference "Public Sector 2009 - 2049" the KDZ celebrates its 40th anniversary. In four top-class forums the topics "Governance of state and public administration - where does the road lead?", "Financing of public services", "Vertical networks - bench learning" and "Organisation of urban regions - regional cooperation" are discussed. Together with WIFO, IHS and the Vienna University of Technology (IFIP), fundamental studies on the reform of the system of fiscal equalisation are being carried out - reform strategy, task orientation, transfer unbundling and community structures are the focal points. Until the reform of the system in 2017, numerous further reform and implementation concepts for fiscal equalisation are developed. Together with the magazine "Public", the KDZ publishes the credit rating ranking of Austria's top 250 municipalities based on the KDZ-Quicktest for the first time. The publication "Offene Stadt: Wie BürgerInnenbeteiligung, BürgerInnenservice und soziale Medien verändern Politik und Verwaltung" is published as a part of the publication series "Öffentliches Management und Finanzwirtschaft". Mayor Matthias Stadler takes over the office of president from Dr. Platzgummer. Mayor Mag. Stadler exercises this office until today. KDZ is represented by Peter Biwald as expert in the newly created Fiscal Council (following the National Debt Committee). The platform "offenerhaushalt.at" is launched in October with the pilot municipalities of Salzburg and Engerwitzdorf. Currently, about 1,100 municipalities use this transparency platform. In 2014, the KDZ-Quicktest is integrated for all municipalities. In 2016, at the initiative of the City of Salzburg, the subsidy checker follows - with which the city makes all subsidies and transfers available to the interested public. The implementation of the Budgeting and Accounts regulation (VRV 2015) is started. Guidelines, evaluation tools, sample estimates and financial statements, participation in numerous working groups and more than 250 seminars are the main focuses of the next five years. The KDZ is honoured by the Internet Foundation Austria for the portal www.offenerhaushalt.at. The KDZ also wins the eAward certificate in the category "E-Government and Administration" for www.offenerhaushalt.at. For the platform www.offenerhaushalt.at, the KDZ is nominated by the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy with the State Prize for Multimedia and e-Business in the category “E-Health, e-Government, Citizen Services and Open Data”. For the platform www.offenerhaushalt.at, the KDZ wins the World Summit Award
50 YEARS OF KDZ – A CHRONOLOGY
2017
2017
2018
2019
2019
2019
for one of the world's best digital contents in the category "Government & Open Data" against 178 participating countries. Digital learning formats, online or combined with classroom training, complement the tried and tested KDZ continuing education offerings. All learning documents and materials for courses are available electronically on a document platform. The KDZ is awarded the second prize of the European Commission for an outstanding contribution to more efficient public services for citizens and businesses in Europe through the exchange and provision of IT solutions in the public sector for the platform www.offenerhaushalt.at. The account assignment guideline 2018 for municipalities and associations of municipalities on the basis of the new Budgeting and Accounts regulation (VRV 2015) is published as a book and subsequently also electronically on the online account assignment guideline of the federal government, federal states and municipalities. In 2019, the municipal funding and transfer report is published for the first time. Its aim is to make the Austrian funding system visible, especially at the municipal level, and to fulfil the mandate for more transparency. At offenerhaushalt.at, the municipalities are given the opportunity to activate their Digital Subsidy and Transfer Report. "Governance Perspectives in Austrian Federalism" is the title of the newly published KDZ publication on the proceedings of the 10th WIFO-KDZ Workshop in November 2018. The KDZ celebrates its 50th anniversary on 17 October 2019 at the Otto-Wagner SchĂźtzenhaus in Vienna.
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