Electronic Document Management asthe as is for E-government Services

Robert KelemenVaraidin County, Franjevacki trg 7, Varaidin, Croatia

E-mail: robert.kelemen@varazdinska-zupanija.hr

Renata MekovecUniversity oj Zagreb,

Faculty of Organization and Informatics (FOI), Pavlinska 2, Varazdin, CroatiaE-mail: renata.hudek@foi.hr

Abstract. Since the beginning of 1990, theinformation society has indicated Europe's way tobenefit from leT development. This process hasresulted with a number of initiatives like eEurope,eEurope 2002, eEurope+, eEurope 2005 and i2010which have a common goal - to ensure better qualityof life for all Europe's citizens. New services,applications as well as new markets are opening upsignificant opportunities. E-government can be seenas one of many new services which represent easyaccess and re-use of the information held in the publicsector and answer on the need to speed up standardadministration process for citizens and business. Themain =challenges in e-government serviceimplementation are: building business processes thatare efficiently supported by modern information andcommunication technology, document organizationand electronic exchange between institutions,educating 'Civil servants, encouraging and educatingcitizens to use new services. Some of the new servicesneed legal framework, but some of them only need anew perspective and competence. 1n this paperauthors present results of Electronic DocumentManagement System implementation in VaraidinCounty and mark the relationship between EDMSbenefits and weaknesses and e-government services.

Keywords. Information society, eEurope, e-Government, e-Government services, EDMS, regionalgovernment, public services.

1.Introduction

The end of the past century was' marked by thedevelopment of information and communicationtechnologies. According to Hudson [16] keytechnological trends that are results of ICTdevelopment are based on:

a) capacity - new communication media has alarge capacity to carry information;

b) digitization - analog communication is beingreplaced with digital;

c) ubiquity - service is available everywhere atanytime;

d) convergence - new media can be combined tosatisfy user's needs.

To benefit from this wide range, ICT developmentand usage European Union decided to undertake someconcrete action. The Result of this is a politicalinitiative called eEurope. eEurope's main focus is toenter Europe and Europe's citizens in the newinformation society. Information society is followingindustrial society. The main characteristic ofinformation society is the dominant influence ofinformation technology on economic, cultural,political and social aspects of life.

When we say information society it sounds great,distant and scientific at the same time, but what isreally information society? According to the Glossaryof European Union, [4] information society issynonymous with what is meant by "new informationand communication technologies" (lCT) withpotential benefits and threats. Potential benefits are:

a) distance learning, e-Iearning related services;b) teleworking, virtual companies;c) practical life (e-health services);d) leisure;e) new opportunities in terms of participation of

citizens by making it easier to expressopinions and points of view.

Positive advances go hand-in-hand with newconcerns:

a) new criminal behaviour, pirating, andquestions of protection of personal data andintellectual property;

b) the information society may contribute to themarginalization of certain sections of societyby emphasizing social inequalities.

It is needed to promote positive aspects ofinformation society and to adopt measures to controland limit the risks.

2. Information Society Information Age

Members of the High-Level Group on theInformation Society led by Martin Bangemannprepared for European Council Corfu meeting report[1] on the specific recommendation and concreteinitiatives to carry Europe into information society.

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In 1999 the European Union launched the initiativeeEurope: An Information Society for all. eEurope'skey objective [2] was to bring every citizen, home,school, business and administration into the digitalage and online; to create a digitally literate Europeand ensure that the whole process would be sociallyinclusive, which builds customer trust and strengthenssocial cohesion.

In June 2000 the Action Plan eEurope 2002 [15]was agreed. This Action Plan stated three mainobjectives:

a) to ensure a cheaper, faster, secure Internet;b) to invest in people and skills;c) to stimulate the use of the Internet.Action taken under this Action Plan should have

impact on Internet access speed, access to modemcommunication networks and competitive prices. Forresearch and student eEurope 2002 should ensureWorld Wide Grid to collaborate within dispersedscientific and industrial teams to work together in realtime. As the answer to problems with theconfidentiality and privacy of new informationservices, deployment of smart cards and bettercoordination in cyber crime fight was proposed. Thee-Learning initiative was launched to use theadvantages of new information society technologiesfor educational needs. Special attention will be givento disabled people through e-Participation. Toincrease the number of business to customerinteraction, eEurope 2002 proposed a variety ofinitiatives for legislation in different areas of e-commerce like copyright, distance marketing offinancial service, e-money etc. Electronic access topublic service must be provided by publicadministration to easily access and re-use publicsector information. The Initiative e-Health shouldensure that health care providers have telematicsinfrastructure to disseminate health service bestpractices and to access health related information onthe Internet. Under the action plan eEurope 2002launched initiatives MEDIA and CULTURE 2000 tosupport digital content industries. As the partconcerning intelligent transport system initiativeshave been launched to use location information foremergency service, initiative "Single European Sky",than initiatives for intelligent system deployment inroad, rail and maritime transport.

eEurope+ [3] 2003 initiative mirrors objectivesand targets of eEurope 2002 Action Plan to helpcentral and Eastern European countries (EU candidatecountries) to prepare themselves and enter ininformation society. Candidate countries must catchup EU Members countries in information societydevelopment and be prepared for follow them.

In May 2002 eEurope 2005 Action Plan waslaunched to follow eEurope 2002 and eEurope 2000+.eEurope 2005 [13] focused on enabling opportunityfor everyone to participate in the global informationsociety. New technologies are bringing diversity ofnew services and markets. To run new services on

new markets new building infrastructures are needed.Therefore, eEurope 2005 is based on two groups ofaction:

a) service, application and content;b) infrastructure and security.Those groups of action are combined with policy

measures, development, analysis and dissemination ofgood practice, benchmarking and overall co-ordination of existing policies. Under the Action PlaneEurope 2002 was agreed to provide basic servicesonline through the initiatives e-Government, e-Learning and e-Health. eEurope 2005 proposed for e-Government actions that cover broadband connectionsfor all public administration by 2005; interoperabilityframework for e-Government service delivery;delivery of interactive, accessible public services;adoption of legislative package on electronicallypublic procurement; easy access to Public InternetAccess Points for all citizens; defining of e-services topromote Europe and offering of user friendly publicinformation by both the private sector and regionalauthorities. According e-Learning initiatives eEurope2005 aims for all schools and universities to haveInternet access over broadband connection and thedeployment of Europe-wide computer-supportednetworks and platforms that will allow collaborativework, access and sharing learning resources. By theend of 2005 all Member States should develop healthinformation networks to connect hospitals,laboratories, paper-based forms needed for patienttreatment should be replaced with electronic health

...cards and online.health services should be provided tothe citizen. Online health services should coverservices like information on healthy living and illnessprevention, teleconsultation, e-reimbursement,electronic health records as well as online informationon air and water quality. To promote and encourageSMEs to working online establishment of e-businesssupport network was proposed. On this way theprivate sector should develop e-business solutions fortransactions, security, signatures, procurement andpayments. Cyber security task force (CSTF) wasmade operational as a centre of competence onsecurity question under eEurope 2005. All goodpractices that were results of development in all areasof eEurope 2005 were identified, selected, analyzedand disseminated through conferences, workshops,support networks and web sites.

In 2005 the Commission of the EuropeanCommunities proposed i2010 - European InformationSociety 2010 [14] as new strategic framework. Thisframework is based on the use of leT in publicservices, SMEs and households and is seen as a driverfor growth, jobs and better quality of life. Underi2010 were proposed following priorities:

a) a single European Information space - isconnected with term digital convergence.Digital convergence is a system of rulesneeded to offer faster and secure bandwidth

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communication, new digital service and rich,diverse content;

b) innovation and investment in ICT research -this aim is crucial to continue delivering jobsand growth. But research and innovation isnot enough, deployment and adoption of ICTare also required. The Seventh FrameworkProgramme (FP7) and the Competitivenessand Innovation Programme (CIP) arelaunched by the Commission. ThisProgramme proposes increase for ICTresearch, first 1800m€ annually and second800m€ for 2007 to 2013;

c) inclusion, better public services and quality oflife - the Commission agenda for these goalscovers policy on e-accessibility and coverageof broadband, a European initiative on e-Inclusion, an Action plan on e-Governmentand strategic orientations on online publicservices and launching flagship ICT initiativeson key social challenges.

3.E-Croatia 2

In 2000 the Government of the Republic ofCroatia started the development processes of strategicdocuments -for ICT and uses the sources in theEuropeanUnion. It is obvious that Croatia was not farbehind the-El! at that time, but the problem wasn't instrategy, but in the implementation. In 2003 theGovernment of the Republic of Croatia adopted thee-Croatia'2U07programme which marks the efforts totransform the Croatian society into an informationsociety. - .,"'

Croatia must take coordinated, comprehensive anddynamicaction to make a faster step forward into theinformation society. The aim of the e-Croatia 2007programmeis to provide the Croatian citizens and theeconomy with the highest level of informationservices.

The main objectives of this project are thefollowing[5]:

a) to provide an opportunity for citizens toreceive information in a timely manner andtherefore actively participate in societythrough a networked information system;

b) to strengthen and connect business entities ofthe Croatian economy;

c) to provide a comprehensive exchange ofinformation and experience in the businessand entrepreneurial world;

d) and finally, to enable the state to become atransparent, quick and efficient service to itscitizens.

In accordance with the Government of Republic ofCroatiaProgramme for the 2003-2007 term of office,the e-Croatia 2007 programme will provideopportunityfor [5]:

a) informatisation of the Croatian educationalsystem within the process of general

modernizationdevelopingprogrammeswidespreadsystem;

b) on-line access to health care services andquality medical assistance, regardless of theinstitution where patients are actuallyregistered;

c) building and equipping of science-businessparks throughout the country where younggraduate entrepreneurs will be given a two-year free-of-charge lease on premises andequipment to start their own IT business. Thefunds for building such centres will beestablished through the collaboration of thestate, private capital, Croatian emigrants andinternational financial institutions;

d) in the period between 2004 and 2007, creatingand networking a system which will provideeach and every citizen with necessary servicesin public administration, health care,education and jurisdiction obtained via theInternet. Thus, a citizen will be able tocommunicate via the Internet with bodies ofpublic administration, to request and receivevarious documents, endorsements andsettlements, as well as information about thefunctioning of public authorities.

of education, thereforea system of educationalavailable on the Internet foruse and a lifelong learning

3.1. he implementation of the e-Croatiaprogramme

It is stated earlier that the real problems were inimplementation. Mechanisms of implementation andmonitoring of the activities and projects of the e-Croatia 2007 programme planned in a particular yearwere incorporated in the following documents:Operational Plan for the Implementation of the e-Croatia 2007 Programme for the year 2004/2005 [10],Operational Plan for the Implementation of the e-Croatia 2007 Programme for the year 2006 [11],Operational Plan for the Implementation of the e-Croatia 2007 Programme for the year 2007 [12].

Those documents are issued as a framework forthe enforcement and monitoring of the programme inorder to establish and provide a successful andeffective implementation of the programme at thelevel of activities, projects and implementationmeasures [6].

The e-Croatia 2007 programme [12] follows theguidelines of The Action Plan e-Europe 2005,supplemented with the recommendations for theAction plan after 2005 (e-Government beyond 2005)and finally The i2010 Initiative which recognizesinformation and communication technology as apowerful moving force in both development andemployment.

By adopting these guidelines and by implementingthe e-Croatia 2007 programme, the Republic of

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Croatia will fulfil the precondition for increasing thegeneral competitiveness of the country as well asactive participation on equal footing in thedevelopment of a knowledge-based society for whichwe strive.

The e-Croatia 2007 programme comprises ofseveral areas [6]:

a) broadband;b) interoperability;c) information security;d) HITRONet Network;e) e-Government;f) e-Justice;g) e-Education;h) e-Health;i) e-Business.Croatia as a country has a state, regional and local

government. In strategic documents like the study ondevelopment of information society [9] the other twoparts of government are forgotten. Always present areoverviews, analysis, programmes, etc. of publicservices and business services of state government butnothing is said about regional and local governmentservices to the citizens. Of course, the majority ofservices are in competence of state administration, butcompetences are overlapping in some areas:

a) broadband;b) interoperability;c) information security;d) e-Government;e) e-Education;f) e-Health.Those overlaps are in different levels but they

exist. It is important not to ignore those facts.At the moment, the majority of all regional and

local governments are in a so called deep sleep andlittle thought is given to information society.However, Varazdin County is one regionalgovernment that clearly recognizes the importance.

4. he role of EDMS in regional government

Regional government - county (according to law)[7] has competence in areas:

a) education;b) health care;c) urban and area planning;d) economic development;e) traffic and road infrastructure;f) planning and development of educational,

health, social and cultural institutions.That means that the county's concern is to create

the framework and specifications of services for itscitizens through strategic planning and creating publicpolicies. That also means that direct services areprovided mainly through institutions which are in thecounty's ownership. For example, the County plansthe network of primary healthcare institutions, thelevel of services to the citizens, decides who will bethe managers of these institutions, but those

institutions provide services to the citizens. Theamount of direct services is very small.

The County has very intensive information flowinto, inside and out of the County. Information isusually in paper form and handling with that kind ofinformation poses difficulties. Some authors state that80% of informational resources are in document form[17], in Varazdin county that statement can beconfirmed. Handling with paper documents becamevery difficult but possible. Handling with electronicdocuments in an ordinary way is impossible, thus,something has to be done.

Figure 1. 0 S as basis 0 e 0 ernment

The County decided to implement e-Govemmentprinciples into administration business operations.This means application of modern information andcommunication technology as the main prerequisitesfor increasing efficiency and to provide as many

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services to the citizens as possible. The result was theimplementation of the Electronic Document System.That system connects all departments, all publicservants, and all kinds of information and enablesefficient communication and document handling.Connection to the internet enabled the first publicservice - every citizen which had some kind ofcommunication with the County had the possibility toaccess its file and convince himself at which stage isits case.

Because the main concern of regional governmentis efficient handling with information, we see the roleof the Electronic Document Management System asbasis for e-Government (Fig. 1). Electronic publicadministration (e-Government) is impossible withoutEDMS which is a result of implementation moderninformation and communication technologies.

5. he result of EDMS implementation

For the majority of new EDMS effects newindicators and methods for measuring must berevealed, because just a small amount of indicatorscan be measured with classical methods. Particularlyfor non profit organizations, like Varazdin County.Performance of the whole EDMS can be expressedthrough four different perspectives: financial success,relationship with users, business processes and

. learning quality and finally, growth and development.In our case we can use measures like "average

time of processing cases" and "rate of active andpassive time of case processing". In Varazdin County"average time of case processing (days)" decreasedfrom 158 -days (in year 2005) to 84 days (in year2006). It has to be mentioned that according to Officework regulation [8] a case can be active for two years.Therefore the real results of unsolved cases for 2005and 2006 year will be proved in year 2007 and 2008.

Varazdin County has been using EDMS for twoyears and some advantages can be specified.

Public servants report that document distributionand retrieval is faster, the distribution of work isbetter, there are no lost and misplaced files, electronicdocument handling is improved. Work with customersand the decision-making process is easier. Securityand control are improved, archiving is centralized andit takes less space.

There are some disadvantages about EDMS.Whole EDMS is realized with Microsoft technologiesso it depends on it. Some individuals reject newtechnology because they are lacking in IT skills.Other institutions do not have any informationsystem. The cost of implementing EDMS issignificant because some preconditions must berealized (networking, computers in all workplaces,servers, internet connections, etc.). Management mustaccept certain risk and decide whether they'll acceptsome problems and costs in implementing EDMS ornot. In the long term view, their business will benefitfrom the EDMS advantages.

5. Conclusion

Governments of all levels realized that all societycan benefit from fast development of information andcommunication technology. To implement thattechnology they are trying to restructure their businessprocesses and provide sets of services to their citizensand business subjects. The Republic of Croatia isundertaking measures to transform Croatian societyinto an information society but those measures do notinclude regional and local governments. They mustundertake something themselves.

Varazdin County decided to invest in EDMS andtried to use modern information and communicationtechnology as much as possible. The use of EDMSprovides better security measures, facilitates alldocument processing procedures and decreasesaverage time of case processing. Today, all internalcommunication is in electronic form. Because of itsimportant role in all processes, EDMS is the base ofe-Government services in regional government.

6. References

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