Approach of digitalization roads

The so-called ‘digitalisation roads’ were launched in spring 2020. They were and are the starting point for an efficient implementation of the Online Access Act (OZG). The digitalization roads are constantly being adapted to growing framework conditions and challenges. They create the basis for a dynamic provision of online services in North Rhine-Westphalia and nationwide – in line with the one-for-all principle (EfA principle).

Digitization roads describe both an organizational and factory-based process model and are based on four maxims:

• Dynamization: Offer all administrative services of the service catalogue (LeiKa) as a reference implementation in the WSP.NRW – digital and co-usable as an offer of one-for-all co-use (EfA co-use).
• Market coverage and user acceptance: Digital business services of the public sector correspond in appearance and handling (look and feel) to the everyday life of the users in the sense of an intuitive user guidance. In addition, demand-oriented minimum viable products (MVP) are being developed.
• cost-effectiveness: Exponential reduction of the digitization effort from performance to performance.
• Systematization and standardization: Development of the experience from NRW to a nationwide reusable process model as well as a cross-format standardization in the form builder.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy (MWIKE) is involved in the implementation of the respective LeiKa services as part of the digitalisation roads. This is important in order to be able to provide online forms in the WSP.NRW that are technically correct and adapted to the information requirements of the specialist execution.

For coordination and cross-border cooperation, steering groups were set up on all emerging issues and Jour Fixe dates were agreed with an interdisciplinary approach. Various actors are continuously involved: Specialist prisons, state and federal organizations of the chambers of commerce as well as of associations, such as the Association of Free Professions NRW and the Federal Association of Free Professions e.V. as well as other relevant stakeholders, such as FITKO, KoSIT, etc.

In the course of the technical clarification, the information on the respective bundle of services is collected which is of fundamental importance for the technical/objective conception and configuration, for the subsequent integration as well as for the functionality of the forms in the WSP.NRW. For the first time, the MWIKE is supported by representatives of the specialist administration (competent bodies).

The preliminary phase is divided into the collection of different and separate information. The pre-created and standardized result documents are filled in together with selected specialist contact partners. The result documents are referred to as ‘basic clarification’ and ‘technical clarification’.

After the preliminary phase, the above information can now be evaluated professionally and technically. The IT service providers and the technical contact person of MWIKE work closely with the specialist department in order to create a technically and legally valid form. This should be understandable for the users and take into account the specific needs of the specialist execution, i.e. include adapted online solutions of a specialist service bundle. Through the information obtained in the pre- and form configuration phase, required data fields and application-related evidence can be defined in the user workflow.

The forms are designed with the form management tool ‘GovForms’ at low-code level and configured in the same step. The responsible bodies are continuously involved in the digitisation process when creating the form. In requirements workshops, an exchange with the technical contact persons takes place. The basis for this is the information collected in advance. All individual requirements for the form are discussed and noted here. These can then be adapted to the specific needs of applicants and the public administration. This first prototype also exceeds the simple functions of a classic form PDF.

The jointly developed form will be examined again intensively, in close coordination with the specialist department. At this time, the form has already been integrated into a test environment representative of the WSP.NRW. For a final technical check, the final validation, it is presented to the specialist execution. The presentation will take place in a joint appointment with the technical contact person and the IT service provider of MWIKE. At this point, final, necessary adjustments can be made. Once this check has been completed, the form can be integrated into the WSP.NRW and linked to all necessary ancillary services (e.g. the payment service or the technical allocation of the application to the factually and locally competent authority: ticket system, etc.).

The form prototype is configured in the low-code form management system (Low-Code-FMS) GovForms/form.io. Therefore, the configuration is independent of the integration of the form into the WSP.NRW and the provision for sharing. This approach to the digitalisation of online services is efficiency-enhancing. Only during integration is the form inserted into the microservice architecture of the WSP.NRW. It is enriched with all the necessary components that are necessary for media-free use of the online service. This enrichment includes, among other things, the identification and authentication by means of ELSTER ID or via the service account.NRW or the connection to the ePayment interface of ePayBL in order to enable the payment of the administration fee due.

Before the online service is finally activated in the WSP.NRW, there is another integration test. The digitization process is repeated in the context of the rollout with the participating federal states and forms are developed in several iteration loops to the respective country-specific concerns. The scope of the future form for the first digitization is determined by the iterative approach. This means that the form is a minimum viable product (MVP), which is constantly improved in the subsequent development cycles.

The above-mentioned maxims of the process model are observed in all process steps of the digitization lines. The federal requirements for the online service are thus complied with: both in the digitization of the online services, in which the specialist execution is cooperated, as well as in the professional-legal preliminary analysis of the LeiKa services to be digitized.