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A helicopter view on subsidy applications and their status
Christine Claus: “CJSM centralises the contact information of organisations and persons that are subsidised or recognised, suppliers, commissions and boards in the Central Identification File (CIB). Furthermore, the CIB contains the basic information on subsidy, recognition or licensing files.
Across the boundaries of the various entities, we thus get a helicopter view on subsidy applications and their status – which is useful to the management and to the case officer to whom this information provides an added value when evaluating or counselling customers.”
Optimisation of the information flow in the back office
Christine Claus: “As every CJSM case officer can input or change data in the CIB, the information remains up-to-date and the application is broadly supported within the organisation. Information is thus entered more efficiently at the point where it is created. We spread the workload and avoid bottlenecks.
The CIB is a central component in the application architecture of CJSM. The information available in the CIB must be called upon and re-used as often as possible in other information systems, for instance with a view to automatic document generation or dossier treatment.”
Link with authentic sources and Orafin for improved data quality and more efficient data management
Christine Claus: “The CIB collects data from the authentic sources VKBO (Verrijkte Kruispuntbank Ondernemingen – Enhanced Crossroads Bank for Enterprises), the VKBP (Vlaamse Kruispuntbank Personen – Flemish Crossroads Bank for Individuals) and recently from the VOP-Entiteitenregister (VOP Entities Register, VOP referring to Vlaams Overheidsproces – Flemish public process). Besides, the CIB data model served as a source of inspiration for VOP.
By collecting the information at the source, we obtain more correct data. Moreover, apart from the identification number, no other data have to be entered again. The data from the authentic sources are enhanced within the CIB with data regarding subsidies and recognitions applied for with the department, ASCW or K&E.
By linking the CIB to Orafin, we can re-use the CIB data in Orafin. By the end of 2011, we hope to be able to enter purchase orders into the CIB and to make them automatically pass on to Orafin. It will then become much easier to link CIB data to Orafin data in order to obtain an integrated management reporting. For the adaptation, we cooperate with the WSE and WVG Departments and, of course, the Central Accounting IAA. Once available, the Orafin interface can be used by other entities as well.”
Critical success factors:harmonisation, communication and partnership
Christine Claus:“The successful implementation of an application such as the CIB requires a solid harmonisation between the different parties concerned. That is why we involved representatives from all entities concerned in the development of the application. First, you need to determine priorities, for a group of 350 users, and find the common denominator. It is good to establish responsibilities in advance and make arrangements as to how the shared information will be dealt with. Cooperation implies a commitment to make financial means available, not only in the short term for the investment, but also in the longer term as a system also requires maintenance. Finally, cooperation and support at management level is essential.
Communication and training are very important as well: we regularly communicated through different channels about the project’s progress . At internal level, we spent many hours on drawing up the manuals and providing training. We also worked with key-users:persons within the team who act as first-line contact point for the CIB.
We found good and reliable partners for the development of the CIB with the e-government and ICT-management entity (e-IB) and HP-Belgacom (HB).”
Successful applications through long-term thinking, exchange of information and cross-entity cooperation
Christine Claus:“Setting up an information system requires more than a one-off investment. In the longer term, the system must be able to evolve when new needs are detected and new opportunities arise. The system thus develops along with the needs of the organisation.
Too many information silos still exist: the exchange of information between systems within the Government of Flanders must be better facilitated. A central system within the back office must not be an island, as you then lose the added value it may offer. It must communicate with other databases, systems, .... However, experience shows that the exchange of data between the internal information systems is often very expensive. In that respect, the common ICT service provision may play a leading role and provide a uniform manner to integrate and thus reduce costs.
The entities of the Government of Flanders must cooperate more when setting up and rolling out information systems. The CIB project could only be realised as a result of the cooperation between the CJSM entities. In principle, these systems can be used generically within the Government of Flanders – in case other entities are interested, we are happy to cooperate."
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