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One of the main objectives of the City Council’s Institut Municipal d’Informàtica (IMI) is to develop e-Govern. The IMI has integrated and transformed its information management systems and procedures and established a new model for interacting with local citizens. It has also adopted what constitutes an Integrated Approach to Knowledge Management in the broadest sense of the term. This implies a change of management culture from a reactive to a proactive municipal administration.
e-Govern is a tool that should help to promote e-Governance, which we understand as a way of governing that seeks to achieve the sustained and sustainable development of the local economy, society and corporate organizations by encouraging a balance between the Municipal Authority, civil society, the market and the business community.
Llei 11/2007 d’Accés Electrònic dels Ciutadans als Serveis Públics (the 2007 law governing the Electronic Access of Citizens to Public Services) recognizes a citizen's right to interact with the public administration via electronic media and to exercise the rights and obligations contemplated by the law. It also sets out a number of specific obligations and responsibilities on the part of the public administration. It is the responsibility of the administration to take advantage of the impetus created by the new law and to take e-Govern another step forward, encouraging a change of culture and management model for dealing with local citizens.
Analysis of the Model
The traditional mode of municipal management is based on face-to-face contact between local citizens and the staff of the municipal administration. In this model, the staff of the municipal authority largely dictate the rules of the game, determining what information the local corporation should manage and what the work flows should be.
This traditional model evidently makes it difficult to synthesize and manage knowledge, establish systems protocols, monitor processes, and establish reliable benchmarks. Following the traditional model, the knowledge of the municipal authority, its work flow and its general operational norms are all still determined by the corporation's staff and are not coordinated.
With the advent of new technologies, the availability of low cost broad band communications, and the new internet culture, the previous modus operandi has changed. Now, both the staff of the municipal corporation and its clients: the local citizens, have access to, and can use, these new technologies.
We should therefore move towards a model that uses the information and technology available and helps to incorporate the knowledge base, procedures, information flows and business rules into the electronic system.
The new model gives citizens full electronic access to the municipal administration, allowing them to carry out transactions at every stage and level and to track the progress of their actions and administrative processes. We can already talk of a transformation in the model and of citizens being given complete access to public services and e-Govern.
Moreover, the new model takes advantageof the capacity of the municipal corporation’s staff to improve procedures, generate knowledge and improve the level of service provided to local citizens. This change implies greater interoperability with other parts of the public administration.
The aims of e-Govern
The overall objective of e-Govern is to manage knowledge in a fully integrated way: incorporating the widest possible range of information, protocols and procedures; changing and improving the model that governs interaction between the municipal administration and local citizens, and making it more user-friendly for all concerned. This will ensure that citizens receive an appropriate e-Governance response and one that complies with the legal requirements established by Llei 11/2007 d’Accés Electrònic dels Ciutadans als Serveis Públics (the 2007 law governing the Electronic Access of Citizens to Public Services). The ultimate objective is to establish a free-flowing, electronic, customer service system providing information and public services to local citizens.
To achieve this we need to:
- Integrate all existing information and documentation.
- Develop and reengineer the processes involved.
- Establish flows and protocols for shared work.
- Establish a new, proactive culture for the use and management of the system and its resources.
The main strategic goals include:
- Improving the services offered to local citizens.
- Improving the internal management of the municipal corporation.
- Establishing appropriate legal bases to ensure compliance with Llei 11/2007 d’Accés Electrònic dels Ciutadans als Serveis Públics.
- Complying with Llei 30/2007 de Contractes de les Administracions Públiques (a new law governing Contractual Agreements involving the Publish Administration).
- Promoting administrative functions carried out networks and incorporating the standards and services promoted by such agents as the Consorci AOC and the General Administration of the Spanish State in order to improve interoperability.
- Further developing integrated knowledge management within the municipal corporation itself.
The tactical goals that will help to achieve this include:
- Introducing management tools in order to ensure that procedures and documentation comply with Llei 11/2007.
- Reengineering processes so they comply with the legal requirements established in Llei 11/2007 and Llei 30/2007.
- Developing leadership initiatives that will help to bring about changes in the existing work culture and management model.
- Introducing, adapting, and developing the following tools, wherever and whenever necessary:
- Transactions via Internet.
- An in/out document register (e-Register).
- Procedure Management System (e-Procs / Open Cities)
- Content Management System (Plone)
- Document Management System (e-Docs)
- Contract and Contract Tender Management System (e-Contract)
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Extending the use of digital signatures, digital certification and digital seals.
- Providing users with a wider range of channels: web, mobile phone (.mobi), telephone (010) etc.
- Facilitating the re-use and adaptation of the applications, procedures and technological solutions developed by the municipal corporation by other parts of the public administration.
- Introducing and adapting communication infrastructure and systems as and when required.
The model to be introduced
Lleida City Council will introduce an integrated knowledge management model with the aim of improving e-Governance and the public services and management of the services that the municipal authority provides to local citizens.
The organisational structure that has been designed to meet these requirements and provide the foreseen services is as follows:
This model foresees the creation of a central core of knowledge and the establishment of a range of different municipal management procedures that must be easily accessible for both the staff of the municipal corporation and the local citizens. All the services provided, including both face-to-face and telephone customer service contacts, will use the same basic nuclei of information, management support and knowledge. Working in this way will make it possible to carry out administrative transactions and management tasks and/or to obtain information about the state of transactions currently in progress.
A more modular and interactive view of the organisation of the system is provided below:
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