While in Germany the Online Access Act (OZG) has ensured digital communication between public authorities and the public since 2020, citizen-friendly online services have been available in Austria since 2003. They now range from the e-government portal of the federal government to digital office services of municipalities, which make it easier for people to access local information and services. People can thus take care of their concerns from the comfort of their own homes or while on the move. But how do the respective authorities implement these digital services exactly? How much effort do the responsible offices have to put into it, and how can this effort be minimized?
Current status of online services in Germany and Austria
In Austria, most public offices offer online forms. The data entered is transferred via an intermediate server to the administrative software used by public sector employees. Many German authorities, and some Austrian ones, handle online services via specialist applications. In most cases, these are funding procedures with integrated calculations. The development and maintenance of such applications often requires a close cooperation between IT specialists and subject matter experts to ensure that they meet the technical requirements and function smoothly. In addition, both countries still have departments that only provide online fillable PDFs. This type of communication requires state officials to manually enter the applicant's data into their administrative tools.
So current online services are often laborious for government agencies - either in terms of development and maintenance or in processing submitted requests. Since the Corona pandemic, when politicians provided numerous emergency aid measures, public offices have been forced to respond quickly to political decisions. How can government agencies drive digital transformation, provide faster and more independent services - and do it with fewer staff?
New user-friendly online services with low-code/no-code
The shortage of skilled workers affects all sectors, from business to public administration. The low-code/no-code platforms already established in many private companies are also suitable for public authorities. These are graphical development environments in which employees can develop software-based applications for their respective fields or adapt existing ones without extensive programming knowledge.
In the eGovernment ecosystem, Fabasoft offers its eGov-Suite customers a so-called low-code/no-code form generator. This enables officials to simply "click" together online services. The Fabasoft eGov-Suite simultaneously creates the corresponding administrative background process. In this way, public administration is also able to create and publish online services in a very short time without the need for IT specialists.
Applicants fill out the form fields directly in the eGov-Suite in their web browsers and upload the required documents. These arrive in the files of the clerks without an intermediate server. After submitting the application, citizens automatically receive an acknowledgement of receipt, have access to the process and receive regular digital status reports.
Rapid implementation and customer examples
After a pilot project and a proof of concept with Fabasoft, customers work independently to create online services. Peter Haunold, Head of Business Development eGov AT at Fabasoft, explains how quickly public authorities and Fabasoft implement such a pilot project and a proof of concept:
"The tools for developing online services are all already with the customer. Within two to four months, the setup of a low-code/no-code platform, including know-how transfer, is completed. After that, our customers are able to independently create a wide variety of online procedures and go live within a few days - we are currently working successfully with the Lower Austrian provincial government on such a platform."
The display of Fabasoft eGov-Suite fields in citizens' web browsers and the partially automated processing of applications via the Fabasoft eGov-Suite have already proven their worth in the past: Some public authorities in Germany process online services in exactly this way. Until now, however, the creation of forms was reserved for IT specialists and was correspondingly more time-consuming - this will change fundamentally with low-code/no-code platforms.
Are you also interested in simple online services using low-code/no-code platforms? Feel free to contact us.
