IfG.CC - The Institute for eGovernment

The one-stop shop for the general public is the first step to a client-friendly single-window administration system which is expected to be fully in place by the end of 2013, Erika Szabó, state secretary at the public-administration ministry, said at the ceremonial opening of a new government window in Szekszárd, southern Hungary.

The 29 new customer service offices that opened on Monday employ 300 people and will be open from 8am to 8pm on working days. There are four new offices in Budapest and 25 around the country.

The portal provides links to three different types of sevices:

• Online services: These include Buy a Birth Certificate, Apply for Social Welfare, View 1901 and 1911 Census, Complain to the Ombudsman, Apply to Rural Broadband Scheme and Pay a Court Fine. In order to make it more user-friendly, the listing of services can be limited to those that allow users to apply for, pay for, complain about or just find various services.
• Government websites: These include Government departments, Revenue, merrionstreet.ie, Iris Oifigiúil, Pensions Board, eTenders and publicjobs.ie.
• Citizens Information: This Government website provides information on rights, entitlements and benefits, and currently contains over 1300 documents. These cover the domains of: Birth, Family and Relationships, Consumer Affairs, Death and Bereavement, Education and Training, Employment, Environment, Government in Ireland, Health, Housing, Justice, Money and Tax, Moving Country, Social Welfare, and Travel and Recreation.

The eBiz project is one of the 27 Mission Mode Projects under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) being executed by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) of the union Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The central ministry officials made a presentation in this regard before Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani here.

Usmani directed the officials concerned to ensure speedy integration of the related state departments with this project. "In every process there is natural inertia and inertia due to human intervention. We have to root it out and ensure rigorous monitoring of processes involved," he added.

Following a presentation made by representatives of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) from the Union ministry of Commerce and Industry, Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani, issued directions to constitute a 'Programme Management Committee', headed by Infrastructure and Industrial Development Commissioner, for the time-bound implementation of the project.

Bangalore One (B1), a Karnataka government's e-governance initiative, has been serving citizens since 2005. This ‘One-stop-shop' facility that is open 24x7 (mini centres are open from 8 AM to 8 PM) aims to redefine public service under one roof. Here's a round up of available services at the B1 centres.

The Maharashtra Online portal will be a 'one-stop-shop' with end-to-end online processing and delivery of any citizen's request for services by the respective authorities at state, district and Taluka level headquarters. The JV plans to roll out around 40 citizen services across 15 departments in the first year of operations and eventually increase this to 300 different services. The same will be available in Marathi and English languages.

The e-Xpats Centre is the first to be established in the country and is capable of reducing the waiting period for processing from previously one month to six working days. Its computer system is integrated with that of the Immigration Department.

The aim is that eventually all local councils will have such a terminal to serve as a one-stop shop for people.

Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici told a news conference that Malta has made many advances in IT and these need to be sustained with initiatives which improve the government’s electronic services. Local councils are the ideal tools for this.

The Ministry of Health is expected to issue a request for proposals for the new service in the next few days to integrate the current dedicated lines for smoking, gambling, alcohol, drugs, depression and poisons with the existing Healthline, where registered nurses provide free phone advice on any health condition.

For another, the key goal of any One-Stop-Shop is to provide convenience and speed to users, both of which are almost totally absent in the OSS that operates physically at the ministry. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that it is a painful ordeal for the people who approach the OSS to start up a business.

CrimsonLogic, a leading provider of eGovernment solutions and services headquartered in Singapore, has announced that it has won a contract to plan, develop and launch Oman's first National Single Electronic Window (SEW) for the Directorate General of Customs (Royal Oman Police. Also as part of the project, the company will roll out an enhanced Integrated Customs Management System (ICMS) to replace the existing one.

Single Electronic Window is a platform that allows trading communities to lodge standardised information and documents with a single entry point to fulfil import, export and transit-related regulatory requirements. The Integrated Customs Management System (ICMS) will allow Directorate General of Customs to enhance customs administration in meeting current economic and globalisation trends and standards.

The One Stop Shop of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry won the Best Government-to-Government Shared Service, while the Information Technology Authority won first prize for ‘ITA e-Inclusion Project, the election system for the Shura Council and the municipal councils. The Ministry of Interior won the second place in the best e-services provided to individual and the Ministry of Manpower’s electronic registration project captured the second place in the best e-integrated service category.

The project is expected to improve business processes through providing over 66 eServices available through mobile applications or the website.

"One-stop-shop has been evolving for quite sometime. Today eight government agencies are coming together to sign one deal to make sure they interact with you using one window. Through that window, the government grants a licence or refuse the application," Dr. Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce & Industry told journalists after signing the pact.

One of the key demands of the EU's Services Directive was that all countries must create Points of Single Contact (PSCs), one-stop shops where businesses could go to get all the information and forms needed to understand labour and tax laws as well as social security registration and other business rules in other member states.

The directive, passed in 2006, was supposed to be implemented by the end of 2009.

Candon, a city in northern Philippines with 56,270 inhabitants, was chosen in 2010 by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry as the most business friendly city in the country.

Candon City has reported exceeding its tax collection mark of P14 million (US$325,052) during its first 20 days of operations at the start of 2011.

"Convergence and convenience in processing business registration and documents such as permits, clearances, and the like," said Minerva Yap, coordinator of the National economic Research and Business Assistance Center (NERBAC) of the Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI-7) in Central Visayas.

However, in the modern trade environment such paper-based exchanges cannot satisfy the need for efficiency and security. One globally tried and tested method of addressing this problem that has been recommended by UNECE is "Single Window".