IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

The federal government departments and institutions have recently made open data available on 'Data.gov.be', the government's open data portal.

The federal public service has made a list of data sets accessible as open data on the portal aimed at enabling developers to create useful applications for businesses or citizens by using the information provided. Specifically, the site mostly contains links to data supplied by authorities, public bodies and organisations targeting developers and open data researchers. Each federal department or federal government institution itself determines the terms and conditions governing access to and use of the data.

Read more: BE: Federal government makes open data available online

As part of its mission to promote, support and provide secure electronic communication among all healthcare stakeholders, the Belgian eHealth platform has been developing eHealthBox, a secure electronic mailbox.

eHealthBox is a free service that will allow receipt of official announcements, forms or specific notifications. In addition to simplifying the administrative burden and reducing paper waste, the value of eHealthBox mainly lies in the speed and authenticity with which information is communicated, and the secure access to this information. The project is currently limited in its functions, as only public partner institutions are able to publish their documents for consultation.

Read more: BE: eHealthBox goes live

Philippe Muyters, the Flemish Minister for Finance, Budget, Work, Town and Country Planning and Sport, announced in March 2011 that the project Digital Planning Application (Digitale Bouwaanvraag, in Dutch) would launch a field trial in conjunction with the City of Antwerp.

Digital Planning Application is a project of the Flemish Government which aims to digitise the application for planning permission for building construction work in the Flanders region so that they can be made over the Internet. Currently the application process is done using paper forms. This is a complex procedure, however, and depending on the situation it may require as many as eight separate copies of the form being sent to different agencies.

Read more: BE: Flanders project to digitise planning applications to be tested in Antwerp

Steuersünder sollten Social-Network-Aktivitäten im Auge behalten: Laut einem Bericht der Tageszeitung De Morgen beobachtet der belgische Fiskus eBay-Aktivitäten sowie Profile auf Facebook, Netlog und anderen Online-Treffpunkten. Die dort gefundenen Informationen haben zwar keine Beweiskraft, können aber bei offensichtlicher Differenz zwischen Einkommen und Lebensstil verschärfte Aufmerksamkeit der Steuerfahnder nach sich ziehen. "Es ist technisch möglich, es ist legal, es passiert", zitiert TechCrunch den Leiter der Behörde.

Read more: Belgisches Finanzamt beobachtet Online-Aktivitäten