The Criminal Records Certificate (CRC) gives information on convictions of a person or, that no conviction is contained in the criminal records register. For many activities and professions a presentation of a most recent CRC is required. Previously the CRC had to be requested at the police directorates or the mayors and it took about 7 days to get it. With the CRCO it is possible to request und get the CRC delivered online. In addition to that it is also possible to request the CRC at the police directorates or the mayors and it is handed out immediatly.

Policy Context

Based on the EU-Initiative "eEurope 2002" in spring 2002 the Federal Government's IT-strategy was reworked. An ICT-Board was set up, a Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) was appointed by the Federal Government and an ICT-Strategy Unit established. In 2003 E-Government was declared a top-level priority and in may 2003 the Federal Government introduced the "E-Government Initiative 2003" with new bodies such as the E-Government Platform and the E-Cooperation Board and an ambitious E-Government Roadmap. The last restructuring was done in 2005 based on i2010 with the establishment of the Platform Digital Austria and the E-Government Innovation Center (EGIZ). The Platform Digital Austria coordinates in its new working programm "ICT-Strategy 2005+" the cooperation between the federal Government, the provinces, the communities and the economy. The principles of E-Government in Austria are: 1. a clear legal framework 2. secure and sustainable systems as a precaution for nationwide implementation and to ensure an increase of citizen confidence 3. use of sustainable technology on the basis of open standards and defined interfaces So the approach to E-Government is based on a commen, service-oriented infrastructure, open interfaces, dynamic applications, modularity and change management. The legal basis for E-Government in Austria is the E-Government Act (please see attached file "EGovernment Act"), which came into force on 01/03/2004. The main principles of the Act are: 1. the freedom of choice for users which means of communications to use, 2. security and improved legal protection and 3. the unhindered access for people with special needs. The Criminal Records Certificate Online was one of the priority projects of the E-Government Roadmap and is one of the strategic projects within the programm "ICT-Strategy 2005+" and follows the principles of the E-Government Act.

Description of target users and groups

As a most recent Criminal Records Certificate (CRC) is required for many activities and professions in Austria the primary target group are the citizens and their companies. In 2006 198.069 CRCs were issued. To request the CRC online and get it electronical delivered a citizen card including a card reader and the software or a signature with mobile phone is needed. Until right now not very many citizen cards are in use, but the potential is high. Since 31/01/2007 there were 190 online requests for a CRC. 83 were delivered electronically; the others by post. In the last time also companies make the requests for their emploiees online. The second target group are the police directorates and the mayors. In Austria there are 14 police directorates and 2.357 communities with a mayor. In addition to the online service for the citizens (Criminal Records Certificate Online) the police directorates an the mayors have an online access to the Central Criminal Records Register via a portal and are able to print and hand out the Criminal Records Certificate immediatly. The Criminal Records Register is centrally run by the office of criminal records at the Vienna Police Directorate. Before the double strategy was launched (Criminal Records Certificate Online and direct access for the mayors and the police directorates) all Criminal Records Certificates had to be issued by the office of criminal records at the Vienna Police Directorate. Taking into account the average amount of 200.000 CRCs issued per year the solution led to a simplification for the administration and minimized the workload for the office of criminal records at the Vienna Police Directorate.

Description of the way to implement the initiative

The application Criminal Records Certificate Online is based on the online application modules (MOA), that were developed at the request of the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Ministry of Finance and on the citizen card concept. The project was planned within the "E-Government Roadmap" and was taken over as an important part of the "ICT-Strategy 2005+" by the Platform Digital Austria. The application was developed by the Federal Ministry of Interior of Austria in a partnership with the E-Government Innovation Center (EGIZ, www.egiz.gv.at). The effort was 28 man-days for programming. No costs in term of money incurred for that project. The EGIZ is a joint initiative os the Federal Chancellery and the Technical University of Graz. It was established on 01/09/2005. The further developement of E-Government requires a lot of experts know-how in the different fields of ICT. The EGIZ provides this know-how with a scientific background. The integration of the Central Criminal Records Register into the portal for enabling the direct access for the competent authorities was done by the federal Ministry of Interior in parallel to the developement of the application Criminal Records Certificate Online. Multi-channel issues: To apply for the Criminal records Certificate online the citizen has to have a citizen card and a card reader as well as the necessary software. In addition to that a valid e-mail account is needed. Alternatively to the identification, authentification and signature with the citizen card it is also possible to use a signature with mobile phone. The payment of fees is done electronically with credit card or eps-payment. The citizen can choose whether he or she wants an electronic or a postal delivery. For the electronic delivery the registration at the delivery service provider is mandatory. According to the principle for E-Government in Austria of freedom of choice for users which means of communications to use the citizen also can contact the competent authority (mayor or Federal Police Directorate) personal. In that case he or she gets the Criminal Records Certificate immediatly handed out. The information on how to apply for a Criminal Records Certificate can be found under the site www. help.gv.at. Summarized the multi-channel aspects are: 1. Application for the Criminal Records Certificate online or personally at the competent authority. 2. Online application for the Criminal Records Certificate with the use of the citizen card or a signature with mobile phone. 3. When applying online choice of electronic delivery or delivery by post.

Main results, benefits and impacts

In Austria for many activities and professions a presentation of a most recent Criminal Records Certificate, usually not older than 3 months is required. In the past the applicants had to fill out a form at the competent authority that was sent to the office of criminal records at the Vienna Federal Police Directorate. The office of criminal records did the query at the Criminal Records Register and sent back the Criminal Records Certificate to the authority where the applicant could pick it up. This procedure took about 7 working days. On average 200.000 Criminal Records Certificates are issued per year. With the application Criminal Records Certificate Online (CRCO) the citizen has the possibility to apply for his or her Criminal Records Certificate via an internet portal online, to pay the fee online and to get the Certificate delivered either electronical or postal. If the citizen chooses the electronic delivery, he or she gets the Criminal Records Certificate at the latest the next working day. So the duration for getting the Certificate is shortened by 6 days compared to the past procedure. The postal delivery takes around 3 working days and shortens the duration by 4 days. From 31/01/2007 until right now there were 190 online requests for Criminal Records Certificates. 83 were delivered electronical. For using the Criminal Records Certificate Online a citizen card and a correspondent software is needed. In addition to the online solution the citizen can still request for the Criminal Records Certificate at the competent authorities. The competent authorities are the mayors and the Federal Police Directorates. In Austria there are 2.357 communities with a mayor and 14 Federal Police Directorates. These authorities have a direct access to the Central Criminal Records Register via an internet-portal and can make the query at the Criminal Records Register online. The Criminal Records Certificate is printed and handed out to the citizen immediatly without waiting time. With that solution the waiting time for the citizen for getting the Criminal Records Certificate is shortened by 7 days. The online solution for the citizen combined with the online solution for the administration led to a massive reduction of the workload for the office of criminal records at the Vienna Federal Police Directorate. In the past they had to make all queries at the Criminal Records Register on their one. 200.000 queries per year are quite an amount. With the online procedures also the paper work of the past is avoided and the procedure is reduced by at least one step. Summarized the main benefits are: 1. freedom of choice for citizens which means of communications to use 2. significant reduction of the waiting time for the citizen 3. reduction of the administrative procedure by at least one step 4. avoiding of paper work 5. reduction of workload for the office of criminal records at the Vienna Federal Police Directorate Compared to the effort and the costs the benefits are outstandig. We assume that the use of the citizen card will increase in the next two years. Nevertheless the possibility to apply for the Criminal Records Certificate at the competent authorities will remain, because one of the principles for E.Government in Austria is the freedom of choice for citizens which means of communications to use. Innovation: The Criminal Records Certificate Online (CRCO) is for the citizen a continous E-Governement service including the possibility of an electronic delivery. The application is based on the concept of the citizen card and on standard modules for online applications (in short MOA). The citizen card concept is one of the fundaments of Austrian E-Government. In administrative procedures, where citizens had to identify themselves with an official identy card in the past, now the citizen card is used in electronic procedures for identification and authentication. The concept is not dependent on one particular technology. Online application modules (MOA) are components intended to facilitate the use of electronic signatures and other applications such as the service of documents by authorities. The MOAs were developed at the request of the Federal Chancellery and the Federal Ministry of Finance. The online application modules serve as a tool for the efficient and secure creation of e-government applications. For the Criminal Records Certificate Online the following modules have been used: - MOA ID for the use of the citizen card. - MOA SP provides the signature verification functionality required by online applications. - MOA SS provides all functionality needed for server-side signature creation. - MOA ZS for electronic delivery The direct access to the Criminal Records Register for the competent authorities (i.e. the mayors and the Federal Police Directorates) is granted within the frame of the portal group. The portal group is a link-up of administrative portals for the purpose of joint use of the existing infrastructure. The operators of portals of the federal administration are obliged to implement the Portal Group Agreement (PVV). The applications themselves are Web applications based on HTTP or SOAP protocols. For detailed information please see attached file "ABC Guide E-Government".

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Track record of sharing

The application Criminal Records Certificate Online was first presented and put into operation during the ITnT 2007. The ITnT is one of the biggest and well known trade fair for Information Technology and Telecommunication in Austria. It was an important step to arouse the public interest in E-Government solutions in Austria and the feedback for the Criminal records Certificate was very good. Furthermore the Criminal Records Certificate Online was one of the strategic projects of the "E-Government Roadmap" of the Federal Government and continues to be a cornerstone of the "ICT-Strategy 2005+". Within the E-Government bodies in Austria such as the Platform Digital Austria it is an example of a quick and low cost application developement based on standardized modules for online applications (MOA) and the use of the citizen card concept. In addition to that the second possibility of getting a Criminal Records Certificate directly via the authority is an example for a double-strategy that complies with the principle of freedom of choice for users which means of communications to use. From a technical point of view it proved the functionalities of the portal (group) and the advantages of the Portal Group Agreement in Austria. It is a strategy especially of the Ministry of Interior to make applications accessible for other authorities within the portal (group) and enable E-Government Services in the field of administration.

Lessons learnt

1. The use of standardized state-of-the-art modules such as the online modules for applications (MOA) is a big advantage for a quick developement of applications. It enables to make applications E-Government compliant and to provide electronic services for the citizen that are accessible with the citizen card. 2. The success of E-Government services as well as the acceptance requires not only the provision of relevant information for the citizen but also for the civil servants. Convincing and establishing a kind of E-Governmentality within the administration is very important. It is a continuous change-management-process. 3. A clear legal framework for E-Government is needed. Furthermore based on legal regulations general terms and conditions have to be worked out. They have to be precise and clear as well as understandable for the citizen. Scope: National