DEV-pspe is an environment to support full digital communication, interaction and transactions with citizens at front as well as back office. The process is transparent for the citizen, employee and management. For example requests for products and services, digital payments and personal process status information are fully supported by Dev-pspe. It includes authentification based on a high secured platform. Where legal allowed products are automatically fully digital delivered, supported by a full digital Workflow process in the Mid office as well as Record keeping services. Back office status information supports the Civil Servants as well as it provides management information.

Description of target users and groups

The target group consists of about 98.000 citizens of Deventer. Where legally allowed customers outside Deventer dealing with the municipality also use DEV-pspe for their inquiries and transactions.

Description of the way to implement the initiative

The project start was strongly influenced by initiative and very enthusiast employees form different departments who were not only able but really liked to explore innovative technologies and were able to relate it to easy understandable functionalities for college's as well as end-user, citizens. A strong relation between and commitment of the companies involved in relation to the municipality made it a through partner programme A step by step approach kept the project managerial. Involvement of not only key- and end-users but also some other municipalities guarantied not only successful implementation and usage but also new customers (municipalities).

Technology solution

We decided to the use components which were already in our IT environment and extract them with new Microsoft technology to create a generic platform for deployment of Dev-pspe. Deventer decided not to invest in the development of new products which have to be maintained and developed by itself or other entities and would have taken a lot of time to develop, but we consolidated based on the IT standards which where already in place as a platform. So, instead of creating or buying closed point to point solutions we were able to create a open platform for fast and flexible deployment of new services. The services are based on (Dutch) standards and free available for other municipalities. Dev-pspe was the first operational MS Formsserver 2007 environment which was successfully operational and this was done in within 2 days. The server environment as well as the intelligent forms are very easy maintainable by municipal staff.

Main results, benefits and impacts

Dev-pspe is easy to use for citizens and seamlessly incorporates in the way our civil workers work, it's integrated part of the Deventer infrastructure. Within the first two weeks, even without active promotion the number of digital transactions increased with 23 %. More important, process lap time for complex products decreased tremendously from an average of about 9 days to a maximum of about 5 days, the "easy products" are delivered instantly. This is caused by the full digital processes and full digital product delivery, but also by eagerness of civil servants to deliver within workflow deadlines. The first quick evaluation shows positive customer as well as civil servants experiences as it is simple and reliable but also easy to use. Customers especially react strong on the status information which gives them information about the status of their case, they consider it as much friendlier and transparent. Due to the personal page and pre fill settings, customers don't have to fill in information which is already known within the municipality which makes it easier, but also reduces the number of mistakes (and according corrective time consuming actions), caused by inaccurate data of citizens The results so far are only based on a few weeks. However it's expected that seize of users as well as the positive experiences will increase will prove to be sustainable

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Track record of sharing

Deventer has always been open to share thoughts, ideas and solutions with other municipalities and Governmental entities. For instance the Municipality of Emmen learned from our Intranet solution and copied it into their organization. Next to that we often receive visitors from other municipalities to share our vision and strategy concerning eGovernment and document management. For its surrounding municipalities (such as Olst-Wijhe) Deventer already provides a number of services (such as in the domain of social services), the intention is to increase the number of customers as well as the services, including Dev-pspe.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - Look at what you already have (IT solutions and licenses) and develop a general concept and a common understanding of an open platform. Lesson 2 - Decide what to do first; think in steps, standards and bricks; deploy - don't construct; be innovative without re-inventing the wheel; look for simple and easy to understand; re-use - less is more. Lesson 2 - Be prepared for a fast adaptation by citizens and a fast increasing demand of your organisation. Scope: Local (city or municipality), National