SAM Internet is an electronic application system for agricultural support within the Common Agricultural Policy. SAM Internet makes applications by farmers easier, swifter, safer and more entertaining. The majority of applications received by the authorities are almost error-free, and thus save time and resources. SAM Internet is based on how farmers think and can be used with limited Internet access capacity. Most farmers use it via dial-up connection. Approximately 55% of applications for agricultural support in Sweden are submitted electronically. SAM Internet recently received the GoldenLink Award as the best and most innovative eService within the whole Swedish public sector.
Policy Context
SAM Internet lets people apply electronically for agricultural support in the Common Agricultural Policy. There are some 20 forms of support, and they comprise approximately SEK 10 billion every year in Sweden. The forms of support are handled by the Swedish Board of Agriculture and the 21 County Administrative Boards. Agricultural support represents the single largest return flow of funds from the EU to Sweden. The support does not only provide money, but also contributes to achieving the goals of the agricultural policy by encouraging farmers to keep the landscape open, preserve valuable natural and cultural heritage sites, protect the environment and in other ways contribute to a living countryside. Simplification is another important aspect of the SAM Internet work. The EU Commission is running an active simplification effort, and the Swedish Government has instructed its authorities to reduce the administrative burden of enterprises. The Board of Agriculture has a mission to make things easier for farmers, and SAM Internet and other e-services are important instruments in our efforts. In Sweden, the concept of the “24/7 agency†sums up how the Government wants the authorities’ service to the citizens to work and develop. The Board of Agriculture strives to be a 24/7 agency, and SAM Internet and other e-services we have developed contribute to this goal. The vision of the Board of Agriculture is to reinforce the green sector in Sweden, and to be a professional and customer-friendly authority. SAM Internet contributes very much to these goals.
Description of target users and groups
The target group of the electronic application is farmers and other entrepreneurs who apply for agricultural support. In Sweden, there are some 85,000 farm enterprises that apply for some form of support. This group includes many kinds of enterprise, from the very large to the very small, spread out across a large geographical area with significant differences in production conditions between the north and the south.
Description of the way to implement the initiative
We created SAM Internet with focus on farmers’ way of thinking and acting. This means that the farmers must be able to influence the design of the service, and their views shall indicate in what direction it should develop. By observing farmers we learned that a service with the map as starting point was needed, rather than a traditional electronic form. Systematic follow-up is necessary to find out how SAM Internet ought to develop. This is mainly done in three ways: uearly questionnaire among users; analysis of questions and comments to the helpdesk function, and evaluation of SAM application and information material. Partnerships is a key factor of SAM Internet. SAM Internet and related user support is developed and run by 22 separate authorities - the Board of Agriculture and all the 21 County Administrative Boards. We also cooperate with advisory companies. Farmers can submit their applications electronically through the IT system of certain companies. They also can use data from other production planning programs for their farms without having to enter the same data twice.
Technology solution
Many farmers in Sweden are used to handling computers, and according to the Swedish Farmers Union 89% of them have access to the Internet. This is why it was natural for the Board of Agriculture to try and create a useful tool for electronic application.
Main results, benefits and impacts
Even though SAM Internet is used for applying for agricultural support, the service is not an electronic form. The service is based on the farmer’s way of thinking and acting. A logged in farmer sees a map of the farm, and can by clicking on the map indicate what is produced on each parcel and apply for support for each piece of land. The foundation of the service is the powerful map editor. This type of editing is usually done by experts in hard-to-use programs. Here, the farmer himself can do the job, without any previous knowledge and without having to install any new software. The service can be used even by users with limited bandwidth. Most of the farmers access SAM Internet via dial-up connection. Since the service is based on geographical data, and since the farmers themselves supply production data, SAM Internet can show each farmer what types of support he or she can apply for. The system also alerts farmers if they try to apply for a support scheme that is not available to them. A number of rules and control points are built into the system in order to avoid errors in the applications. SAM Internet gives farmers a complete overview of what data the authorities have received and also about for instance previous applications, payment entitlements and payments. The farmers can also access aerial photographs of their land through SAM Internet, and the system allows data exchange through xml with for instance crop production programs. What concrete use is SAM Internet to farmers? - The farmer saves time - There is less risk of the farmer making any errors in the application. - The farmer can see all options. - The farmer has less to worry about. We know from evaluations that farmers worry a lot about completing a complex application and fulfilling all the rules associated with the support. Since SAM Internet alerts the user to errors and asks for further information when data is missing, such worries are eased. What concrete use is SAM Internet to the authorities? The Board of Agriculture and the County Administrative Boards share responsibility for agricultural support, and SAM Internet has in many ways contributed to increased efficiency. The County Administrative Boards process the applications, and in this regard, SAM Internet contributes to saving time. The applications have fewer errors and are more complete than the applications on paper. It takes 30-40 per cent less time to process a case that is submitted through SAM Internet. Furthermore, the County Administrative Boards also save much time on reduced paperwork. A paper application must be opened, reviewed on arrival and scanned, whereas in the case of SAM Internet applications, all this happens electronically. The processing of the application can start directly after it has been submitted. No time is lost by transferring paper maps to a digital format.
Return on investment
Return on investment: Not applicable / Not availableTrack record of sharing
We constantly receive requests to give talks on SAM Internet in other Member States and in various EU forums. For instance, we have presented the service at meetings arranged by the Joint Research Centre of the EU Commission, and at meetings of the public authorities that handle agricultural administration in other Member States. We have also demonstrated the service at the Capigi GIS conference in the Netherlands, where interested parties from other countries participate. During the first years of SAM Internet, we exchanged experiences particularly with Denmark and the Netherlands. At the end of May 2007, the Board of Agriculture participated in a Swedish eGovernment conference, with more than 500 participants from the Swedish public sector. We presented SAM Internet at a seminar, and during the conference SAM Internet won the GoldenLink award (Guldlänken) for best and most innovative e-service in the Swedish public sector.
Lessons learnt
Lesson 1 - Get to know your target group and take their situation as your starting-point. In SAM Internet we took the farmers’ perspective and behaviour as starting-point. An ordinary electronic form based on what we thought would work best, would not have given as good results. We observed how farmers do their application, and used that knowledge to create an intuitive interface with the map at centre stage. Lesson 2 - It is possible to create advanced services for target groups without previous knowledge. In rural areas broadband connections are rare and farmers in general do not have knowledge about advanced map editing. However, SAM Internet has shown that it is possible to create a highly efficient and advanced GI service that farmers can use, through dial-up connection, without any previous knowledge and without installing new software. Lesson 3 - Find the factors that are of real use. A service like SAM Internet has to be of concrete use, both to the target groups and to the authorities. Through user tests and systematic follow-ups we have created a service that makes it simpler, swifter, safer and more fun to apply for support. The authorities receive almost error-free applications and thereby save time and resources.
Scope: National