Pan-European eGovernment Services For Citizens and Enterprises: The Role of IDA Needs of Enterprises: An Austrian View Brussels, September 2002 Austrian Economic Chamber

Premises - 1  Enterprises: Administration‘s best customers:  frequent,intense contact  to many parts of government  generally well informed  generally quick to adopt new technology if useful  E-Government is a major factor in helping enterprises stay competitive.  Enterprises are keenly interested in efficient government (good service, adequate cost).

Premises - 2  eGovernment plays a crucial role in piloting applications that need high penetration to take off.  E-Government is both, a service and a business opportunity.

Enterprises‘ Particular Interests  easing cost of compliance (filing, reporting, info retrieval, speedy reply).  enhancing over-all cost and performance of administration.  as a driver for integrating the services of different levels of administrations.  systematic dialogue between the business community and administrations (standards, schedules, rules)

Developments in Austria - 1 Maturing  court filing  national real-estate register  insolvency database  enterprise register  enterprise registration  some local tax filing  social security: registration/de-registration of employees  help-business.gv.

Developments in Austria - 2 New and booming  residency register Future Services  2003: electronic tax filing/adjustment/refund for citizens  2004: Electronic tax filing for all companies  2003: electronic payment for e-government  2003/2004: eCard (social security card with digital signature capability PPP ‘Cyberdoc’: Notaries Public (Deeds, official documents).

Problem Areas - 1  Validity/Legal  complementary rules necessary  e.g. VAT-number identification, tourist registration  Delivery  choice of place/person of delivery  multiple should be possible  Security Level  Between companies: free choice  With government: as mandated  keep it simple, push digital signature where necessary

Problem Areas - 2  Documentation  inter-company – legally regulated: how, how long, where?  adapt current legal basis and rules  qualitative criteria, technology neutral (!)  establish public document databases.

Enterprise Wish-List - General - 1  e-government applications for frequently used procedures (tax-related, filing, reporting, info).  easy to use, common procedures for online service (appearance, menu, authentication, signature, archivation):  browser-based and  data flow models

Enterprise Wish-List - General - 2  Systematic dialogue between suppliers and e- government planners on standards, roll-out schedules, medium term e-government plans.  to integrate e-government applications in software used in different lines of business and  ensure quick penetration of technologies (e.g. authentication).

Enterprise Wish-List European - 1  e-government in VAT administration  international trade (e.g. textile/steel import permits)  for services industries working across country borders  public procurement

Enterprise Wish-List European - 2  starting a business  visa administration for business partners and prospective clients  Multilingual Services (e.g. City of Vienna: registering a new business in German, English, French, Croatian, Serbo- Croatian, Turkish.

Needed:  Synchronous investment of public and private sector (hardware, software, infrastructure, training).  For some time to come: traditional support to enterprises on non-standard issues (web support to service agents).  Systematic dialogue between administrations on the rules for commercial exploitation of public information – bases upon EU-Directive.  Integration: pull of technology AND push of willingness to co-operate across governments.