Effective e-Government Process Monitoring and Interoperation: A Case Study on the Removal of Unauthorized Building Works in Hong Kong Dickson K. W. CHIU Senior Member, IEEE Dickson Computer Systems Hong Kong Jenny Y.Y. Wong Kai Pan Mark Dept. of Computing Hong Kong Polytechnic University

eGovt-UBWHICSS Introduction Governments are looking for ICT to facilitate process co- ordination to improve service delivery Typical characteristics Complaints Urgency Monitoring of process Case study: Removal of unauthorized building works in HK serious problem requires much resources and monitoring effort Technical solution Event-driven process collaboration (HICSS36) Alerts (HICSS37) Web services

eGovt-UBWHICSS Background Building Ordinance -all building works require prior approval of plans and consent to commence works from Building Department (BD) -without approval => unauthorized building works (UBW) As at 2003, more than 700,000 UBW BD determines to remove UBW to safeguard public interest

eGovt-UBWHICSS Typical Workflows Procedures for enforcing s.24 orders Identify buildings with UBW from complaints, large-scale operations and walking surveys Conduct site inspection Issue advisory letter or no further action Issue s.24 order Any serious defects? No Yes Issue compliance letter Conduct compliance inspection Has the s.24 order been complied with? Yes Refer the case to the default works consultant (DWC) DWC submits his supervision proposal to BD DWC supervises the government contrctor to carry out the removal works BD issues compliance letter to discharge the s.24 order BD to recover costs from owners BD may consider prosecution action at the same time Procedures for cost recovery from owners Government contractor (GC) completes the removal works BD issues Demand Notes (DN) to owners for cost recovery DN settled? BD serves an s.33 certificate to the debtor and registers the s.33 certificate with the Land Registry (LR) BD refers a case (with unpaid balance >= pre-defined limit) to Department of Justice (DoJ) for recovery. DoJ will consider, where appropriate, legal proceedings for the cases Debt settled? BD requires LR to notify it of any future dealings on the subject property BD/DoJ issues final warning letter before expiry of time limits for legal action BD/DoJ conducts final review 1 year before expiry of time limits for leagla action BD proceeds to write off the debts BD certifies and makes payments to GC BD issues a compliance letter Yes No BD issues and registers with the LR a Memorial of Satisfaction Yes No

eGovt-UBWHICSS Requirements Overview Interne t Collect information on UBW & provide inspection result Site inspection team The Land Registry Department of Justice Collect debt details Confirm compliance with s.24 order Collect information on UBW & provide survey/inspection reports Collect information on UBW & provide supervision proposal Provide ownership details Blitz contractors Default Works Contractor Building owners and their contractors Buildings Department Monitor progress and workflow of UBW removal Complainants Provide basic information of UBW

eGovt-UBWHICSS Existing problems Monitoring process is very resources consuming and human intensive. Records are kept on different paper-based files. Exchange of data/information are mainly in paper format. Cannot keep track of the necessary actions and generate reminders / alerts.

eGovt-UBWHICSS System Architecture & Design Land Registry Employees Department of Justice Contractor Building Records Information System Status Monitor Alert Management System Building Condition Information System Collaboration Process Enactor Inspection Record System Event Adapter Timer Contractor Monitoring System Requirement Enforcer Web Services Interface ECA Rules, Scheduling Rules, Event Repository, Event Subsciption List Internet

eGovt-UBWHICSS Event-driven process collaboration Event-Condition-Action Rules On event if condition then action An event occurs, it triggers some rules. The condition parts of the rules will be evaluated. If condition is satisfied, the action part, which is a workflow, will be executed.

eGovt-UBWHICSS Enactment requirements (1) Fulfill the workflow functions: assign tasks to agents (people/systems) retrieve information needed to complete a task remind agents about their parts

eGovt-UBWHICSS Enactment requirements (2) Example - upon input of a complaint case, retrieve an approved building plan from BD’s legacy system, then notify the unit head. Eventreceived(CASE)finish(building plan(CASE)) Conditiontrue Actionretrieve(building_plan(CASE))notify(unit_head(CASE))

eGovt-UBWHICSS Enforcement Requirements (1) Facilitates exception detection and handling Monitor becomes active only when an exception occurs Exceptions: failure to find an agent for a task, failure to get information, missed deadlines, etc. Temporal events, generated by timer, to detect non- fulfillment of action by a deadline Event onDay(deadline(BAO)) Condition NOT occurred(BAO) Action raise (exception(BAO))

eGovt-UBWHICSS Enforcement Requirements (2) Example: Within N days after the expiry of S.24 order, a compliance inspection has to be performed. Event onDay(after(expirydate(S24order), N) Condition NOT occurred(COMPLIANCE_INSPECT) Action raise (exception(COMPLIANCE_INSPECT)

eGovt-UBWHICSS Alert Management System Responsible for sending alert messages, receiving reply, maintain alert status and logging information Urgency of alert is a function of time Urgency levelAction Near dueReminder DueSend an alert to the same action party, notifying that the task is due OverdueSend a second alert to the action party Long overdueSend a very urgent alert to the action party as well as the concerned supervisor/officer in charge

eGovt-UBWHICSS Web Services Example Retrieve ownership details of the UBW from Land Registry checkOwner Web Service Input: OwnerRequest Request source Request ID Search Option Account - Account No. - Account Name Address - Lot - Development Name - Block - Floor - Flat No. - House No. - Street Name - Area Code Output: OwnerResponse Memorial No. Nature of Instrument Date of Instrument Name HKIC No. Share

eGovt-UBWHICSS Process integration: Identification of UBW to issue of S.24 order Hotline CenterUBWMSUnit headInspection Team Record a compliant Retrieve approved building plan, S.24 orders, etc. Conduct preliminary review Works approved? Removal action being taken? Conduct site inspection and complete insepction report Notify the result to the complainant Existence of UBW? Issue advisory letter Retrieve ownership details from Land Registry Generate Removal Order (s.24 order) Endorse the recommendation for removal Yes No

eGovt-UBWHICSS Summary Web services enables collaboration among service partners ECA Rules in workflow process to fulfill enactment and enforcement requirements AMS to monitor urgent and important tasks Benefits to users, management and system developers

eGovt-UBWHICSS Future Work  Defining and allocating new responsibilities of different stakeholders – who handle what at different urgency levels  Capturing the engineering expertise for classifying urgency from the existing human process to the automation  Integrate disparate channels for reporting UBW in a call center portal  Applicability to other e-government and public administration applications  Workforce management  Security and privacy issues

eGovt-UBWHICSS Question and Answer Thank you!