Processes in e-government A Holistic Framework for Modelling Electronic Public Services

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1 Processes in e-government A Holistic Framework for Modelling Electronic Public Services Silke Palkovits 1, Maria A. Wimmer 2 1 BOC GmbH, A-1010 Vienna, Baeckerstrasse 5/3, silke.palkovits@boc-eu.com 2 Institute of Applied Computer Science, University of Linz, A-4040 Linz, Altenbergerstr. 69, mw@ifs.uni-linz.ac.at Abstract. Recently, process modelling and process reorganisation have been recognised as being of utmost importance for making e-government implementations success. Due to the high complexity of governmental processes and organisational structures, appropriate modelling methodologies and tools are, however, not really available yet. In our contribution, we describe the needs for a comprehensive Business Process Management methodology and toolkit targeted for the public sector. We present a solution to support public administrations in the reorganisation and re-engineering of administrative processes towards online service provision. 1 Introduction The internet and applications based on internet technologies present more and more diverse possibilities to users like organisations, public authorities or private persons, to interact with each other and to realise business activities or services through the internet. In the public sector, e-government is the catchword to express the huge immersion of internet technologies in governmental activities and to shift towards online public service provision. E-government applications are known as being rather complex as a number of actors (citizens, clerks, authorities, etc.), different business processes and heterogeneous technologies have to be integrated [9]. Following this fact and due to a currently running modernisation issue of public administrations, an urgent need for a modelbased transformation of traditional public services towards web-supported service provision rises. Current modelling of organisations and business processes is based on fixed metamodels. With fast changing business conditions and the requirements of the public sector for an appropriate tool for the depiction of e-government processes the complexity to find an appropriate solution for each application area rises tremendously. To be able to cope this complexity the use of tools offering flexible methodologies proved successful. This fact leads us to the challenge to develop a tailor-made modelling tool specifically targeted for the public sector.

2 2 Silke Palkovits1, Maria A. Wimmer2 In this paper a holistic framework for the modelling and the management of applications in e-government is introduced. This framework integrates knowledgeoriented as well as teaching aspects on a process basis and redresses deficits of traditional modelling frameworks (cf. section 2). Section 3 investigates the characteristics of e-government processes and the specific requirements for the holistic framework. Section 4 introduces the solution in terms of methodological framework and first design issues for the implementation. 2 Business Process Management Business Process Management (BPM) comprises a number of different tasks concerning the organisational processes. BPM is often used as generic term for Business Process Reengineering (BPR), Quality Management or Implementation of Workflow Management Systems [10]. Important parts of the Business Process Management are the acquisition of relevant data and the illustration of models of the organisation, the products and processes as well as the usage of resources like for example information technology. The analysis and simulation of the models deliver advice for the strategic optimisation and quality assurance. The state-of-the-art in the area of modelling of organisations is based on fixed metamodels [5]. A meta-model is the formalism the modelling bases on. Product models are created by using product modelling environments, process models are created in business process modelling tools and organisational models are realised in personnel management tools. Additionally, business architectures highly depend on the branches under consideration. In the public administration for example knowledge management aspects, training and learning management, document management, but also the depiction of web-based applications have to be integrated. Further requirements for a modelling platform are flexibility, adaptability and openness to integrate models based on different modelling paradigms such as decision support models, descriptive models or predictive models. These requirements have to be fulfilled by environments providing flexible metamodelling capabilities [5]. The main characteristic of such environments is that the formalism of modelling the metamodel can be freely defined. Platforms based on metamodelling concepts should support the following topics: Engineering the business models and their web services Designing and realising the corresponding information technology Evaluating the used corporation resources and assets. 3 Requirements for the Modelling in E-Government A number of different definitions of business processes can be found in the literature. A fitting one for the public administration could be: A business process is a bundle

3 Processes in e-government A Holistic Framework for Modelling Electronic Public Services 3 of activities, where one or more different inputs are needed and that produces a valuable result for the customer [4]. Central components of business processes are therefore: A bundle of activities one single task is not a business process - and a business process must produce a valuable result, for the customer as well as for an organisation to reach their goals. The aim of e-government is to get aware of and structure governmental and administrational tasks and make them executable via electronic media. Business, administration and legal relations must be worked out in an integrated way [12]. The provision of services in the public administrations via online transactions requires continuous process restructuring - starting from the reallocation of activities to topics like data security, digital signature or online payment. Some processes are no longer executed by the authority alone but are partially done by the citizen with the help of an online portal. In a current research and development project called ADOamt 3, the approach is to develop a modelling tool which realises the most important requirements to support the implementation of e-government solution from a business process management (BPM) and integrated service modelling perspective. Some of these requirements are the identification of actors and their roles, the definition of possible communication channels, the transparency of the flows, the standardisation of terminologies for an efficient and transparent communication, the integrated modelling from the portal to the back office and the integration of the citizen and company clerk as service consumer. With this BPM tool developed within the ADOamt project, the problems occurring due to the characteristics of e-government should be solved. With the integration of organisational and technical perspectives as well as internal and external perspectives, the consideration of the unique characteristics of administrative processes and of strategic thoughts of the governmental development to face the informatised economy, a holistic realisation of process modelling in e-government is guaranteed. In the following, a methodology is introduced that helps developing and realising this modelling tool for the public administration. 4 A Holistic BPM Framework and Comprehensive Tool 4.1. The E-BPMS Paradigm In the course of a number of projects, BOC has developed a framework called E- BPMS which integrates business-oriented modelling approaches and approaches for the modelling of information systems (IS) and IT infrastructures [2]. 3 national (Austrian) co-funded FFF project of BOC GmbH Vienna together with University of Linz, A-Sit Graz and Fachhochschule für Verwaltungswissenschaften Berlin.

4 4 Silke Palkovits1, Maria A. Wimmer2 For the depiction of a model a certain modelling language is used. A modelling language consists of modelling elements and rules describing how to use these modelling elements. A web modelling language has modelling elements and rules where web applications can be described [9]. A number of web modelling languages do exist that would be applicable for the use in e-government. These can be languages resulting from university research or approaches coming from industrial developments of web applications (OOHDM, WebMS, UML WAE, etc.) The E-PBMS Paradigm [1] focuses on the requirements definition and the technical modelling of web application. Basis for this framework is the modelling on four levels to get control over the complexity of web applications. On the strategic level the business model is depicted. Additionally decisions about objectives, the common organisational structure and the core business processes are made. On the business level the business processes as well as the working environment are modelled and on the implementation level the organisational and technical realisation is executed. The aspects of runtime environment and the IT infrastructure are considered on the execution level. In the course of a study different modelling languages for web applications were compared and classified [9]. The evaluation based on seven classification criteria (roles and authorisations, navigation, operations and logical usage, business processes and workflows, size of the application, application architecture and procedure model) showed a consistently positive assessment of the E-BPMS Paradigm. Roles and authorizations are depicted in the working environment, the business processes and the interaction processes in a detailed way. The representation of navigational structures of a web application can be found in different model types. In the E-BPMS Framework the logical usage is described with the specification of business processes and workflows on one side and with references to elements in information system models on the other side. With the help of different abstraction levels starting from the business model to the IT infrastructure the paradigm is useful for big applications. These abstraction levels are separated with data, logical usage, navigation and presentation using different model types. As the E-BPMS is derived from the BPMS- Paradigm [6], it contains a generic procedure model for the development of web applications. Based on this generic procedure model concrete procedure models can be developed Procedure Model for the Realisation When modelling business processes in e-government two different steps are identified [5]. The first step is the design and the optimisation of the process models of the public administration. The focus is laid on the development of a tailor-made modelling methodology within a business process management tool. In the second step the addressed business type (business to business, business to administration, business to customer, administration to customer, etc.) has to be defined. With the use of information technology, new business models should be introduced to be able to realise the tight integration of the authorities with the citizen. The next few paragraphs mainly focus on the first part of the realisation.

5 Processes in e-government A Holistic Framework for Modelling Electronic Public Services 5 In projects of BOC in the public administration the standard methodology of the metamodelling tool ADONIS was used for the modelling of business processes. As described above it is necessary to find or develop the most appropriate modelling methodology to realise a successful project. The aim of BOC is to define and realise such a tailor-made modelling methodology for the public sector together with its project team. Basis for this tool is the metamodelling platform of BOC. Starting from the E-BPMS paradigm different modelling types are defined according to the concept of life events [13] (see figure 1). Figure 1 Holistic Process Modelling Framework On the strategic level questions like Which processes and products/services should be realised?, Who are my participants and partners in e-government? and Do the strategies of the participants and partners match with each other? can be answered within a business model. The Strategy-/Planning Model gives a detailed overview of products and services provided by the public administration. The modeller can decide whether to follow the life event concept, where the products/services are depicted concerning life events and business situations, or to use the alternative Business Model. The business level contains a number of different model types. The Process Map should give an overview of the different processes. To structure the working environment within an authority, a ministry or a city, two different model types are used in ADOamt. In the Organigram, the rough organisational structure is modelled to give an overview over the organisational units servicing the citizen. The Working Environment Model is part of the standard methodology of ADONIS and was changed according to the requirements of the public administration. The performers, roles and organisational units in this process-related model type are connected to the activities of a process. The skill profiles of the employees should be depicted here to guarantee the best management of each individual s knowledge. Business process models are the main point within the modelling in the public administration. With the help of a number of workshops with public administrations,

6 6 Silke Palkovits1, Maria A. Wimmer2 a requirement profile for the development of an appropriate methodology for the modelling of business processes was created. Some of the most important points are the determination of deadlines, the possibility to depict legal and security aspects or references to external documents and data. Last but not least, the IT level is described with the help of different model types like an interaction model depicting the process flow directly on the platform level or the IT-architecture model for the organisation of the IT landscape of an authority. Security aspects like the digital signature can be modelled here. Figure 2 shows a sample model used in an e-business project. The business process, modelled in swimlanes (one for each process participant), is supported by an interaction model that describes the same process on the portal level, and an IT architecture model. The representation of the models can be taken as anchor for the methodology for e-government that is currently under development. Figure 2 Sample Processes for Web Applications 6 Conclusions Process modelling in e-government is a big challenge in connection with its characteristics and specifics that have to be considered. With the approach introduced in this paper integrated Business Process Management in the public administration should be guaranteed. Our aim is to provide a holistic reference methodology and modelling functionalities within in a tailor-made metamodelling tool for the public sector.

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