The Baden-Württemberg Landtag (state parliament) has achieved a significant increase in efficiency and cut the cost of handling petition processes through the use of a new process handling system that incorporates document and workflow management. Acta Nova process handling software from RUBICON provides the technological basis.
Customer
Baden-Württemberg’s Landtag has 138 members and is the elected representative of the citizens of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Citizens can submit their concerns (petitions) to the Landtag’s petitions committee that deals with them within the framework of petition committee sessions.
Highlights
- Efficient petition processing
- The current status of a petition and all information relating to it can be called up at any time
- Simple deadline management
- Support for session preparation and post-processing
- Automated exchange of information
- Simple generation of standard documents such as notifications, agendas, reports, etc., with the help of templates
- Lower printing costs
Technologies
- Microsoft Surface Pro Tablets
- Microsoft .NET Framework
- Windows Server
- Microsoft SQL Server
- Acta Nova
- Document Partner
Initial situation: Replacement of existing software
Citizens who feel disadvantaged by decisions made by public institutions and authorities can submit a petition to the Landtag. Around 100 petitions are submitted to the Landtag Baden-Württemberg every month, all of which need to be expediently reviewed, processed and decided on.
The software in use to date, however, was outdated and no longer able to meet current requirements; providing technical support for the software that had grown historically was also becoming increasingly more difficult.
Replacing the existing software would have been extremely complicated and expensive. Fortunately, we found a solution for electronic process and file handling in the form of Acta Nova as its standard version already fulfilled many of our requirements.
The basic e-File product Acta Nova developed by RUBICON already contained many of the required functions, in particular with regard to e-Files. This made it possible to implement the extensions necessary to replace the existing old software very cost-effectively.
The solution: support for the entire petition procedure
RUBICON developed a new, improved software solution for petition procedures which is based on Acta Nova. To this end, process handling and document management were configured in accordance with the requirements of the Landtag and a number of process-specific elements were added. In addition, data and version information from more than ten years of operation were adopted from the preceding system and fully integrated in the new system.
The resulting application supports the entire petition procedure including the associated session management module: submitted petitions are reviewed and forwarded to the relevant government official for commenting on the factual and legal situation. This report then serves as a basis on which the petition committee prepares its decision. The final decision on each petition is reached during the Landtag’s plenary session
Advantages at a glance
- Petition processes are handled faster and more efficiently.
- The entire petition handling procedure is comprehensively mapped from receipt through processing to notification.
- The current status of a petition is visible at a glance.
- Dates and deadlines are automatically monitored (reminder function with direct integration in the Microsoft Exchange infrastructure).
- All of the documents pertaining to a petition (statements, protocols, resolutions, ...) are archived and easily locatable via integrated search mechanisms.
- Support for session preparation and post-processing. Invitations with agenda items, consultation material and the minutes of the session are made available automatically via the fully automated template management system.
- Automated exchange of information with ministries.
- Easy generation of communications with the help of templates. They are dispatched directly from the system.
- Reduced printing costs through electronic processing.
- Simple, clearly laid out user interface.
- High degree of investment protection through the use of the latest technology.
Outlook
It was important to replace the old software as quickly as possible during the first step. The new solution from RUBICON was ready to go live after just six months of project work. Functionality will be extended in the future to enable the complete electronic petition handling process – from receipt to feedback – to be mapped, thereby further automating the services provided by the Landtag.
“The solution developed by RUBICON is a prime example of modern e-government. It enables us to process petitions with even greater efficiency and thus improve the services for our citizens. Many work steps have been automated and simplified", says IT Manager Geisser in summing up.
