Cisco Helps the City of Hamburg Develop an Innovative Approach to E-Government

Background
Hamburg is the second-largest city in Germany, with 1.7 million inhabitants, and one of the 16 states of the German Federal Republic. It has a unified system for allocating and managing IT budgets, which gives the city's e-government strategy extraordinary power and focus.

Challenge
Hamburg officials wanted to provide simple, pragmatic, around-the-clock access to government information and services—including transactions—while avoiding the problems that the use of digital certificates could present.

Solution
Western democracies have deliberated on the vital task of providing access to government services to all their citizens while simultaneously maintaining appropriate levels of security and confidentiality. The endorsement of digital certificates by the European Parliament has led many federal German authorities to insist on their use online in all cases where a handwritten signature would otherwise be required. But the digital certificate is not commonly used by individuals or even by many businesses, and there are problems with compatibility of systems from different suppliers.

In June 2002, regular discussions between Cisco and the City of Hamburg were established to explore how Hamburg could best deploy e-government systems.

In Hamburg, ease of use is a prerequisite for citizens' services. Hamburg officials wanted a solution that would achieve this, and believed it was possible to find. This belief was strengthened following discussions between Hamburg officials and Cisco about e-government and Web technology. Following the analysis of comparable practices, Hamburg managers found that a single secure gateway to government Websites and a stringent process of authorisation removed the need for a digital signature for e-government transactions.

Hamburg officials produced a roadmap that incorporated all central and local government offices and all general and department-specific projects, which is revised and updated every year. In parallel, an e-government access portal, known as the Hamburg Gateway, was developed to provide a single secure point of access for citizens to all government information, services, and transactions.

Hamburg incorporated a process similar to that used when a person opens a bank account. To access secure areas of the government Website in order to make payments for e-government services, for example, a citizen completes an online application form. To collect the authentication data, which will enable transactions to be made online, citizens must first visit a local office to present a personal ID card or passport. They then receive authentication data. It is their responsibility to keep it secure.

Results
Hamburg has achieved the provision of better services for its citizens and people in surrounding regions through the Hamburg Gateway, coupled with cost savings and improved business processes across all methods of service provision.

One of the first Hamburg Gateway projects is the transfer of inquiries from companies and individuals about addresses on the Hamburg register. Hamburg will provide electronic access to its citizens' register, a list similar to an electoral roll, for people seeking addresses of former school friends, for example. The paper-based version of this service is currently very successful and it is anticipated that the transfer to a digital form will make it even more so.

A similar service, designed for lawyers, who are required to establish the legal address of someone before they can sue them, will also be accessed electronically. Another service based on the citizens' register is for those businesses selling merchandise online that need to find the addresses of their nonpaying customers.

Online transfer is anticipated to allow up to 50 staff to be redeployed to more strategic roles because it is estimated that of the current 1.6 million annual inquiries made on the citizens' register, only 300,000 will still need to be answered using paper-based systems.

The role played by Cisco in helping Hamburg address the needs of its decisions has been significant. For example, participation in Cisco events designed to share the knowledge and experience of other governments and organisations in the management of state-of-the-art networks, led to valuable benchmarks for Hamburg when making purchasing decisions.

Next Steps
In the near future, Hamburg officials plan to add the online management of municipal grants to the services offered through the Hamburg Gateway. For example, when a claim is made by a charitable institution such as a church for the running of a kindergarten, the church is entitled to reclaim some of the costs, but in staggered payments and only once receipts have been provided. The process will be quicker and easier online and will no longer require piles of paperwork.

Another process that will be simplified by moving it online is the request of permissions. Currently, when a public utility requests permission to dig up a road, as many as 16 copies of the request must be sent to interested parties such as cable companies, building contractors, and other public services. Soon, the utility or builder will only have to register once and then receive all messages electronically.

The benefits of Websites and online transactions can be measured in many ways but in Hamburg they are measured by use and by the savings they create. The "electronification" of services is always accompanied by improvement in business processes, so that further financial benefits are derived from these as well as from the transfer of systems online.

What Cisco Offers
Cisco has set the standard for using Internet technology to transform business processes. Its Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) has vast experience helping companies make the transition to e-business. From helping companies determine their "Net Readiness" using an assessment tool to installing networks for the integration of data, voice, and video, the experience and expertise of Cisco can help a business interested in any level of e-business implementation. Cisco offers:

• Internet-powered business methodologies
• Internet-powered application frameworks
• Networking reference architectures
• Alliances with best-of-breed companies with proven experience in building e-business applications and solutions

"The number of users is what counts for us, not number of services," explains Diether Schönfelder, head of e-government for the City of Hamburg. "E-government must not be esoteric; access has to be simple. Our e-government strategy and what we offer are designed to make it that way."

Further Reading
A thriving business and cultural metropolis, Hamburg has 1.7 million inhabitants and accommodates 150,000 visitors daily. Approximately 3.5 million people live within the metropolitan area.

The second-largest city in Germany, Hamburg leads Germany in foreign trade, is the centre for service and distribution in Northern Europe, and is the base for numerous foreign corporations.

The Hamburg port, Germany's main seaport, now ranks as the world's seventh and Europe's second in container turnover. Principle industries in Hamburg include banking and insurance, and the city is home to 41 of Germany's top 500 manufacturing firms.

Economic growth is further stimulated by the European Union and the liberalisation of eastern European economies. Hamburg is at the hub of East-West trade because of its shipping access to eastern Europe and Scandinavia and inland waterway and rail connections with central Europe.