Individual citizens and entrepreneurs wishing to do business with government must be given priority by that government. For that reason, government services will now be based on life events, as described in Chapter 1. In this chapter, we will discuss the provision of service by government, and entrepreneurs, in greater detail. As one government, we are working together to offer citizens and entrepreneurs the best level of service, in a manner that is as user-friendly, secure and reliable as possible. Standardisation and information security are essential elements of that process.
What have we achieved:
In 2019, a large-scale survey was undertaken to assess the opinions of citizens and entrepreneurs about the level of service provided by government. More than 60 percent expressed satisfaction with the level of service provided, while 25 percent were dissatisfied. The survey also revealed that people attach real importance to personal service provision and that there is room for improvement in that respect. Respondents also indicated that they considered the sharing of information within government to be a good idea, alongside the possibilities for gaining an insight into those data. In general, respondents were positive towards digitalisation, but also recognised its limitations.
The survey will be used as a zero measurement, while offering valuable starting points for the introduction of a broader monitoring system and for further study into specific areas. Starting in 2020, we will be calling upon citizens and entrepreneurs to share their experiences with government services via an annual survey.
Government and Entrepreneurs
The ambition of MijnOverheid for Entrepreneurs is to digitalise the information flow to entrepreneurs in joint consultation with the relevant implementing organisations. It has been concluded that the burden on entrepreneurs is reduced if they no longer receive formal correspondence on paper but via digital documents.
Ondernemersplein
Via the Ondernemersplein business users interface, we aim to combine relevant information from government as far as possible, to enable us to offer entrepreneurs with questions a complete and clear answer and to facilitate business practice. One example is the signpost page recently produced for the corona crisis. Via this page, entrepreneurs can access all relevant information, including the various schemes on offer. With more than 5.2 million visits in 2019, visitor numbers to the Ondernemersplein rose by 10 percent as compared with the previous year. This rise in visitor volume is continuing in 2020. In technical terms, too, the Ondernemersplein is being constantly improved. One example is the introduction of A/B tests, investigating which content best matches the needs of the entrepreneur. We are also working on ‘dynamic content’ to filter out information not relevant to an entrepreneur in specific situations.
Single Digital Gateway
To ensure that European citizens and entrepreneurs are easily able to do business with government organisations – irrespective of the Member State in which they are based – a new European regulation has been introduced: the Single Digital Gateway. This regulation deals with the layout and structure of a central digital gateway (the Single Digital Gateway) and we are currently mapping out the consequences of this regulation for government organisations.
The focus in 2020 is on the rapid and simple access to online information about services from European governments. The customer journey will be improved from the perspective of European cross-border life events. Citizens can access the relevant information via overheid.nl and government.nl; for entrepreneurs, the equivalent sites ondernemersplein.kvk.nl and business.gov.nl.
Standard Business Reporting
The trust framework that operates under the name Standard Business Reporting (SBR) ensures safe and high-quality electronic data interchange. Businesses, institutions and governments that use SBR also speak the same language, based on the same definitions. In 2019, more than 44 million messages were exchanged via the SBR system between public and private parties. The majority relate to financial reports, ranging from tax returns to annual accounts. The role of SBR is to contribute to the digital economy in the Netherlands, and to implement the policy objective of ‘one-time recording, multiple exchange’ to the benefit of all parties.
Do you want to know more? Read the chapter making our services more personal (PDF, 173 Kb)