We report at irregular intervals on the implementation of IT topics in municipal practice.

The Online Access Act stipulates that selected administrative services must be made available to citizens online by 31.12.2022. The city of Bonn is responsible for implementing 471 individual services. Unfortunately, this goal will not be achieved in full. The municipal level cannot currently be viewed in isolation from the state and federal levels, as there is a great deal of dependency between these players. The municipalities are reliant on the federal and state governments to create structures for more effective and efficient implementation, such as the modernization of registers and the adaptation of legal and technical principles.

Process management

The main focus in the implementation of the Online Access Act at the City of Bonn is not only on the pure digitization of existing applications, but above all on the optimization of processes. Sustainable processes and infrastructures are an important goal in the digitization of administration. For each project, with the exception of the short integrations, a comprehensive process survey was carried out in which the optimization possibilities were highlighted. For the short integrations, processes were only recorded where absolutely necessary. The process mapping not only looked at the applicant's process, but also analyzed the internal processes. The processes were then visualized using the PICTURE process management platform so that a target process could be created. This target process was then planned and implemented in close consultation with IT. The regular prioritization cycle based on selected criteria (priority of the federal government, number of cases per month and existing maturity level) ensures that the online services already integrated at the City of Bonn are the most important and most frequently used administrative services.

OZG booster

In May of this year, the IT Planning Council decided on 35 EfA services, so-called OZG boosters, which are to be implemented on a prioritized basis. Of these, only three OZG boosters have so far been made available for comprehensive subsequent use in NRW. The subsequent use of EfA services is very difficult for local authorities due to a lack of communication on the part of the state project management. One example of this is the OZG booster "Naturalization". In December last year, this service was technically connected to the service portal and subsequently tested. However, it has not yet been possible to put naturalization online, as the OZG coordination office d-NRW has not yet provided a contract (individual call-off) for the municipalities. Of the 35 OZG boosters, 24 services are still being implemented and cannot currently be used. In addition, the responsibility for four services does not lie with the City of Bonn. According to the KDN, the roll-out for the driving license application, the declaration of commitment and the "Gewerbesteuer Online" service will start in November/December 2022. There are currently only three services that can be reused. Of these, both the housing benefit application and the BAföG application are already available online to Bonn citizens. The City of Bonn is currently gathering information on the subsequent use of the "residence permit" service. Unfortunately, we were unable to meet the expectations of the OZG Booster.

Campaign

A further campaign is currently being planned for the end of this year. As part of the campaign, the online application for the exchange of driving licenses in the service portal will be advertised. Authentication with the new ID card (eID) is required for the application, but this is not yet known to the general public. The eID function will therefore also be part of the campaign. All driving licenses issued before 19.01.2013 are affected by the statutory exchange of driving licenses for the new EU driving license. This exchange will take place in staggered stages depending on the year of birth or issue. A total of 118,062 Bonn residents are affected by the driving license exchange, which means that we could potentially achieve a very high number of cases in the service portal. The campaign will be broadcast on the roadside screens, multi-lite screens and information screens at the main railway station. The social media channels will also be used for this campaign.

Outlook

Some major projects are now also on the home straight and will be integrated into the service portal in the course of this year. These include instruction on the Infection Protection Act, applying for school tickets and discounts, and submitting second home tax returns. From January, it will also be possible to book wedding appointments directly online via the service portal in Bonn.

The first deadline for implementing the Online Access Act ends on 31.12.2022. The federal and state governments are currently still discussing how to update the Online Access Act: The so-called OZG 2.0. While the Online Access Act currently only focuses on the digital application process, the OZG 2.0 will also consider the internal processes, i.e. the backend, in addition to the application process. The adaptation of outdated internal processes was also a major criticism of the OZG. The City of Bonn has implemented such end-to-end digitalization from the outset and will continue to strive to do so.