Summary & Context

The local e-government environment varies tremendously across the North Sea Region of the EU, with municipal strategies being shaped by very different national, regional and local policy contexts and political and technological agendas. This series of reports summarises the local e-government environment in six municipalities from six different countries who are participating in the Smart Cities Interreg IVb project. The reports allow project partners to review their local e-government context, and helps us identify to common factors across project partners, along with areas of difference between partners. This report summarises the e-government context in Kortrijk, based on interviews with staff from the city, and identifies factors that they feel shape their local e-government context and their involvement in the Smart Cities project.

The document serves two purposes. Firstly, it allows project partners to understand the context that they are operating in. Secondly, it helps us see common factors across partners and also areas of difference (to help us understand where different approaches to similar work)

As well as a narrative description of the context, this report contains two diagrams and a supporting table:

• The main policy drivers for Kortrijk City

• Those projects most relevant to Smart Cities in Kortrijk

• Details of the entities mentioned including links to source material, in English where available.

The information in this document is derived from publically available descriptions supplied by Kortrijk and Leiedal, supplemented by desk-based research.

The Smart Cities project

Figure 1 illustrates the organisations that Kortrijk has identified as being significant to the City’s involvement in the Smart Cities project, showing the strategies and drivers

The main top level driver for Kortrijk’s participation in the project (along with all project partners) is INTERREG IVB North Sea, funded by the European Union (EU).

The INTERREG initiative is designed to strengthen economic and social cohesion throughout the European Union, by fostering the balanced development of the continent through cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation. A principal aim of the Programme is to expand the scope of territorial cooperation and focus on high quality projects in innovation, the environment, accessibility, and sustainable and competitive communities.

The 2007-2013 Programme connects regions from seven countries around the North Sea, incorporating policy level planning and the long lasting and tangible effects of projects. The North Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 works with cutting edge policy areas in regional development through transnational projects. E-CLIC is another relevant INTERREG project, although Kortrijk ciity itself is not taking part, HO-WEST (see overleaf) is, so E-CLIC has been included as part of the project context.

Project Context Map

No.4

Understanding e-government

in Kortrijk

Key Facts:

Kortrijk

City Council withinWest Flanders Province,

in the autonomous Flanders Region, in the Belgium

(a strongly federal kingdom).

Populations:

City – 74 000West Flanders – 1 130 000

Flanders – 6 162 000Belgium – 10 828 000

Ko

rtri

jk A

rea

Bel

giu

mF

lan

der

sE

uro

pe

European Union

Regional DevelopmentINTERREG IVB

STORK

ICT MinistryFEDICT

● Build eSociety● Promote ICT

Knowledge Region Common eGovStrategy

Flemish Government

● R&D and eResearch● Promoting e-business

● Increase e-Government● Reduce digital divide

VVSC

VICTOR CORVE

MunicipalDecree

EWI

ActieplanVlaanderen i2010

MEMORI

Leiedal

● RegionalDevelopment

Stad Kortrijk

● Aging Workforce● Modernisation

12 other towns

HO-West, HO-Gent ECLIC

eGov Academics

● Support eGovernment● Digital Divide

● Knowledge Transfer● Support Changes● Improved comms

Smart Cities

E-ID

VVP

Fig 1:Main drivers underpinning Kortrijk’s involvement

Smart Cities is one of the projects funded through the programme. The general aim of the Smart Cities project is to create an innovation network between governments and academic partners leading to excellence in the domain of the development and take-up of e-services.

Kortrijk’s involvement in the project’s work is divided between 3 work packages: customer services (WP3), wireless services (WP4) and customer profiling (WP5)

National level - Belgium

With its common e-government strategy the Belgian government is aiming to create a single virtual Public Administration while respecting the privacy of users, as well as the specificities and competences of all Government bodies and administrative layers. Its main objective is to improve public service delivery for citizens and businesses by rendering it faster, more convenient, less constraining and more open.

One aspect of this is the European STORK project which aims at establishing a trans-national eID Interoperability Platform that will allow citizens to establish new e-relations across borders, just by presenting their national eID. It provides the strategic framework that the eID programme in Belgium is developing within.

Flanders Region

The regional strategic framework has been set out by Actieplan Vlaanderen i2010, which is the responsibility of EWS, the department for Economy, Science and Innovation.

The Flemish eGovernment coordination unit (CORVE) is tasked with developing and underpinning ICT-projects for an accessible, demand-driven, simplified and integrated public service. A component of the Flemish public administration, CORVE provides its services to the Authorities of Flanders, provinces and municipalities. eGovernment is the responsibility of Flemish Minister for Administrative Affairs.

Delivery of eGovernment is coordinated by VVP, the Union of Flemish Provinces and VVSG, Union of Flemish Cities & Municipalities, supported by VICTOR, the Flemish ICT-workers’ organization.

Kortrijk

Figure 2 illustrates how within the Smart Cities project, Kortrijk is active in three workpackages, often in conjunction with Intercommunale Leiedal.

WP3 processes workstream: An internal project is describing the processes in the city; priorities of the work include transfer of knowledge as staff retire, support for changes in the organisation and improving communication. There is also a need to meet the obligations in the new municipal decree (Flemish legislation).

Digitising services has begun, starting with the booking of sport services (recreatex), which is being developed in conjunction with a specialist vendor. The 1777 contact centre project aims to make it easier for citizens to connect to service. A staged approach is planned, starting with three existing service points ‘werk aan de weg’ (road infrastructure & mobility), ‘rap en rein’ (environmental problems) and ‘general’ answering frontline questions on peoples administration.Work is starting on a pilot online authentication system for city council members, using a digital ID card to give access to the intranet, especially the e-decision software, with the digitalised decision flow of the city. The FEDICTs’ authentication software is used.

There is an ongoing midware programme to share services between the existing functional silos in Kortrijk, starting with the procurement for a shared address book and a single MyPage type site for citizens. Partners for this first step are Leiedal and different other municipalities and cities (such as Sint-Niklaas, Roeselare, Gent).

The midware uses POGO for the exchange of contact information without keeping records centrally. Pogo – persons and organisations online - is not a central database, it is an information model and an exchange format, on a similar model to that used in the STORK project. It only contains shared contact data.

Fig 2:Projects most relevant to Smart Cities for Kortrijk

Unit

Programmes &Projects

Strategy

FEDICT

FlandersGovernment

CORVE

Local campuses

Leiedal

Kortrijk

ICT Directie

Common eGov Strategy

Municipaldecree

SupporteGovernment

● Improved Communications

STORK

eID

Eduroam/LinkHotspot Network

DigitalDivide

Smart CitiesWP4

Smart CitiesWP5

Midware

POGO

myPage

DigitisingServices

Contact Centre:1777

Smart CitiesWP3

● Knowledge tfr● Support Changes

Leiedal developed a new website (Parko, www.parko.be) about parking in Kortrijk using GIS information and the Govmaps infrastructure and intends to extend it to other geolocated services.

Figure 2 also shows that, as part of WP4, the hotspot network is being developed to link to the university campuses in the city (HO-WEST and HO-GENT), Eduroam internet access will be offered by the end of the year to students that connect to the hotspot network in the city, providing a service to visitors of the city. A joint platform with the digital tourist kiosks (described in WP5 below) is being developed.

Working together in creating customer-focused electronic service solutions Kortrijk, MEMORI and Leiedal’s, developed the “Zeg ons hoe het kan” (Tell us how it can be done) website to invite customers to co-design municipal and regional electronic services by collecting user stories to get lead to ideas for improving existing services, or re-engineering existing services, or inventing new services. This will be combined with Customer profiling work, which includes surveys of the sites users, and more detailed work with people that use the sport services of the city.

Another theme is the digital divide (Digitale Kloof), which digital signage is seen as one route to reducing. A network of indoor and outdoor screens and digital kiosks has been set up to communicate with visitors and citizens, with further expansion planned.

Source information

The table below gives descriptions projects and bodies related to Kortirjk’s involvement in Smart Cities, together with links for further information (some may be in Dutch and/or French).

Name: Smart Cities

www.smartcities.info

The project aims to understand which e-services services work best and why; it will facilitate transfer of e-Government successes across national borders; it will identify and support the real transformational impacts of such transfer of good practices on local government; it will equip decision makers with the knowledge and ambition to achieve further innovation in the delivery of e-enabled public services; and will engage national authorities in this ambition. At the European level, the project will support the creation and growth of communities of practice across the NSR building organisational commitment to and capacity for inter-regional government service sharing. Smart Cities will raise the bar in many aspects.

Table 1

Details of significant entities

Name: INTERREG IVB North Sea

www.northsearegion.eu/ivb/home

The Interreg initiative is designed to strengthen economic and social cohesion throughout the European Union, by fostering the balanced development of the continent through cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation.

The North Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 works with cutting edge policy areas in regional development through transnational projects.

A principal aim of the Programme is to expand the scope of territorial cooperation and focus on high quality projects in innovation, the environment, accessibility, and sustainable and competitive communities.

The 2007-2013 Programme connects regions from seven countries around the North Sea, incorporating policy level planning and the long lasting and tangible effects of projects.

Name: E-CLIC

www.e-clic.eu

Project building a cluster in the North Sea Region in the area of broadband services, media technology, broadband systems, usability and testing, while maintaining a balance between competencies, industry and academia.

The consortium brings together 16 partners from six member states.

The partners have considerable expertise and experience in the fields of interest to E-CLIC, and the project combines a unique set of partner skills.

Name: STORK

www.eid-stork.eu

Secure idenTity acrOss boRders linked. The aim of the STORK project is to establish a European eID Interoperability Platform that will allow citizens to establish new e-relations across borders, just by presenting their national eID.

Cross-border user authentication for such e-relations will be applied and tested by the project by means of five pilot projects that will use existing government services in EU Member States. In time however, additional service providers will also become connected to the platform thereby increasing the number of cross-border services available to European users.

Name: FEDICT

www.fedict.belgium.be

Belgian Federal ICT-ministry

Name: Common eGov Strategy

www.epractice.eu/en/document/288179

www.fedict.belgium.be/nl/binaries/Resolution_eGov_Congress_Final_NL_tcm167-16731.pdf

The Belgian eGovernment strategy aims to create a single virtual Public Administration while respecting the privacy of users, as well as the specificities and competences of all Government bodies and administrative layers.

Its main objective is to improve public service delivery for citizens and businesses by rendering it faster, more convenient, less constraining and more open.

Name: E-ID (electronic identity card)

www.eid.belgium.be

The electronic identity card fits in the overall e-Government policy or the “electronic administration”. The latter includes the development of an IT infrastructure and taking initiatives for administrations and citizens to information and communications technology for its actions.

Name: KORTOM

www.kortom.be

Flemish government communications organanisation.

Name: EWI

www.ewi-vlaanderen.be/en

Flemish department of Economy, Science and Innovation.

Name: Local Government Organisations

VVP: www.vlaamseprovincies.beVVSG: www.vvsg.be

VVP is the Union of Flemish Provinces and VVSG the Union of Flemish Cities & Municipalities.

Name: CORVE

www.corve.be

The Flemish eGovernment coordination unit (CORVE) is tasked with developing and underspinning ICT-projects for an accessible, demand-driven, simplified and integrates public service. It provides its services to the Authorities of Flanders, provinces and municipalities. eGovernment is the responsibility of Flemish Minister for Administrative Affairs, Local and Provincial Government, Civic Integration, Tourism and the Vlaamse Rand, Geert Bourgeois.

Name: HO-GENT

www.english.hogent.be

University College Gent. Largest Hogeschool in Belgium, with associated college campus in Kortrijk

Name: HO-WEST

www.howest.be

University College West Flanders. Autonomous Higher Education Institution, one of the leading providers of higher education in West Flanders. Today more than 4500 full-time students are enrolled at Howest pursuing 22 Bachelors and 7 Masters covering a wide range of disciplines, with emphasis on high quality and practice-oriented courses. Howest consists of four campuses situated in Bruges and Kortrijk.

The Smart Cities project is creating an innovation network between cities and academic partners to develop and deliver better e-services to citizens and businesses in the North Sea Region. Smart Cities is funded by the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme of the European Union.

Smart Cities is PARTLY funded by the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme of the European Union. The North Sea Region Programme 2007-2013 works with regional development projects around the North Sea. Promoting transnational cooperation, the Programme aims to make the region a better place to live, work and invest in.

9 781907 576140

www.smartcities.infowww.epractice.eu/community/smartcities

Name: Intercommunal Leiedal

www.leiedal.be

Leiedal is the joint municipal association of the thirteen municipalities of Kortrijk for the socio-economic and spatial development of the member municipalities and regional guides. Operates a series of eGovernment Academies and Ateliers as part of its mission to share knowledge.

Name: Kortrijk

www.kortrijk.be

Kortrijk Municipality, West Flanders

Name: V-ICT-OR

www.v-ict-or.be

Flemish ICT-workers’ organization

Name: MEMORI

www.memori.be/indexEN.php

A research centre associated with the University of Mechelen. In Belgium, MEMORI is the leading research institute in the field of public communication.