Razprave Internet Portals in Public Administration The Readjustment of Information and of Administrative Practice Heinrich Reinermann* Abstract The new Internet technologies support the concept of „portals". An Internet portal can be understood as an entry point to virtual spaces. Thus, it allows the user a „single window" access to digital data and computer programmes which may be geographically dispersed. Various types of portals and their benefits are described in this article. The author stresses the point that the exploitation of portal concepts requires the harmonization of incompatibilities between our numerous computer systems as well as the remodelling of many traditional administrative structures and procedures. Izvleček Nove spletne tehnologije poznajo tudi pojem »portal«. Intemetni portal je točka vstopa v virtualni prostor: uporabnikom omogoča dostop do digitalnih podatkov in računalniških programov, tudi razpršenih, skozi eno okno«, f članku opisujemo več vrst porta lov in njihove prednosti. Avtor poudarja, da zahteva uvajanje koncepta portal usklajevanje nezdružljivosti številnih računalniških sistemov in tudi reorganiziranje mnogih klasičnih upravnih stmktur in postopkov. 1 Portals: A Concept in Transformation The concept of the Internet portal is changing, and is at present beginning to evolve in a manner adapted to the potentials of modern information technology. This should determine the strategics for the Internet sites of public administrations for the foreseeable future. Whoever believes that a portal is nothing more than an attractive showcase which gives access to a more or less staggering amount of information in the World Wide Web (WWW), behind which, however,-like a Potemkin-village - the malfunctions of traditional bureautracy lurk almost completely unchanged, will have to change his or her mind. Portal concepts of this type were (and still are) typical for the pioneer days of public administration's turn to the WWW. A new trend is becoming more clearly discernible; namely, towards genuine gateways, through which visitors can not only look into an administrative area, but can also enter it - in other words, communicate and interact with it -a step in the direction of browser-based workplaces, from which one can obtain information, communicate, and conduct transactions online. Portals - in the recent sense of the term -extend far beyond the possibilities offered by website user interfaces. They implement organizational concepts which - in accordance with their users' views - make digital data accessible and start application programs - undoubtedly an extremely demanding task, which is only beginning to be well understood. 2 Internet Portals as an Element of Electronic Government in their present form, portals are one of the most im portant elements of electronic government. This last is to be understood as the electronically-supported work of the actors in the public sector (whether in the legislative, executive or judiciary branch, or in public enterprises on the state or community level), Table 1 points out the fields within the network of societal sectors which comprise electronic government. These are (to use the anglo-american terms finding their way into German): Coveniment-to-Citi/en, Government-lo-Busittess, Govern men t-to- Non-Gove rn men t-Orga -nidations, as well as Govern men t-to-t Government. • The autor wts/ies to IfianK Gotthnrct Bcclmann, editor of "Work, Organization, and Social Exclusion in tlie European Information Society, Campus, New YorU/Frunkfun am Main 2002", to allow n preprint of liiis article, i ijxjw/w ml NFGRM ATI K A 2001 - številka 4 - lutnix IX Heinrich Reinemiann: Internet Portals in Public Administration The Readjustment o( Information and ol M mim strati vo Practice Electronic government is, therefore, by no means limited to the public sector's external relations, but includes its internal relations as well. This follows as a matter of course from the portal concept delineated above: without the adaptation of the internal use of computers within the public sector, the accessibility of programs and data for external visitors by way of a portal wouldn't be possible. Table 1: Electronic Government in an »X2Y«-Network E-Govcrnment the Citizen the Stale the Economy the Tertiary and the Administration Sector NGO the Citizen C2C C2G C2B C2N the State and the Ad mi nist ration G2C G2G G2B G2N the Economy B2C B2G B?B 82N tlie Tertiary Sector NGO N2C N2G N2B N2N B ^ Business C = Citizen/Costomer G -- Government N m Non-Government Institution Electronic government can, further, be characterized as follows: by the transformation of administrative activity (here and in the following understood as the activity of the public sector) into digital information space (»Cyberspace«), the "New Accessibility" of human beings, programs, data and objects (equipped with microchips) is used in the wake of the Internet technologies for a »New Shape-ability"« of, in particular, its border-crossing relationships. In the past, this has often been prevented by barriers like time, space and hierarchies-not least by the medium used. Table 2 shows that, with the currently available information technologies, some direct relationships between the four basic determinants of administrative activity are possible. They can be used for portals, and make effective forms ol document-management, processing of transactions and group work possible. Table 2; New Accessibility of Key Parameters of Administrative Activity Accessibility Human Beings Programs Data Objects Human Beings H2H H2P H2D H20 Programs P2H P2P P2D P20 Data D2H D2P 020 020 Objects 02H 02P 02D 020 H = Human Bernes P -- Programs D = Data 0 = Objects 3 The Concept and Features of Internet Portals A number of portal features corresponds to the associations which we normally bring into connection with a conventional en try way opening onto neighboring rooms, There, directions are given, who or what can be found where, information is provided, right of access is verified, security checks carried out, orders taken and filled, payments are made on entering or leaving, etc. We expect all of these services in the same manner from Internet portals, but these, however, open virtual rooms, for which our traditional associations are inadequate. Internet portals can make just any space accessible, absolutely unhindered by geographical or temporal restrictions, and are always ready for information to, communication, and interaction with visitors. Information can be - user-specific - either retrieved or sent. Communication can take place in a variety of fashions, from E-Mail via web-based discussion forums, to complex audiovisual applications such as video conferences for telepresence and telecooper-ation in virtual networks. The transactions extend from form solutions (from downloadable, offline mailable forms to »intelligent« online form-services with till-in assistance) to electronic filing and processing of applications with the help of electronic file-, workflow- and group-ware-solutions, as well as status queries (Trace and Track), or Electonic Commerce solutions (electronic shops, auctions, t ails for tenders, procurement, etc.)1. If this is to be possible by means of Internet portals in a user-specific manner, if these portals are to become a contact point where one can receive information, communicate and effect a transaction, then a further important portal feature comes to our attention. Incompatibilities of the information systems, which are to be expected as a result of their variety and and their historical development, have to be harmonized. We can the fore imagine Internet portals as hubs, to which a visitor can be guided by various access roads (e. g„ TCP/IP-networks, interactive television or WAP/ UMTS-mobile phone) and from which he or she can be switched to the appropriate track, which makes h possible for him or her to find information, communicate or interact with the persons, programs, data or objects desired. A decisive prerequisite, which - in administrative practice - still often remains to be met is then, of course, the possibility of electronic communication between the visitor as a »customer« ( or »buyer«) and the appropriate supplier (or »seller«). I his 1 Cf. Jörn von Luche and Heinrich Reinermann, Speyerer Definition von Electronic Government, online-publication under hltp;//foev.cihv speyef.de/rt/wi. 2001 -ätevilka 4 - letnik IX iijnnil»ia\ nform atika Heinrich Reinemiann: Internet Portals in Public Administration The Readjustment o( Information and ol M mim strati vo Practice concerns, above all, file formats and computer programs. The conversion necessary is less an informat-ic than a political, organizational and economic problem. Basically, this conversion can be done either by the portal server or by the »suppliers« computers, or be divided up between them. 4 Types of Internet Portals a) Horizontal and Vertical Portals According to their point of concentration and degree of specialization, we can distinguish different types of portals, for each of which there are already numerous examples in the WWW. Basically, one can differentiate between horizontal portals with a claim to completeness, and vertical portals, which are specialized. In the horizontal dimension, there are, to date, only regional portals. They present a geographically-defined area in its salient aspects, which are of interest for inhabitants as well as for non-residents (tourists or industrialists looking for a prospective location), for example: it-- economy, education and health ser vices, culture, history, recreation and much more. Examples would be the Hannover region (www.hannOver.de) and the Lake Constance Mall (Www.emb.net), Search engines are also regionally limited (tor instance, www.aliavisla.de) as well as address books (www.yahoo.de) which, historically, were first called portals' . Vertical portals occur as institutional and thematic portals, as well as virtual market-places. Institutional portals are dedicated to the information, communication and transactions of specific companies (e. g., http*//www. microsoft.com), states (e. g., http:// www.hessen.de), cities (hitp://www.hatnburg.de) and ministries (http://www.auswartiges-amt.de IMinistry Of Foreign Affairs]), federations (www.bitkom.org), radio broadcasters (www.swr.de), and many others. I hematic portals are dedicated to subjects of general interest. Some examples would be music ( wvvw.mp3.com), movies (www. imdb.co.uk), sport (Www.sport.de) or television (www.zap2it.com). Portals which thematize specific situations in the life of their citizens or employees, such as going into business, building a house, a new field of responsibility, or retirement, are of particular interest for the public sector. These portals are supposed to pro- vide - as far as possible - all of the essential information, communication and transactions bundled at a single stop, and regardless of institutional distributions of competence, or between this and the other three societal sectors shown in lable 1. Examples are the Austrian »Public Assistant« in the Internet (www.lielp.gv.at) or the Australian Cent relink (www.centrelink.gov.au). Virtual market-places are portals, in which the users' informational and communicative activities and transactions are, ill the end, directed at buying and selling. The virtual market-place for optics, in which the processing industry and wholesale and retail trade can do business transparently and efficiently (www.open-optics.de) is typical'. Virtual market-places are also set up for the purpose of regional economic development4. b) Personal Portals In particular, the portals dedicated thematically to situations in lite, and personally to citizens and employees make a trend to individualization obvious. Personal visitor-profiles have to be addressed. This presupposes exploration (User-Modelling) and presetting the corresponding fields of interest and access rights. I his would be the purpose of personal citizen's portals (»Meine-Verwaltung«.de), which, customized for a profile such as »home-owner, parents ol school-age children, dog-owner, road user, politically interested in certain subjects«, makes it possible to gain information, communicate and carry out transactions with the appropriate public offices and - if necessary - with other pertinent institutions. Or: personal electronic document-safes could collect and maintain all of the respective citizen's official documents'. Employees' personal portals -as Enterprise Information Portals, or Corporate Portals - are tailored to the employees' respective tasks, and supply them with information; communication and the possibility of effecting transactions, inasmuch as these portals provide the necessary data and application programs - if need be, via Intra- and Extra nets, as well as from the internet. c) Metaportals Portals can be used directly or indirect I v. This is an important category for preventing the division of society into the "information-rich" and the »information-poor«. One therefore shouldn't overlook 2 Cf. Thomas Hesse and Volker Herwig, Pönale im Internet, in: Wirtsehattsmlormatik 1999, pp. 551 553 Ihere: p. 5511, 3 er. as early as l 978: Heinrich Rclncrmann, Bürger und Computer. Hat die BDVuns Privatleuten etwas zu bi^sh?M; Die Verwaltung 1978, pp. ¡13 -438(here:p. 427). 4 Cf. Hans-Joachim neuster, Dar Virtuelle Marktplatz in Bayern - Ein All Winners'Game? in: Heinrich Beinermann und Jörn i/n/i tucKe feds.J, Poftate in der öffjgtiUichen Verwaltung(2.. eniarged edition, SpeyamrFonchungsberiCht« Nr. 205, Speyer2000, PP i - 126, as weil es Thorsten BalletWeh, Virtuelle lokale Marktplätze als Chance für Einzelhandel und Innenstadt, in: op. cIt., pp.127 138. 5 Cf. Anlw Winter, fämt&helfer online vrww.help.gv.at: Das Portal zur öffentlichen Verwaltung, in: op. eil., pp. 59 75 (here:p. 60) lifjniu^mlNFORMÄTIKA 2D01 Stevilka 4 - letnik IX Heinrich Reinemiann: Internet Portals in Public Administration The Readjustment o( Information and ol M mim strati vo Practice the intermediaries, who - in spile of immediate portal access via PC at work or at home, interactive television, mobile phone or kiosks open to the public -can be approached conventionally and either personally in Public Service Centers (»Bûrgerbiiros«), or as architects, social workers, notaries or tax advisors, or by telephone in call centers, and, in their turn, operate the relevant portals. This type of »Portal-Portal« (Metaportals) is necessary as long as electronic government - for financial or intellectual reasons, or as a matter of principle - is not universally accepted. Recause of its responsibilites, public administration would, in the long run, presumably have to keep up a certain redundancy, corresponding to the parallelism of virtual and real administration. 5 Purposes and Impacts of Internet Portals In the course of the representation given above, some of the purposes and uses of Internet portals have already been mentioned. On closer inspection, we discover two areas of concentration for the tasks lying ahead of us with regard to our present subject: modelling the reality of public administration, and changing the reality of public administration. a) Modelling the Reality of Public Administration 1 he Information-Overload phenomenon is well-known. One of its sources is electronic data processing, which converts and stores more and more aspects in the form of digital data; another source is the new Internet technologies, which - above all - have contributed to the amount of data stored somewhere in the world for access at any time (see Table 2), An uncompromisingly complete reproduction of the reality of administration Would be just as inconvenient as a map which reproduces a landscape in its actual size. Portals, on the other hand, are intended to provide orientation by modelling data for specific purposes, and thereby make »information« out oi them. Data as - at present increasingly digitally represented concrete or abstract facts, have it) be disregarded and suppressed inasmuch as they wouldn't be useful - and would therefore be uninformative for the addressee, Information are models which, because of their usefulness for certain persons, stand out in the flood of uninteresting data. Portals therefore have to be designed lo collect information for each individual visitor, regardless of all hindrances caused by institutional and possibly informationtechrticaI boundaries -and that as user-specificallv, comprehensively, redundancy-free, as up-to-date, as quickly and user-friendly, but also as reliably, privately, and as economically as possible. This is the direction in which a long and difficult journey will lead. Hut the fact that this journey would nonetheless be worth the effort for the citizenry as well as for administration - can be illustrated on the example of the document-safe described above. Above and beyond the purpose of a conventional safe, which merely contains valuables for safekeeping, a document-safe bundles all of the pertinent documents - passports, certit-icates, notifications, confirmations and receipts, forms and the like - centralized in the form of an integrated file, or decentralized in the form of a link-list, so that they can be easily found and consulted. A time schedule for supervising deadline expiration or settlement dates, as well as an information service which gives tips on the citizen's rights and responsibilities, can be combined with it. The administration would have the guarantee that its data are up to date and complete, and each citizen would know at a glance, what the public administration knows about him or her, and whaf he or she has lo {or shouldn't) do. b) Reforming the Reality of Public Administration A second consequence is implicit in the ideas formulated above, hi designing Internet portals, it isn't sufficient just to simulate reality by ignoring all of the data which wouldn't be of interest to a specific user. Often, existing reality can and must be changed. This can be made clear on the example of the types of scientific logic for explaining phenomena on the one hand, and for design on the other. If one wants to explain a phenomenon, for instance, a segment of administrative reality, then one drafts a model, which - as in the previous section - includes, as far as possible, all of the information necessary for the purposes of the explanation: e. g., why and how, and with which resources an administrative task is done. But lo use the same information for design, e. g., a conversion to EDP, would be a mere »tautological inversion" of explanatory knowledge into performance specifications. This, however, would be just as inadequate for this purpose as the logics of explanation and of design are fundamentally different. Design is directed at goals which should apply for a segment of reality which is to be changed, and at the resources necessary to this end. Goals and means, however, are often interdependent (colloquially: »You don't know what you want until you've seen what's possible«.). The fact that our documents, reports and certificates lo rein rn to the example of the document-safe - are, as a rule, kept in completely different places, and are therefore hard lo find or are inaccessible, has lo do -not to the least extent - with their past and present substrate, paper. With electronic media, completely 2001 Stevilka nih jfitNFORM AT IKA