National Simplification Programme (Simplex Nacional)

Web address of the case:

http://www.simplex.pt/

Country of the case:

Portugal

Posting Date:

4 July 2012

Last Edited Date:

05 July 2012

Author:

AMA Agência para a modernização administrativa (AMA - Agência para a modernização administrativa)

simplification | modernization | egovernment

Type of initiative

Project or service
Strategic initiative

Case Abstract

The Simplex is an administrative and legislative simplification programme but also for the eGovernment, in a sectoral approach and transversal to different sectors of the Public Administration, intending to facilitate the citizens lives and how the enterprises interact with the Government, contributing to an increase in the efficiency of the public services. The implementation methodology is based in principles of transparency and responsabilization, in coordination with the Agency for the Public Services Reform, which is in turn responsible for selecting the measures proposed by the public services and the programme’s follow-up and evaluation.

Description of the case

Domain

eGovernment

Topic

Inclusive eGovernment | Services for Citizens | Regional and Local

Sector

Local/Regional Community Development

Start date - End date

January 2006 (Ongoing)

Target Users

Citizen | Civil society

Scope

Local (city or municipality) | National

Language(s)

Portuguese

Policy Context and Legal Framework

Launched in 2006 with 333 measures and an yearly rate of implementation superior to 80%, this simplification programme is marked - with the government involvement and a network of agents for simplification at the ministerial level (Simplex Network) – by a participative approach, that relies on: active intervention dynamics by the services and workers, identifying constraints and proposing sectoral and inter-sectoral simplification measures; by the analysis of suggestions sent by the citizens and enterprises; by the definition of goals and deadlines for the execution of the proposed measures; and by the evaluation of their impacts.

The first edition of the programme was framed, above all, by preoccupations of internal pedagogy and flexibility of the methodologies adopted. In the following years, the construction process and presentation of simplification proposals was progressively perfected with the transmission to the services of more and more precise orientation, directed to a greater normalization and correct formalization of the simplification measures.

In strait collaboration with the Simplex Network members, AMA validates the proposals presented, framing them as for their feasibility inside the time spectrum defined for each edition of the programme, and produces the final version of a document that, after approved by the Council of Ministers, is publicised on the Simplex website. It is, also, the paper of this entity to monitor and evaluate the programme, through a monthly control of it’s execution and by measuring the results, which are in turn submitted for public scrutiny and independent external audit, both national and international.

Project Size and Implementation

Type of initiative

Participation

Overall Implementation approach

Public administration

Technology choice

Proprietary technology

Funding source

Technology solution

The dissemination of the initiative is achieved through a website, blog and Facebook profile, where general information on the programme are available and the predicted measures are identified, as well as the results and evaluation of their implementation in every edition. There are also orientations for simplifications and information on the operationalization of each programme and respective monitoring. In 2012, it will be made available to the services a private area on the collaborative platform to share good practices and experiences, working as a support platform for the selection process of the measures to inscribe in each edition and in its respective execution.

Impact, innovation and results

Impact

Description of the results of the initiative, considering that it has already been concluded. If it hasn’t, refer the expected results to the implementation of the initiative.

The results of each edition of the Simplex are available on the programme’s website. Up to 2009, the execution rate has never gone below 80%, with the concretization of 792 measures within the estabilished deadlines, of a total of 957 programmed measures.

Lessons learnt

Adhering to the Simplex programme constitutes an excellent opportunity to implement measures of simplification impacting on the quality of the service to citizens and enterprises, as well as on the internal efficiency of the organizations delivering those services. The experience and knowledge accumulated by the past editions of the programme, the collaborative dynamics that the Common Knowledge Network (RCC) and the Inter-ministerial Simplex Network make possible, and the technological infrastructures that the programme has (specially the interoperability and Citizen Card dimensions), constitute for important assets that may be used by the services in the context of a new model of public service availability, rooted on integrated and multi-channel strategies.

It is also important to stress, the opportunities of financing proposed by SAMA (System for the Support of Administrative Modernization), spelt under the Operational Programme Factors for Competition, and that find framing in the Simplex Programme with the delegation of power attributed to the Agency for the Public Services Reform, to analyse and follow the candidacies in the light of the orientations of simplification and electronic administration, as well as the impact that it has on the users of the public services or in the efficiency of the public administration.

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practice National Simplification Programme (Simplex Nacional)