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Procedures presented from the user’s point of view

To achieve an economic operation (create a company, buy or lease land, hire personnel, sell goods, etc.) one has to comply with a series of administrative processes: usually, register at public registries and obtain permits. In order to get those registrations and permits, businesses usually have to interact with one or several public or private agencies.

From the point of view of the user:

Operation that you want to achieve = OBJECTIVE

Any mandatory interaction between the user and the administration = STEP

NECESSARY STEPS to achieve an OBJECTIVE = PROCEDURE

The system is built around the notion of step

Definition

STEP = any necessary interaction between the user and the administration (or a private actor providing a necessary service, such as a notary) to achieve an objective.

Elements of the step

The basic information that the user needs to know in each step:

  1. Where should I go? (person and entity in charge)
  2. What will I get at the end of the step?(result of the step)
  3. What should I give or show to obtain the result?(requirements)

There are also other important questions:

  1. How much should I pay in this step?(costs)
  2. How long does this step take? (time frame)
  3. Whom can I complain to in case of disagreement with the person in charge of the step? (recurse)
  4. What legal texts justify the existence and the modalities of this step?(legal justification)
  5. Who confirms that all this information is valid? (certification)

To these 8 elements we add 2 more, to complete the definistion of a step:

  1. Name of the step
  2. Additional information

Therefore, the 10 elements that we consider necessary and sufficient to define a step are (by logical order):

  1. Name of the step
  2. Contact details (entity, department and person in charge)
  3. Result(s) of the step
  4. Requirements
  5. Costs
  6. Duration
  7. Legal justification
  8. Additional information
  9. Recourse
  10. Certifying authority

Types of steps

  • external (interaction between with the user/ civil servant) / internal to the administration (« back office »)
  • mandatory / optional (recommended but not mandatory)
  • alternative (sometimes there are several ways to do things, for example you can pay online or at a bank)

The system presents the path one has to follow to achieve his objective

The objectives are specific

The purpose is not to give general indications, but to describe the precise and actual way the user has to follow to achieve his objective. Therefore, the objectives have to be specific enough to allow defining a unique path for each of them.

For example, in Viet Nam, the company creation objective is subdivided in « creating a company without a land lease, « creating a company with land lease » and « creating a company in an industrial zone », because the procedure is different for each one of these sub-objectives.
If the process were different for each type of local company (limited partnership, joint-stock company, etc.) then they would also be distinguished. However, in practice the procedure is the same for all types of companies, only a few requirements change but the steps are the same. Therefore we do not make more sub-divisions and stay at the level of the mentioned sub-objectives.

Steps are presented in consecutive order, reflecting the physical path the user has to follow

Steps are grouped in « blocks »
To make the procedure more easily understandable, we divide it into several parts called « blocks ». The blocks group the steps that are related to each other. Generally all the steps in a block aim at the same goal, which is achieved in the las step of the block.
For example: the create a company, the user has to prepare documents which will be requested for registration/licensing and then apply for registration/licensing. The procedure may, therefore, be divided in those two blocks.
The sub-division in blocks also allows compatibility with the “Doing Business” system of the World Bank. The notion of procedure in « doing business » is very close to our notion of block.

The eRegulations system proposes a « grammar » for administrative transparency based on simple and universal principles:

  • Describe the procedures from the users’ point of view, according to his objective
  • Detail the procedure step by step
  • Give. for each step, the necessary and sufficient information (the 10 elements of the step) users need to know to understand the step.

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