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SIMPLEX+ Program

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Countries

Portugal

Policy areas

Better regulation, licensing and inspectionsDigital GovernmentEfficiency of the state organisation and service deliveryState governance and better policy making

Organisation name Administrative Modernization Agency

Contact person: Claudia Barroso

eri@ama.pt

The second generation of the SIMPLEX programme has a clear focus on the digital transformation of public services and includes more recent methodologies, a multichannel approach, specific subprogrammes and new techniques such as design thinking and co-collaboration. As such, SIMPLEX+ brings a totally different approach with a vastly wider scope, and a totally renewed and broader set of methodologies and tools that lead to a more participative, innovative and co-created initiative.

The overall coordination of the SIMPLEX+ programme is assured at top political level by the Minister of the Presidency and Administrative Modernisation, while the Administrative Modernisation Agency (AMA)’s technical support, which encompasses the design, management and monitoring of SIMPLEX+, is provided under the political tutelage of the Secretary of State Assistant and Administrative Modernisation.

SIMPLEX+ is a collaborative and nationwide simplification programme devised to co-create new digital public services, optimise existing ones and de-bureaucratise the relationship between public institutions and civil society. It does this by making public services and processes simpler, faster and more transparent for its end users (citizens and businesses alike). The potential of ICT to promote administrative simplification is acknowledged by most of the measures of the SIMPLEX+ programme, which mix different approaches and solutions to achieve the following specific objectives:

  • promoting better and smart regulation;
  • establishing alternative communication channels for certain stages of administrative procedures (e.g. obtaining information, submitting documents, checking the status of an application, payments);
  • providing handbooks and guidelines for procedures carried out online;
  • establishing single points of contact;
  • segmenting procedures according to the risk or complexity of its various stages;
  • processing specific stages of or completing a whole procedure electronically;
  • eliminating duplication of information requests and checks;
  • enhancing public trust;
  • improving service quality;
  • improving access;
  • increasing citizen and business engagement.

The governance model of the SIMPLEX+ programme establishes the Minister of the Presidency and Administrative Modernisation as the main responsible office for the initiative, with direct support from the prime minister. The Secretary of State Assistant and Administrative Modernisation is in charge of coordinating and monitoring the programme with the technical support of the AMA, which allocates a team of two to three people to that task.

The existence of a strong political support and of a specific ministerial Focal Point Network helps is key to assure the sustainability of an initiative that already managed to instill, per se, a collaborative culture inside the public administration that further contributes to the sustainability of the initiative.

The referred top political support is also essential to guarantee both the financial and the human resources needed, and to push the co-ordination between different entities. The existence of a publicly owned Interoperability Platform, which is managed by AMA, stands out as an essential feature for current and future cross sectoral initiatives to work.

The well-defined governance structure and accountability mechanisms of the SIMPLEX+ are also key factors to keep track of hundreds of measures and to make sure that the calendar of the program is on time.

The implementation timeline and budget of each measure is the responsibility of the public entity that owns it, which assures the financial viability of the program. That being said, the SIMPLEX Focal Points Network plays a pivotal role in coordinating initiatives, reinforcing the commitment of every public entity with the program and assuring the implementation of the different measures.

From our experience, the definition of proper governance and accountability mechanisms, as well as involving and giving voice to all public entities since the beginning of the program, fostering a sourcing and bottom-up approach, proved to be an essential modus operandi for the programÕs success.

In the SIMPLEX+ program, the collaboration and co-production work with citizens, entrepreneurs, business confederations and associations and the public administration itself resulted in very relevant measures such as facilitating the fulfillment of tax and social security obligations, eliminating the need to fill forms or provide unnecessary information and facilitating the issuance and lifecycle of personal documents and certificates. These challenges in de-bureaucratization, simplification and modernization of the public administration are shared by governments worldwide and SIMPLEX+ can therefore provide a useful tool to address them.

Regarding its replicability, SIMPLEX+ can be easily adapted to most countriesÕ contexts, as it is based on a simple methodology and lifecycle Ð diagnosis/public consultation, analysis and design, and implementation and evaluation Ð and presents a solid governance model and simple and effective tools to interact with citizens. It is worth mentioning that paper forms are also made available to the initiative stakeholders, in order to prevent the digital divide.

Since its first edition in 2006, several delegations from different countries visited Portugal to know the SIMPLEX Programand study its design and implementation. The methodology focused on co-creation and the engagement of several stakeholders can be used on programs with both a national and cross-sector focus (such as the SIMPLEX) but also in smaller programs, or it can be adapted to focus on a specific governmental area or geographic region.

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