Guide to the implementation of the Toolbox PSC. Getting started!

Transcription

1 Guide to the implementation of the Toolbox PSC Getting started! Author(s) Stephanie Solingen, Indra Henneman, Version 1.0 Status Final draft The Hague,

2 2/26 Document information Colophon Author(s) Stephanie Solingen, Indra Henneman, Margriet Kist, Lara van Riet Status Final draft Project Date Toolbox PSC Organisation Classification Title Version 1.0 Location History Date Version Changes Status Processed by Initial document draft Stephanie Processing Indra's input draft Stephanie Margriet Kist's findings draft Margriet Drafting draft Margriet Improving the flow of the text, draft Stephanie removing small mistakes Added introduction draft Margriet Put document in correct template, adjustments to images, processed, Indra's input draft Stephanie Joined version, hatching NL text Final draft Margriet Added glossary Final draft Lara Distribution list Date Distribution Presentation Version Indra Henneman Stephanie Solingen Indra Henneman 0.6 Approval Date Name Version

3 3/26 Preface This document is intended for the management or project managers who are responsible for the final implementation of the Toolbox Point of Single Contact (PSC). Prior to implementation, a thorough preparation is advisable, since the process comprises a number of process phases and various competences are required. In this document, these elements are described in such a way that it comprehensively guides the manager through the process as a manual / route description (and prepares him/her for the process) thus facilitating a successful implementation. For technical documentation we refer to the Software Architecture Document (SAD), the Developers guide and the CMS guide. Depending on the implementation approach of your preference and whether you intend to implement individual parts or all elements of the toolbox, guidelines are given in this document. We expect that you will find the Guide to the implementation of the PSC easy to use and wish you the best of luck with the implementation process!

4 4/26 Table of contents 1 The PSC Toolbox The architecture visualised The elements PSC website Cooperating Catalogues The PSC Message box PSC Message box authentication 11 2 Preparation 13 3 Implementation Staff The organisational implementation team The technical team Software and hardware requirements The PSC website The PSC Message box PSC Message box authentication Things you can or need to adjust to the standards in your country 16 4 Setting up the required departments The owner of the PSC tool The competent authorities 19 5 Non-deliverables Hardware Software Miscellaneous 21 6 Documentation PSC Toolbox 22 7 Summary and to conclude 24

5 5/26 1 The PSC Toolbox In this chapter we give the reader a framework: we describe the Point of Single Contact (PSC) and the toolbox, we provide a context and describe the importance of the PSC, in a European context as well. You will also find a short review of the content of the PSC Toolbox. We describe the individual elements, and illustrate how they relate to each other. PSC The Services Directive is to be implemented in all EU member states on 28 December The Directive allows service providers (i.e. businesses / entrepreneurs) to get to work in the EU more easily. The Services Directive obliges governments to provide a central, digital point of contact where foreign service providers can find information, can request general information and finalise procedures which are conditional to settling or doing business in that member state. Moreover, the Point of Single Contact provides answers to general questions about the Services Guidelines, including questions about regulations, licenses and monitoring. Thus, the PSC forms a link between the service providers and you as the responsible party, for example for issuing permits. The Service providers from European member states are able to make arrangements with the government more easily and remotely. Domestic service providers may also use this PSC. In the Netherlands, we are including the PSC in the current website for entrepreneurs, (Dutch for 'Answer for businesses'). The site is in Dutch, but includes pages in English. A special Message box allows for secure message exchanges. This channel allows the service provider to approach government organisations with questions and carry out transactions. If he sends a message to an organisation via the Message box, this organisation is obliged to answer via the Message box. The service provider can, of course, also contact the organisation directly or access the government organisation's website via the PSC. PSC Toolbox The technical implementation of the PSC constitutes one of the main challenges of implementing the Services Directive. The European commission wishes to offer some member states extra assistance in setting up or improving the infrastructure for their PSC. The European Commission has requested the Netherlands to make the PSC (i.e. the Answer for businesses website, the Message box and the Cooperating Catalogues tool) available to other EU member states as an Open Source-Open Standard tool. The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs is keen to fulfil the European Commission's request and has, in turn, asked ICTU to develop a PSC Toolbox on the basis of the existing PSC. This toolbox consists of a website with corresponding CMS, a Message box and a Cooperating Catalogues Export Tool.

6 6/26 The Netherlands uses and continues to develop techniques for implementing the European Services Directive, which can be re-used by other EU member states as well. It must be taken into account that the Dutch products cannot be copied as they are. For one thing, other countries might be organised differently. That is why, for the benefit of the toolbox, the techniques used by the Netherlands have been adapted for generic re-usability. Documentation and workshops have been added to explain the use of these tools. Clarity within Europe If several EU member states use the tools developed by ICTU (egovernment for Businesses) for the implementation of the Services Directive, an uniform approach will ensue within Europe. This results in advantages for the end users; the products in various EU member states will be organised almost identically. Entrepreneurs from those countries will recognise the layout of the PSC involved and are likely to find it more easy to use. If other EU member states start using the PSC Toolbox to implement the Services Directive, it become optional for those EU member states to collaborate on the further development of these tools.

7 7/ The architecture visualised The picture illustrates the complete architecture of the toolbox, with all its elements combined. You will find the elements belonging to the PSC Toolbox within the black frames. Toolbox Point of Single Contact The elements surrounded by a bold line, represent the software you will receive with the toolbox. In the paragraphs below, we will take a closer look at the various elements, their functions and how they relate to each other.

8 8/ The elements Essentially, the toolbox consists of four elements: 1. PSC website (Antwoord voor bedrijven - Avb) 2. The Cooperating Catalogues 3. The PSC Message box 4. PSC Message box authentication These four elements consist of different parts, that get their information from other elements / systems PSC website The PSC website contains the following elements: 1. Hippo repository 2. Hippo CMS 3. Website These elements relate to each other as follows:

9 9/26 Hippo repository It stores and delivers content. It also provides a transparent layer to access various content, which is stored. For more information, read the Software Architecture Document 1. Hippo CMS The CMS is an extensible Cocoon application that communicates with the repository, to manage the content independently from the front-end (website). Website The website actually shows the information that is stored in the repository (when published). Its content is being sustained via the CMS Cooperating Catalogues In the Netherlands, we have a standard for the publication of XML documents. This is provided by the Cooperating Catalogues (CC). It is also equipped with a central index and search engine. For the PSC website, it provides a meta-feed, which is an aggregated XML file. This file contains macro-information about several municipalities with micro-information. For example: certain information regarding a terrace permit. The XML is provided by competent authorities in the Netherlands. Most of the time, suppliers have implemented this standard in the websites of these authorities. This results in an automatically generated XML-file following the CC standard, that can be picked up by or sent to a central database. The PSC website actually imports the micro-information via the Import tool (which is a part of the CMS) and with this tool linked to the information on the website. This is done partly automatically and partly manually. Once the information is linked, it will be displayed on the website. For more information read the CMS user guide 2. In regard to the PSC Toolbox, we advice you to use the Cooperating Catalogues Export Tool (CCET). This will be explained in more detail in the following paragraph. Cooperating Catalogues Export Tool The CCET is a tool that can be used to manually form the meta-feed, and so provide your PSC with (a part of) the necessary content, from you, the competent authorities. This tool is designed to be used by competent authorities. 1 The SAD is also included in the toolbox, and elaborates on the subject. 2 Likewise included in the toolbox, and it explains how to use the CMS.

10 10/26 Before you start building and using the tool, keep in mind that the CCET has to be adjusted to the local standards in your country. Relevant information is provided in the Developers guide 3. For explanation on how to use the CCET tool, please read the manual 4. The elements outside the bold black line are a product of a system, like the export files. There are also servers and competent authorities: servers to allow a system to work and competent authorities to provide you with information needed to gather content/ data for a system The PSC Message box The Message box is a system entrepreneurs can use to communicate with government organisations, allowing them to exchange messages and attachments. The PSC Message box contains the following elements: 1. Web User Interface (Web UI) 2. Notifier 3. Aselect filter 3 This document is also included in the toolbox, and further elaborates on the subject. 4 Likewise included in the toolbox, and further elaborates on the subject.

11 11/26 Web UI The Web UI is actually the front-end of the application. This application allows users to send and receive messages in their PSC Message box, to/from various competent authorities. Notifier The notifier enables competent authorities to receive messages within a given time frame. For example, once a week, or just once a day. Aselect filter This filter is the most important part of the Web UI. It verifies and, if necessary, authenticates a PSC Message box user. It uses the Message box authentication to do so. In the case of the Netherlands, it uses a username and password verification PSC Message box authentication The PSC Message box authentication enables the competent authorities to communicate with the authorised employee of an organisation. The PSC Message box authentication contains the following elements: 1. MyInformation 2. MyOrganisation Dotted line from Aselect filter to IDP ICTU. The line is dotted, because it is possible to make a direct connection from the Aselect filter from the Web UI to the IDP ICTU (aka Message box authentication). This is applicable when you decide not to implement the Central Federation Component (CFC). that is also the reason why that particular element has a dotted line. If a decision is made not to use the CFC, another means of authentication will have to be used. A description is given in the Developers guide on what data the other means of authentication has to pass on and what amendments have to be made to the Message box to allow for this.

12 12/26 Dotted line for the Central Federation Component (CFC) The line for this element is dotted, since it is not mandatory to have it. One can choose to use the system in such a manner that it directly connects to an IDP. The dotted arrow lines to IDP Diginotar and IDP These are only included for demonstration purposes. They are added to illustrate that a CFC can make a connection to multiple IDPs. MyInformation This application is necessary to fill in and store data ('persoonsgegevens' in Dutch) in the LDAP server, which is used by the IDP (IDentity Provider). It is the IDP that eventually authenticates someone, while using the Message box. MyOrganisation This application is used to add an organisation (read: company or competent authority), for the PSC Message box. To use the PSC Message box, the following order of the system applies: 1. have an account for a user 2. add the user to the system via the MyInformation application (or an application of your own choice) 3. add your business via the MyOrganisation application (or on other application of your own choice) 4. send and/ or receive message from competent competent authorities via the PSC Message box.

13 13/26 2 Preparation We advise you to take the following questions into account before implementing the toolbox. What can you do to prepare? Research the toolbox architecture and find out if this suits your situation Consider whether you want to implement separate tools or the entire toolbox; and make sure your own tools suit our architecture Decide whether you want to implement the CC standard among the competent authorities concerned or whether you prefer to use the 'manual' export tool (CCET) Read the document regarding the necessary infrastructure (software Architecture Document); and make an inventory of what is required in your situation. Work out several scenarios in advance: decide if you want to make use of the package provided in the toolbox, or prefer installing all platform software by yourself (risk inventory), use a cloud (virtual server) or use your own hardware and servers. Have staff members available to install the hardware and software and arrange the staff you need in order to operate, organise and implement the PSC. Make sure you arrange contracts for hosting, network capacity, service contracts, etc. (if you decide to use a server instead of a cloud) Contact the competent authorities that will be working with the tools and provide them with a planning for the implementation and changes. In the following chapters, we describe the minimum requirements for the implementation of the PSC, per element.

14 14/26 3 Implementation In this chapter we describe the necessary competences and those that should be considered in order to implement the toolbox or parts of it. In this regard we zoom in on staff, hardware and software. Please note: We do not indicate the amount of staff members you need, because those numbers will vary per country. We do however give an indication of the amount of PSC-staff members we applied in the Netherlands. 3.1 Staff The staff can be categorised in the following manner: 1. An organisational implementation team 2. A technical team: Developers and System Administrators 3. Users of the tool: such as editors, authors; and competent authorities The organisational implementation team 1. Account team In the Netherlands, the Account team takes care of the prospects and the accounts. At least two specialities are required: front-end account managers (in the 'field') and back office personnel (help desk and administration). 2. Converge team This team makes sure that the relevant authority is connected on the technical level. For this, you will also need at least two persons who can take care of it. One front-end officer (for the field) and another officer for back office personnel (help desk and administration). Below, we describe the minimum amount of required staff members The technical team What developers should do to make the system and keep it up and running, is explained in more depth in the Developers guide and the Installation guide. The kind of knowledge your implementation staff needs will be explained in more detail in chapter Staff for PSC website System Administrator(s): 1 / 2 5 Developer(s): 1 / 2 6 Editor(s): 1 / 2 Translator(s): 1 / 2 The editors will be responsible for the content of the website. If they are also capable of translating the content (from native language to English and vice versa), extra translators will not be necessary. Otherwise, translators should also be taken into account for the PSC website / content. 5 At least 1 senior 6 At least 1 HTML/CSS specialist

15 15/26 The developers need to have good knowledge of the following languages: Cocoon, XSLT, WebDav, DASL, Java,and JavaScript. 2. Staff for Cooperating Catalogues Author(s): 1 / 2 This is only relevant if you decide to implement a standard like Cooperating Catalogues (CC) nationwide. Authors compose, check and, if applicable, adjust the meta-feed that the PSC website needs. 3. Staff for the Cooperating Catalogues Export Tool In case of the CCET (Cooperating Catalogues Export Tool) the number of staff that is needed, depends on the number of competent authorities that are using the tool. There should be one user per competent authority. In the user manual, we explain what the users of the tool need to do, and how they should use it. In the Developers guide, an explanation is given of which changes are needed before putting the CCET into operation. 4. Staff for the PSC Message box System administrator(s): 2 / 3 7 Developer(s): 1 / 2 Security officer: 1 The developers require good knowledge of the following languages: Java, Wicket, JPA, Hibernate and Spring. 5. Staff for PSC Message box authentication System Administrator(s): 1 / 2 Developer(s): 1 The developers require good knowledge of the following languages: Aselect, JavaEE, Spring, LDAP. 3.2 Software and hardware requirements By software we here mean, the technical necessities for a SA (System Administrator) to get the servers up and running. For more information, please read the Software Architecture Documentation (SAD) 8 and the Installation guide The PSC website Software: OS: Linux JVM by SUN v1.6 Container: Tomcat 6.x RDBM: MySQL Webserver: Apache HTTPD Other: LDAP (OpenLDAP) 7 At least 2, 1 of which is a senior, because of the number of servers 8 The SAD is a separate document that is also delivered, and further elaborates on the subject.

16 16/26 Hardware: Single core Intel 2.5 Ghz 1024 MB RAM 17 GB disk Single Ether adapter Minimal number of servers for production: 2 (including the CCET) The PSC Message box Software: OS: Linux JVM by SUN v1.6 Container: Tomcat 6.x RDBM: MySQL Hardware: Single core Intel 2.5 Ghz 1024 MB RAM 17 GB disk Single Ether adapter Minimal number of servers for production: PSC Message box authentication Software: OS: Linux JVM by SUN v1.6 Container: Tomcat 6.x Other: LDAP (OpenLDAP) Hardware: Recent AMD or Intel CPU 4 GB RAM 500 MB (available) for system storage 5 GB (available for data storage) Minimal number of servers for production: 10

17 17/ Things you can or need to adjust to the standards in your country This regards issues on software, hardware and issues on an organisational level. Actions necessary in order to personalise the system. Think about your own logo, colours, fonts, etc. Things you can adjust relate to the elements that you can tweak in any way you see fit. Necessary adjustments 1. Content The content for the CMS will not be delivered, since it is country specific. We do provide for example content. However it is up to your editors, to fill in the information within the CMS, so it eventually can be shown on the website. 2. Layout Think about, colours, logo's, labels, etc. You need developers to change this and someone to give input. 3. Language Currently there is a maximum of two languages (native and English). You might need translators to translate the information from or to your native language. You could decide to add more languages. In this case, you will engage in some development activities of your own, and the number of staff might change accordingly. More on this will be discussed in chapter three. 4. The connection between CMS and CCET This is described in the Developers guide. You will need developers to make the adjustments, SA to make the arrangements and relation / communication managers for the communication to the competent authorities involved. 5. Classification of competent authorities in the PSC Message box. Every country has to change this in their own Message box because we use our own Dutch structure in the 'search' options of the 'to-field'. In the Netherlands, we follow the structure of the Cooperating Catalogues: 'councils', 'provinces', 'water boards' and 'other'. This categorisation might be very different in your country, 6. This amendment also applies when using CC or the CCET. This also takes some tweaking. Recommended adjustments 1. Build the connection between PSC Message box and a specific authentication system (like PSC Message box authentication). 2. The way to organise the servers: 1 physical environment, clustering, clouding, etc. 3. Make your own templates and arrangements for the CMS (by using Hippo documentation and the Developers guide).

18 18/26 4 Setting up the required departments For implementation, you will also need an organisational structure. The organisational structure features certain elements: Regarding the owner of the PSC tool: Account management Contact centre Developers Editorial office Help desk Maintenance and data administration Regarding the competent authorities: Editorial office Please note: We do not indicate the amount of staff members required, because those numbers will vary per country. We do however give an indication of the amount of PSC-staff members we applied in the Netherlands. 4.1 The owner of the PSC tool Account managers Account managers are responsible for contacting the competent authorities. As described before, this would mean the persons in the field. They make sure the competent authorities actually implement the PSC. They give presentations around the country and visit competent authorities. Moreover, they are responsible for the registration of the connecting competent authorities and they also service a help desk for competent authorities with questions regarding the implementation. Contact centre This centre is necessary to have people answer questions about the PSC. You can choose to provide these services via (check the form on the website), chat (not provided by us, please take care of this yourself) or by phone. You can also have the editors develop a page on the website where frequently asked questions are answered; so the other ways of communication will not be overburdened. Developers If you decide to actually develop (make new functionality, or change functionalities), we recommend that you employ have several developers for each project/tool. In chapter 3, we have pointed out the kinds of languages they need to master, so they can maintain and / or customise the system. This information is based on the number of staff members we deploy in the Netherlands. The PSC website: number of developers: 2 / 3 The PSC Message box: number of developers: 2 / 3 The Message box authentication: number of developers: 1

19 19/26 Editorial office This regards the staff responsible for the content of the website. They will be responsible for the provision of the website with content. Number of editors: at least 2. Help desk The PSC Message box and the Message box authentication both require a help desk. This is because of the need for accounts registration. Maintenance and data administration This relates to the System Administrators, as well as to the developers. They are needed to maintain the system and keep everything up and running. If your hosting is not done in-house, then this would refer to the company that hosts everything for you. 4.2 The competent authorities The competent authorities need to deliver the content for the PSC website, via the CCET. This content needs to be consistent with the content as shown on the national (governmental) website. In the Netherlands, our goal is to connect all the competent authorities, so they are able to deliver the necessary content for the Services Directive. Although we stated before that a minimum of one connected competent authority is required, of course it is preferable from a European point of view to have as many authorities connected as possible, if not all. It is also advised not to implement a standard like the CC, if you do not already have one. (Alternatively, you can have the competent authorities use the CCET). Editorial office This relates to the staff that is responsible for the content of the website. They will be responsible for writing web content specifically related to the competent authority, at least the content of the Service Directive. Number of editors: 2 or 3.

20 20/26 5 Non-deliverables In this chapter the things that will not be a part of the toolbox are listed. This in regard to: hardware, software and organisational matters. 5.1 Hardware We do not provide you with: 1. Automatic installation A fully automatic installation wizard. You need staff to implement the software, based on the documents provided. 2. Hardware, platforms and servers The Netherlands will not supply any hardware, servers or platforms. You need to arrange these yourself. 3. SMS gateway The SMS gateway for the PSC Message box and the Message box authentication cannot be provided by us, because the SMS gateway is too specific. In the Netherlands we have a specific contract with a Dutch telephone company. You will need to arrange a similar cooperation in your country: - Contract with a Telecom provider - Gain access to some of their base code, which will make it possible for you to adjust the code from the toolbox so users can receive a SMS from the system. 4. Mail server The mail server for the PSC Message box and the Message box authentication will have to be provided by yourself. 5. Service contracts and hosting The arrangements for service contracts and hosting providers. Note: Whereas we do not have the means to provide for help desk support regarding the toolbox, we do intend to start up a group on a forum. All PSC-participants will be able to share their experiences, new functionalities and best practices. 5.2 Software 1. Contact centre No contact centre (i.e. chat functionality) and no software for the contact centre, will be delivered. You have to decide which specific communication channel(s) to use and whether you want to use back office software. 2. Content syndication Content syndication, for contact information, for competent competent authorities is not included. So the PSC (Point of Single Contact) has to collect and publish this information. Explanation of content syndication / contact information : in the Netherlands, the contact details for government authorities are collected at a central point. Government organisations supply this themselves digitally, or via a central web application. The details

21 21/26 are supplied to the PSC in an XML-feed. The details can then be published on a website when a user enters a search query via a postcode or place name. You will find a link on the website which will take the user to the contact details of the government organisation in that area. 3. CC standard Implementation of the CC standard for the competent authorities. You can decide to implement it yourself; but in the Netherlands, CMS suppliers actually implement it for competent authorities. 4. Web statistics The Developers guide contains information on how to implement a web statistics tool like Google Analytics. Of course you can decide to use another tool instead. 5.3 Miscellaneous 1. Communication with end users We will not communicate with your end users, but we will deliver the user guide documentation, translated into English, so you can make it available to your own users. Please make sure you adjust this to your own situation. 2. Website with content A website with content will not be delivered, there will only be example content. You need editors to arrange the content. 3. Administrator An administrator will not be delivered to install the toolbox. 4. Sub-website In the Netherlands, we provide participants with an additional website ( Here, participants can find additional services, such as a newsletters, rss-feeds, codes for the implementation of the search box and so forth. This is specific for the Dutch authorities and cannot be copied to your situation. Therefore it will not be supplied. We strongly recommend you create your own.

22 22/26 6 Documentation PSC Toolbox In order to implement the PSC Toolbox, we provide you with both the technical building blocks and the guidance documentation. For the sake of completeness, we will sum up the documentation here: 1. Guide to the implementation of the PSC In this document, you will find a description of how the EU Services Directive can be implemented with the aid of the software supplied in the PSC Toolbox. The software components are described and their mutual relations are explained. The required departments and disciplines are also described, both for the implementation and the further development. 2. Software Architecture Document (SAD) The hardware and platform specifications required to install and start using the various software components are described in the SAD. 3. Installation plan In this document, a description is given of how the different software components have to be installed. 4. Developers guide These are instructions for the developers. We describe what adjustments they have to carry out after installing the software. Examples of the adjustments may refer to adapting colours and logos in the User Interface, setting the right language and adapting the types of organisation for the Message box. 5. User manual CMS This is a manual for the editors who will be using a CMS. 6. User manual CCET This is a manual for the competent authority's users who will be utilising the CC Export Tool. The CCET is a tool to manually couple products to the products on the PSC website. The tool allows you to create a direct link from the PSC website to the product on the competent authority's website. This ensures that the entrepreneur enters the authority's website at the right page. Please make sure you adjust the CCET to your own situation. For instance: use screen dumps of your own PSC website and your own URLs. In the user guide included with the product we give a clear explanation of where these adjustments have to be made. 7. User manual Message box This is a manual for competent authorities who will be using the Message box. The following subjects are covered in it: login, registering, setting the profile, exchanging messages, administrating the Message box and notification messages. Please make sure you adjust the Message box to your own situation. For instance: use screen dumps of your own PSC Message box and your own URLs. In the user guide, we give a clear explanation of where these adjustments have to be made.

23 23/26 8. Message box authentication documentation 9. Functional Design Message box The message box's FD is supplied as functional background information for any further development by an EU member state. 10. Technical Design Message box The TD of the Message box is supplied as technical background information for any further development by an EU member state. A number of Use Cases are described in the TD which are not yet available in the first version of the Toolbox variety of the Message box. These Use Cases are to be implemented in the next releases.. There is mention in the TD of interfaces. These interfaces do not fall within the scope of the Toolbox PSC version of the Message box.

24 24/26 7 Summary and to conclude In this document, we successively described: the elements of the PSC Toolbox, the preparation, the implementation, the setting up of the organisation and the non-deliverables. Our aim is to give you the best possible insight and preparation for the complete implementation of the PSC. Thus, we hope to provide you with a 'route planner'; a step-by-step plan which allows you to make a good start and allows you to contribute to the e-service provided within the European Union, on your country's behalf. Experience has taught us that the key issues described in this document are essential for the success of the project. The final lesson to pass on is that the cooperation between you and your client is an important link in the sum total. Be aware that it is a challenge for the competent authorities to implement the PSC in a short period of time. This connection process requires a lot of time and requires support from your client (government). Make sure you and your client are clear about this. We wish you the best of luck with the implementation of the PSC Toolbox. We are keen to hear about your experiences!

25 25/26 Appendix Glossary Authentication Competent authority Cooperating Catalogues Cooperating Catalogues Export Tool (CCET): Message box: Point of Single Contact (PSC) Services Directive Authentication is the process to check whether a person, a computer or an application really is who he / what it claims to be. An administrative body, another body, or an authority fulfilling a monitoring, licensing, or regulating role with regard to services. Cooperating Catalogues is a standard which Dutch government authorities implement in the Content Management System of the Dutch PSC website. This means the product catalogues of all government authorities are coupled in such a way that the user is led to the correct place in the correct catalogue. The CCET is a tool that can be used to manually form the meta-feed, and so provide your PSC with (part of) the necessary content. This tool is designed to be used by competent authorities. The Message box is a system for entrepreneurs to communicate with government authorities, it allows them to exchange messages and attachments. An electronic service desk where providers and users of services (consumers or businesses using services) find relevant information. Here, both local service providers and service providers from other EU member states can find information from competent authorities with whom they want to make certain arrangements. Service providers also must be able to finalise specific procedures here, such as applying for licenses. Late 2006, the European Services Directive was accepted by all member states of the European Union and must be implemented by every separate member state on 28 December The Services Directive removes obstacles, such as regulations, administrative burdens and high costs, or reduces them. This improves competition, economic growth and employment opportunities is Europe. Moreover, consumers are given more information about what is on offer and they are offered a wider choice as there are more providers. This improves the consumer's position.

26 26/26 Member states then must jointly monitor service providers. This mutual cooperation entails that entrepreneurs providing services are hassled less often for administrative procedures which gives them more time to focus on their business. ICTU-related terms ICTU eoverheid voor Bedrijven Antwoord voor bedrijven The organisation for governmental ICT implementation. ICTU works for a government that improves it performance by the clever use of ICT. ICTU brings together knowledge and skills and works on generic ICT solutions which contribute to the realisation of a modern government. Its aim is: better service provision for members of the public and companies. egovernment for Businesses. eoverheid voor Bedrijven is an ICTU programme that devises and produces clever ICT solutions for companies, thus enabling companies to do business with the government business more conveniently. Answer for businesses (AvB). The Dutch PSC website, Antwoord voor bedrijven, makes government information more accessible for entrepreneurs. Answer for businesses provides access to websites and sources of information which are administrated by other government sources. These organisations are responsible for updating their own information.