Registry modernisation – opportunity or risk?

The Register Modernisation Act is intended to make information and supporting documents provided by members of the public – which are already stored in public administration registers – accessible across different government departments. This saves effort for both members of the public and the administration. For example, procedures associated with a particular life event can be linked together or even carried out automatically – a dream come true for anyone who would prefer to avoid a trip to a government office or an online registration process.

This is what the registration process following the birth of a child might look like in a few years’ time: the state, health insurance provider and employer – as key recipients of the information – receive relevant data such as address, preferred parental leave arrangements, etc., via a central portal where parents need only enter this information once. The so-called ‘once-only’ principle would then replace the need to submit separate applications for family insurance, parental allowance, child benefit, maternity pay and parental leave.

The administration benefits as less complex processes speed up procedures and free up specialist staff for other tasks. As applications can be processed on the basis of quality-assured data, there is no need to wait for data to be supplied retrospectively, resulting in a fully digital end-to-end process. Standard cases can be decided without the need for a case worker’s intervention, as is already the case today with income tax returns.

In addition to the digital application process for individual claims required by the Online Access Act, modern registers operating in the background are the key to an integrated digital administration. Through cross-agency links, they create a truly efficient and citizen-friendly administration.

On the other hand, the interlinking of data must not result in cross-references that leave citizens completely exposed to the state. As always, it is a balancing act between convenience and data protection. To link as much information as possible whilst simultaneously protecting data from unauthorised access, there are two specific measures.

Measures

1. Access protection verifies legitimacy:

The 4-Corner Model, a modern interaction pattern for data exchange, prevents uncontrolled data access by a data-retrieving body. Access to data in a register is only possible upon verification of identity by an authorising body.

2. The data protection dashboard ensures transparency:

Every instance of data retrieval relating to citizens is logged. This makes it possible to trace which authority accessed which data and when.

Conclusion

Register modernisation is a huge step towards greater citizen-friendliness. It offers the opportunity for a completely new form of interaction between citizens submitting applications, businesses and public authorities. Materna supports register modernisation through the development of specialised procedures and portal solutions, the integration of e-files and the implementation of OZG services.