The "E-Government Starter Kit" (EGSK) facilitates quick and scalable entry into electronic management for public administration and authorities which caters for the needs of members of the public. Designed by Microsoft and PC-WARE as a modular and virtual agency, the entry package incorporates all the software required to enable processes and communication via the Web. It has its origins in a community project involving twelve municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), the North Rhine-Westphalia Association of Towns and Municipalities and Microsoft Deutschland GmbH. It can be used by all administrative bodies - customisation and scalability options are also integral to the package.

EGSK supports specialist applications, it has a user database and enables the administration of all components from a standard, browser-based interface. It includes central rights management which can be used to control view and approval permissions. Web support can therefore be used for sending, processing and dealing with all sorts of enquiries from members of the public, companies and institutes. The motto is: go on the Internet rather than to the office. Both sides save time and resources, administration processes are accelerated, made more efficient and are generally far more oriented towards members of the public.

Quicker entry with the E-Government Starter Kit

It is the natural choice for smaller municipalities, where EGSK can be installed in a computing centre and be up and running within a few days to bring their administration up to date. Operation via computing centres has another advantage: several municipalities can work with just a single installation at the same time. However, the option remains for individual configurations for each individual municipality whilst keeping costs to a minimum. With the EGSK, existing and new technical processes are supplied to the end user in a standardised form. Using an integrated rights and role management system, users can adapt the use of online services with flexibility.

The following applications are already currently available: Information from authorities vie the Internet, applications for documents relating to civil status, hazardous incident reporting, payment processes with transaction codes and fee confirmation as well as optional support of legally binding, secure document exchange (Link). What's more the EGSK contains an integration element for existing directory services and meta directories for flexible control of processes.