Citizen service begins on the homepage

How innovative technologies simplify access to public information on the web

Whether the information and forms they are looking for can be found efficiently using the website's search function directly influences the quality of service in the eyes of citizens. Providing data in a user-friendly manner is therefore one of the most important steps in digitization in the public sector. This article is intended to show how an onsite search on municipal websites can be optimally implemented and what advantages this brings - to citizens as well as to the administration.

Digitalization as an opportunity for greater service quality

Digitalization offers an excellent opportunity to simplify access to public services. The best example of this is the success of the “Digital Office” app. Over a million Austrians are already using the application to carry out official business conveniently from their smartphone. “Signing official documents or submitting applications while sitting in a café without ever having to visit an office in person – this is a big step towards a more efficient and citizen-friendly administration,” says Christoph Wendl, CEO of Iphos IT Solutions GmbH. The Viennese company has the company's internal search engine and onsite search searchit has been developing and dealing intensively with the requirements of the public sector for a long time. Since the Corona year 2020, Iphos IT Solutions has been leading the “Austria is looking!” campaign. Digitalization offensive for government organizations”.

Onsite search – search all information and forms on a website

When websites are put into operation, the importance of search is often not taken into account - however, once a website reaches a certain level of complexity and size, the standard search functions reach their limits. One reason for this: files are only searched for titles, but not for content and metadata. A major disadvantage when official forms, legal texts and regulations are named with abbreviations that are meaningless to laypeople. It sometimes happens that citizens rack their brains over an outdated version of a form while the link to the current form is hidden in some subpage.
A key element of modern websites, especially for cities and towns, is an intuitive search function directly on the page. This so-called onsite search allows users to quickly find the information they want without having to navigate through countless menus. “Imagine being able to find everything from opening times, events to specific legal details with a single click – that’s onsite search,” explains Wendl.
The further development of public administration in the digital space primarily serves to achieve better services for citizens. “Access to all the information we need, from municipal housing, healthcare, taxes to cultural events, should be easy and quick for everyone,” Wendl continued. “Our enterprise search software searchit is intended to contribute to such a citizen-oriented service with its convenient onsite search.”

Search pictorial documents such as scans and images with one click

“Municipalities have to manage many different media: from images, databases, to newspaper articles and forms. In order to offer the most efficient search possible, with searchit “Almost every file format can be searched, even scanned documents and images,” explains Wendl. For this purpose, another innovative tool can be integrated into the public sector's digital toolbox: OCR technology, short for 'optical character recognition'. This technique turns scanned documents and photos into searchable and readable text. “Even if you only have a photo of a document, our system can recognize the text in the image and make it searchable. This makes it much easier to find specific information in a variety of documents.”

Multisite Search – Comprehensive search for all municipal services

Federal, state and local governments - in most countries the public sector operates on many levels - and this is reflected in the digital space. It is not always clear to citizens which institution and department they can turn to with their concerns. In the worst case, a call ends up in a telephone chain that ends in a dead end after several forwardings.
“Many municipalities offer a variety of websites – from social institutions to tourism associations,” says Wendl. “Optimally, a multisite search is used here: a kind of super search function that makes it possible to access information from different connected websites at the same time. This means a citizen could view both local ordinances and national laws with just one request.”

To create such a link of information between state and local offices, Iphos IT Solutions implemented the searchit a multisite search for the State Office for Broadband and Surveying in Bavaria. The LDBV maintains over 400 official Bavarian websites with information such as legal texts. With searchit For example, citizens can also find relevant information from the main page of the Bavarian Tax Office on these websites of each municipal tax office - and vice versa." Every month, around a quarter of a million search queries are made on the Bavarian offices' websites searchit carried out and searched hundreds of thousands of files in various formats using full-text searches.

Inclusivity through barrier-free presentation of results

Municipalities and cities have a special responsibility to make their information accessible and accessible. Wendl reports how searchit addresses this crucial requirement in the public sector: “An important aspect of our work is ensuring that information is accessible to everyone, regardless of physical limitations. We rely on 'ReadSpeaker'. This software makes texts accessible through speech output. This means that people with visual impairments can easily access information – simply by having the content read to them.”

Management in the digital space instead of in the waiting room

If questions can be answered without having to call or visit the office, more resources are freed up for officials and employees. At a time when there is a shortage of skilled workers in public spaces, this means less processing work for employees and improved service quality for citizens - a win-win situation. Queues and waiting rooms are also relieved and processes can run faster and more transparently.

“We know about the organizational effort that content management represents on public websites,” says Wendl from experience. “With the use of an effective search, problems can be solved before they occur. “From our project priorities, we are also aware of the special demands on Internet security in the public sector and eliminate potential security gaps from the start,” promises Wendl in conclusion.