Philosophy

In 1996, net-value was commissioned to create a "truly citizen-oriented" information service for e-Government and public administrative procedures in Austria.

In 1997, http://www.help.gv.at was presented to the public. It was the first website in Europe for public authorities / e-Government structured according to the system of life situations.
Today the reasons for applying this system are more relevant than ever before:

1. Situations create the need for administrative tasks and trigger consumption

   Citizens and consumers would like to - or have to - do or consume something in view of a specific situation or are frequently compelled to.

   • We had a baby - what do I have to do now?
   • I want to buy a house - which (official) formalities do I need to take care of?
   • We want to establish a business - in which order must I call on which government / city office?
   • My grandmother passed away - which administrative formalities need to be taken care of?
   
   

2. We use and understand the language of real people

   Citizens do not want to think twice before coming up with the correct legal term for administrative formalities, forms and procedures. They want to decide what to do using terms they also use in every-day life.

   Everybody in Hamburg, Zurich or Vienna has a similar understanding of what birth, automobile, establishment of a business or employment means. However, only a few will look under the terms and numbers of official permits.

   Everybody understands the terms we use for the life situations, in Europe and beyond.

3. Across-the-board

   He / She would like to have a list of all the necessary or legal formalities at a glance and in the correct order.

   No one wants to use search engines to collect this information and then put together an information jigsaw puzzle using the information from different websites of government agencies. Structuring the information according to different life situations helps sum up all administrative formalities that relate to e.g. the theme "birth".

4. Comparability means linkability

   Real official formalities or legal requirements differ from region to region, both in their procedure as well as in what they are called.

   Yet situations are comparable. For this reason, the life situation concept makes it easy to link related official formalities even on a nationwide scale. From city to city, from country to country, within Europe and soon across the globe.

5. "Official life" and personal consumption

   A person is not only a public individual. He/She also primarily has personal needs. Life situations involving public administration also always induce private consumption.

   After a baby is born, a child's bed, napkins and baby food are needed, when school starts pencils, notebooks and a school bag are necessary.

   Structuring the website according to life situations allows for the user-friendly combination of the e-Government with private consumption at the exact time when the actual need arises - and can also contribute to financing public services in times of tight budgets.

   In our experience, however, these possibilities should only be used carefully and on the basis of a sound concept.

   Neither citizens nor government offices appreciate too much "private enterprise" on official websites and it may undermine the credibility of public services.