End-to-end digital processes: From the online access act to digital certificates

The Online Access Act is a specific German Act (Onlinezugangsgesetz; OZG) that is driving digitisation in German public administration. The success of the digital transformation of administrative processes depends on the ability to process submitted orders, including the associated documents, without errors due to incompatible file formats. In order to achieve far-reaching digitisation and optimisation of administrative processes, the entire process must be digitised, from the electronic submission of orders to the preparation of decisions. The Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) has risen to this challenge by issuing machine-readable certificates that customers can reuse without error. This paper discusses the different scenarios for the digital transformation of administrative processes that have already been implemented at PTB. The first scenario describes the implementation of the Online Access Act (OZG) through the development of the web-based customer portal "E-Service", which ensures error-free ordering and also enables all communication between customers and PTB. The second scenario describes the digital transformation of the entire follow-up process. The key elements of successful digitisation are data, interfaces and processes. The data required to generate a digital certificate is transferred error-free via interfaces during the process. This approach makes it possible to realise an optimised work process for the implementation of all-digital workflows.