WAS – Workflow Automation Solution

MITA operates the Workflow Automation Solution, which provides all the tools necessary for the creation of public and internal facing eServices.

eServices replace the traditional paper forms or forms generated through legacy form generators because they allow eServices to be built and full process automation through the use of workflows. Furthermore, a dashboard allows authenticated citizens to check on the status of their online applications for public services. The power of the solution is such that it enables changes to processes and workflows to be made relatively quickly.

The WAS takes advantage of technology-based automation of business processes that aid improvement to the quality of service delivery as well as an optimised value chain that complements the resources available within government. The platform provides tools for both simple and highly complex processes to be automated and facilitates experimentation to continuously optimise business operations and achieve administrative simplification. It brings economies of scale and efficiency in the development of digital services.

Introduction

The Government of Malta, like any other Government, is made up of several processes, some of which may be very complex. Such processes can either be verticals within a specific administrative unit and, even more so, others span horizontally across ministries or entities. Whilst the Government has consistently been at the forefront of digitalisation, even when compared with other EU Countries, such is the diverse amount of processes that there are still relatively manual processes or ones that are digitised to some extent. In either case more can be done and achieved. Up till the past few months the lack of an automation tool was a limiting factor, one that was identified and fully addressed by the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA).

In this context, the Agency has invested in a tool that would allow the Government to digitise its eServices whilst also introducing automation of specific process within Government, thus leveraging on technologies that can enhance and improve on current manual or semi-digitised processes. Put simply, this tool, known as the Workflow Automation Solution (WAS), is a technology-based automation platform based on a powerful workflow engine. It allows business processes automation and reengineering, leading to a new level of digital transformation. Such a platform is the result of different components integrated together that creates an effective value chain to complement the resources across Government entities. In today’s society and circumstances the ability to adapt fast and be resilient will provide the Government with improved services to its citizens and across departments. Through the Workflow Automation Platform, highly complex processes can be built, maintained and enhanced with room for experimentation to allow for adjustments that are required to be done in a short period of time, when the circumstances demand it.

The tools itself cuts across the entire Government of Malta, since it is a sophisticated tool made available to all Public Sector and Public Service and is one of the main pillars of the CONvErGE Programme, thus the platform was also part EU Funded (EU Funds for Malta 2014-2020). Furthermore, the tool is hosted on the MITA Hybrid Platform, the latter itself an award winning and internationally acclaimed hosting solution.

Platform Business Achievements

The WAS has been implemented in such a way that it achieves the following seven primary business objectives:

1. Implementation of electoral commitment
2. Process Automation
3. Creative Visual Modelling of Processes
4. Continuous Business Process Improvement through Analytics
5. Citizen Centric Services
6. Back-Office Dashboard and Reporting
7. Mobile Enabled Services

Platform Technology Achievements

To address the above business objectives, the platform is built on a resilient environment that delivers the following technology aspects:

1. Out of the Box Centralised Branding
2. Multilingual by Default
3. Data Encryption at Rest and In Transit
4. Role-Based Access Control
5. Automated eService Creation
6. Sophisticated Rule and Workflow Engine
7. Data Pre-Population, Once Only Principle and Data Models
8. Common Components and Third-Party Integrations
9. Process Driven Notifications