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National Business Information Service

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This message was forwarded through the Red Rock Eater News Service (RRE). Send any replies to the original author, listed in the From: field below. You are welcome to send the message along to others but please do not use the "redirect" command. For information on RRE, including instructions for (un)subscribing, send an empty message to rre-help@weber.ucsd.edu

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Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 15:02:27 +1000 From: Roger Clarke Subject: Information for Businesses - NBIS-Enqy

The Australian Government is in the process of co-ordinating the information services it provides to business, through what it is calling a National Business Information Service (NBIS).

The Australian NBIS is to be largely web-based, but must also support the needs of businesses that are not yet web-capable, through such channels as call-centres and polled-fax. More information is available from: http://www.ausindustry.gov.au/ by going to the Site-Map, and selecting Business Information Service from within Programs and Services.

NBIS is likely to become part of a wider Single Entry Point (SEP), to provide businesses with access to all levels of Government. The SEP is currently being planned, and the first stage is moving into implementation. More information about the Single Entry Point for business is at: http://www.dwrsb.gov.au/smallbus/sept/septhome.htm

I'm a member of a consortium which is conducting a consultancy assignment for the relevant government agencies, researching into such initiatives. This email seeks information from members of several relevant Internet communities. The remainder of the message provides further details.

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BACKGROUND

The kinds of information that the NBIS is focussed on are primarily:

  • compliance obligations, such as licences and registration;
  • assistance programmes, e.g. export facilitation, R&D grants; and
  • info re tax, industrial relations, occupational health and safety.

    • The Government's priority concerns include:

  • small and medium enterprises (SMEs);
  • co-ordinated, multi-agency 'windows' or 'single entry points', rather
    • than sites maintained by individual agencies;
  • co-ordination across multiple tiers of government (Australia has a
    • federal or Commonwealth level, 8 States and Territories, and 700 local government areas or Councils);
  • co-ordination with industry associations;
  • co-ordination with, and service to, business intermediaries
    • such as accountants, tax agents and business advisors; and
  • a business life-cycle approach (e.g. a starting-point and coherent
    • information for start-up, for annual obligations, for sale, for wind-up, etc.).

    The intention is to customise the information provision to the needs of the specific user. This will require profile information about the user, however, and is likely to be a medium-term rather than an early feature.

    RELEVANT INITIATIVES AROUND THE WORLD

    The Australian Government is interested in learning from what other governments have done, and are doing, in this area. The 'beacon case studies' that we're focusing on at the moment are:

  • the Canadian Government's 'Canada Business Service Centres' (CBSC)
    • http://www.cbsc.org/

    supported by the key federal department's 'Strategis' site http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/engdoc/maintxt.html

    and by the 'Intergovernmental On-Line Information Kiosk' http://www.intergov.gc.ca/

  • Washington State's Business Licences Page
    • http://www.wa.gov/dol/bpd/buslic.htm

    The U.S. Government approach appears to be somewhat diffuse, including:

  • the Department of Commerce's Business Advisor
    • http://www.business.gov/
  • the Small Business Administration
    • http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/textonly/

    I haven't yet managed to locate any leading examples in Europe.

    ASSISTANCE SOUGHT

    I would much appreciate assistance in the forms of:

  • suggestions of additional 'beacon case studies' that we should
    • examine;

  • reports and articles relevant to the matter;

  • appropriate organisational arrangements, including statutory
    • provisions, and contractual arrangements among the parties;

  • key design features of schemes, in particular whether the databases
    • are centralised or distributed, and what standards and classification schemes have been applied;

    * - how systems have been developed (e.g. who built the system, designed the system, defined the data and business rules, and defined the data in the system - particularly the extent of government or private sector involvement);

  • lessons learnt about system implementation, management, costs, funding
    • mechanisms and marketing (including how use of the system is being encouraged);

  • take-up statistics, and other performance indicators; and

  • experiences of and observations on initiatives of this nature.
    • Comments from actual businesspeople who've had real experience of using such services would be especially valuable.

    If there is significant feedback from the e-lists and individuals that I am sending this to, then I will consolidate it, and post it to each of the lists.

    Please keep the string 'NBIS-Enqy' in the Subject-Line of your reply, so that my filter will allocate your message to the right in-tray.

    Thank you very much for your assistance ... Roger Clarke

    ABOUT US

    The consultancy firms performing the assignment are:

  • Electronic Trading Concepts of Sydney - ETC,
    • Australia's leading electronic commerce strategy consultancy http://www.etc.com.au/

  • Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd of Canberra
    • (company site and community-service URL below)

    Roger Clarke http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/ http://www.etc.com.au/Xamax/ Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd, 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916 mailto:Roger.Clarke@anu.edu.au

    Visiting Fellow, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology The Australian National University Canberra ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA Information Sciences Building Room 211 Tel: +61 2 6249 3666 ```

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