The portal HELP.gv.at
The first place to go for questions about public authorities or eGovernment services is the portal.
The HELP.gv.at site as a "one-stop-shop" portal and the application of the citizen card as a uniform system of electronic identification in Austria contributed significantly to its success. Entire procedures are able to be carried out electronically without changes in the type of media, starting from filling out an application form and paying fees, to internal processing (ELAK) and delivering official documents and notifications.
The website is designed to be barrier-free so that it can be used with ease by those with special needs or older people with diminished eyesight. The navigation was designed to be as simple and straightforward as possible so that users do not need to click around too much in order to find the desired area. All available content is listed from A to Z and also arranged according to topic into major categories and themes.
The HELP.gv.at site also contains general information on eGovernment services and provides links to the corresponding solutions. The menu item "Forms/Online procedures" contains an exhaustive list of application forms for all public authorities in Austria, from A to Z. The application forms found here can be downloaded, filled out and sent to the corresponding authority by regular post or eMail. Many of the application forms can even be filled out and signed directly online, entirely paperless and without any further action necessary.
Service point for public authorities
The digital help site, HELP.gv.at is the first place to go for citizens and businesses to find information on Austrian public authorities. This Internet portal is also a service point for the government itself. For mayors, secretaries of municipalities, and others in local and provincial politics, the portal serves as a guide to Austrian public authorities and institutions. A multitude of transactions can be conducted directly online.
Processing transactions electronically does more than just offer advantages to customers of government services; it also makes work easier for the government and brings enormous savings potential with it.
One way of supporting eGovernment is to become a partner of HELP.gv.at. The central portal of the Austrian Federal Government provides what is referred to as a content syndication mechanism that enables distribution and re-use of Web content.
This mechanism makes it possible for content from the HELP.gv.at site to be embedded on other Web sites. The content is being updated automatically without the need for further maintenance or administration. All changes made by the central content providers are transmitted and updated automatically. The subscriber gains high-quality and up-to-date content.
HELP.gv.at offers content sharing to partner agencies, such as municipalities, free-of-charge, whereby the partner gains additional benefits from it. Technically, it is possible to fully integrate content in a content management system with only a few lines of code. This content can then be displayed using the authority's own stylesheets.