Prior to the introduction of the eForms platform, online forms had to be created by software developers. The forms platform enables us to launch new online services more quickly.
What are eForms?
eForms are web pages that collect information from customers. Unlike paper forms, they can ask the customer for different information depending on how they have answered previous questions. This enables forms to be shorter, simpler and quicker to fill in than paper forms. Data entered can be validated automatically, reducing errors and improving the quality of the information collected.
Once the eForm has been submitted, the eForms system routes the customer's request to the relevant department, adding data to the appropriate database and generating any PDF files or emails that are needed as part of the process. eForms can also incorporate online payments.
Why do we need an eForms platform?
Prior to the introduction of the eForms platform, online forms had to be created by software developers. It was expensive to have a form created, and we had to pay each time we wanted to change any aspect of the form. This meant departments were less willing to offer online services.
Now that we have an online forms platform we can create or change eForms much more quickly and at a lower cost per form. The number of online services available has increased substantially and there is a waiting list for more forms to be created.
Challenges we faced
The forms platform,
govService, is cloud-based and provided as software-as-a-service by Granicus. This was one of the first major cloud-based systems we'd implemented and required integration with States of Jersey systems within our firewall. We had to configure our firewalls to allow this, and carry out penetration tests to prove that our systems remained secure.
Our other systems that the forms platform had to be integrated with included:
- Active Directory, so that our staff are automatically logged in to the forms platform
- email servers, so that forms can generate emails that come from a @gov.je address
- Online payments, so that we can create forms that accept debit and credit card payments using our current payment providers
- SQL databases, so that data collected in online forms can feed into the many different departmental systems that use Microsoft SQL Server databases
- XML web services, a common way of connecting systems together and exchanging data between them
- CAF, our postal address database, so that people can enter their postcode and then pick from a list of addresses rather than typing their address out in full
- gov.je, so that we could embed eForms in pages on the site
- MyStates, our intranet, so that we could create eForms for staff to use such as for approving travel requests
- MyGov, our old online services platform, so that people that have logged into MyGov would have their identity passed through to the online forms enabling information about them to be pre-filled
- Microsoft CRM, so that when an eForm is submitted a record in the CRM system can be created
- Microsoft SharePoint, so that submitting an eForm can result in the creation of an item in a SharePoint list
- file stores, so that documents uploaded by the customer within the form can be saved to a network location
We had to create a new team within Information Services who would focus on the creation of eForms. We seconded staff from other parts of Information Services to form the initial team and also hired an interim manager, funded by the eGov programme. The team needed to be trained on the new system and were then able to train others so that we could create sufficient capacity across the organisation. We further increased our capacity for forms creation by training local software companies and passing work to them, also using funding from the eGovernment programme.
We had to come up with our own standards and guidelines for creation of eForms so they would all work in a similar way and be of a consistently high quality.
Someone from the team went from department to department explaining what the new forms platform could do, and adding to the list of services that could be offered through it.
We upgraded the forms that we created early in the project to a newer version of govService that works better when accessed from a smartphone or tablet.
What's next?
Now that the platform is in place we will work through the long list of online services that departments would like to offer online.
Some services can only be offered online once we have the
digital ID platform in place. Once it is available we will integrate it into the online forms platform and then start to expand the range of services to include those that depend on knowing with certainty who the user that is logged on is.
Business owner
Jonathan Williams - Business Change Director
Project sponsor
Marcus Ferbrache - Head of Digital Delivery
Latest progress
Latest progress updates of our online services available on OneGov, our online customer portal.
gov.je