Effective e-Government Process Monitoring and Interoperation: A Case Study on the Removal of
Unauthorized Building Works in Hong Kong
Dickson K. W. CHIUSenior Member, IEEE
Dickson Computer SystemsHong Kong
[email protected], [email protected]
Jenny Y.Y. Wong Kai Pan Mark
Dept. of ComputingHong Kong Polytechnic
University [email protected]
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Introduction
Governments are looking for ICT to facilitate process co-ordination to improve service delivery
Typical characteristics Complaints Urgency Monitoring of process
Case study: Removal of unauthorized building works in HK
serious problem requires much resources and monitoring effort
Technical solution Event-driven process collaboration (HICSS36) Alerts (HICSS37) Web services
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Background
Building Ordinance- all building works require prior approval of plans and
consent to commence works from Building Department (BD)
- without approval => unauthorized building works (UBW)
As at 2003, more than 700,000 UBW BD determines to remove UBW to safeguard
public interest
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Typical WorkflowsProcedures for enforcing s.24 orders
Identify buildings with UBWfrom complaints, large-scale
operations and walking surveys
Conduct site inspection
Issue advisoryletter or no further
actionIssue s.24 orderAny serious
defects?NoYes
Issue complianceletter
Conductcomplianceinspection
Has the s.24order been
complied with?
Yes
Refer the case to the defaultworks consultant (DWC)
DWC submits his supervisionproposal to BD
DWC supervises thegovernment contrctor
to carry out the removal works
BD issues compliance letter todischarge the s.24 order
BD to recover costs fromowners
BD may considerprosecution
action at the sametime
Procedures for cost recovery from ownersGovernment contractor (GC)completes the removal works
BD issues Demand Notes (DN) to ownersfor cost recovery
DN settled?
BD serves an s.33 certificate to the debtorand registers the s.33 certificate with
the Land Registry (LR)
BD refers a case (with unpaid balance >=pre-defined limit) to Department of Justice
(DoJ) for recovery. DoJ will consider , whereappropriate, legal proceedings for the cases
Debt settled?
BD requires LR to notify it of any futuredealings on the subject property
BD/DoJ issues final warning letter beforeexpiry of time limits for legal action
BD/DoJ conducts final review 1 year beforeexpiry of time limits for leagla action
BD proceeds to write off the debts
BD certifies and makes payments to GC
BD issues acompliance letter
Yes
No
BD issues and registerswith the LR aMemorial ofSatisfaction
Yes
No
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Requirements Overview
Internet
Internet
Collect information on UBW & provide inspection result
Site inspection team
The Land Registry
Department of Justice
Collect debt details
Confirm compliance with s.24 order
Collect information on UBW & provide survey/inspection reports
Collect information on UBW & provide supervision proposal
Provide ownership details
Blitz contractors
Default Works Contractor
Building owners and their contractors
Buildings Department
Monitor progress and workflow of UBW removal
Complainants
Provide basic information of UBW
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Existing problems
Monitoring process is very resources consuming and human intensive.
Records are kept on different paper-based files. Exchange of data/information are mainly in
paper format. Cannot keep track of the necessary actions and
generate reminders / alerts.
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System Architecture & Design
Land Registry
EmployeesDepartment of Justice
Contractor
Building RecordsInformation
System
StatusMonitor
AlertManagement
System
BuildingCondition
InformationSystem
CollaborationProcessEnactor
Inspection RecordSystem
EventAdapter
TimerContractorMonitoring
System
RequirementEnforcer
Web S
erv
ices In
terfa
ce
ECA Rules,Scheduling Rules,Event Repository,Event Subsciption
List
Internet
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Event-driven process collaboration
Event-Condition-Action RulesOn event if condition then actionAn event occurs, it triggers some rules. The condition parts of the rules will be evaluated. If condition is satisfied, the action part, which is a workflow, will be executed.
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Enactment requirements (1)
Fulfill the workflow functions: assign tasks to agents (people/systems) retrieve information needed to complete a task remind agents about their parts
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Enactment requirements (2)
Example- upon input of a complaint case, retrieve an
approved building plan from BD’s legacy system, then notify the unit head.
Event received(CASE) finish(building plan(CASE))
Condition
true true
Action retrieve(building_plan(CASE))
notify(unit_head(CASE))
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Enforcement Requirements (1) Facilitates exception detection and handling Monitor becomes active only when an
exception occurs Exceptions: failure to find an agent for a task,
failure to get information, missed deadlines, etc.
Temporal events, generated by timer, to detect non-fulfillment of action by a deadline
Event onDay(deadline(BAO))
Condition
NOT occurred(BAO)
Action raise (exception(BAO))
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Enforcement Requirements (2)
Example:Within N days after the expiry of S.24 order, a compliance inspection has to be performed.
Event onDay(after(expirydate(S24order), N)
Condition NOT occurred(COMPLIANCE_INSPECT)
Action raise (exception(COMPLIANCE_INSPECT)
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Alert Management System
Responsible for sending alert messages, receiving reply, maintain alert status and logging information
Urgency of alert is a function of time
Urgency level Action
Near due Reminder
Due Send an alert to the same action party, notifying that the task is due
Overdue Send a second alert to the action party
Long overdue Send a very urgent alert to the action party as well as the concerned supervisor/officer in charge
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Web Services
ExampleRetrieve ownership details of the UBW from Land Registry
checkOwner Web ServiceInput: OwnerRequestRequest sourceRequest IDSearch OptionAccount
- Account No.- Account Name
Address- Lot- Development Name- Block
- Floor- Flat No.- House No.- Street Name- Area Code
Output: OwnerResponseMemorial No.Nature of InstrumentDate of InstrumentNameHKIC No.Share
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Process integration: Identification of UBW to issue of S.24 order
Hotline Center UBWMS Unit head Inspection Team
Record a compliantRetrieve approvedbuilding plan, S.24
orders, etc.Conduct
preliminary review
Worksapproved?
Removalaction being
taken?
Conduct site inspectionand complete
insepction report
Notify the result tothe complainant
Existence ofUBW?
Issue advisory letter
Retrieve ownershipdetails from Land
Registry
Generate RemovalOrder (s.24 order)
Endorse therecommendation for
removal
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
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Summary
Web services enables collaboration among service partners
ECA Rules in workflow process to fulfill enactment and enforcement requirements
AMS to monitor urgent and important tasks Benefits to users, management and system
developers
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Future Work
Defining and allocating new responsibilities of different stakeholders – who handle what at different urgency levels
Capturing the engineering expertise for classifying urgency from the existing human process to the automation
Integrate disparate channels for reporting UBW in a call center portal
Applicability to other e-government and public administration applications
Workforce management Security and privacy issues
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Question and Answer
Thank you!
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