F2 GRANT MANAGEMENT CASE | THE DANISH ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCY

Joint habitats in Natura 2000 areas.
New grant management solution for the Danish Environmental Agency

The Environmental Agency manages 35 different grant programs; parts of which are digitally supported by e.g. work procedures via email or PDF, website forms, specialized software as well as an older EDRMS solution. This resulted in an urgent need for the agency to both streamline and automate their internal case procedures, to increase transparency, improve documentation and security, and to simplify the application processes. The Environmental Agency is part of the future state-wide IT system initiative for grant management governed by the Agency for Public Finance and Management. It was therefore important that investment in a new grant management system would be returned quickly, and that the elements of the new solution could be reused and integrated with the future national solution once adapted by the Environmental Agency. The solution elements include the agency’s case administration processes, the F2 GIS solution, and the registration of area responsibilities. Consequently, the Environmental Agency has chosen as their basis the F2 standard software, while also adopting it as a general EDRMS and using it to digitize their administrative case procedures. Their aim is to ensure a fast implementation while minimizing risk and limiting costs. In 2019, the Environmental Agency was provided with an individual solution to support case management of rulings related to the CITES convention, which governs the international trade of protected animals and plants. Experience from this solution proved that it was possible to quickly set up and configure complex case flows in the F2 standard system; fully integrated with self-service, integration with external indexes, and an automated step-by-step case management supporting the CITES EU decree through built-in checklists and a rules engine.

F2 Grant Administration
A new grant administration project was announced at the beginning of June 2019, and the Danish Environmental Agency initially tested F2 as support for the Habitats in Natura 2000 Areas grant program. The Environmental Agency has proceeded to support other programs by reapplying the process library from the Joint Habitats in Natura 2000 Areas project. F2 Grant Administration is built directly in F2 by configuring and adding new case procedures to F2’s process library. This means that it’s fast and easy to reconfigure the solution for use with other grant management programs, either by variance control or by copying a given process and adapting it to a new solution. The use of standard software means that the solution is easy to maintain, upgrade and improve upon. Functionally, the solution is fully integrated and supports the primary processes of application and approval, request and payout, and fund accounting and overview. The intelligent self-service and assisted service fully integrates with Digital Post (the electronic mailing system of the Danish public authorities), making it easier for the applicant while minimizing errors using an initial check of the information received from the self-service solution. The case processing supports case steps (“pigeonholes”) with both individual and unit mailboxes for e.g. screening, sorting, prioritizing, recommendations, surveying, registration, and review. In combination with a role-based separation of functions, the many built-in checks minimize the risk of fraud. In addition, the solution is fully integrated with Stat (a financial system for state- Navision owned enterprises) and includes case and fund accounting to manage payouts and provide an overview of finances and the option of balancing each transaction.

F2 supports mission critical processes directly in the standard system
F2 is a thoroughly tested standard system. F2 is built to support public administration, and today it’s run by more than 50 Danish authorities. The F2 standard system offers the unique option of supporting individual case processes directly, including tasks ranging from self-service to case management, integration with external systems, and the filing and completion of cases. A new case process is added to F2 by describing and configuring a so-called process template, which is stored in an F2 process library. Each process template is assigned a case type. When a new case is created, either by a citizen through the self-service or internally, it is assigned a case type. F2 then uses the related case template to manage and support each case flow. As an example, F2 Grant Administration consists of three fundamental processes corresponding to three case types. For the citizen, a grant related to Natura 2000 is divided into two phases. First, a citizen submits an application, and then the citizen requests a payout. The Natura 2000 solution is therefore supported in F2 by the three fundamental processes: Approval, Payout, and Funds Management. Each is described and stored as a process template in F2’s process library. The Environmental Agency initiates a new round by creating a new funds case in which the funding framework is established. This case also sets the deadline for citizens’ applications. The funds case, then, controls each round and provides a general overview. When a round is opened, citizens can apply for a grant through the website. The applicant is guided through each step of the process, and for each application, F2 creates an approval case. Applications go through a number of steps. These include screening, sorting, and prioritization, which result in approval or rejection for each case. The funds case is updated automatically during the process to let the authority maintain an overview of all applications and approvals. When an application is approved, requests and payouts become available. These are also accessed through the website, which guides the citizen through the processes and creates a payout case. The case management entails registration, surveying, and de minimis checks after which a payout is authorised and greenlighted for release in Navision Stat. The funds case is updated simultaneously to provide an overview and status. The funds case entails the accounting of the overall funding and the option of balancing both individual cases and transactions. The funds case also documents any communication with Navision Stat.