A pilot scheme involving smart lockers or a smart vault that allows citizens in Aalter (East Flanders) to collect administrative documents outside office hours has been judged to be a success and will be extended to the rest of Flanders. The local government agency will be in charge of providing municipalities that so wish with the technical know-how. The decision comes after a positive evaluation of the pilot in Aalter that has been running for a year. Officials from a lot of local authorities have already visited the town to see how it works.
In Aalter, you no longer need to make an appointment to collect certain administrative documents. The municipality puts them in a digital vault or locker, where you can pick them up whenever you want, even outside opening hours.
Security is provided via the Itsme app, a digital identification application on your smartphone. ‘When people present at the digital locker, we need to be sure that they are the citizen who requested the documents,’ explains alderman Mathias Van de Walle. ‘That's why we use the Itsme app to do authentication.’
‘4.5 out of 5 for efficiency’
The municipality already used the digital vault to deliver 212 documents. Both younger and older people use the system. It saves a lot of time. ‘Per week, it allows us to free up time for front-desk employees. In that time they can now help other people,’ says Mr Van de Walle. ‘Users give the system 4.5 out of 5 for efficiency and user-friendliness.’
The locker also has drawbacks. You can only collect provisional driving licences or a first international passport. Identity cards cannot yet be issued in this way because the municipality requires a fingerprint upon delivery. And, for a second international passport, the first has to be securely destroyed. ‘We are bound by the legal framework,’ the alderman stresses.
Bigger lockers needed for larger equipment!
Some 20 local councils from across the country have already visited Aalter to check out the system. Flanders subsidised the pilot project and wants to encourage other municipalities to use it. ‘The local government agency is putting Aalter's experiences and procedures into a so-called ‘blueprint’ from which other cities and municipalities can draw inspiration,’ says Mathias Van de Walle.
Aalter itself wants to expand the system. ‘We already use the vault for smaller items, e.g. keys needed by an association. In the future, we want larger vaults, so that other larger equipment can be exchanged as well,’ Mr Van de Walle explains.