How The City of Rotterdam Continues Digitization Throughout the Pandemic

An agile approach that empowers governments to transition successfully and seamlessly into the digital space using low-code and no-code technology is what’s happening right now in Rotterdam, the major port city in the Dutch province of South Holland. Digital DNA for Omnichannel Delivery in the Netherlands was created and is how the city of Rotterdam continues digitization throughout the pandemic.

A solution for the issues around social distancing created by the ongoing pandemic, Digital Counter (De Digitale Balie) is a secure digital portal created by CLEVR and is used by the municipality and citizens of Rotterdam to complete necessary tasks in a digital capacity. The digital counter was built using Mendix technology to create a municipal video call service that includes identification, payments, and secure file exchange.

Solutions That Drastically Reduce Time-to-Market

CLEVR has an agile approach in building Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Software-with-a-Service (SWAS) solutions that drastically reduce time-to-market, increase adaptability and collaboration across organizations and departments and ensure data security. These solutions are critical, especially considering that:

• 50% of the public sector will have intelligent core legacy applications by 2025
• 95% new IT investments by the public sector will be in service solutions
• 97% of government officials see benefits of adopting automation

Adjust in Order to Facilitate Continuity in the Pandemic

COVID-19 and the continuing pandemic changed us all and how we do our daily business. The public sector was also hugely affected and faced the weight of an enormous burden. Suddenly, staff were all working from home, and the existing IT landscape had to adjust in order to facilitate continuity and cope with the change. COVID-19 simply reinforced the need for digital services.

Normally, physical interaction is required for day-to-day civic requirements:

• Obtaining a birth or a death certificate
• Registering a birth
• Getting a marriage certificate

These are all everyday tasks. However, authorities face a bigger challenge concerning privacy and data. They need to be 100% sure that the people they talk to are who they say they are, and security must be guaranteed on both sides of any conversation or exchange of documents. Standard city processes that required going to a government office have become a continuous challenge for municipalities all over the world. So what’s the solution?

A Very CLEVR Solution

Enter CLEVR Digital Counter and ground-breaking low-code technology. The result was completed in just six weeks, and is a fast digital alternative to service workflows.

• Civic affairs may be conducted through authentication-based video-centric solutions
• Remote assistance for all civic matters
• Integrated security and eID authentication

“At the beginning of lockdown, we were presented with the task of building an end-to-end encrypted platform that would meet the expectations of residents and legislative authorities,” said Bjorn Dirkse, a project manager at the City of Rotterdam. “In six weeks, we were able to create the digital desk that allowed residents and city officials to communicate and complete government processes in a fast and secure way. With low-code, we are able to continue to change the application based on the needs of the residents – something that has never been done before.” A summary of this project can be found here.

Digitization is quickly transforming our world. Digitization is the main source of growth, innovation and new business. The digital economy will continue to grow, increasing dependence on computer technologies. This also means that people and organizations will use more and more data in the future. Rotterdam—widely known for its position as a connectivity node in Europe —is also seen to be leading the way in digitization through the pandemic.