Digital Gateway 2 Government

For the handling of goods in the airports and seaports in Flanders, communication between companies and government services, like customs, the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) and the Federal Agency for Nuclear Control (FANC), is very important.

The current processes often delay the handling of goods and have a high error rate. This affects the competitiveness of the Flemish gateways. A smooth and cost efficient flow of goods is of crucial importance for their international customer service.

At this time, communication with government services is unstructured and quite inefficient. IT systems are not available in most cases. The ones that are available need properly functioning emergency procedures that prevent delays in cases of technical problems or maintenance.

Opportunities

This project has developed new procedures and communication systems for companies and government services. The various stakeholders had the opportunity to actively contribute to this.

Results

• Within the project VIL developed four use cases:
  • A Digital Emergency Procedure System
  • A Verification Management System
  • Automated Write-off licenses for strategic goods
  • Automated food FANC reporting
• One of the most important use cases is the Digital Emergency Procedure System. This IT system allows companies to continue their activities almost unhindered, during emergency customs procedures. This is a big improvement compared to the current situation in which paper procedures are the only solution.
• Commitment of multiple parties is needed to further enroll this project. Are the organizations of the Port Community committed to prioritize this together? Are there enough end users willing to confirm their commitment as a future client to the future providers? And are public services committed to this new way of cooperation with the sector? If the answer to these three questions is ‘yes’, then these four solutions can definitely be implemented in the near future.