Exercises: Online administrative procedures

Name three administrative procedures that can be carried out online with a government agency today and explain one advantage of each compared to completing it in person at an office.

Explain what a digital certificate is used for, and how it is similar to and different from showing an ID card at a service counter.

The figure shows the steps to complete a procedure on a government agency's e-services portal.

Between the person and the portal, the element that verifies identity is missing. Name a valid system that could fill this gap and explain what the government agency allows you to do once it knows for certain who you are.

Explain what the "citizen folder" provided by the government is, and what the advantages are of having your data, ongoing procedures, and official documents all gathered in a single app.

Explain what an electronic registry entry for a procedure is, what information the receipt contains (date, time, registration number), and why this receipt has official legal status.

Name two legal or official tasks that you cannot yet carry out by yourself as a minor (and are done by your parents or guardians) and two that you will be able to do soon, and explain why the government distinguishes by age.

Explain the advantages of booking an appointment online compared to waiting in line at the office, and what you should do if you end up being unable to attend, keeping in mind people waiting for a slot.

Explain what electronic notifications from a government agency are, why a deadline can start running even if you do not open the notification, and what good habits you should develop (cell phone alerts, checking the online portal) so as not to miss any.

Your family must submit a document to the city council before the 20th. On the 19th at 11 pm you submit it from home via the online services portal. Explain what advantages in terms of hours of operation and registration the electronic method offers, and what receipt you should always keep after completing an online procedure.

An elderly neighbor receives an email claiming to be from Social Security asking her to "confirm her bank details" by clicking a link. Relate this case to what a government agency will never request via email, and explain how to verify a genuine procedure without using the links in the message.

Explain what an electronic signature is, what legal status it has compared to a handwritten signature on paper, and give an example of a document that a family could sign in this way.

Your grandfather needs to renew a document and does not use the internet. Compare the available options (in-person with an appointment, digital assistance offices, help from a relative) and explain what you must never do when helping him—using your own account or your own signature for his procedure—and why.

An official deadline ends "on the 30th at 23:59". Analyze the risks of leaving the procedure to the last minute (online portal overload, expired certificate, connection failure) and what reasonable safety margin you would apply to important deadlines.

Your family submits a scanned document that is blurry and has an incomplete field, and the agency returns it requesting a correction. Explain what a request for amendment is, what happens if it is not responded to on time, and what prior check avoids most rejections.

When filing an income tax return online, the IRS provides a draft tax return with many details already filled in. Explain where these data come from, what time/effort this service saves, and why it must still always be reviewed before confirming.

A city council decides to eliminate in-person service and process school grants exclusively through its online portal using a digital certificate or a state-issued digital ID. Two months later, city statistics reveal that 45 % of families with lower incomes have not submitted their application due to a lack of technical means or errors on the platform.

1. a) Interpret this result by identifying the three types of digital divide (access, skills, and usage) present in this scenario.
2. b) Refute, with technical and equity arguments, the councilmember's statement: "The system ensures equal opportunities because the online portal is open 24 hours a day."
3. c) Design a proposal for a hybrid administrative service that modernizes processes without excluding vulnerable groups.

Design the step-by-step workflow for a student to request their academic transcript online: what they need before starting, what logical screens they will go through, and at which point in the process their identity is verified.

For businesses and the self-employed, interacting with the government electronically is mandatory; for individual citizens, having the choice of in-person assistance is a right. Analyze whether this distinction is coherent, what principles justify it, and what would happen if in-person assistance disappeared.

A state administration implements a "proactive government" model: through the massive cross-referencing of databases from the IRS, Social Security, and the county property records office, an algorithm automatically detects individuals who meet the vulnerability criteria and deposits financial aid directly into their bank accounts, without requiring an application.

1. a) Justify a social and operational advantage of this model compared to the traditional application-based system.
2. b) Predict two serious risks or issues (technical, data protection, or algorithmic errors due to outdated data) that could harm citizens.
3. c) Design a technical safeguard that allows the system's proactivity to be harnessed while respecting privacy and the interested party's right to confirmation.

Design a system for your school to digitize permission slips for field trips using online signatures from families: technical requirements, how the signer's identity is verified, accessibility for families with limited digital resources, and a paper-based Plan B.