Agricultural eServices for Austrian farmers and business (eAMA)

As both a paying agency and farmers' principal contact point in many administrative matters, Agrarmarkt Austria plays a leading role in the development of eGovernment in the agricultural sector. In 1999 Internet-based applications, with just 2.000 users, were of only minor importance for AMA, yet only a few years later they had emerged as an unprecedented success story. Late 2002 saw the creation of eAMA, a user-friendly internet service portal that enables farmers, slaughter houses, dairies and cheese producers to discharge their administrative responsibilities quickly, easily and outside office hours. Today, over 47,500 users benefit from its many advantages. Using eAMA, farmers can register their cattle, call up details of their land parcels and carry out measurements on them, read administrative correspondence in electronic form, access information on their individual AMA accounts and on current milk quotas, and report direct sales of milk and milk products. Slaughter houses can file slaughter reports, and dairies and cheese producers their monthly reports. One of eAMA's main advantages is that input figures are checked against the cattle data base, so that faulty data can be corrected immediately, the result being an impressive reduction of the error rate. The key to success is provision of comprehensive, interactive Internet services and the opportunity for rapid discharge of administrative responsibilities.

Description of target users and groups

Austrian farmers

Description of the way to implement the initiative

In Austria approximately 60% of farms have a PC, of which 80% have access to the Internet. In 1999 RinderNet (cattle registration) was launched. In order to expand this provision to other areas AMA has decided to create a service portal with Single-login. To attract a maximum number of users to this new service, eAMA can be accessed via the Internet from any standard browser. In addition to RinderNet (cattle registration) the new eAMA portal also provides the following services: electronic animal premium applications, land parcel data for individual farmers, Geographic Information System (GIS), information on milk quotas, monthly reports for diaries. eAMA significantly reduces errors on applications and minimises the administrative workload for both the paying agency and the customer.

Main results, benefits and impacts

The independent work of the users in eAMA has permitted a sharp reduction in the error rate as erroneous entries are flagged immediately. Errors can therefore be quickly corrected. Users contribute their experiences and the system is continuously expanded and improved in accordance with their needs. To boost its familiarity, regular information is provided via the media in the form of reports and mailings. It was also important for the success of the system that at AMA competent specialised information is available fast and at any time. As this was also a first contact with the Internet for many technologically inexperienced users it was equally a challenge for AMA staff to guide them through the system avoiding unnecessary problems. The large number of older users is another proof of the system's success. The aim of rendering the user interface easy to operate and as ergonomic as possible has also been fully met. Today the internet portal is used by approximately 47,500 users. Since the creation of the service the number of users has risen more than twentyfold. 50% of the users visit eAMA at least once per week. Approximately 60 % of all cattle registrations (five million in total) are carried out using the internet portal. In addition, approximately a third of premium applications are made online. Thanks to eAMA´s high acceptance and ease of use, and to the fact that it allows immediate response in the event of erroneous data entry, it has been possible to reduce the error rate to a mere 0.25 %. The electronic PostBox Service for documents has been taken up by 10% of users.

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Track record of sharing

eAMA could be a modell for other paying agencies in the European Union and agencies operating in different administrative sectors. AMA could offer a transfer of the know-how involved in the design of such an application - both in terms of project managment skills and technological skills involved. E-mail contact from other administrations is welcome and is already happening. Workshops for interested parties could also be provided.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - For customers in remote regions internet services are of particular value. This applies to other paying agencies in Europe and other administrative agencies. Lesson 2 - The development of a platform together with representatives of the end user community is a key factor in creating a customer-friendly service. Lesson 3 - An additional key success factor is the creation of simple screen layouts and easy-to-use menus. Since for many of our customers eAMA was the first contact with internet services it was important to get it right the first time round, thus ensuring that not only the original service but also future additions will have a high take-up rate. Scope: National