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State of Veracruz Improves Services, Wins Award with Citizen Resource Management

Taking a page from their commercial-industry colleagues, IT managers in state governments around the world are turning to the latest customer relationship management (CRM) applications to learn what e-government services are most important to citizens and how to deliver them as effectively as possible.

The benefits of CRM can have a big payoff for states and citizens alike, as governments use e-government applications to more efficiently collect tax and licensing revenues, while easing demands on staff time and opening new revenue streams.

One proponent of public sector CRM is the state of Veracruz, home to more than 20,000 communities and 7 million residents on Mexico's southeastern shore.

But attendees to a recent Oracle OpenWorld presentation by Juan Octavio Pavón, general director of technology innovation for the Secretariat of Finances and Planning for the government of the state of Veracruz, , learned that states like Veracruz aren't relying on CRM as a standalone application. The software works best within a unified IT platform that includes citizen-facing portals and back-end financial applications.

Veracruz's e-government portal, built on Oracle Portal 10.1.2, provides a single point for citizens to access state services. The Web resource also acts as a central information exchange for tourists planning to visit the state and for expatriates wishing to maintain ties to their homeland.

Pavón described how Veracruz teams the portal with its CRM systems, which were recently migrated from Oracle CRM to Siebel CRM for increased capabilities and ease of use. The expanded tools allow the state to facilitate citizen communications and better manage service requests. The result is higher levels of constituent satisfaction and an improved overall reputation for the government’s ability to deliver services.

Back-end integration with Oracle E-Business Suite 11 financial applications supports Veracruz’s online tax collections. The system can even collect fees and issue driver’s licenses to Veracruz citizens living abroad, through the application’s online payment modules.

The state’s e-government efforts were recently given a State Government Best Project 2007 award by the Mexican Association of the Information Technology Industry (AMITI), Pavón said.

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