The citizen shops in Portugal – making e-Government a physical and human reality
Remarkable innovation and feedback
The
“citizen shops” come under the institute for the management of citizen
shops, a public administrative institute that is financially autonomous. It is
placed under the authority of the Ministry of Finance.
The “citizen shops” are completed by “information stations” (“postos de atendimiento” or PAC) whose role is to provide information at the request of users.
The diversity of public bodies collaborating and participating in the
services provided by public-service houses is a reflection of the global
approach used. This covers the directorate general for social protection, civil
servants, public agents, general pension funds, the directorate general for
legal services which issues civil status certificates and extracts, the general
inspectorate of economic activities and the directorate general for taxes (over
50 bodies are included). There are also relays from the Ministry of Health, the
Post Office, the railways and the national tourism agency.
Counters for companies and notaries are featured. Private structures
such as banks and telecommunication services are also involved. In
addition, the “citizen shops” issue official documents: passports,
identity cards and driving licenses in particular.
The “entrepreneurship counters” provide information and advice for any new business and the use of more general counters enables all administrative obligations and procedures for the allocation of aids and subsidies to be carried out.
The
citizen shops (Lojas do Cidadao) are a new general
interest concept. The aim is to concentrate the main public
services in the same location, in what resembles more a
supermarket than an administrative office.