A mobile app will replace the office transitions in the future, for example, after the birth of a child. But this is just the beginning.

Digital Office System

It is so easy that it is already irritating for the experienced citizens Who wants to make their employee assessment, logs on via the Internet at a financial website, fills out the tax return – and that’s it.

But Austria’s contribution to the digital authority has already been largely dealt away with. For many other requests and notifications,  you must continue to go to the office. But it should be less and less: On Monday, the government took the first steps to replace official channels with a mobile app. In the future, the phone could even make the driver’s license and e-card superfluous.

“It is an important development towards administrative simplification and citizen friendliness,” says Margarete Schramböck, Minister of Economic Affairs and Digitization, said in an interview with the “Die Presse“. You don’t have to wait for opening hours, but use the authorities via mobile phone “when and where I want” done. This also saves the economy, because millions of people would just not have to take a half or full day off for an official path.

On Monday, the legislative changes required for the first applications from March 2019 were reviewed. Then, for example, you will be able to apply for an electoral card for the EU election via app or to be able to complete your move, including your residence report.

Over the coming year, applications will be constantly expanding. Thanks to the integration of the databases forums, among others, help.gv.at , data.gv.at and the federal legal information system, the app becomes a kind of general purpose tool.

Birth example: If you enter the date of birth of the child, the app calculates until when the payment report has to be made. With a push of a button, you can take this message as a reminder in the calendar app.

“Altogether there are 24 tasks before and 48 tasks after the birth, through which one can gradually work through,” explains Schramböck, who demonstrates a beta version of the app with visible enthusiasm. At the end you will be able to announce the birth of the child via mobile app, register the name and apply for the citizenship certificate. Its also just as easy to have a marriage and name change.

If you personalize the app with personal data – such as your income – you can see, thanks to the integration of the transparency database, which subsidies what you might receive for questions to the authority a so-called Chatbot is available, an automated system, which answers to questions and offers links for applications. “At some point you should also be able to ask the app thanks to speech recognition,” said the Minister.

The data is stored on government servers, they are not stored on the phone. You can access them only if you are identified by the app clearly either via fingerprint, Face-ID or mobile signature.

By the beginning of 2020 at the latest, the app will also replace ID cards: Then no identity card, driver’s license, no e-card and no car registration to carry more, but shows the police or the doctor, the corresponding cards simply by mobile app. Only If the phone is charged.