Smart Company Project:
ABB – Open Proces Huis

Het Agentschap Binnenlands Bestuur (ABB) supports local authorities in building a sustainable and democratic society by connecting and empowering citizens and governments.

What was needed?

Local authorities manage hundreds of processes, such as subsidy applications for youth organizations, container requests for renovations, and permits for terraces and events. While some local governments have already fully mapped these processes, others are not as advanced. A digital library was needed where authorities could share and learn from each other’s processes.

What Sirus provided

Sirus was brought on board to co-develop Open Proces Huis, a digital platform enabling local authorities to upload and share their processes. On this platform, authorities upload BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) files—a standard for graphically representing processes. Open Proces Huis captures and processes these files, extracts the process steps, and stores them as linked data, making them searchable at the step level. Authorities can then view and learn from each other’s processes.

Technicalities of the project

Javascript
Python
Elixir
Common Lisp
Docker (Compose)
Tensorflow
Pytorch
Virtuoso triplestore
Elasticsearch

Ember.js frontend
Custom BPMN service
Mu-identifier
Mu-dispatcher
SPARQL Parser
Mu-migrations
Mu-cl-resources
Mu-cache
Mu-delta-notifier
Mu-file-service
Mu-search

What's next?

In the short term, the goal is for local authorities to draw inspiration from and even reuse each other’s processes. Since many authorities perform similar tasks, sharing proven concepts reduces the administrative burden for numerous local governments.

By making process information available as linked data, these processes can become smarter and more efficiently automated in the future. This way, we hope to make legislation more machine-readable. For example, consider a subsidy application: what rules were applied before granting the subsidy? Open Proces Huis helps map these steps more objectively for citizens. Capturing relevant data is a crucial step toward achieving this goal in the future.

Additionally, Open Proces Huis aims to make the information on data classification and security, provided by the Flemish government, more accessible to local authorities. By enriching key processes with data on their classification and applicable measures, this aspect becomes clearer and more actionable.

The ultimate goal is to use AI to enrich the linked data of uploaded processes and identify similarities across various workflows. This would enable the development of a generic process framework beneficial to every local authority.

What did our Sirus members think about the case?

“The coolest thing about working with ABB is building applications that genuinely help local governments work more efficiently. You feel like you’re contributing to democracy and creating a significant impact in the short term.”

Martijn Bogaert Developer at Sirus

What did the customer think?

“At ABB, we collaborate with many different partners. The Sirus team integrates seamlessly into these collaborations and takes on a lot of responsibility. A solid trust relationship developed quickly because agreements are always honored, and feedback is transparent. Sirus also brings creative proposals to the table. You can tell they put a lot of thought into finding the best possible solution for the challenge while respecting the set conditions.”

Stefanie Kerkhof Program Manager for Single Digital Gateway for Flemish Local Products and Services at ABB