Draft of The Rules of Financing the Public Administration Information Systems

Draft of the Rules of Financing the Public Administration Information Systems
Karel Berka, Chairman of the Office for the State Information System of the CR

The Rules of financing the Public Administration Information Systems (only ”Rules” hereinafter) sets the methodical procedure for lodging an application, requisites of the application, the method of transacting, appropriation and expense control of the financial means intended for the supersectoral (i.e., higher than sectoral) and intersectoral needs for the development of the State informatics and located in the Vote (”chapter”) ”The State Budget General Treasury Management” (only GTM hereinafter). The Rules also set the involved bodies, the roles of such bodies, their rights and duties.

The Rules fashion the material contents of the applications for financing the super- or intersectoral project- and programme-intents (only ”Intents” hereinafter) presented by the bodies specified below. The Rules do not affect the rights and duties of the Ministry of Finance (only ”MF” hereinafter) that follow from Section 9 of the Act No. 576/1990 Coll. by which Act the Minister of Finance is responsible for the management and expending of the means from the GTM. The Rules and the Proposals (prepared on the basis of the Rules) for Intents, handed over to the MF by the Chairman or Secretary of the State Information Policy Council of the Czech Republic Government (only ”Council” hereinafter), replaces in full the procedure of material negotiation and assessment by the MF of the purpose of expending the financial means. The particular requirements of the MF for the budgeting of the Intents are contained in the ”Principles of Financial Means Providing and Drawing From the State Budget Which Means Are Intended for the Procurement, Technological Upgrading, Repairs to and Maintenance of Fixed Assets” annually issued by the MF.

On the negotiation and approval by the Council the Rules become binding for the Council members and for other bodies of Public Administration that apply: for including the Intents proposed by them in the Council’s Work Plan for the next calendar year, or for providing financial means extraordinarily in the course of running calendar year.

The Council is the expert advisory body to the Czech Government for state information policy. The Council was founded on the basis of the Government Resolution No. 680 of 19 October 1998. The mission of the Council is defined by the Statutes of the Council approved by the Government Resolution No. 850 of 16 December 1998.

The Office for State Information System (only ”USIS”, the Czech abbreviation, hereinafter) provides the expert background for the Council; in accordance with the Council Statutes the USIS provides Secretariat for the Council and also organizationally and administratively provides the operation of the Council and prepares comprehensive ground materials for the Council’s negotiations. In the framework of its legal powers the USIS deals with the other bodies of Public Administration and further bodies whose systems are part of the Public Administration Information Systems (only ”PAISs” hereinafter), in accordance with the strategy and concept Intents of the Council in the sphere of the state information policy and concepts of building the PAISs. The USIS informs the Council and prepares, by the Council’s conclusions, ground materials for the Government talks about the material sphere.

The MF assesses the proposals for Intents from not material aspect viewpoints but a mere viewpoint of the financial potential of the State budget, or possibly by the amount of item or reserve at the GTM.

It is those representatives of Public Administration bodies which are Council members and the representatives of other bodies who act in Intent Gestor’s name, and it is the Ministry of Interior which acts in District Office’s name. It is the Council or a Central Body which initiates and is responsible for the Intents of super- or intersectoral character where an Intent Gestor (only ”Gestor” hereinafter) is not appointed, and such Central Body (mostly the USIS) guarantees the implementation, development and also operation for such Intent.

The Intents of super- or intersectoral character can be of two types:

Planned Intents, intended for including in the Council’s Work Plan for the next calendar year and submitted for negotiating through the amount proposed for the volume of financial means.

Topical Intents that can be submitted at any moment in the course of running year in extraordinary cases. Financing such Intents depends upon the level of reserve available at the GTM, which level is proposed by the Council, or possibly after the reserve has been depleted, upon the potential of the State Budget at that instant. The priorities for financing the Intents are approved by the Council.

Gestors hand over to the Council Secretariat the Intents of super- or intersectoral character that are intended for Council negotiating through. The proposals, standpoints and applications submitted before the Council for including such Intent in Council’s Work Plan for the next calendar year are being submitted prior to the terms for preparation of the draft State Budget so that the Council could have a sufficient space for negotiating through such proposals, standpoints and applications. The proposals, standpoints and applications submitted by Gestors before the Council for resolving new topical needs in the course of running calendar year are being submitted at any moment.

The Council Secretariat takes over the proposals for Intents submitted by Gestors and, in accordance with the Council Statutes and Negotiation Rulings, puts them on the Council agenda.

The USIS submits, as needed, a brief assessment of Intents, from viewpoints in particular of the strategy and concept Intents for the State Information Policy and building the PAISs.

The Council judges the submitted Intents.

On the adoption of a standpoint for a submitted Intent the Council is entitled to ask the Gestor for explanations and further ground materials.

The following standpoint for the Intent is adopted by the Council:

approves without reservations,

approves with reservations,

returns for rework,

rejects.

The Council shall state the Gestor its standpoint. On possible completing of ground materials the Intents is anew negotiated through by the Council. Such procedure can be repeated. Its course, material contents and other requisites are subject to approval by the Council.

To a positive standpoint for the draft Intent the Council may attach its standpoint for the organizational provisions for the Intent; explicitly the Council gives its standpoint for the declared selection of the Intent Implementor.

The recommendation for further course of action in the case of the judgement of follow-on stages of a long-term Intent is issued by the Council on the basis of results from the evaluation review that finalizes each of partial implementation stages.

In the case of planned Intents the Council will work out a survey of the Intents inclusive of their financial coverage and will submit the survey to the MF in the form of Council Chairman’s (or alternatively, Secretary’s) application/standpoint (together with attached due minutes of the Council session) advising of anticipated and asked for amount from the item covering the GTM informatics for the next calendar year.

MF shall state the result of internal negotiating (standpoint for the amount of required means) to the Council.

A negative standpoint on the MF’s part in the case of topical Intents will be presented at a joint negotiating session of Council Chairman or Council Secretary, the Minister of Finance or competent Deputy Minister of Finance and the Gestor Representative.

If agreement is not reached, the Intent may be submitted anew before the Council with the reservations advised of by the MF. The last resort in a case of dissension is to ask the Czech Government to decide.

A consonant closure of the negotiating session the MF will project into the Register of Investments of MF (only ”RIMF” hereinafter) or the MF shall decide on the release of extraordinary financial means from a reserve in the GTM to the Gestor’s Vote through a budget provision.

On the approval of the state budget by the Czech Parliament the MF Representative in the Council shall state, to the Council Chairman and within 14 days, the status of available means and the scope of submitted Intents corresponding to the status. The Council will judge the level of available financial means for informatics in the GTM and, in the case of possible reduction in the planned for means, shall set the priorities for resolution of Intents. On the basis of the priorities set the Council will ask the relevant Gestors to submit modified Intents under the break down as indicated in Chapter VI.

The approved Intents that are included in the RIMF or that have an obligation in writing for financial covering by the MF will be publicized by the Council in the usual manner.

The MF informs the Council by the 15^th day of the month following the quarter’s end about the level of available financial means in reserve of the GTM and about the status of material items in the RIMF, as usual through its member in the Council.

If topical Intents are submitted in the course of running calendar year, the same mode as with the Intents submitted within the time terms for the preparation of draft State Budget applies to such topical Intents including the procedure and contents of submitting them and including the duties of the bodies involved.

The Council may express itself on the Intents serving only the internal needs of sectors, and namely on the basis of a requirement by the MF targeted at material assessment of an Intent, or on the basis of a requirement by the Government or a member of the Council or another body of Public Administration (in particular, the USIS).

The time terms of transacting that are not explicitly stated obeys Administration Regulations.

Programme is an Intent of long-term character going beyond the framework of calendar year, its maximum planned length makes 5 years.

For the needs of material assessment by the Council the following data must be submitted:

Name of the Programme, the Gestor responsible for implementation, justification of the Programme, its benefits, according the MF rules for 1999 No.113/43/ 850/1998

Description of the Programme, in particular its scope and providing compatibility with the involved structures of PAISs.

Method of appointment of the Programme Implementor (in accordance with Act No. 199/ 1994 Coll. and within the meaning of later provisions)

Project is an Intent of short-term character not going beyond the framework of calendar year.

For the needs of material assessment by the Council the following data must be submitted:

Name of the Project, the Gestor, justification of the Project, according the MF rules for 1999 No.113/43/ 850/1998

Justification of the Project

Users of results from implementation (i.e., users of finished work) Programme is a long-term Intent that secures the reaching of pre-defined targets; project is a particular design of partial portions of a programme (and may, but not necessarily, have a further break down into specific investment actions). Programme can contain several projects

List of responsible personnel of the Gestor—the Project Investor, and defining the role of the Investor in individual phases of Project preparation and implementation Description of the Project

Evaluation of current status

Description of the Project

Making more precise the objectives, data contents of the system and the relationship of the system to the environs; the prerequisites of system implementation: legislative, organizational and other; specification of the interface to other information systems

Making more precise the functional requirements of the system (including: the requirements of: data collection, processing the data, data maintenance, update and correctness, user interface, throughput, reliability; organizational, personnel, economic, technologic, etc.)

Requirements of system security, safety and classified status

Predesigning the system: environs of the system, main functions, inputs and outputs, rough data-model, specification of necessary features of HW and SW as a ground material for public competition of tenders or system design

Criteria for the assessment of variants, principles of selection and the procedure for approval of the variant chosen

Formulation of variants, possible approaches to system implementation (own development, procurement of ready SW package, combinations, etc.). Organizational, personnel (social), technological (HW, SW), timing (schedule) and economic consequences of individual variants

Method of appointment of the Project Implementor (in accordance with Act No. 199/1994 Coll. and within the meaning of later provisions)

The Council controls the fulfilment of Intents. For this purpose the Council is entitled to request information and ground materials from Gestors. The Council makes acquainted with its control results the involved Gestors and, through negotiation at the Council sessions, representatives of the MF. To find facts, the Council is entitled to use outside judgements including those by experts. On the Council’s or MF’s request the Gestor provides additional ground materials and information and allows the authorized representatives of the Council to acquaint themselves on the spot with implementation of the Intent.

The Council is entitled to require remedy for the insufficiencies found and to propose measures to remove such insufficiencies, and the Council may let the Gestor have the selection of such measures. Such standpoint is stated, at the same time, by the Council to the Gestor and, through the negotiation at the Council session, to the MF. The Gestor is not subject to applying of the measures proposed by the Council. However, the Gestor is obliged to adopt a standpoint for all the reservations raised by the Council. However, if even on negotiating through the Gestor’s standpoint the Council should insist on that the insufficiencies exist in implementation of the Intent the Gestor is obliged to remove such insufficiencies that are advised of by the Council, within a time term set in the protocol on negotiating through the aforementioned standpoint.

The Gestor is obliged to response in writing to the Council’s standpoints. Whether or not the Council’s conclusions have been accepted or possibly what reservations are raised by the Gestor, this shall be explicitly stated in the Gestor’s aforementioned response.

The USIS is entitled to prepare ground materials for the Council’s control activities and, in such sense, to require of Gestors information and ground-materials. The conclusions from such activity the USIS submits before the Council as ground materials for its negotiating sessions.

The MF checks the economics of financial means to the scope of its competencies given by law. The MF makes acquainted, with the conclusions from its own control activities, the Council and, through the Council, the involved Gestors if they are not directly represented in the Council.

On the finalization of the Intent the Gestor submits before the Council a Report on implementation of the Intent, part of which Report is to render the account for implementation. The Report on such implementation that is spread over several years is submitted by the Gestor on the completion of individual stages, however at least once a year. The time when such Reports are to be submitted is decided upon by the Council in an agreement with the MF.

Once a year the Council submits, as a follow-on: to the Government Resolution No. 680 of 19 October 1998 which Resolution founded the Council, and: to the Government Resolution No. 850 of 16 December 1998, and in accordance with the Council Statutes and Negotiation Rulings, before the Government a comprehensive Report on activities including the information on implementation of Intents, at the latest by 31 January of the forthcoming year.