Electronic Service Delivery: Achieving Accuracy and Consistency in Complex Transactions

This article discusses the use of rule-base technology in the administration of legislation. It first looks at determinative processes, the management of assessments of entitlement and obligations that form much of the operational work for many government agencies. It examines existing problems that agencies experience when attempting to secure accurate and consistent primary decision-making when administering complex legislation. It also examines the way in which traditional techniques for administering legislation constrain the service delivery methods open to an agency. It suggests that rule-base systems are a peculiarly appropriate technology for improving these determinative processes. It then argues that the use of rule-base systems offers two main benefits to agencies. They can improve the quality of primary decision-making and they can provide a means for dramatically widening the range of service delivery options open to an agency. Finally, the article argues that, until agencies have applications that are capable of automating complex transactions, such as the determination of entitlements, they will not be able to achieve large-scale benefits from electronic service delivery.