PICTURE & MR.KNOW

Digitalisation is advancing in many places, but few topics go hand in hand seamlessly. As a result, citizens and public-administration staff repeatedly run into media disruptions.

Challenges caused by media disruptions

These media disruptions cause problems on various levels and with various actors:

1. Loss of time: Switching between different media (e.g. from digital to paper) causes loss of time through manual data entry or transferring information.
2. Susceptibility to errors: With media disruptions, the risk of errors rises, because information has to be transferred manually, which can lead to inaccuracies.
3. Higher costs: Manual processing and the associated error corrections cause higher operating costs.
4. Lack of transparency and traceability: Media disruptions make the seamless tracking and analysis of processes more difficult, which impairs transparency.
5. Reduced customer satisfaction: Delays and errors caused by media disruptions can impair the satisfaction of end users/citizens.

Digitalisation & automation

Avoiding media disruptions through the digitalisation and automation of processes thus contributes to increasing efficiency, accuracy and customer satisfaction.

Comprehensive process documentation and the associated process management to optimise existing processes form the basis for the later digitalisation and automation of previously analogue workflows.

Together with our partner PICTURE GmbH, we took on the challenge of developing a solution for holistic, seamless process digitalisation. Our engine automates the process models previously created with PICTURE seamlessly and without loss.

The advantages of this combination: the PICTURE process models are digitalised in the BPMN 2.0 standard via low-coding. A comprehensive redevelopment is not necessary; instead, the existing process models can be reused without loss for automation.

Who is PICTURE?

The PICTURE process platform is one of the most widely used solutions for documenting, analysing and optimising processes in the public sector and, with its methodical toolbox, lays the foundation for administrative digitalisation.

The PICTURE method that goes with the tool contains 24 functional building blocks for precisely describing processes. The building blocks developed specifically for the public sector significantly improve the acceptance, speed and result quality of process management compared with other approaches.

Accompanied by comprehensive conception and implementation consulting, it is PICTURE's mission to successfully establish process management in public administrations and thus make a contribution to a modern and efficient administration in Germany.

With regard to no-code automation, PICTURE helps to

• identify
• prioritise
• document
• and organisationally optimise

all processes in an administration. Specifically, the PICTURE process platform offers:

1. the option to add content attributes,
2. identification of automation characteristics,
3. derivation of the prioritisation order.

True to the motto “automated nonsense remains nonsense”, PICTURE thus creates the basis for an effective digitalisation strategy.

Who is MR.KNOW?

MR.KNOW is a no-code BPM automation solution based on BPMN 2.0 process models. For more than 15 years it has enabled the business-driven automation of processes in industrial and public environments. The system uses intuitive tools to create solutions and digital assistance systems in order to automate applications seamlessly from the business side. The focus is on processes that are not yet supported by specialised technical procedures or case-management systems.

From documentation to automation

The process models created in PICTURE can be transferred to MR.KNOW and automated there. This means that, with a few clicks, manual steps become automatic steps. For example, the manual step “employee is informed” becomes the automated sending of an email. This still happens in a way that is comprehensible to the business side through the use of low-coding, with adjustments made directly to the process model.

The appropriate interfaces can also be defined in this way. It does not matter whether the process is initially aimed at the citizen — for example the querying and entry of information with the help of a “digital assistant” — or whether interfaces are to be created for case processing, i.e. specifically for the needs of the administration's employees.

The system also supports the design of interfaces via low-coding: MR.KNOW makes a proposal for the graphical user interface based on the process model. This can then be individualised quickly and easily without programming. In this way you reach the finished application in just a few clicks. The goal is to use low-coding to create complete applications efficiently that can be conveniently adapted by the business side should the process change.

A purposeful combination

The digitalisation and automation of processes with PICTURE and MR.KNOW is significant for public administrations for several reasons:

1. Increased efficiency: Imagine how quickly and smoothly processes run when recurring tasks are automated. Automation makes processes faster and smoother, saving time and resources.
2. Improved data quality: Digital systems are like precise tools that avoid errors that could arise with manual work. This increases the satisfaction of everyone involved.
3. Cost reduction: Automated processes reduce the need for manual intervention, so you can achieve more without needing more resources.
4. Better citizen services: Digital services enable faster and more user-friendly interactions with citizens. Digital services for citizens are comparable to a 24-hour service that is always available and user-friendly.
5. Increased transparency: Digital traceability is like a glass factory in which every step is visible and comprehensible. Digitalisation makes the tracking and reporting of process flows easier, leading to more transparency in the administration.
6. Flexible adaptation to new requirements: Adapting digital systems is like updating an app on your phone – quick and effective. This improves responsiveness to changing conditions and emergencies such as a hacker attack on the administration.

With the digitalisation and automation of processes, public administrations will thus become more agile, more accessible and more efficient over the coming years despite the skills shortage and demographic change — and are therefore set up to be future-proof.

Would you like to learn more?

We are happy to explain how PICTURE and MR.KNOW work together using the example of the “citizen matters” process in the video.

Download whitepaper (PDF)