Literature Flanders manages requests for author readings with Case Management.

Literature Flanders has developed a range of subsidy schemes and initiatives to achieve its objectives. The core tasks are carried out by a team of twenty staff members. Lara Rogiers, staff member at Literature Flanders, explains: 'We assist, among others, authors, comic authors, literary translators, publishers, and illustrators. We do this significantly through the granting of grants and funding, supporting author readings, and subsidies for initiatives aimed at promoting reading.'
 
'Specifically for author readings, we notice that the number of applications is steadily increasing. Therefore, we sought an integrated solution for processing and tracking those applications. An accessible e-portal was an absolute must. The affordability of the solution was important for a small public institution like ours.'

'We started our collaboration with Nimbl because of their experience in the public sector,' Rogiers continues. 'Together with the Nimbl consultants, we thought about how we could maximise the digitisation of the process that applications go through, aiming to improve our service delivery. This pertains to applications from, for example, schools and libraries that want to organise a lecture, as well as applications from authors who wish to be included on the authors' list of Flanders Literature. 'With the scrum methodology used by Nimbl, we have succeeded well in our setup. The result is a solution that encompasses all steps in the file process: from application to payment. We can process applications faster and communicate efficiently with applicants regarding the status of their file.'

'The e-loket must be accessible to the authors who wish to apply for the authors list and to the many organisers of author readings,' Rogiers explains. 'In setting up the e-loket, we worked closely with Nimbl to focus on ergonomics and ease of use. It is often forgotten that not everyone is familiar with IT and the internet. Many people find filling out forms on the internet tedious. They often do not know when they are done filling out or how much time it will take. In our e-loket, it is clearly indicated how many steps a form consists of. We also always show which step the visitor is currently on.'
 
'By shifting some of the tasks to the visitors of the e-loket, the workload per case has been reduced. The seamless integration with the back-office software for case management has led to a more efficient handling of applications for readings and for inclusion on the authors list.'

Literature Flanders is collaborating with the Case Management platform of Nimbl on a digital application portal for the other subsidy schemes of the organisation. 'The intention is to reduce administrative burden in this way, allowing employees to focus more on the substantive part as well as on promotion and support,' says Lara Rogiers.
 
A look at the technology

• E-portal: Drupal
• Back-office: Oracle ADF
• Database: Oracle RDBMS 11g R1
• Application Server: Oracle Weblogic Server 11g R1