The Federal Public Service Economy Wins e-Gov Award for ESE project

News Release -- December 23, 2010

Brussels, 23 December 2010 - The Federal Public Service (FPS) in charge of the Economy, SME, Self-Employed and Energy was awarded “Best IT Project” at the eight annual Agoria e-Gov Awards (Brussels, 2 December 2010). The award specifically recognized the Corporate Structure Survey (ESE) simplification project, which was a collaboration with CSC (NYSE:CSC) in Belgium.

The ESE project has a twofold aim: to simplify the statistical collection processes of both the FPS Economy and of the private sector and to develop a web survey architecture that will be initially used to conduct the corporate structure survey.

Every year, the Directorate General for Statistics and Economic Information (DGSIE) of the FPS Economy conducts a survey regarding corporate structure (appointments, activities, production, costs and investments). Until recently, the survey was conducted in paper format with 40,000 Belgian companies receiving the survey form to be completed and returned. Participation in the surveys represented a cost of 6 million Euros for companies. The forms were then processed manually, an expensive and time-consuming process. In order to cut costs and increase efficiency, the Agency for Administrative Simplification asked the FPS Economy to come up with a system that would make it possible to reduce the costs incurred by the survey.

To meet this cost-cutting challenge, FPS Economy rolled out two parallel initiatives:

• The optimisation of statistical data collection (limited target group, greater intervals between surveys and a simplified questionnaire);
• Data collection via an online application, allowing companies to complete the survey by providing them with access to the information already at hand and to export most of the data from their accounts.

The automated application has been up and running since October 2009 and continues to receive positive feedback.

According to Frank De Saer, Information Systems manager for the FPS Economy:

"For the first year of entry into service of the web application, we were expecting an utilisation ratio of 30 to 40 percent but we underestimated the success of the solution. More than 90 percent of companies responded electronically to the survey. By relieving companies of the repetitive data entry burden, the new system has made it possible to avoid a workload estimated at EUR 2.17 million per annum. The data is available quicker and they are automatically checked and corrected: it’s a win-win situation.”

Olivier Goddeeris, administrative assistant within the Directorate General for Statistics and Economic Information of the FPS Economy specifies:

“The success of this project is due to the excellent cooperation between the DGSIE, the IT department, CSC, the Agency for Administrative Simplification and all the other parties involved.”

Philippe Jaeken, managing director of CSC in Belgium adds:

“CSC worked in close cooperation with the FPS Economy and the Agency for Administrative Simplification as part of a multidisciplinary project. Our focus was on developing a web survey architecture that can be reused for other surveys.”

About CSC

CSC is a global leader in providing technology-enabled solutions and services through three primary lines of business. These include Business Solutions & Services, the Managed Services Sector and the North American Public Sector. CSC’s advanced capabilities include system design and integration, information technology and business process outsourcing, applications software development, Web and application hosting, mission support and management consulting. The company has been recognized as a leader in the industry, including being named by FORTUNE Magazine as one of the World’s Most Admired Companies for Information Technology Services (2010). Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., CSC has approximately 94,000 employees and reported revenue of $16.1 billion for the 12 months ended October 1, 2010. For more information, visit the company’s website at www.csc.com or www.csc.com/be.