New Altinn versions for improved services
Already in February, the agencies were able to start using a new service development solution. Forms created in this new solution became available to the public on the date of the initial launch in mid-June. From now on, it will be easier for the agencies themselves to create forms and services to be presented in Altinn, without assistance from consultants and technical support. In the June version, all the help information for users was published in a new version that was more suitable for practical use in the individual user’s work situation.
The biggest changes can be found under the ‘surface’, where extensive technical changes have taken place that will not be visible to users. In the long term, new technical architecture in Altinn II will ease collaboration between different agencies. In time, this will mean better coordination for users when it comes to answering enquiries relating to forms from the authorities, in that several agencies can collaborate on the joint collection of answers using the same Altinn form.
When the second version of Altinn was launched on 23 November 2010, the users experienced many improvements in menus and functionality, which makes it more efficient for regular users and better adapted to disabled persons. A reorganisation of roles and rights, which govern the authority to fill in forms on behalf of entities, will mean the user has fewer options to choose between.
In this version, My main page changed its name to My message box. The folders on this page have changed, and they have new names and options. Another new item is Collection pages and e-dialogues, where users can collect relevant forms and services. In time, more advanced services will also be made available here.
The November launch also made it possible to log on via so-called enterprise certificates, to prevent individuals from incurring obligations as a result of reporting for a company or an organisation. It also became possible to log on to Altinn using a username and password of the user’s choice, out of consideration for users without a Norwegian personal identity number, in particular.
These log-on options will initially provide access to a limited number of forms and services.
Making major technical changes to complex computer systems is challenging, especially when it must still be possible to handle existing services using the old solution during a transitional period. There were a few minor problems in connection with the start-up of the two new versions, but thanks to untiring efforts by our own and external experts, as well the patience of service owners and user organisations, the whole system fell into place relatively quickly.
