eBox Citizen - Observatory of Public Sector Innovation

The eBox Citizen is a digital mailbox in which Belgian citizens can receive official documents from Belgian public instances at every level. Given the complex nature of Belgium’s federal state structure, the deployment of such a centralized eBox has proven to be a crucial step in the continuous digitalization of public services in Belgium. It got an enormous boost throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, as the quickest way for citizens to receive an invitation for their vaccination was via their eBox.

Innovation Summary

Innovation Overview

End users want to access one electronic mailbox, a one-stop-shop based on the no wrong door-principle, where they can receive and check all the official documents government services send to them. Citizens shouldn’t be bothered by the institutional complexity of a country: they don’t want to go to different government websites, having to remember a multitude of user names and passwords.

The different government agencies have to come together and develop tools with which they present the online government as a whole, rather than a complex puzzle that is difficult to put together. This is why the Citizen eBox in Belgium was developed.

Furthermore, as the Citizen eBox helps us moving towards a paperless administration, it is an important step with regards to using more sustainable ways for communication with citizens.

The eBox Citizen, or My eBox, is a digital mailbox in which Belgian citizens can receive official documents from Belgian public instances at every level. It can be accessed using the website https://myebox.be/ or through the different so called Human Interface Providers (HIPs), such as banking apps, apps from regional governments and commercial platforms.

3.964.677 Belgians (i.e. 30,13% of all Belgians over 18 years old) gave their consent to receive official documents in their eBox on this day. 74.036.492 documents were sent in 2021. 429 senders are currently using eBox for sending official documents.

Given the increasing number of phishing attempts, additional innovative security measures are being integrated. For example, in case a user has given his/her consent and activated e-mail notifications, he or she can now choose a personal image (an icon in a specific colour) which will be attached to every notification this person receives from my eBox.

Innovation Description

What Makes Your Project Innovative?

The eBox helps us moving towards a paperless administration, it is an important step with regards to using more sustainable ways for communication with citizens.
It is an example of a succesful public-private partnership, as so called Human Interface Providers (HIPs) were actively involved from the beginning onwards.
The eBox Citizen has integrated multiple features in order to defend citizens agains phishing: in case a user has given his/her consent and activated e-mail notifications, he or she can now choose a personal image (an icon in a specific colour) which will be attached to every notification this person receives from my eBox.

What is the current status of your innovation?

Innovation Development

Collaborations & Partnerships

Companies: My eBox can be accessed through the different so called Human Interface Providers (HIPs), such as banking apps, apps from regional governments and commercial platforms.
Citizens: in the development phase, extensive User Research has taken place.
Governments: any government agency at any level in Belgium has the possibility to get integrated in the eBox technical system system in order to use the eBox as their main means of communication with citizens.

Innovation Reflections

Results, Outcomes & Impacts

Challenges and Failures

People sometimes activate their eBox by accident. As a result, they don't receive physical letters any longer, and only find out they got some important messages from government services when it's too late. This could lead to a decrease in citizens' trust when it comes to using the eBox.

Phishing and smishing also proves to be an enormous challenge.

Conditions for Success

Support from private actors (Human Interface Providers) and the integration of other government services (federal as well as decentralized and local levels) have proven to be the most critical success factors.

Replication

There are similar solutions in other countries, but the eBox could be especially interesting for replication in other complex federal countries (Canada, Germany etc.).