Grip on information requests with Power App at Municipality of Amsterdam

The Open Government Act (Woo) obliges governing bodies to promote transparency and active disclosure. This obligation places high demands on the information management of government organizations. Effective and manageable handling of Woo requests is crucial in this regard. The City of Amsterdam, in collaboration with Tacstone Technology and ICTRecht, developed a Power App that makes the entire process surrounding Woo requests transparent for all parties involved.

The municipality started the Information Management Program three years ago. This program aimed to improve the filing, registration and handling of information requests. One of the key problems was the lack of a central, uniform overview of the Woo process. This made it difficult to get a grip on processing times, deadlines and responsibilities.

“The biggest challenge was getting direction on information requests,” says Sander van Haren, Woo process director. “Without central registration, we could not provide reliable compliance statistics and regularly ran into backlogs.”The processing of requests took place in a fragmented manner within clusters and directorates, often with Excel or even paper overviews. Administrative awareness was also growing: to gain insight into bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement, there was a need for structural insight into the status and progress of Woo requests.”

To gain more control, a central, flexible and user-friendly solution was needed to gain visibility into processes and deadlines. In addition to that overview, insight was needed for steering. The system dovetailed with the municipality’s existing Microsoft environment.

Insight through actual data

“We needed real-time insight into process data,” said Nasrin Hanzouli, manager of the Urban Openness Team. “Only when you register and measure structurally can you make substantiated determinations: where are things getting stuck, and what is working?” In collaboration with Tacstone Technology and ICTRecht, the Urban Team Openness developed a solution, the Power App. This application is specifically set up to handle Woo requests. The choice of the Microsoft Power Platform was strategic: Amsterdam already works with Microsoft, so licensing, access and technical connection were not additional barriers. Based on earlier prototypes, Tacstone developed a custom Power App with direct integration to SharePoint and Power Automate.

Van Haren: “The Power App is lightweight, modular and intuitive. It avoids the pitfall of an unwieldy system with redundant functions. At the same time, it is familiar to use because it is fully compatible with our Microsoft work environment.” The app is just a little more accessible than classic Excel.

Safety important

Woo requests come in via a central web form or by email. The city team presorts new requests daily and assigns them to the appropriate directors and handlers.
Once a request is assigned, the handler automatically receives a notification. The app shows real-time status, stage, remaining deadline days and responsible officials. Legal deadlines are built in, as well as automatic reminders and time stamps.Handlers keep their own status up to date, providing continuous insight into the status of the case. Power BI dashboards and exports allow reporting on turnaround time, numbers, compliance and performance by department at any time.

Hanzouli: “Information security is guaranteed. Login is via single sign-on and users only see their own work inventory. The app actively supports the work process. A system doesn’t make a mistake; a human does. And if it does go wrong, you can analyze where it went wrong. Since the implementation, backlogs have been structurally eliminated.”

“In 2024, 815 Woo requests were processed, with a compliance rate of over 92%.”

Nasrin Hanzouli | Manager of the Urban Team Publicity Municipality of Amsterdam

Van Haren: “We now have a transparent, uniform and manageable process. Managers and handlers use the same terminology and go through the same process phases. The use of dashboards allows us to identify bottlenecks at an early stage and to make targeted adjustments when requests stagnate. The fact that all boards see each other’s figures also stimulates a sense of responsibility.”

Flexibility with ease of use

The Power App combines flexibility with ease of use. Handlers get a personalized overview and can easily track their work inventory. Process directors steer based on current figures.

Working with Tacstone is perceived as pleasant and pragmatic, with short lines of communication and quick adjustments. “If I wanted to adjust something, someone would sit down for a few days and they would call: ‘It’s in there, do you want to take a look?’ That was just nice.” Says Van Haren. “They are easily accessible, flexible and switch quickly if you just need something different than you thought.”

Example for other municipalities

The experience of developing and deploying the Power App has provided the City of Amsterdam with valuable insights. According to Nasrin Hanzouli, everything starts with getting a grip on one’s own information management. “Without basic insight, you quickly fall behind the times,” she states. That’s why the municipality deliberately chose technology that was already supported within the organization, and an approach that included extensive testing before the app was rolled out widely.

“The importance of thorough testing cannot be underestimated,” she adds. “A small error in setup can have a big impact when you’re dealing with real, legally relevant Woo requests.”

Now that the Power App is functioning stably and is widely embedded in the organization, Amsterdam is cautiously looking ahead. The next step is being considered: automatic assignment of Woo requests based on keywords or topics, and links to other municipal systems to improve information exchange.

They are also experimenting with the use of artificial intelligence. Think of applications that can convert complex policy documents into understandable language, or functionalities that make it possible to immediately categorize incoming requests and sort them by handler. Although these applications are still in an exploratory phase, they offer the prospect of further professionalization of the process.

The success of the Amsterdam approach has not escaped others. In recent months, colleagues from other municipalities came on working visits to see the app in practice and gain inspiration for their own information management. “We really are setting an example by now,” notes Van Haren. “And what is perhaps even more striking: other teams within Amsterdam itself are now also asking if they can adopt this working method. That says it all.”

“And what is perhaps even more striking: other teams within Amsterdam itself are now also asking if they can adopt this way of working. That says it all.”

Sander van Haren | Process Director Woo at the Municipality of Amsterdam

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