WINNERS ‘PUBLIC ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR®’ 2017

Overall winner: the Federal Public Service for Finance

The Federal Public Service for Finance was selected by the jury as the overall winner and may call itself ‘Public Organization of the Year^®’ 2017. The FPS Finance received the award from Jan Jambon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Security and the Interior with responsibility for the Government Buildings Agency.

The jury was very impressed with the revolution undergone by the organization in recent years: from a model in which the services were classified by department (VAT, corporate income tax, personal income tax, ...) to a model for each target group (the self-employed, individuals, companies,…). With this change, FPS Finance has shown clearly that service to the customer is a priority. The public organization has also made tremendous progress in the area of Human Resources. The hierarchy was exchanged for a focus on results and accountability on the part of all employees. Finally, for each new project, FPS Finance proposes a business plan with expected benefits and return on investment. This allows all resources to be used as efficiently as possible and for the strategy to be closely monitored. FPS Finance, together with its partners and with the assistance of digital and innovative tools, strives for the simplest and most accessible fiscal policy for Belgian citizens.

The award for ‘Federal Public Organization of the Year’ 2017 went to the Federal Public Service Finance (FPS Finance). The award was presented by Minister of Defense in charge of the Civil Service Steven Vandeput.

The jury selected the network of outpatient clinics, rest homes and childcare services CHU UCL Namur as ‘Regional Public Organization of the Year’ 2017. CHU UCL Namur received the award from Anne Boucquiau, Head of the Cabinet of Maxime Prévot, Minister for Public Works, Public Health, Social Action and Patrimony in the Walloon Regional Government.

Finally, the award for ‘Local Public Organization of the Year’ 2017 went to Groep Mechelen, the merger between the City of Mechelen, the Social House and cooperation with other partners. Max Jadot, Chairman of the Management Committee and the Executive Committee at BNP Paribas Fortis, presented the award.

An award for successful Belgian public organizations

EY with its partners De Tijd/L’Echo and BNP Paribas Fortis presented the ‘Public Organization of the Year^®’ award for the first time in 2014. It was created to reward public organizations that stand out in terms of strategy, customer focus, effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, reliability, versatility, innovation and partnership.

Rudi Braes, CEO and Chairman of EY Belgium:

“Year after year, the finalists in the three categories of ‘Public Organization of the Year^®’ prove that public organizations, like private companies, are willing and able to commit to an innovative strategy in order to efficiently offer services with a focus on the customer. In so doing, these public organizations contribute daily to society and the Belgian economy. They thus deserve to be recognized for their efforts at continually improving their response to the needs of businesses and citizens.”

“The winners demonstrate that also public organizations, which are not driven by profitability, must continuously focus on innovation in order to offer quality and customer-oriented services. Sustainable development, efficient and effective structures, and innovation are qualities possessed by all the laureates. They serve as an example to public organizations as well as private companies”, says Michèle Sioen, president of the jury and honorary president of the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium, on the choice of the winners.

The choices of the jury explained: three awards for three high-performing public organizations

The Federal Public Service for Finance: ‘Federal Public Organization of the Year’ 2017

Despite the fact that the Federal Public Service for Finance is a huge organization, it has managed to successfully implement tremendous changes. In twelve years, the staff of the FPS Finance decreased by thirty percent, yielding huge savings in office space. A few years ago the head of the government agency was still unable to allow the proposed changes to penetrate to all levels of the organization. The jury is convinced that this is now the case. The result of these changes: simpler and better services to citizens. The hierarchy within the organization has been replaced by transparency. Thanks to data mining, for example, inspections are now much more targeted. This prevents certain regions or sectors from being treated more strictly than others. This contributes to fair tax policies, which ultimately benefit the economy. The cultural shift in the public service is great. The jury hopes that this victory will be an incentive to serve the business world and the citizen even more fairly and more efficiently.

Contact the Federal Public Service for Finance: Hans D’Hondt – Chairman of the Management Committee – [email protected] – 02 576 62 58 – http://financien.belgium.be/nl

CHU UCL Namur: ‘Regional Public Organization of the Year’ 2017

CHU UCL Namur has a vision for the future. The merger of the Dinant and Godinne sites with the CHU UCL hospital and maternity hospital St. Elizabeth anticipated the planned reforms of Health Minister Maggie De Block. Moreover, the CHU can also count on the support of outpatient clinics Erpent and Ciney as well as the Saint-François center for palliative care. Thanks to a cross-border agreement, CHU UCL Namur also receives patients from abroad: 20% of the patients in Dinant come from France.

The site in Godinne has grown enormously in the past 30 years, the number of doctors more than tripled from 40 to 150, and the number of consultations per year grew from 50,000 to 300,000. CHU UCL Namur has an annual budget of 400 million euro and employs 4,500 staff.

This enormous growth has been accompanied by relentless investment in the quality of care and services. CHU is among the top in the field of cardiac surgery, lung transplantation, ENT surgery and OMS surgery.

And in all of this, the environment is not overlooked: The Dinant site is powered using wood gas. In general, the jury was impressed by the rapid response of the CHU to the various challenges faced by the hospital sector.

Contact CHU UCL Namur: Benoît Libert - General Manager – [email protected] – 081 42 48 41 – www.chuuclnamur.be

Groep Mechelen: ‘Local Public Organization of the Year’ 2017

Groep Mechelen attaches great importance to offering quality services at a fair price. While efficiency is important, saving solely for the sake of saving is not an objective. Groep Mechelen is innovative thanks to its partnerships with the private sector and thus is an example for other cities and municipalities. Despite its debts, Groep Mechelen is not afraid to invest. They realized that new investments are sometimes necessary to continue to earn a return in the future, as is also the case in the private sector. The results of these investment are already visible: new residents and businesses are moving to the city. The change is palpable in the streets. Groep Mechelen shows that a public organization must dare to invest in the future. Moreover, the group is a pioneer in diversity: people now speak of an intercultural rather than a multicultural society. The city is implementing original and innovative projects, making it possible for all nationalities to live together in a positive way.

Contact Groep Mechelen: Erik Laga - City Clerk – [email protected] – 015 29 78 03 – www.mechelen.be