UNCTAD has conceived a web-based eGovernment system to help developing countries and countries in transition work towards business facilitation through transparency, simplification and automation of rules and procedures relating to enterprise creation and operation. This system can contribute to greater transparency and efficiency in the public service, improved governance and cost reductions.

In order to perform an economic operation (create a company, buy land, hire staff, sell a product, etc..), a contractor must meet a series of administrative requirements, generally enroll in records and obtain permits. For such registrations and licenses,the contractor must sometimes interact with many people, provide documents, obtain documents, etc..

The eRegulations system is designed to present these operations to the user in a step-by-step manner, each step containig all the necessary and sufficient information so that the user knows what is expected of him from the administration.

The system uses the following concepts in order to organize the information:

Objective is used to define an operation which the user wants to perform. An objective can contain sub-objectives or blocks and steps.

Procedure defines all the necessary actions to reach an objective. A procedure is divided into blocks.

A block is used to group the procedure's steps, enabling the user to read and understand the procedure.

A step represents all the interaction needed between a user and the administration in order to perform an operation. A step contains information about:

• Where to go and who is the officer in charge (contact)
• What documents must be provided (requirements)
• What is obtained (result)
• How much it costs (costs)
• How long it lasts (timeframe)
• What laws regulate this operation(laws)
• Where should the user go in case of any problem (recourse)
• Additional information
• Certification by an authority (certification)

The contact of a step is where the user must go precisely to perform the step. A contact is represented by an officer (person in charge), serving from an office(unit in charge), inside of an institution (entity in charge).

Each procedure can be presented in a detailed or a summarized form (resume). The system can store images in time of procedures (snapshots)

The eRegulations Data API is meant to open the eRegulations data through REST web services. The api exposes eRegulations system specific data regarding :

• country details
• objectives and procedures
• contacts
• forms
• laws