Robotic Process Automation for Income, Participation and Benefits (IPV)

Municipality of The Hague

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) helps Income, Participation and Benefits (IPV) employees with administrative tasks, such as creating work orders in the Socrates system for the shared cost list. RPA uses an algorithm that mimics employees' actions within the municipality's computer network.

Last change on 28th of November 2025, at 7:45 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Other algorithms
• Impact assessment: DPIA
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Social Security

Begin date

2025-05

Contact information

[e-mail]

Responsible use

Goal and impact

The aim is to automate repetitive work that takes a lot of time. As a result, employees need to do less manual work and errors are eliminated. This leaves employees more time for more substantive work.

Residents and businesses are not directly affected by the algorithm. The algorithm converts lists of data in Excel into a work order in the Socrates system. As a result, the work orders reach the employee who evaluates the work order content faster. As a result, residents and businesses notice that their request goes faster. Employees have more time left for attention and contact with residents and businesses.

Considerations

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) helps reduce workloads. This approach works quickly and is easy to extend. The algorithm meets requirements for personal data protection, security and information management. It is cheaper than hiring additional people. An additional advantage is that the algorithm does not make typos, as long as the information supplied is correct.

Human intervention

The algorithm does tasks that help and inform in the work process. If the information is incomplete or incorrect, the algorithm stops. The work then goes back to the employees. This happens automatically if there is:

- An error is found in the Excel list that contains the result.

- The system gives Socrates an error message.

Risk management

The algorithm poses no additional risk compared to manual processing. The software encrypts the data and does not store it. Other risks are mitigated by tracking the robots' performance in logs and dashboards. There is also a continuity plan: if the robot fails, work can continue. Functional management of the robot lies with the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) team. The substantive responsibility for the automated processes lies with the process owners. These agreements are set out in the Service Level Agreement (SLA).

Legal basis

Income, Participation and Benefits, specifically the processing in Socrates where the robot operates, finds its basis in the Participation Act and the Work and Income Implementation Structure Act.

Links to legal bases

• Work and Income Implementation Structure Act (Suwi Act) Participation Act (Pw): https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0015703/2025-07-01
• Work and Income Implementation Structure Act (Suwi Act) Participation Act (Pw): https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0013060/2024-01-01

Impact assessment

Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)

Operations

Data

The robot uses 2 algorithms. The 1st algorithm collects data from the Excell list, encrypts it and creates a workbox for the other algorithm. The 2nd algorithm uses the Excell list from 1st algorithm and processes it in the Hague municipality's Socrates system. The algorithm looks for the right person with the encrypted administration number. With that, the 2nd algorithm creates a work order with a description of the type of work. The algorithm does not learn itself. The script changes only if the process owner tells it to.

Technical design

The robot's algorithm does not learn itself. The robot was built using the software UiPath Studio. For daily work, the robot runs on a separate server of the municipality controlled by the central operating system Orchestrator. The robot has 1 task: creating work orders in the municipality's Socrates system. As input, the robot uses the Excel list that the employee puts on SharePoint. This contains the BSN or address number and the type of work order to be created. The robot extracts this data from the Excel list, encrypts it and puts it in Orchestrator's workbox. This is a kind of digital queue. Then the robot executes the task and the encrypted data is converted into a work order in Socrates. That technical process is called dispatcher and perfomer and is done by the 2nd algorithm. The result is the created work orders in Socrates. The robot uses a link (TOPdesk API) to automatically notify the employee whether the work order creation was successful.

External provider

NewDawn