FLOrlp - land parcel information online for the german state of Rheinland-Pfalz

The web-based geographic information system "FLOrlp - land parcel information online for Rheinland-Pfalz" presents one of the lead projects in the implementation of the benefit- and domain-oriented eGovernment strategy of the German state of Rheinland-Pfalz. It was developed on behalf of the state's Ministry for Economic Affairs, Transportation, Agriculture and Viniculture, with the objective of supporting farmers and administration in processing area-related subsidy applications. The focus of the development activities was not on the implementation of what is technically feasible, but on developing a taskoriented solution that provides economic and strategic benefits to all stakeholders. The primary objective was to ensure task orientation and usability of the system, while at the same time meeting the demanding requirements concerning system architecture, especially with regard to IT security and performance. This article gives an account of the main success factors of the project in light of the project's starting point and objectives, provides an overview of the central system functions, explains the technical and organizational challenges of the project, describes how software engineering best practices contributed to the success of the project, and summarizes the benefits that could be achieved for users as well as for the application process as such.