The main guidelines for an efficient and effective personal information system have been laid down in the personal information policy for the public sector. The key element of this policy is the establishment of a well-structured system for the exchange of personal data between organisations in order to improve the services they provide to the public.

To help put this policy into effect, the Personal Information Policy Division of the Ministry of the Interior, in cooperation with other departments and organisations at other tiers of government, has developed a number of products which the whole of the public sector can use to establish an efficient and effective personal information system.

The following have already appeared:

• Bestuurs- en beheersstructuren voor interbestuurlijke persoonsinformatiesystemen, a report describing a model for the establishment of intergovernmental steering and exploitation structures for personal data exchange, November 1990;
• Sectorale verwijsindexen persoonsinformatie, a report on the structure of sectoral reference indexes, November 1992;
• NEN standards for a standard manner for writing personal data, January 1992. These standards have been made obligatory for central government since 1 January 1993;
• the Manual on standards for the electronic interchange of personal data:
• part 1, standards organisations, standards for personal data traffic, including (X400) data communication standards, November 1991;
• part 2, implementation aspects, including open system environment (OSE), standard interfaces (API, GUI), June 1992;
• part 3, OSI-X400 profile for personal data traffic and an overview of the products supplied in this field, Spring 1994;
• part 4, framework for the development of EDIFACT messages carrying personal data;
• part 5, character sets, an overview of national and international developments in the field of character repertoires and their codes, with recommendations on which set to use, December 1993.

Part 5, Character Sets, constitutes not only an English translation of the version in Dutch, but also contains much additional material. It gives, like that, a survey of national and international developments and agreements in the field of characters, repertoires of those, and their coding systems. Given the multitude of languages and scripts that are being used in the interchange -- also by electronic means -- of data, this is not just a simple matter. It is further complicated by the requirement that in the exchange of personal data no information must be lost, and that names remain written correctly (including all diacritical marks). It is too easily assumed by the citizen in these days that automation is able to do almost anything. This citizen thus expects from the Government -- that has all kinds of electronic means at its disposal -- that it will address him with his correct full name. Correct writing is part of a correct approach by the Government of its citizens. It is my conviction that the Recommendations presented in this part 5 with respect to coded character sets will be adhered to in a wide field. How a message is displayed will determine to a large extent the appreciation by the people who receive it.

J. van Arkel,
Head of Department personal data policy,
Ministry of the Interior