Challenge

The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries

The Directorate of Fisheries shall promote profitable economic activity through sustainable management of marine resources and the marine environment. To achieve this objective one of the main tasks is to introduce measures to secure compliance. Crime in the seafood sector is a global challenge that threatens the sustainability of marine resources. Every year the Directorate receives information from the public about possible crimes in the seafood industry. 

Manual handling tips and privacy concerns

The Directorate was receiving tips and information through several different channels, like phone, e-mail, social media, and people in the harbours. All tips had to be manually registered in the old case management systems. The manual way of handling tips also raised concerns related to security and privacy compliance.

“The main goal for the Directorate was to buy a solution to collect and organize tips to better monitor and follow up on reported non-compliance. For us it is crucial to focus on both the external users submitting tips and internal users handling the tips. When the public makes an effort to report on possible non-compliance, we must handle them properly, with respect, and comply with data privacy regulations.”

 

– Ann Jørstad Nilsen, Project Manager, and Product Owner – The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries 

“With Compose we have delivered a lot in a short time, with few resources. Compose has been able to deliver on time and with a very satisfying quality. We’ve been allowed to tweak a lot in Compose, The solution is adapted to our needs and the way we work. A major part of the project has also aimed to standardize and improve the existing work processes.”
– Ann Jørstad Nilsen, Project Manager, and Product Owner – Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries

 

“Using off-the-shelf software has helped us reduce the workload on our internal IT department and to develop new solutions without hiring more developers.”
–  Kjersti Dalland, IT-director – Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries

Core components of the solution

• A user-friendly web application for collecting and structuring information from the public
• Secure dialogue with anonymous informants
• A case management portal for collecting and organizing tips
• Intelligence reliability and credibility evaluation workflow
• Standardized workflows for following upon intelligence
• API-based integrations with public registers
• Custom design on all user interfaces
• Statistics for governance  

Agile teams and low-code delivery

The system was implemented by a dedicated agile project team consisting of one internal project manager at the Directorate, 5-9 case workers/professionals, and one Low-Code Consultant from Compose. Compose offers clients expertise in process architecture and automation as well as deep insight into customization options in the software. 

“Working with Compose has been assuring. The consultants are professional, good listeners, and show a good understanding of what we do. It has been important to have sufficient internal resources on the project to take advantage of all the customization possibilities offered in Compose.”  

“We are receiving more tips from the public and are better equipped to follow up and act on reported possible crimes. The data we collect is also more structured which enables us to generate statistics and gather intelligence for governance. We can better know where we need to spend our resources. The system has been a great source of information to practice strategic governance and professionalization. We have achieved a user-friendly solution, and the case managers are enjoying working with it.” 

Furthermore, the Directorate has successfully uncovered and prosecuted a number of offences from tips

“Tip from the public has uncover incidents such as smuggling of fish, illegal sales, littering of the marine environment and escapes of farmed fish. It is important that the directorate has good and secure dialogue with the public, that they have confidence in us. This is how we can fulfil our social mission.”

– Ann Jørstad Nilsen, Project Manager, and Product Owner – Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries