How a municipality chooses and buys a dashboard for participation hours

A Dutch municipality buys a dashboard for participation hours in six steps: define the requirements from the Wet inburgering 2021, check what already exists, pick a procurement route that fits the contract value, arrange a DPIA and a data processing agreement, run a pilot with real participants, and only then roll out.

Why this is not an ordinary software purchase

A dashboard for participation hours processes personal data of people in a civic integration program and produces figures the municipality has to account for to the national government. That makes the purchase heavier than buying a planning tool. In the Z-route, the self-reliance route of the Wet inburgering 2021 (the Dutch Civic Integration Act), DUO's conditions require at least 800 hours of participation per person, including the participation statement program and the labor market module. The municipality has to track and report those hours.

Divosa, the association of municipal directors in the social domain, advises municipalities in its guide on participation in civic integration to choose a user-friendly digital registration system and to give newcomers insight into their own hours. According to Divosa's Q&A on information provision, data exchange with DUO still runs through manual entry in the Portaal Inburgering; broad implementation of the automated message exchange of Plateau 2 is expected in the first half of 2027. Whatever you buy now has to survive that transition.

How reporting to DUO and Statistics Netherlands (CBS) works in detail is covered in our article on reporting participation hours to the Dutch government.

Step 1: write down the requirements

A requirements document for a participation dashboard starts with the work process, not with technology. Describe who records hours (the participant, the provider or the case manager), which roles look along, how the target from each person's integration and participation plan (PIP) is tracked, how hours reach DUO and CBS, and what the newcomer sees. The eight selection criteria are in our article on software for integration hours and reporting; turn them into requirements and mark which ones are knock-outs.

Keep the list short and testable. A requirement like "user-friendly" cannot be assessed; "a participant sees their own hours in the app without help from the case manager" can. Divosa notes that a visual display of progress can help people who read little or not at all, so put that on paper too.

Step 2: check what already exists

Many municipalities already run a case management system for the social domain, sometimes with a module that can record hours. First map what that system already does and where it falls short, for instance at recording hours at the location of the activity or at giving participants insight. The GEMMA software catalog of the VNG, the association of Dutch municipalities, exists for this: municipalities use it for market orientation, for drafting requirements and to see which packages comparable municipalities use.

Look at the region as well. Municipalities that run civic integration in a partnership can often buy jointly or join an existing contract of a neighboring municipality.

Step 3: pick the right procurement route

Which procurement procedure applies depends on the estimated value of the contract over its whole term, including extensions and options. The Dutch Aanbestedingswet 2012 (Public Procurement Act) sets out when a European procedure is mandatory; the European thresholds for supplies and services are reset every two years. Below that threshold, your own municipality's procurement policy decides whether you may invite one supplier, request several quotes or publish nationally. Ask your procurement advisor for the current amounts and for the thresholds in your own policy; they differ between municipalities.

Three things to settle in this step:

• Estimate realistically. A per-participant subscription over four years for a full Z-route intake is a different value than a six-month pilot with one group. Count extension options.
• Use a market consultation if you do not know the market. You put your question to suppliers without awarding anything yet, and sharpen your requirements before the procedure starts.
• Ask about the municipal purchasing conditions for IT. The VNG provides the GIBIT conditions for this; your procurement advisor knows whether your municipality applies them.

Step 4: settle privacy and contract first

A supplier that processes participation hours for the municipality is usually a processor under the GDPR, and then a data processing agreement is mandatory. The Dutch Data Protection Authority lists what belongs in it: purpose and duration of the processing, instructions, confidentiality, security, sub-processors, help with data subject rights and data breaches, deletion after the end of the service and cooperation with audits. Divosa writes in its Q&A on privacy that the VNG has produced a data processing guide, a standard processing agreement and a model DPIA for the Wet inburgering 2021 that municipalities can adapt to their own practice.

A DPIA, a data protection impact assessment, is mandatory according to the Dutch Data Protection Authority when a processing operation is likely to carry a high privacy risk. The criteria the European supervisory authorities use include data about vulnerable people, linked databases and the use of new technology; the rule of thumb is that a DPIA is needed when two or more criteria apply. A dashboard that links hours of people in an integration program to their case file meets those criteria quickly. The table lists what you settle in the contract and why.

What you settle	Why	Where to find it
Data processing agreement	Mandatory as soon as the supplier processes personal data for the municipality; both parties are liable if it is missing	Dutch Data Protection Authority; VNG model for the Wet inburgering 2021
DPIA	Maps the privacy risks in advance; needed when the risk is likely high, such as with data about vulnerable groups	Dutch Data Protection Authority; VNG model DPIA
Citizen service number (BSN) and roles	The municipality and the language school may use the BSN, other local providers may not. They must be able to confirm hours without seeing it	Divosa Q&A on privacy (Wet inburgering and Besluit inburgering)
Export and exit	You must always be able to deliver hours to DUO and CBS and take them with you when the contract ends; the processor deletes its copies afterwards	Dutch Data Protection Authority (deleting data); your own requirements
Connection to the chain	Plateau 2 replaces manual entry with message exchange; ask how the supplier will connect	Divosa Q&A on information provision; VNG Plateau 2 toolkit
Term and pricing model	Determines the estimated value and therefore the procurement route; per participant, per municipality or fixed	Aanbestedingswet 2012; your own procurement policy

Step 5: run a pilot with real participants

A pilot with one group and one or two providers shows within a few months whether the dashboard fits your work process. Agree in advance what success means: the share of hours recorded at the location of the activity instead of afterwards, the time a case manager spends per week processing hours, and whether participants find their own balance without instruction. Involve the case managers from day one; they are the first to see where an hour lands in the wrong place.

A pilot is a contract in itself. Cover it with the same data processing agreement and the same export arrangements as the later contract.

Step 6: roll out across the chain

After the pilot comes the work that is often underestimated: working agreements with every provider on who confirms which hours, a fixed place in the process for entry into the Portaal Inburgering and for the quarterly delivery to CBS, and a yearly review of the requirements from step 1. Divosa names monthly check-ins with participants about their progress as a standard part of good administration; the dashboard is then the conversation aid, not the goal.

What daily tracking in a dashboard looks like

In a well-designed dashboard, hours are created at the source: the participant checks in at an activity, the provider confirms, and the case manager sees the balance against the PIP target without retyping monthly sheets. The municipality, or the organization it has delegated this to, approves the hours; a missed check-in is added manually afterwards. Reports to DUO and CBS come from the same data. How to set up such a dashboard is covered in our article on tracking civic integration programs with a municipal dashboard.

Where Taaly fits

Taaly is the digital integration assistant for newcomers, with hour registration as part of the municipal license. Newcomers register their participation hours with a QR code at the location of the activity; municipalities and partner organizations see the hours in real time instead of after the fact. The municipality, or the organization it has appointed, approves the hours, and a missed check-in can be added manually in the app or in the dashboard.

In the first municipal pilot of the module this meant 80% less administration. Today 12 municipalities register hours via Taaly, out of the 18 municipalities that work with Taaly; in the Rivierenland region five municipalities use the platform. The license is per participant and covers coaching with volunteer taalcoaches, the AI language coach, lessons, activities through Taaly Meedoen and hour registration; access is sponsored by the municipality, newcomers pay nothing themselves.

For municipality-sponsored participants, registered hours stay available to the municipality for three years after an account is deleted. Taaly is not a case management system for the whole social domain: the case file stays where it is, the hours are created in the app and the municipality follows them in the Taaly dashboard.

Want to see how hour registration fits your work process? Request a demo and bring your procurement advisor.

Frequently asked questions

How does a municipality buy a dashboard for monitoring integration activities and hour registration?

In six steps: define the requirements that follow from the Wet inburgering 2021 and your own work process, check what your case management system and your region already offer, choose a procurement route based on the estimated contract value over the whole term, arrange a data processing agreement and a DPIA before signing, run a pilot with one group and one or two providers, and then roll out with working agreements for the whole chain.

How do I choose a dashboard for reporting on civic integration activities?

Choose on the work process: who records the hours and when, does every role see exactly what it needs, does the system track the PIP target per person, do the reports for DUO and CBS come out without manual work, and can the newcomer see their own progress. Test those points in a demo with real roles and in a pilot, not only on paper.

How does tracking mandatory participation hours work in a digital dashboard for municipalities?

The participant checks in at an activity, for example with a QR code, the provider confirms and the municipality approves the hours. The case manager sees each person's balance against the PIP target and can add a missed registration manually. The same data feeds the delivery to DUO and CBS.

Does a municipality have to run a European tender for a participation hours system?

That depends on the estimated value of the contract over its whole term, including extensions. Above the European threshold for supplies and services a European procedure is mandatory; below it, your municipality's procurement policy decides the procedure. The thresholds are reset every two years, so ask your procurement advisor for the current amounts.

Do I need a DPIA for a dashboard with participation hours?

Probably yes. A DPIA is mandatory when a processing operation carries a high privacy risk, and data about vulnerable groups, linked databases and new technology are criteria that point that way quickly. The VNG has produced a model DPIA and a standard data processing agreement for the Wet inburgering 2021 that you can adapt to your own situation.