B2G – business-to-gov­ern­ment

Companies can not only establish business re­la­tion­ships with private consumers, with their employees, or with other companies but also with public au­thor­it­ies. In­form­a­tion is exchanged between companies and public ad­min­is­tra­tions, but it is also possible to establish a business re­la­tion­ship between the two entities.

In general, B2G includes any kind of re­la­tion­ship between public au­thor­it­ies, such as the gov­ern­ment, and companies. Public services are contact points for legal matters, for example, but may also interact with companies in the form of lobbying. A third form of co­oper­a­tion between companies and public au­thor­it­ies also un­der­stood as a B2G re­la­tion­ship is the public-private part­ner­ship (PPP).

To simplify processes for both companies and public au­thor­it­ies, com­mu­nic­a­tion in the B2G is in­creas­ingly taking place online. For companies, the sig­ni­fic­antly faster ap­plic­a­tions pro­cessing is ideal, and means a more efficient trans­ac­tion can take place. For example, you can download forms directly or transfer your tax dues. B2G is usually intended to be a long-term working re­la­tion­ship, and is char­ac­ter­ised by a high order volume. It is therefore vital that both sides have fast and well-func­tion­ing com­mu­nic­a­tion.

There are very different starting points for a business to gov­ern­ment re­la­tion­ship. Companies and au­thor­it­ies interact with each other for very different reasons. Sometimes it is about business relations, sometimes formal processes are dealt with, and sometimes the B2G is a re­cruit­ing re­la­tion­ship. The scenario depends on the kind of authority.

The classic form of a business re­la­tion­ship is the purchase of products or services from one party by another. Au­thor­it­ies often resort to offers from private companies. Above all, there is a great demand for tech­no­lo­gic­al solutions, to make personal data secure, for example.

To simplify co­oper­a­tion, es­pe­cially from the point of view of companies, more and more public ad­min­is­tra­tions are offering a selection of services online on their websites. You can download templates for necessary documents or ap­plic­a­tions and often send them directly to the required ad­min­is­tra­tion. Pro­cessing payment, updating business in­form­a­tion and so on, can also be carried out online.

If you as a company are looking for new employees, working with public ad­min­is­tra­tions can be worth its while. It is worth checking out if your state has a gov­ern­ment portal for ad­vert­ising jobs – this is a classic kind of B2G co­oper­a­tion. As a company, you can place your job ad­vert­ise­ments there free of charge and benefit from their large audience. As both job placement and career guidance are among the main tasks of this portal, a wider range of possible jobs also brings benefits to the state.

The goal of lobbying is to push the influence of companies, for example, on political decisions. Lobbying is part of public affairs man­age­ment, an interface between companies and society. This is carried out by business as­so­ci­ations or public affairs agencies acting on behalf of a company. The focus is on the interests of the company, which are to be com­mu­nic­ated within the framework of le­gis­la­tion. Fre­quently used methods are press releases or ad­vert­ising campaigns.

A PPP is an agreement between a gov­ern­ment agency, and a private business. A gov­ern­ment agency is any federal agency, for example. In a public-private part­ner­ship (PPP), both partners con­trib­ute their available resources such as personnel, capital, or expertise to jointly support a project of interest. This means that trans­ac­tions which are only financial are not con­sidered to be PPPs. The re­spect­ive functions of both parties are spe­cific­ally defined: The company is re­spons­ible for ensuring that the service needed is provided, and the gov­ern­ment agency ensures that the common ob­ject­ives are met. The level of co­oper­a­tion may vary, but it is always con­trac­tu­ally regulated and designed for the long term.

If gov­ern­ment agencies require services or products, such as tech­no­lo­gic­al solutions for data pro­cessing, or making a con­struc­tion project happen, au­thor­it­ies assign the required contracts to private companies. These kinds of orders are at­tract­ive for companies, as they generally represent a secure source of income. Marketing measures in business-to-gov­ern­ment trans­ac­tions are used to convince agencies of the benefits of the company’s products and services. A classic example of this are regional fairs organised for com­munit­ies. Companies have the op­por­tun­ity to present products and services that benefit the local community at these fairs. These could be products or in­nov­a­tions for waste disposal or energy and water supply, for example. This is only one example, and re­la­tion­ships between companies and au­thor­it­ies are possible and important in many other areas too.