Institutional Strengthening for the Institute of the Judiciary of Panama

Client: The Institute of the Judiciary of Panama trains judicial and public defender personnel. It oversees their professional development, evaluates candidates for entry and promotion, and certifies law graduates through an external exam.

Problem: The Institute faced constant and unpredictable demands from across the judiciary and international partners. This made it hard to plan ahead and overwhelmed its limited resources, putting its operations at risk.

Ergo’s Solution: Ergo introduced a fixed academic calendar coordinated with other judicial bodies. Clear deadlines for requests and responses gave all parties greater stability and predictability.

To improve long-term planning, the 2025 academic program was restructured into four phases: induction, skills development, specialization, and ongoing training. Each phase targets staff based on their role and career stage, ensuring more relevant training.

Data Component: To support this transformation, Ergo built a unified data lake that brings together all the Institute’s information. Automated ETL processes feed real-time Power BI dashboards, giving decision-makers clear, actionable insights to guide planning and monitor progress.

TECLAB - Towards Effective Courts and Coordinated Labour Justice

Client:

Due to the mexican labor courts need to further the implementation of the new model of labor justice. The U.S. Department of Labor and the mexican state level judiciaries are collaborating in a project to reinforce the implementation of Mexico's labor reform, which represents a comprehensive transformation of the labor justice system. This reform aims to address significant deficiencies such as bottlenecks, corruption, poor management, and limited access to justice. Aligned with international commitments under the USMCA and the International Labor Organization (ILO), the reform faces substantial resistance and poor state capacity. Therefore, it necessitates significant capacity building, technological advancements, and accountability mechanisms to succeed. The old system's inefficiencies, low judicial salaries, and the exploitation of backlog cases for bribery underscore the urgent need for a reformed, efficient adjudication process.

Problem:

The major challenge lies in overcoming the high resistance to reform and the limited state capacity to implement new procedures effectively. The existing labor courts, integrated into the state judiciary, suffer from procedural bottlenecks, low notification rates, poor enforcement of judgments, and corruption, leading to prolonged lawsuits. Additionally, the reform's success hinges on creating a cohesive network of labor courts and authorities to share information and best practices, which is currently lacking. These issues collectively hinder the efficient adjudication of labor cases, necessitating a multifaceted approach to address them comprehensively.

Solution:

The project aims to strengthen local labor courts by focusing on the professionalization of court operators, the development of technological systems, and the creation of robust networks across labor courts and relevant authorities. The labor courts will be integrated within the existing state judiciary structure, with coordination from the presidency of each state judiciary and potential involvement of the Comisión Nacional de Tribunales Superiores de Justicia de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. The project will enhance the labor courts' capacity for effective and equitable case adjudication, foster connections with federal and state labor authorities, and address the reform's transitional goals. Furthermore, the project will include a public-facing communication strategy, providing an open data interface for transparency and developing audiovisual materials to educate court users and the public on navigating the reformed labor system.

Digital Platform for Regulatory Burden Reduction for the Government of Ontario

Client: The Ministry of Red Tape Reduction works with Ontario government ministries to modernize regulatory practices and meet burden reduction goals under the Modernizing Ontario for People and Businesses Act, 2020 (MOPBA). It leads strategic efforts to reduce red tape for businesses through regulatory innovation, compliance reform, and modernization initiatives.

Problem: Ontario faced widespread red tape challenges, with ministries struggling to embed modernization in policy development and streamline inspection services. A key barrier was the fragmented and manual nature of data collection and reporting processes, which hindered efficiency, consistency, and performance tracking.

Ergo's solution: Ergo developed a digital solution to streamline regulatory management. The platform enables ministries to create, amend, and revoke regulatory instruments online while tracking their full lifecycle and performance indicators. It also provides a centralized portal for submitting and reviewing Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) data across all instrument types, ensuring thorough impact assessment and reporting. By automating workflows and integrating systems, the solution reduces manual tasks and improves regulatory oversight and service delivery.

Competitive Municipalities Project: Smart Regulation/Business Engagement

Duration: 2020

Client: USAID

Problem: The Competitive Municipalities Project addresses the need to improve the municipal regulatory framework and business participation and compliance in 15 municipalities across seven states in Mexico. The problems include inefficient regulatory design and implementation practices by local governments and insufficient private sector participation in regulatory compliance.

Solution: The project proposes several interventions to address these problems. First, the "Model Regulation for Municipal Regulatory Improvement" was developed and has already been adopted by several municipalities. This regulation aims to align municipal practices with the General Law of Regulatory Improvement, thereby improving the local regulatory framework.

Additionally, a "Municipal Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) Operating Manual" was created, providing a comprehensive guide to ensure that the benefits of new regulations outweigh the costs. This manual is fundamental for efficient and effective regulatory design.

Another important intervention is the implementation of a "Regulatory Reengineering Methodology" that promotes the simplification and transparency of municipal regulations. This methodology seeks to make regulatory processes more efficient, reducing the administrative burden on both local governments and businesses.

The project also includes the design of a "New Municipal Inspections Model" based on risk criteria. This new model aims to make inspections more effective and focused on higher-risk areas, thus improving regulatory compliance.

Finally, technical assistance has been provided for the integration of municipal catalogs into CNARTyS, optimizing the available technological structure. This integration allows for better management and access to regulatory information, facilitating compliance by businesses.

Additionally, technical assistance and training have been provided to municipal officials and representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises and business chambers. This has been crucial in promoting the improvement of regulatory practices and compliance by the private sector.

Optimization of Information Exchange in Nuevo León

Duration: 2021

Client: Chemonics International, Inc.

Problem: The ERGO project identified several significant issues in the information exchange system between the analysis units, the Attorney General’s Office of Nuevo León (FGNL), and the Unit of Precautionary Measures and Supervision (UMECA). Inconsistencies were found in the documentation of processes, suggesting potential deficiencies in how they were conducted and recorded. Additionally, there was a lack of systematization in the information exchange and a need to optimize the existing mechanisms. Furthermore, the absence of formal protocols to guide these information exchanges was observed, causing difficulties in the organization and formalization of these processes.

ERGO’s Solution: The ERGO project revolutionized the mechanisms of information exchange between the analysis units, the FGNL, and the UMECA. It conducted a thorough analysis of the process documentation with key stakeholders, identifying areas for improvement and proposing modifications to optimize these processes. As a result, innovative protocols were created that not only organize and formalize the information exchange but also enhance its efficiency and effectiveness.

Study of the Regulatory Excellence Program

Duration: November 2022 – March 2023

Client: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Regulatory Affairs Sector

Problem: The federal government's Regulatory Affairs Sector faced challenges in ensuring that the objectives of its regulatory policy were aligned with a future IT system, built in phases as a business solution. At that time, the Regulatory Oversight database was crucial for meeting the requirements of the Red Tape Reduction Act, providing an evidence base for annual reports, conducting research, responding to regulatory system inquiries, and supporting the challenge function to track the history of a regulatory proposal. However, this database needed to be updated to accommodate the sector's growing mandates and digitization initiatives, leading to the need for a scoping exercise to enhance the legislative and regulatory lifecycle with new intelligent regulation tools.

Ergo’s Solution: The Ergo Group was tasked with managing the scoping exercise to determine how existing initiatives and data could be linked to create a mapping of the regulatory process, including collaboration with partners throughout the process. The team conducted introductory meetings, established shared policy-oriented goals, inventoried and analyzed current regulatory systems and IT processes, developed high-level process maps, and drafted preliminary and final reports. The proposed approach focused on correctly identifying the main objectives of the regulatory accountability program, understanding the program's operating environment from legal, organizational, and technical perspectives, and learning from international best practices. The goal was to define a clear and flexible conceptual vision and work plan for a renewed program that would enhance implementation efficiently, effectively, and sustainably, encompassing the entire lifecycle of legislation and regulations from creation to final implementation.

Client: CONCAMIN (Industrial Chambers Confederation)

Client: Due to Mexico's need to advance in matters of competitiveness, the Private and Industrial sector formed an alliance which unites Government, Academy and Civil Society. This alliance created an instrument for the continuous improvement of Mexico through systematic actions that generate value and impact.

Problem: The alliance lacked a specialized tool to evaluate and monitor its projects and programs.

Ergo’s Solution: We developed a platform that aides in the impact assesment of the projects and programs that will form part of the National Competitiveness Agenda.

Client: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mexico

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Client: Consular offices of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the agency in charge of consular services such as issuing passports to Mexican nationals living abroad.

Problem: Mexican consulates around the world are facing increased delays due to poor processes and a lack of poor processes and lack of customer service standards.

Ergo’s Solution: In collaboration with CIDE, a leading educational Mexican research institution, we have worked since 2012 with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to implement process standards for consular documentation services in Mexican consulates around the world, that resulted in improved consular services.

Results: The project successfully reduced customer service and waiting times to less than an hour, and established systematic metrics monitoring practices in order to mitigate and manage changes in demand for those services. The opportunity cost savings to the Mexican community abroad from reduced waiting times is estimated at over $300,000,000 USD a year.

Project phases

Our results 

Client: Ministry of the Economy, Mexico

Client: Ministry of the Economy - the federal agency responsible for competitiveness, trade and investment, standards and small business development.  

Problem: The Ministry needed to bring strategic focus to the technical standards development and the compliance assessment processes managed by the General Directorate of Standards (Dirección General de Normas).  

Ergo’s Solution:  Our team analyzed the legal framework and the current operation of the GDS and identified inefficiencies and/or deviations from the provisions of the Federal Law on Metrology and its regulations. We redesigned current administrative processes and designed new processes. We also developed functional specifications for the development of a national integrated information system designed to automate business processes related to standards development and compliance assessment throughout government.

Results: The solution allowed the Ministry to focus its scarce resources on bringing strategic coherence to Mexico's technical standards policy, while automating processes and facilitating collaboration and information exchange among relevant actors.

Ministry of Economy, Saskatchewan

Client: The Ministry of Economy of the province of Saskatchewan, Canada- a government agency charged with promoting the province’s economic growth through an integrated approach. One of its responsibilities is to oversee implementation of the province's Red Tape Reduction initiative. 

Problem: Saskatchewan need an information system that could help to manage the regulatory review process implemented through the Red Tape Reduction initiative, a measure designed to modernize the regulatory landscape and increase the province's competitiveness.

Ergo’s Solution: Develop, deploy and support a province-wide regulatory information database to serve as the single source of information regarding regulatory requirements throughout the province. This database manages the entire life-cycle of provincial and municipal regulations and implements the provinces’ Red Tape reduction initiative.

Results: Ergo created a province wide system for government to collaborate in implementing regulatory reform through the provisions of the Red Tape Reduction initiative. The system drives the review of regulations by implementing a single collaborative workflow that spans all government departments involved and builds in the use of a regulatory cost model for assessing the prospective costs and benefits of regulations.

Client: Ministry of the Interior, Mexico

Client: The Ministry of the Interior- a federal agency responsible for implementing criminal justice reform. 

Problem: Once the groundbreaking criminal justice reform was approved by the Mexican Congress, the Ministry of the Interior saw the need to closely monitor its implementation through a comprehensive system of performance indicators.

Ergo’s Solution: Ergo developed an online information system based on its proprietary MētisBPM™ engine to track performance indicators on the implementation of Mexico’s constitutional reform of the criminal justice system.  This system allowed the Ministry of the Interior to generate performance indicators based on data provided by the States in a collaborative effort. 

Results: Ergo’s solution gave the client efficient tools to more effectively manage and monitor their processes.

Client: Contra Costa County, California – Community Development Department - Current Planning

Client: The Current Planning Department manages urban planning and compliance issues on large housing development projects in the County. It is responsible for shepherding large projects through the complicated land use, zoning and environmental issues that impact such projects.

Problem: Regulations in this area are extremely complex and ensuring compliance with applicable rules is a costly and burdensome process both for county planners and developers.

Ergo’s Solution: We developed a conceptual framework to facilitate the identification of applicable rules to specific permit types and an information system to track the entire permit approval process.

Results: Through the system developed by Ergo, the country may now easily track the permit approval process by rapidly identifying the applicable rules to each permit type. The new system saved the County hundreds of planner hours a year that were previously spent determining what conditions applied to specific plots and parcels, freeing up time for ensuring compliance.

Client: Federal Commission for the Improvement of Regulation (COFEMER)

Client: COFEMER is responsible of ensuring that Mexico's regulatory framework is efficient and does not impose undue burdens on the economy.

Problem: COFEMER needed to redesign the regulatory impact analysis that all federal agencies had to submit with new regulations to make the process more efficient and aligned with the OECD’s best practices. 

Ergo’s Solution: The Ergo Group worked together with COFEMER to reengineer their processes, develop new streamlined processes, write an operational manual for the regulatory impact assessment review process and developed a Web based tool to streamline and automate the development and submittal of regulatory impact assessments by federal agencies and their review by COFEMER. This public access tool is available at: http://www.cofemermir.gob.mx.

Results: Ergo’s solutions digitized and automated the entire regulatory impact analysis process. Moreover, they allowed COFEMER to track its different workflows, generate performance measures and reports. Our solution was one of the first ever web based systems used by the government of Mexico.

Client: Office of the Federal Attorney General for Consumer Affairs (PROFECO)

Client: PROFECO - the agency in charge of protecting consumer rights and ensuring compliance with consumer focused business regulations in Mexico.

Problem: PROFECO lacked an integral information and process system that effectively connected its offices which resulted in inefficient processes and customer services.

Ergo’s Solution: From 2002 to 2005 The Ergo Group advised PROFECO in the conception, design and implementation of the first ever integrated, agency-wide Citizen Relationship Management System (an Oracle based system entitled SIIP). The services included the security of the system, trials, trial appeals, and business intelligence, among others.

Results: The information technology system linked together the agency's 60 plus offices in Mexico. It delivers real time service to consumers that visit these offices or call the national Consumer Hotline.

Ergo’s solution not only significantly boosted PROFECO’s efficiency, but also in September 2006, PROFECO was awarded the prestigious Innova Award for government innovation for its implementation of SIIP.