Serving Canadians through Government On-Line

1. Serving Canadiansthrough Government On-Line Helen McDonald Donna Wood Assistant Secretary Director GeneralChief Information Officer Branch Public Access Programs Branch Treasury Board Secretariat Communication Canada Government of Canada Government of Canada

2. Evolution of Canada’s Government On-Line (GOL) initiative • 1999 Speech from the Throne – “The Government will become a model user of information technology and the Internet. By 2004, our goal is to be known around the world as the government most connected to its citizens, with Canadians able to access all government information and services on-line at the time and place of their choosing.” • Budget 2000 – initial two-year funding for launching GOL • Budget 2001 – “$600 million over the next four years to implement the government on-line strategy by 2005”

3. Government of Canada’s service vision The Service Vision Using information and communication technology to enhance Canadians’ access to improved citizen-centred, integrated services, anytime, anywhere and in the official language of their choice GOL Delivery Target Most frequently used services on-line by 2005 Service Improvement Target 10% increase in citizen satisfaction by 2005

4. Client centricity and a whole-of-government approach… • Service delivery:user-centric approach to service delivery and multi- channel integration, driven by client priorities, satisfaction, efficiencies and feasibility • Common secure infrastructure:electronic service platform to enable integrated services and support secure Internet, telephone and in-person access • Policy: build citizen confidence in e-services by addressing privacy, security and information management • Human resources: cross-government approach to develop the right skills for electronic and other service delivery, focused on change management and competencies • Communication: encourage take-up, engage citizens to shape service evolution, assure citizens of commitment to channel choice, and reporting to Parliament …underpin the service vision

5. $880 Million in central funding over 6 fiscal years (to 2005-06) Common SecureInfrastructure ($472 million) $51 m Service Delivery ($357 million) $472 m $357 m Policy, HR and Communications and Measurement ($51 million) Strategic investments in GOL and Service Delivery • Estimated 2 to 4 billion $ invested by departments

6. Political engagement through Cabinet Ministers • Cabinet Committees on the Economic Union (CCEU) and on the Social Union (CCSU) approve the overall objectives, funding and major policy decisions • Treasury Board Ministers approve policies and standards (information technology, information management, service delivery) and are updated periodically on progress • President of the Treasury Board is lead minister for GOL and Service Strategy

7. President of Treasury Board Chief Information Officer (CIO) OrganizationalReadiness IM/ITStewardship GOLService Strategy IT Securityand Architecture Communications and Public Relations Organization at the departmental level Secretary of the Treasury Board & Comptroller General of Canada  IM/IT Stewardship; Functional leadership for GoC IT community; Government On-Line by 2005; GoC Service Agenda

8. Interdepartmental committees supporting GOL and Service Strategy (as of fall 2002) Deputy Minister Committee (GOL/Service Oversight) Service, Information and Management Board GOL Leads CIO Council (CIOC) Information ManagementChampions Information TechnologyChampions Service Transformation Committee Architecture Review Board Information Management & Policies Committee Service Delivery Champions http://www.gol-ged.gc.ca/governance/gov-gouv_e.asp

9. Federal on-line presence in February 2000

10. Defining how to organize for users Life Event? Client Group? Subject?

11. Focus testing with Canadians to determine right approach… Focus Test 1 - The Organizing Principles, March 2000 • 25 focus groups, 5-7 persons per group • Moncton, Montréal, Toronto, Kelowna, Vancouver • Youth, Adults with & without Internet experience, Seniors, and Business Focus Test 2 - The Specific Clusters, May 2000 • 25 focus groups, 6-8 persons per group • Halifax, Québec, London, Winnipeg, Calgary • Youth, Adults, Seniors, 2 x Business, half of whom triedto get government services more than once in the past year

12. Main Portal CanadaSite Gateways Canadian Businesses Citizens / Individuals International / Foreign Clients Financing Regulations Employment Taxation Going to Canada Doing Business in Canada Arts and Culture Jobs Health Taxes Clusters …provided more meaningful organizing principle for… …government information and services

13. Common Look and Feel Standards… Features: • consistent placement and content of bilingual institutional signatures and the “Canada” wordmark • consistent placement and content of the use of official language buttons • consistent content and placement of a common menu bar • promotional space to identify special events • use of universal accessibility tags • consistent placement of institutional menu bars • standard use and placement of dates • consistent placement and content of important notices link …standardized federal web presence

14. Result: Redesigned Canada Site launched in 2001

15. Ongoing testing with users… • Validation of organizing principle (Cluster Blueprint) • One-on-one in-depth interviews (35) • Focus groups (20); English: Halifax, Toronto, Calgary, Lethbridge (14 groups); French: Montréal, Rivière-du-Loup (6 groups) • Respondent Categories: Youth (3 groups); Seniors (3 groups); Business (4 groups); Disabled persons (5 interviews: 3 English, 2 French); Light Internet users (5 groups); Heavy Internet users (5 groups) • Total participation: 274 participants - Mix of men and women • Gateways and clusters conduct focus testing with their own user groups …ensures continuous improvements

16. The Canada Site today…

17. Canadians Gateway

18. Business Gateway

19. International Gateway

20. In addition to supporting the development of the Canada Site as our e-platform… • Investment in common tools and supports: • Common content management system to re-use metadata tags • Common metrics software to allow benchmarking • Consolidated user support • Common marketing strategy • Joint focus testing and public opinion research • Rationale: • Facilitates coordination or ‘corporate’ approach • Economies of scale facilitates sustainability …investments made in common tools and support

21. Investments to accelerate service delivery… • Initial investments focused on “pathfinders” and pilots • Competitive processes run to select projects which best met criteria • Transactional services as well as information services, gateways and clusters • Helped to gain momentum in getting a critical mass of services on-line, and new portals launched • Reaches large number of Canadians • Achieves demonstrable results early • Helped also to break new ground • Facilitates cross-departmental or inter-jurisdictional service integration • Addresses horizontal policy issues • Innovative client service delivery approaches or partnerships

22. Investments to accelerate service delivery… 2 • Over time focus shifted to • Complete on-line delivery of most commonly used services • Make progress towards more client-centred and “joined-up” vision of service delivery • Explore options for further service integration • Help gateways and clusters become platforms for integrated service delivery • Provide common tools or services that would benefit as many departments as possible • Selection criteria: potential for service integration, client impact, focus test results, GoC priorities • Projects reviewed for results, good project management

23. High volume transactional services Key information services Other departmental priorities Other completed services Defining the “most commonly used” services + Horizontal services Joined-up services Gateways and Clusters = GOL 2005

24. Services for Canadians by 2005 88 services including: • My Tax Account: secure access to tax statements and ability to update personal tax returns • Family Benefits: streamlined provision of client tax information to provinces/territories for provincial income-tested programs • Real-time determination of eligibility for veterans benefits and claims processing, automatic enrollment for income-tested pension benefits • Application for and repayment of student loans

25. Services for Business by 2005 39 services including: • Filing of corporate tax, GST and record of employment • Grants and contributions: e.g. high-tech sector and aboriginal businesses • Export assistance services and permits for exports and imports of controlled goods • Income-based stabilization programs for farmers

26. Services for International Clients by 2005 8 services including: • Applications for immigration and visitors • Secure, two-way electronic filing for foreign investment review • On-line delivery of international development assistance

27. Progression model developed to measure maturity of services • Transactional services: • Publish (1-3; passive/passive)… information about the service is available on-line • Interact (4-6; active/passive)… clients can communicate on-line with government • Transact (7-9; active/active)… clients can complete a transaction on-line (clients and government can communicate with one another) • Information services: • Publish (1-3; push)… basic information is available on-line • Customize (4-6; push/pull)… information is deeper, increasingly client-centred; holdings are increasingly interactive • Provide client-defined access (7-9; pull)… clients can increasingly manipulate/synthesise different information

28. Annual departmental reporting • To provide information to guide evolution and progress • Began in 2000 • Departments and agencies asked to file reports on milestones for putting key services on-line, clients, benefits, risks • Similar template used in 2001 and 2002 • But filings now on-line • Some topics changed: increased focus on • link to strategic plan, governance structure • changes needed to legislation, regulations or policy • changes needed to departmental IM/IT systems, need for common infrastructure services • human resources and skills implications • marketing plans

29. Citizen/client-centred government Better, more responsive service Capacity for on-line delivery Comprehensive measurement framework includes… Privacy Critical mass of services Convenience Security Take-up Accessibility Credibility Efficiency Service transformation Citizen/client satisfaction Innovation …new tool to measure client satisfaction (CMT)

30. Next step – moving to multi-channel service delivery… • Fifty percent of Canadians use multiple channels to obtain service, up from 26% in 2000 – need to respond • Need to address sustainability pressures • Encourage use of on-line services • Consolidate call centres, mail processing and in-person centres, single window sites • Move to common infrastructure and business processes • Opportunity to increase client satisfaction and the relevance of federal government to Canadians

31. …to support service transformation over the longer term • We must leverage GOL’s client-centric, whole of government approach to service delivery across all channels to fully realize the benefits for service improvement and efficiency of delivery “Government On-Line is but a part of a much broader issue – the total transformation of how governments organize to provide services and information…to the users of their services as well as for their own operations…the fundamental principle…should be a focus on the needs of users…” Government On-Line Advisory Panel, 2002

32. Defining the service vision to achieve service transformation • Service visions underway for 3 key clients groups • Individuals • Businesses • International clients • Visions supported by • Client and service segmentation analysis • Analysis of all components of delivery network (call centres, in-person centres, mail, Internet) • Research on common enablers (marketing, HR, technology) and best practices • Visions will be consolidated into government-wide service strategy

33. Opportunities for service transformation • Businesses must submit payroll information to multiple departments • We are developing a single point of filing for business, which would be leveraged by multiple departments – enhancing efficiency and reducing compliance burden • To open a restaurant requires a minimum of 20 permits or licences across 3 levels of government • We are piloting a single licence site with provinces • There are over 270 grants and contributions programs across 39 departments and agencies • We are mapping common program designs

34. Service Strategy Enablers: Components of our common technology infrastructure Service Consumers Individuals Businesses Trusted 3rd Parties GoC Dept. & Empl. Service Providers GoC Dept (public & internal services) Trusted 3rd Parties (external services) S e c u r e C h a n n e l Presentation Services Program Services Application Services Access Devices Access Networks Access Networks Services Services Services Application Bridges Front End Providers Security Services Services Information Services Services Network Services Services Network Infrastructure Operations Support Platform, Hosting and Service Location Infrastructure Management

35. Why a common infrastructure? • Assures citizens that their information and transactions with government are protected • Assures citizens of the authenticity and integrity of government sites and databases • Protects against network intrusions • Provides on-demand, broadband network services to departments and agencies • Provides directory services and secure messaging • Provides identification and authentication of individuals and businesses with which government conducts business • Provides brokerage services and connectors to departmental enterprise-wide and administrative systems

36. epass – on-line authentication service • What is it? • a unique electronic credential • allows on-line access to government programs and services that require enhanced security measures, including secure electronic signatures • Citizens • Address Change On-line • My Tax Account • Business • Record of Employment

37. Updating policies for an e-environment • Privacy Impact Assessment – ensures privacy considerations are taken into account in the design/re-design of service delivery • Management of Government Information – ensures that information assets are effectively and efficiently managed throughout their life-cycles • Government Security Policy includes new IT Security Standards

38. Improved Stewardship of IT assets will help achieve… • IM/IT Stewardship • Initiatives optimized for whole of GoC contribution to user-centred services • Fewer systems but used by more programs • IT infrastructure investments tied more directly to core business and service transformation $5.1B in 2001-02 Breakdown of spending by category in 2001-02 …efficiencies to be used for internal transformation

39. Communications and Marketing of on-line services… • Common approach to ensure consistent messaging around service delivery and key issues (e.g. privacy and security) • Sustained multi-media advertising campaigns (TV, radio, transit, print, internal) attract users to on-line channel – 30% increase in visitors • Information kits to engage Members of Parliament in promoting on-line services to Canadians …to reach key audiences

40. Public Reporting… • Annual Public Reporting of GOL plans and progress by departments and government-wide (www.gol-ged.gc.ca) • First report against performance measurement framework expected in late Fall • Departments encouraged to set and report publicly on service performance and client satisfaction …ensures transparency and accountability

41. Reporting on Service Standards – A Best Practice http://www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca/agency/standards/menu-e.html

42. Engaging Canadians on Service Strategy… • Internet-based user panel • 4,500 people • Traditional Survey and Focus Groups • Citizens First • Business First • GOL Advisory Panel – representatives from the private, academic and voluntary sectors …through Public Opinion Research

43. e-Consultation portal – one stop access to all of GoC… • Growing expectation for on-line consultation in Government • Single window to information on GoC consultation …public consultation activities

44. People and skills for Government On-Line • Strategies for change in human resources • support development of communities of practice for IT, IM and Service Delivery • focus on capacity-building, recruitment, retention and reskilling • develop and share community initiatives, management and work practices • e-learning resources • shared work descriptions and competency profiles • organizational modelling • GOL is key to modernizing public service, attracting the best and brightest

45. The way forward • Service visions for Canadians (HRDC-led), Business (IC-led), International (DFAIT-led) • Client needs, expectations and channel preferences, and best practices in multi-channel delivery • Opportunities for consolidation of service delivery networks – call centres, mail processing, in-person • Sustainability modelling for the common infrastructure • Legislative and governance requirements for integrated service offerings • Modelling impacts of service delivery changes on employees and skills required

46. For more information www.canada.gc.ca www.gol-ged.gc.ca www.cio-dpi.gc.ca