ICT for new challenges in social security

1. ICT for new challenges in social security ISSA Technical Commission on Information & Communication Technology (Triennium Project 2005- 2007)Meeting of the ISSA ICT Advisory Board Marrakech 23 & 24 May 2006

2. Introduction • ISSA asked social security organizations to provide information on ICT issues under three main headings:- • Part 1: E-government/e-administration in social security • Part 2: Project management and managing consultancy • Part 3: Service delivery transformation • The questionnaire also attempted to identify major differences between the issues faced by countries at different phases of economic development • The responses can assist ISSA identify areas for further study that will assist social security organisations cope better with future ICT challenges • This draft report aims to • summarise the responses • initiate the process of deciding which issues are most relevant • begin to identify which case studies and other material provided will offer most assistance to social security organizations considering similar issues. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

3. Introduction- Points to Note • Points to Note • Some social security organizations did not respond to each section and within sections that were answered some organizations did not provide answers to specific questions and a few answers were ambiguous. • Accordingly references to numbers and percentages of respondents means respondents that replied to the issues referred to in each case. • The findings are not intended to be statistically precise but they do provide clear indications of trends • Additional interpretation of the responses will be undertaken and the various Case Studies suggested as well as “Lesson Learned” will also be reviewed in more detail. • It is evident that considerable work went into completing the responses and the overall result will hopefully provide considerable guidance, particularly to organizations planning to undertake ICT projects in the years ahead. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

4. Social Security – Why ask the questions • Working patterns are changing radically • Retirement and working are not neatly compartmentalised • Family structures are more volatile • Demographic changes mean new concepts for financing pensions • Social Security fraud is increasing • People want easier access to and co-ordination of their needs & entitlements. • Greater linkages with income taxation systems are emerging, • to combat fraud • to introduce easier and more effective targeting of resources to greatest need • to reduce administration (including burdens on employers) • ICT is also changing • New architectures • Cheaper (?) but more complex • Enabler rather than response to change • ICT Projects are still high risk • 31% projects reviewed in 2001 were cancelled before completion. • 53% had significant cost over-runs – many were double the initial estimate • Only 16% completed on budget and on time • Source: CHAOS study by Standish Group Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

5. Replies – first phase analysis Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

6. Descriptions of Respondents – Benefits & Services • Replies by 70 institutions analysed. These represent a good cross-sample: • The major benefits & functions these social security organizations manage include • Retirement Benefits (60% of social security organizations) • Survivors (40% of social security organizations) • Work Injuries and diseases (33% of social security organizations) • Labour Market and Benefits (25% of social security organizations) • Health benefits & services (21% of social security organizations) • Most social security organizations administer several or many benefits • Some collect contributions • A few are regulatory bodies, Ministries or research bodies. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

7. Descriptions of Respondents – Status & Admin Budgets • Almost all social security organizations are established by Law • 80% are regarded as public sector organizations with the typical constraints on recruitment, purchasing, wage levels etc. • They vary in size considerably – the largest has 88,000 staff with the average size being 9,000. The smallest has just 19 employees. • Most have a network of offices. • The proportion of annual budgets spent on administration varies considerably: • The typical annual administration budget for social security organizations paying benefits is about 3.3% of total spending. • ICT spending varies as a proportion of administration spending with the average agency spending about one-fifth of the administrative budget on ICT • a regulatory body might spend all its budget on administration. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

8. Descriptions of Respondents – Major Challenges • Almost all social security organizations face significant administrative challenges in the immediate future • Almost all believe that ICT will be an important part of the solution to these challenges • Administrative cost reduction, Improved service delivery and better ways of managing financial risks such as benefit fraud are clear priorities. • Improving ‘presence’ or visibility and public perception are almost as important. • About half the social security organizations expect that transnational collaboration in social security is a challenge. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

9. A comment – Migration may be accelerating Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

10. Migrants - NY State – Food Stamp Form – English & Chinese Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

11. New York Migrants - Screen Shots - multi-languages Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

12. Descriptions of Respondents– Challenges in less developed regions • One third of respondents offered views on special challenges facing developing countries and countries undergoing other transitions. • These challenges include: • Communications Infrastructure • Absence of reliable national or other extensive ID systems to help with verifying identities of insured workers and claimants • When asked to classify their countries by development stage, • about half of those that replied to the section stated they are making good development progress • 7% classified themselves as undeveloped at present and • 17% expect to be considered developed within 5-10 years. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

13. Descriptions of Respondents – Possible areas for future research • Respondents were asked to indicate possible areas of future ISSA research. • They were also asked to suggest technology issues that might become relevant in the medium term but which they have not yet embraced. • Many answers did not provide clear differentiation between items that ISSA might consider in the near-to-medium term for research to assist members and issues that might become more relevant in the future. • Accordingly, the suggestions have been analysed as all potentially relevant for early research by ISSA and the main topics suggested by respondents are: • eServices (including ePayments, eClaims etc) • Identity Management (including eSignatures and Biometric issues) • Web Services • Document Management (including Scanning, OCR, eMails etc) • Smart or Chip Cards • PKI • Database (including data integrity and clean-up operations) • Wireless and RFID technologies Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

14. Section 1 eGovernment & eAdministration in Social Security • Section 1 of Questionnaire Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

15. Section 1 eGovernment & eAdministration in Social Security- Legal & Political Environment • On the Framework environment for eGovernment most responses indicate that there are good reasons for expecting progress to continue and extend: • eTransactions are acceptable in evidence65% • Political commitments on e Govt are published85% • Resources committed79% • Government gives proactive support68% • Earlier targets met45% • Targets monitored74% • However, the fact that many earlier targets were not met should be a warning on the need to set expectations more cautiously. • On the question of paperless offices, only one third of all social security organizations in the survey feel confident that the paperless office can be achieved in the near future (2-3 years) • Looking at PKI, only 13% of replies say that PKI is not used or planned. With a quarter saying they already use PKI extensively Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

16. Section 1 eGovernment & eAdministration in Social Security- Integration issues • About 60% of respondents indicate that they have implemented some degree of integration of services with other social security organizations as part of their eServices initiatives. • 13% report significant integration achievements • About 40% say that there has been no integration of services with other organizations • However, most social security organizations expect that eServices, eGovernment, Portals, Interchange of Data (with other social security organizations, other sectors and internationally) will feature in their future scenarios. • Similarly, in the Section dealing with business challenges relevant to Project management and managing consultancy • 83% of respondents list Collaboration and cooperation with other organisations • 61% list Sharing of information, processes and technologies • 91% of respondents listed one or both of these challenges as relevant to them. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

17. Section 1 eGovernment & eAdministration in Social Security- Internet Phase • Almost 30% of respondents classified their Internet Services as Phase 1, ie general information and perhaps limited services. • 45% described their systems as Phase 2, meaning comprehensive websites, some electronic applications and disjointed services and information. • Just over a quarter regard their systems as offering good services in an integrated fashion (ie Phase 3). • An aspect that emerges is a relatively slow rate of improvement with many social security organizations classified as Phase 1 or Phase 2. • A third of respondents indicate that they have not improved Phases in more than 2 years. • Given the pace of technical change and obsolescence in this arena, the delay in progress suggests that Internet services may not be viewed as a real priority and enabler of strategic change in some social security organizations. • However, quite a few social security organizations regard themselves as leaders in public sector and some are also leaders compared to the private sector. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

18. Section 1 eGovernment & eAdministration in Social Security- views of the ‘customer’ • A majority of replies (68%) suggest thatmost clients think the present access arrangements are about right for clients. • A contradictory finding is that two thirds of social security organizations do not have concrete information on how their clients access Internet services. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

19. Section 1 eGovernment & eAdministration in Social Security- Case Studies • About half of respondents offered Case Study material • The studies cover a broad variety of issues, including: • Simplified administration by linkages or interchanges of data to decide benefits • Transaction Mart, including access to forms that currently need to be printed from the Internet • Multi-channel service environment (web services) for different groups of clients • Online pension application service • Digitalisation of entitlement documents • Data sharing with the Tax agency • Filling and sending monthly statement through internet. • Multifunction declarations by Employers • Contributions paid by EDI • Authenticate users with third-party credential before allowing users change their account information • Five services allowing Employers & Insured Persons manage their Social Security status • Two-way electronic exchange with contributors Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

20. Project Management & Consultancy • Section 2 of Questionnaire Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

21. Section 2 Project Management & Consultancy - Objectives for using consultants • The major reason (36%) for using consultancy is for assistance with new ICT, ie to gain access to expertise and experience in new technology. • This is consistent with the business objective of collaboration which typically means new types of technology challenge • Similarly, new approaches to controlling fraud and increasing compliance may also require new approaches to data mining etc. • The next most most significant reason is to cope with a temporary increase in workloads (28%). • Other reasons include • Increase prospect of keeping projects within budget 15% • Adherence with Government Policy to outsource 15% • Few (6%) feel that consultants are used because the IT staff are considered too old to acquire the latest skills • Only 57% say that Consultancy Projects provide adequate Knowledge Transfer to the employing agency. • Almost one in three did not provide answers to this question • The balance (15%) say that there are problems with Knowledge Transfer. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

22. Section 2 Project Management & Consultancy - Major Business Challenges when considering consultancy • Business Challenges • New Scheme41% • Collect Contributions57% • Fraud65% • Service Improvement (faster/ more accurate) 67% • More secure payments33% • Collaboration83%* • More balanced service for all41% • Share information, process etc61% * • Accountability39% • Culture change 41% • Privacy41% • Client Confidence52% • Manage and enhance large data volumes 4% • Average Number of challenges 6 • * 91% list collaboration and/or sharing as Business Challenges Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

23. Section 2 Project Management & Consultancy - Risks in using consultants • Social security organizations were asked to list up to 5 major risks they perceived with the use of consultants. • More than 40 specific risk issues were listed with most social security organizations listing several issues. • To facilitate analysis, different issues were grouped under a number of headings: - • 25% of all the issues mentioned relate to matters that social security organizations could control better with tighter contracts, purchasing processes and project control. • 68% relate to consultancy suppliers clearly not living up to their promises • 22% relate to failure to understand customers needs, communications failures and inability to cope with cultural and language barriers. • 18% relate to knowledge transfer and ongoing ability by customers to maintain the systems after the consultancy assignment is finished • 28% relate to poor skills, substitution of less qualified staff, excessive technology focus etc. • 7% relate to fears about consultants getting access to sensitive information. • Developed countries do not see this as an issue, perhaps because they have easier access to major international companies that emphasise their ability to preserve confidentiality and who place a premium on their international reputations Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

24. Section 2 Project Management & Consultancy -Frequently mentioned issues • The most frequently mentioned issues were • Issues that social security organizations could control better with tighter contracts. • Higher Costs & Over-runs • Loose contracts • Inflexible expenditure commitments • Consultants get priority over users • Failure to understand customers needs, communications failures and inability to cope with cultural and language barriers. • Language & National Cultural issues were mentioned by only one agency in six, strongly implying that consultancy companies need to adapt their own internal business cultures to the specific needs of the Public Sector and to Social Security. • 18% relate to knowledge transfer to, and the ongoing ability of, customers to maintain the systems after the consultancy assignment is finished • Basic transfer of knowledge was the major issue • A few social security organizations suggested that consultants were actively try to build in ongoing dependence. • The implication is that consultants do not make adequate provision for the effort involved in knowledge transfer, which in turn may reflect weak contracts or purchasing arrangements. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

25. Section 2 Project Management & Consultancy - Issues for Consultants • Issues that consultants need to consider include:- • Poor skills of staff they deploy (including CV promises etc not delivered) • Supplier rigidity • Focus on Technology rather than business needs • Conflicts of Interest(including key staff drawn away to other projects) • Contract terms not adhered to • Financial stability of consultants • Underestimation of effort and other requirements • Proposing wrong technology & inadequate localization Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

26. Section 2 Project Management & Consultancy - Reducing the risks • Many organizations suggested measures to reduce risks in ICT projects. • The most frequent suggestions were: - • Have a complete Complete (and detailed) Plan • Identify & prioritise risks & mitigation strategies • Use a good Project Management Methodology • Monitor & Manage progress • Ensure effective user & stakeholder involvement • Pay real attention to internal ICT Capacity Building • Use Proof of Concept approach • Maintain Internal control of project • Senior Management buy-in/support • Issues listed as the single most important issue to reduce risk of failure included:- • Policy of developing reusable modules • Detailed analysis of systems interfaces • Recruit own Project Management • Consider aligning internal ICT staff pay rates closer to market rates • Ensure good documentation is generated and provided Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

27. Section 2 Project Management & Consultancy - Specific Risks in less developed regions • Respondents were asked to consider specific risks that developing countries face. The categories suggested were: • Not enough suppliers to generate real competition 34% • Few equivalent installations in their own country 24% • Import risks (complexity & delays) 10% • Import costs (exchange rate differentials) 31% • As previously indicated in this presentation, developing countries also face other ICT challenges such as • Poor Telecommunications Infrastructure • Absence of reliable national or other extensive ID systems to help with verifying identities of insured workers and claimants • They also report concerns about ensuring that personal data and other sensitive information is not abused by consultants. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

28. Section 2 Project Management & Consultancy - Case Studies • About a third of respondents have offered Case Study material that illustrate consultancy issues • The studies cover a broad variety of issues, including: • Create new Internet Site that is easier to maintain • Multi Channel Virtual Front Office • Unification of the desktop platforms, • PKI system & chip cards (2005/06), • Access Portal for central admin of users & application access • Replaced legacy system (1980’s) with CRM suite. • Redevelop & extend of legacy system • Some of the case studies mentioned earlier also illustrate Consultancy Project issues Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

29. Service Delivery Transformation • Section 3 of Questionnaire Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

30. Section 3 Service Delivery Transformation- Business Challenges • Social security organizations were asked to consider the challenges they face under the heading of Service Delivery Transformation. • Unsurprisingly, the answers reflect the overall perception of general business challenges provided when describing their organisation. • Service Delivery Transformation challenge are:- • % of respondents • Reduce administration costs86% • Reduce time required to process claims 82% • Collaboration & cooperation with other social security organizations 78% • Efficient use of data across schemes & social security organizations 76% • New Services & Benefits61% • Share information, processes & technology 59% • More balanced service for all53% • Increase take-up of existing services 37% • Other 4% • * Most agencies listed a number of challenges Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

31. TransformationIncrease Take-up – 37% Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

32. Section 3 Service Delivery Transformation- Recent Project Objectives Recent ICT project objectives Development of service oriented-architectures51% Implement basic integrated and/or e-government service options53% Improve service & quantify the improvements in terms of efficiency and effectiveness63% Offer additional channels to citizens and other customers55% Integrated or seamless view of legacy data in several legacy databases 35% Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

33. Section 3 Service Delivery Transformation-Channels • Service delivery channels are still predominantly the traditional methods of Personal Callers to Offices, Post and Telephone. • However, Internet and Email are already strongly evident with • 50% saying that Internet is available for at least 10% of clients • 40% offer eMail access. • 76% of respondents have a multi-channel service delivery strategy with the majority of these (61%) involving back-office re-engineering to permit/exploit the benefits of multi-channel approaches. • Recent projects included technologies that facilitate multi-channel offerings • Internet, Java, CRM, Call centres,Workflow Mgt 46% • eForms, Document Imaging, eSignatures etc 19% • Telecommunications Technology Projects 14% • Case studies talk about the difficulties in migrating from traditional methods and the need for an integrated PR campaign supporting the change. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

34. Section 3 Service Delivery Transformation-Cases Studies • About 40% of respondents have offered Case Study material that illustrate service delivery issues • IVR callers enter knowledge-based information or a password to access application • Difficulties in abandoning traditional methods • Strategies encouraging use of the least expensive channels • Electronic service must be supported by a concerted promotion campaign • Re-engineer collection process, i.e. employer/employee registration and contributions collection • Declarations by employers when a worker leaves - channels include phone, Internet, file transfer. New channel via GSM/SMS developed • eMail notification of significant updates to insurance record • Portals • Parents’ contacts (10 types family benefits & services) with different institutions Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

35. Preliminary Thoughts The following comments are preliminary personal views They may not represent the views of the Working Group when the analysis of the questionnaires is completed Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

36. Preliminary Thoughts- General • Countries in all regions face similar business challenges, including pressures on budgets and a need to be more service oriented. • eService and eGovernmentare very definitely part of the future delivery arrangements for Social Security. • Interchange of data and a sharing processes and infrastructure with sister social security organizations will be a common feature of future systems. • Some degree of integration with private organizations, for example banks, will also become more prevalent. • Interchange of data with institutions in other countries is likely to be more important in the future. • The use of consultancy will remain important and for many institutions it may be the most practical way to deliver new service methods using newer technology • However, the consultancy business has not made sufficient efforts to understand the needs of social security Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

37. Preliminary Thoughts- Consultancy • Less developed countries generally have similar expectations and needs from consultants but local support appears to be a major constraint due to the size of the consultancy market and limited opportunities for the local consultants to acquire the skills needed. • The use of packages (CRM etc) may assist in this area but the pricing of packages may need to be looked at by the suppliers. • The risks arising from import restrictions and processes and currency issues may be a major impediment for some countries. • A number of countries express significant worries about protecting sensitive data. The more developed countries do not find this a issue. • There may be a value in examining how the more developed countries tackled this issue. • All regions have concerns about knowledge transfer from consultants. Some further analysis on how this is managed successfully may be helpful. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

38. Preliminary Thoughts- Biometrics • There are widespread concerns about the robustness of technologies to support identity verification (eg, see British Computer Society Magazine – January 2006, p.31) • Biometrics raise particular concerns • Hundreds of countries will tend to award their systems to the lowest bidder. • This raises issues of compatibility as people move across borders • If you have just eaten potato chips your finger print might fail • If you are a surgeon – constant washing will erode fingerprint features. Consider also the case of certain manual workers such as bricklayers. • The early indications from Chip and Pin technology on Visa and ATM (bank teller machine) cards are not comforting. • How does a machine read the iris of a blind person • How are cards controlled – project in Colombia found that control of blanks might be an issue • How reliable will be the underlying identification process used to issue cards ? Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

39. Partnerships with Suppliers - views of Accenture • Global Survey of CIOs by Accenture (surveyed 300 organisations globally using 33 indicators) • IT Investing for High Performance(by Bob Suh, Chief Technology Strategist, Accenture, July 2005) • Enterprises that regard their IT Departments as only cost-centres tend to take a similar view of external IT suppliers. • Suppliers are selected on an ad-hoc basis • Contracts may be financially adversarial • By Contrast • Successful organisations build collaborative partnerships with suppliers with shared incentives • Such organisations select suppliers using more holistic approaches, that include attention to technical, philosophical and financial compatibility. COMMENT:There are obvious difficulties for public sector organisations in taking a more holistic approach. However, it would be interesting to establish whether any organisations have succeeded in taking this more commercial type of approach and, if so, how they got agreement and whether the results expected were achieved. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

40. Packages & Frameworks Accenture Survey Report - 2005 • Global Survey of CIOs by Accenture (surveyed 300 organisations globally using 33 indicators) • IT Investing for High Performance(by Bob Suh, Chief Technology Strategist, Accenture, July 2005) • High performing organisations spend less time maintaining systems and more time building new systems. • We must rethink the production methods of the business services factory. • Organisations must adopt the lessons learned from manufacturing to drive IT value. • PC manufacturing shows how this might be done – crushing cycle times & costs. • There is a need to consider business process applications development using holistic networked combinations of global resources. • Some other quotes • 95% of heart transplants are successful but only 29% of IT projects merit that word ! • Average cost over-run is 56% • Average time delay is 84% of initial time-plan. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

41. Packages & Frameworks – some examples Front Office/Call Centre            Back Office/Accounting CRM Packages Social Security Specific Frameworks Financial Mgt Packages • Packages may be relevant • More choice now • Examples include • Siebel/Oracle • Curam Software • SAP • Issues include • Cost of package & cost of customising • hardware & software environment • local support • where you want to start • Early adopters faced many challenges • Cost • Time taken • Technology still evolving • Too rigid • Not modular enough Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

42. Assessing suitability of packages & frameworks The following slide illustrates just one approach to assessing packages. There are other proven methods Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

43. This is a version of a model used by IBM – other companies have their own proven methods Business Model- typical functionality Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

44. Preliminary Thoughts- Too many challenges • Many social security organizations have identified a broad spectrum of priorities. • However, it also appears that having many parallel projects is a risk factor. • There will be obvious difficulties in deciding which challenge is to get most priority but failure to break the projects down to more manageable chunks will • increase reliance on expensive consultancy, • diminish the opportunities for effective knowledge transfer • increase the impact of various risks, eg • legislative change affecting deliverables • loss of key personnel • make project definition more complex • reduce internal project control effectiveness. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

45. Preliminary Thoughts- Internet & eService • About a third of respondents indicate that they have not improved Phases in more than 2 years. • In many countries Internet and eService will remain of limited use for some time until communications technology offers affordable wireless access in remote and undeveloped areas. • However, it seems clear that Internet style services will become much more established. • It also seems probable that international co-operation in social security will extend into the ICT area and that national systems will have to be able to interoperate transnationally for the exchange of data to ensure that their citizens get good service when they apply for benefits in other countries. • There may be advantages for developed and less developed regions to share ideas on how future interchanges of data might assist migrants and indeed tourists get efficient access to services. Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire

46. Final Thoughts • Maintain Control • be more assertive • you know as much (or more) than consultants know about your business ! • And … you may also know as much or more about ICT Initial Analysis of Responses to Questionnaire