The Information Technology Services Branch (ITSB)
delivers the Government of Canada's (GoC) common Information
Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) infrastructure.
ITSB manages:
- 250 major software applications on behalf of various
departments
- Data centre operations for 47 departments and agencies
- 3 cheque production facilities (Dartmouth, NS,
Quebec, PQ, and Winnipeg, MA) that handle 120M mailings
a year
- Messaging systems that handle 2 million messages
per month
- Satellite-based, mobile and fixed communication
services for 30 departments
Government On-Line (GOL)
and Secure Channel
Government On-Line (GOL) is a whole-of-Government initiative
led by ITSB, which currently has 45 services completely
on-line and 85 more to come by 2005. For four years
running, the GoC has been recognized as the world leader
in providing on-line services to its citizens (according
to Accenture, a private sector management consulting
firm). Studies have shown that, on average, an in-person
transaction costs $44; a transaction by post costs $38;
one by telephone costs $8; while an on-line transaction
costs only $1. Therefore, overtime, GOL's significantly
lower cost per transaction and the shift in emphasis
from other forms of service delivery are expected to
reduce the overall cost of service delivery. The Secure
Channel is the common electronic infrastructure of the
Government of Canada. By ensuring all aspects of the
privacy and legitimacy of a transaction, the Secure
Channel is a prime enabler of GOL.
Government Telephone and
Computer Services
Long-distance telephone charges are a significant cost
of doing business. Through the efforts of ITSB, the
GoC has the lowest corporate long-distance rates in
Canada. ITSB is currently looking at telephone calls
routed over the Internet in order to further reduce
long distance charges and to offer a full digital suite
of services.
The Future
Under the current Common Services for government approach
(a mix of mandatory and non-mandatory offerings of common
services and shared systems), departments have had considerable
latitude in choosing their solutions. This has resulted
in a complex environment that is difficult to manage
efficiently and drives up costs.
ITSB, in collaboration with its client departments
and the central agencies, is working toward a new Shared
Services model.
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