|
Secure Channel
Welcome to the Secure Channel website.
Secure Channel is the critical link between government programs and Canadians. It provides secure and reliable network services for all federal departments while offering citizens and businesses secure, private and high-speed access to all federal government's on-line services.
Check out our new "Services" and "Implementation" features. They present complete information on the services and solutions offered by Secure Channel and show you just how easy it is to apply it. These new sections also show you how to order our services and who to contact. Our new "easy-to-navigate" side toolbar helps users find the information they want, quickly and easily, and supples links to other related websites.
Secure Channel will offer regular on-line updates that present timely information on new services and departmental applications as they become available. So visit our website often for the latest news on Secure Channel!
Please help us keep our new site helpful and value-added for you! Simply click on “Contact Us” and let us know what you think. We look forward to hearing from you!
What's New
Secure Channel Wins Prestigious C.I.P.A. Award
Michael de Rosenroll and the Secure Channel (SC) Team won the Silver Award of Excellence in the Customer Care Category at the Canadian Information Productivity Awards (C.I.P.A.) banquet that took place on November 1st, 2005.
As noted by the organization, “a C.I.P.A. award is centered on excellence and celebrates the impressive ability of Canadians and Canadian organizations to change, adapt, innovate and compete in a competitive landscape. C.I.P.A. supports world class Canadian IT initiatives, not simply as information technology accomplishments, but as business successes”. The Secure Channel was chosen from an impressive list of over 200 entries and 63 finalists.
The Canadian Information Productivity Awards is a celebration of IT and innovation implementation excellence in all types of organizations across the country. This award constitutes the highest form of recognition for the capabilities of an organization and its executives.
Canada ranked first out of the 22 countries in eGovernment for the fifth consecutive year
Accenture-Press Release
Canada leads in customer service maturity, according to Accenture study
TORONTO, April 6 /CNW/ - For the fifth consecutive year, Canada ranked first out of the 22 countries surveyed in customer service maturity in eGovernment, followed by the United States, Denmark, Singapore and Australia, according to the results of a study released today by Accenture (NYSE: ACN.)
The study, "Leadership in Customer Service: New Expectations, New Experiences," is Accenture's sixth annual global report on government service delivery. In a departure from previous reports, the 2005 study goes beyond measuring the extent to which governments offer services online to investigating their leadership in delivering true customer service - the value they bring to their citizens through multiple channels.
The study comprised two major components. The first was a leadership assessment of the overall service maturity of 22 national governments in North America, Europe and Asia based on the breadth and depth of the eGovernment services they offer, as well as leadership assessments among several key categories. For the second component, Accenture surveyed 9,000 adults in the same 22 countries to uncover their perceptions and customer experiences interacting with their government online, in person or via phone. This year's study found that despite having invested billions of dollars moving services and information resources online, governments around the world are still struggling to meet citizens' growing expectations for better customer service.
To measure overall service maturity, an indicator of how well governments are delivering customer service, Accenture focused on four key aspects of service delivery: a citizen-centered perspective, cohesive multi-channel services, fluid cross-government services, and proactive communications and education. The study found that while eGovernment offerings across the board are well advanced; with an average service maturity breadth of 91 percent, all countries have room for improvement to realize the broader goal of leadership in customer service. In fact the overall average customer service maturity score - which measures four key aspects of service delivery, including how well governments are delivering service across multiple channels - was just 39 percent. Only Canada has an overall customer service maturity score of more than 50 percent.
"Canada continues to set the bar in government service delivery for the rest of the world," said Alden Cuddihey, partner, Accenture's Canadian Government operating group. "Despite being a leader, there are still lessons to be learned from the rest of the world, areas for advancement, and opportunities to reach even more Canadians through eGovernment services. Canada still has work to do to meet the growing service expectations of its citizens."
The citizen survey found that while most citizens prefer a number of different methods of communicating with governments, they continue to rely on more traditional, offline channels. Despite the relative Internet savvy and familiarity with online government in some countries, the telephone continues to be the predominant means citizens use to communicate with government. Over the past 12 months, 57 percent of respondents had used the telephone to interact with government, as opposed to only 22 percent who had used the Internet. Yet despite its popularity, the telephone is consistently ranked as the least easy form of communication across all countries surveyed.
"What we have learned from speaking with governments and citizens alike is that eGovernment is only one component - albeit an important one - of a high-performance government," said Marty I. Cole, group chief executive of Accenture's Government operating group. "This year's research shows that governments cannot afford to invest all of their effort and resources in developing the online channel alone to keep pace with citizen demands. The entire government organization must become focused on delivering services to citizens that are tailored to their needs and circumstances, and are coordinated across the various channels of interaction."
The 2005 study revealed that all countries experienced a drop from previous years' overall eGovernment maturity scores, which measured the level to which a government has developed an online presence and were solely based on the Accenture researchers' evaluations of countries' eGovernment programs.
Countries that fared worse this year tended to be those with an emphasis solely on the eGovernment aspects of their service delivery programs. A look at eGovernment programs across the globe shows that continued incremental improvements in this area are unlikely to yield significant boosts to maturity. To advance now, governments must focus on a much broader vision.
The study also found that while most citizens are eager to embrace a new generation of services, governments are falling short on their ability to deliver them. For example, a majority of citizens (55%) believe government is being effective when it acts as a single, seamless entity that can remember all of the details of a citizen's previous contact.
However, an average of only 24 percent of citizens across all countries reported the government actually being able to do so. For Canada, which ranked number one in overall maturity ratings this year, 70 percent of the respondents claimed that the government had forgotten at least some details of their previous transactions. In the United Kingdom, which scored highest in this category, only 38 percent said the government remembered all details of a previous contact.
About the Research
Behaving as citizens and businesses, Accenture researchers attempted to fulfill service needs that might typically be provided by a national government in 22 countries. They began by assessing the Web sites of national government agencies to determine the breadth of services and the level at which citizens could interact with government. They next evaluated other capabilities, such as the cohesiveness across multiple channels and the extent and sophistication of governments' efforts at outreach and education related to their services. In total, the researchers investigated 177 national government services across 12 major service sectors that were representative of what citizens and businesses require from their government most frequently, and were traditionally offered over the counter, by phone or in paper format. The 22 governments included: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The research was conducted Jan. 3-17, 2005.
Accenture also conducted quantitative research on citizens' perceptions related to service delivery in the same 22 countries. The citizen survey was conducted for Accenture by Lansdowne Market Research, an independent market research company, from Jan. 4-18, 2005. A representative sample of 400 adults aged 18 and over was surveyed in each country, except in the United States, where 600 were surveyed. Polls were conducted via the telephone, using random- digit dialing. Poll respondents were a nationally representative sample of adults aged 18 years or older in 18 out of 22 countries. In the other four countries, leading international practices for conducting research were used to get a polling sample. The margin of error for the total survey universe of 9,000 at the 95% confidence interval level is +/- 1.03 percent.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 100,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$13.67 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2004. Its Canadian home page is www.accenture.ca
For further information:
Contact:
Sarah Thompson,
Accenture, (416) 641-4416,
Sarah.Thompson@Accenture.com
Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) live on Secure Channel!
The Secure Channel Project Team is pleased to announce the PMRA Electronic Regulatory System (e-PRS), a web-based system for pesticide submissions was launched September 15, 2004. This on-line service provides users and their regulatory representatives with the ability to securely submit applications and registrations with the Agency using the Internet. The system is being built around a sophisticated submissions management capacity within the PMRA to support the responsive, transparent regulatory system planned for the new Pest Control Products Act. e-PRS employs the Secure Channel's Common Registration Service (CRS) to identify or authenticate users.
For more information, please visit PMRA's website at: http://www.pmra-arla.gc.ca/english/appregis/eprs-e.html
Secure Channel's SEAL service wins industry award
April 2004 - Secure Channel's Session Encryption with Automated Login (SEAL) service was among the winners of this year's CATAAlliance Innovation and Leadership Awards. The award for “Outstanding Product Achievement was presented to Entrust Inc. for its Secure Identity Management Solution, which includes SEAL. The solution will provide security and privacy to enable Statistics Canada to confidently move the national Census on-line. Using digital ID-based security to protect a national on-line census is a first among statistical agencies worldwide. Improving the efficiency of the process, decreasing the respondent burden and decreasing the cost of managing the process will all lead to increased service efficiencies for Canadian citizens.
GOL Annual Report 2004
The Government On-Line 2004 Report describes in a clear and detailed way the progress accomplished this year and the commitments made by federal departments and organizations towards the 2005 objectives.
We're on track to achieving our on-line service delivery objective - more than 130 of the most frequently used government services will be available on the Internet by 2005.
The report also includes information on department-client interaction as well as information on client satisfaction.
The third annual report on the Government On-Line initiative is accessible at: www.ged-gol.gc.ca.
|
