• Table of Contents
• Government On-Line Chronicle
• Overarching Principles & Key Areas of Activities
• 2006
• 2005
• 2004
• 2003
• 2002
• 2001
• 2000
• 1999
• Activities Preceding Government On-Line

Chronicle

2000

In the early stages of the initiative, the following actions are set in motion: improve accessibility according to public opinion surveys, inform on the future course of the initiative, produce guidelines to standardize the presentation of federal government Web sites, develop a cluster blueprint based on clients' needs as identified through consultations and organize gateways and clusters accordingly.

The public opinion survey results emphasize the fact that the onus is on Canadians and Canadian businesses to find the right door to whatever information or service they are seeking. The plethora of federal Web sites, more than 450, is not organized according to a master plan and is not readily recognizable. Clients experience difficulty finding their way around, feel frustrated, and question the effectiveness of the federal government.

The need for standards is acknowledged and guidelines that became known as Common Look and Feel are developed. The goal is that all departments and agencies will apply them in order to:

• establish a recognizable federal government Web presence;
• facilitate access to services to all Canadians, including those with disabilities;
• respect and promote the use of both official languages.

The firm resolution to organise services from the client perspective, rather than the government's, leads to consultations with Canadians and Canadian businesses. The result is the "Blueprint" that establishes three access gateways: Canadians (for individual citizens), Canadian Businesses (for businesses), and Non-Canadians (for international clients). Services are grouped or clustered by topics, such as public safety or travel at home and abroad, by audiences, such as consumers or seniors, or by life events, such as lost id or change of address. The "Blueprint" (published in early 2001) represents the first concrete step to implement client-centricity.

Funding, Achievements and International Presence

The 2000 budget allocates $160M over two years to the Government On-Line initiative. These monies allow for the re-design of the Canada site according to the Blueprint, the development of strategic documents, such as A Framework for Government On-Line, work on the first accelerated on-line service delivery projects and on the secure infrastructure spanning across the Government of Canada.

By year-end, participating departments and agencies have on-line information on their programs, forms are downloadable, and emails are acknowledged. They have appointed a Government On-Line Lead, have set up a Government On-Line Office, have identified 693 key services as candidates for delivery on-line, have realized that the 2004 deadline is unrealistic, due to cost and capacity.

As other countries around the world, Canada is feeling its way to on-line service delivery. Accenture, a research firm, publishes its first report of the Government Executive Series. Canada is among the early leaders, rating third after Singapore and the United-States. Eager to learn from other countries and share its vision and approach, Canada is an active participant in a number of fora:  The International Council for Information Technology in Government Administration (August), E-Government Trilateral Meetings - Canada, United-States and Mexico (October), and Governments On-line International Group Meeting.

Other Government On-Line Milestones

• Government On-Line kick-off meeting (April) takes place followed by a second meeting (June) where all participating departments and agencies share information and discuss issues;
• release of "A Framework for Government On-Line: Tier Two Guidelines" where the planning framework for the second tier of the initiative is outlined;
• achievement of the objectives set in the "Framework for Government On-Line" for the first tier;
• publication in August of "Government On-Line: Serving Canadians in a Digital World" that provides a broad view of the initiative;
• approval by a Deputy Ministers level committee of a cluster blueprint that constitutes the framework to group on-line services under three gateways (Canadians, Canadian Businesses and Non-Canadians).

Related Events

• transition to the new millennium occurs with no major disruption due to the successful and concerted efforts deployed by all federal departments and agencies;
• release of the results of the Citizens First 2000 survey that picked up where the original Citizens First report left off, tracking trends, and extending the discussion to new areas such as the drivers of citizen satisfaction as they relate to specific delivery channels (face-to-face, telephone, and electronic service delivery);
• launch of the Service Improvement initiative aimed at increasing by 10% client satisfaction with the government of Canada service delivery over a five-year period;
• renaming of the Senior Service Delivery Officials Forum into the Public Sector Service Delivery Council;
• publication of "Results for Canadians: A Management Framework for the Government of Canada", in which the Government On-Line initiative is part of a number of major activities described as the "core of the Government of Canada's medium-term agenda for management change";
• approval by Treasury Board of a Policy Framework for Service Improvement in the Government of Canada;
• development of the Federated Architecture Plan aimed at consolidating technology, business and information service architecture.