PWGSC > PWGSC Reports > RPP 2004-2005 > Section 5 - Annexes > Annex B - Horizontal and Major Initiatives > 2004 - 2005 Estimates Section 5 - Annexes Annex B - Horizontal and Major Initiatives

d. Government On-Line

• GOL Services

• Accelerated Service Delivery Projects

• Gateways and Clusters

• Organizational Readiness

The overall objective of the Government On-Line (GOL) initiative is to increase the availability of on-line federal services. The approach is both citizen/client-centred and "whole-of-government". In practical terms this means improving citizen/client satisfaction by designing services in response to their needs, rather than those of government organizations, while increasing the efficiency of service delivery. The initiative was announced in the 1999 Speech from the Throne, "The Government will become a model user of information technology and the Internet. Our goal is to be known around the world as the government most connected to its citizens." GOL is an ambitious and complex initiative aimed at transforming and improving services to reflect the needs and expectations of citizens and businesses. The progress of the GOL initiative is published in an annual report that is tabled in Parliament ( http://www.ged-gol.gc.ca/progres/progres_e.asp ).

GOL is laying the foundation for fundamental service transformation - the integration of services federally and across jurisdictions to significantly increase benefits to clients, such as a reduction in the number of steps required to complete a transaction, and to generate further cost savings and cost avoidance for governments. Through GOL, the Government of Canada (GoC) has implemented key enablers, such as convenient and integrated Web portals, a common look and feel for all federal sites, and the government-wide Secure Channel. It has also encouraged departments and agencies to begin to rethink their services. In 2003, departments and agencies were doing some type of transformation work for about two-thirds of their services. In most cases this involved grouping related information or elements of a transaction together.

Canadians want the Government of Canada to continue to build on these efforts. One of their most frequent suggestions for improvement is greater partnering between the Government of Canada and provinces, territories, and municipalities in order to integrate their respective service offerings (GOL Internet Research Panel, 2004). This is also the advice of the GOL Advisory Panel, who in its final report argued that the GoC should "build on the success of GOL by implementing an integrated service delivery network". Its recommendations included the development of a "long-term plan for transforming the federal public and internal services over the next five to 10 years by rationalizing responsibilities, reorganizing operations, and reallocating resources among the departments and agencies involved in serving the needs of each one of these client groups, in order to break down the barriers that currently exist between these departments and agencies" (Connecting with Canadians: Pursuing Service Transformation, 2003; http://www.ged-gol.gc.ca/pnl-grp/reports/final/final00_e.asp ).

In concrete terms, integrated service would mean:

• streamlined processes - simpler forms and less administrative effort;

• alignment of programs, policies, and regulations across the GoC and jurisdictions to eliminate gaps or inconsistencies in the level of service provided to clients;

• greater cost-effectiveness through the re-use of applications and systems, as well as the use of common business processes and shared service delivery networks; and

• access to comparable levels of service regardless of how clients decide to interact with the government.

The Government of Canada recognizes that the more fundamental transformation of services - their integration across program, departmental, and jurisdictional lines - is both possible and necessary if significant client benefits or federal savings are to be realized. It will continue to explore and consult with individuals, businesses, and other governments on how service offerings and service delivery can be further improved to increase client satisfaction and value for money from service investments.

The Government of Canada will also continue its efforts to ensure a successful conclusion to the GOL initiative, as this will serve as the foundation for any future transformation work. Realizing the efficiencies of shifting routine transactions to the Internet channel will only be possible if usage of this channel increases. In 2004, therefore, departments and agencies will be encouraged to establish channel management and take-up strategies, and to facilitate the migration of those clients who are willing and able to use on-line services. Departments and agencies will also need to actively market these services.

Additional challenges in 2004 and beyond revolve around the use of the Secure Channel and the sustainability of integrated Web portals (known as "gateways" and "clusters") that bring together related information and services from across different government departments and jurisdictions. The GoC will only realize the full benefits of Secure Channel when all departments and agencies use its services. Increasing departmental use of the Secure Channel is also key to enabling the next generation of secure interactions with clients. At the present time, central GOL funding for integrated portals ends in 2005-06. These portals are convenient on-line points of access to government information and services for Canadians, businesses, and international clients. Departments and agencies must cooperate to ensure their continued viability as a key platform for delivering on-line services. While the structure and content of portals will change over time in response to the needs and interests of citizens/clients, the challenge in the short-term will be to find new governance models that sustain and support them.

Finally, all activities that are properly considered part of the GOL initiative will continue to be tracked and reported. There will also be work to continue to improve the quality of the data collected in order to better assess the progress being made.

Partnering Efforts

Government On-Line is a government-wide service initiative to put the most commonly used services on-line for citizens and businesses. To that extent, 30 federal departments and agencies have been involved in identifying individual and collective goals for GOL.

PWGSC, the GoC lead for GOL, is also working with key stakeholders in the strategic management of GOL integrated portals (gateways and clusters) and the GOL catalytic projects. Such partners, for instance, include the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and Social Development Canada (SDC), Industry Canada (IC), and Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC). Such partnerships are essential to the development of solutions that are integrated and portable. PWGSC and CRA are also working closely on several GOL catalytic projects and will be co-managing the development of a Common Business Authentication Model.

GOL continues to fund 22 projects aimed at accelerating service delivery. Most of these projects are interdepartmental and/or multi-jurisdictional. For example, the Live, Learn and Succeed project led by Foreign Affairs involves International Trade, Citizenship and Immigration, Human Resources and Skills Development, Industry Canada, and Canadian Education Institutions. The e-Contact project led by PWGSC includes Manitoba, Yukon, New Brunswick and the City of Winnipeg.

Some GOL services also work in partnership, like the Family Orders and Agreements Enforcement Assistance service from Justice Canada that involves all provinces and territories. Gateways and integrated portals also involve an increasing number of partnerships both federally and across jurisdictions. One result of this is an increasing number of integrated services that are only available on-line. For example, the Exporting/Importing Cluster has launched an export diagnostic tool that helps exporters assess their readiness to export goods or services, and identifies the activities they need to undertake in order to succeed in their target markets.

Planned Spending

* Includes Integrated Portals (Gateways and Clusters), but not Secure Channel

Roles, Responsibilities, and Governance Structures

PWGSC is responsible for the overall management of the GOL initiative. It oversees and provides strategic leadership to departments and agencies in implementing the GOL initiative through investment strategies, monitoring of projects and services, integrated portals (gateways and clusters) leadership, and outreach strategies. It is responsible for the overall funding and monitoring of GOL projects.

Responsibility for strategic management and funding for GOL implementation originally resided with the Chief Information Officer Branch, Treasury Board Secretariat, but was transferred to PWGSC in December 2003. Information Technology Services Branch is now managing this at PWGSC.

Governance Structures

The GOL initiative relies on oversight by the Deputy Minister-level Treasury Board Senior Advisory Committee - Information Management Subcommittee (TIMS) and Assistant Deputy Minister-level Service and Information Management Board (SIMB). A network of GOL leads in the 30 core departments and agencies ensures consistency of approaches and initiatives for the whole of government strategy. Boards of Directors, with Deputy Minister champions, lead the development of the integrated portals (gateways and clusters). Specific project funding is subject to the scrutiny of Treasury Board Secretariat and respects related Treasury Board policy requirements.

Individual GOL funded projects are the responsibility of the accountable Ministers. Separate governance structures are developed as required for these projects. Such structures ensure that departments work closely together to develop new and integrated services (such as a National Routing System for vital statistics data) that can be used by several, if not all, federal departments and possibly other levels of government.

Four key governance committees oversee the ongoing development and management of the integrated portals (gateways and clusters) and, in addition, the cluster managers convene an all-day session every second month to facilitate a full discussion on ongoing development and issues, and future development. Those key committees are:

• The Gateway Working Group (gateway managers plus subject experts) meets bi-weekly to develop coordinated operational recommendations across the clusters.

• The Gateway Directors Committee, comprised of the directors from Gateways and Clusters Directorate, the Canada Site and its three gateways (Canadians, Canadian Business, non-Canadians), that convenes frequently for strategic planning, to develop funding recommendations that further horizontal principles and to coordinate leadership across the 22 federal departments involved.

• The Gateway Steering Committee that sees the members of the Gateway Directors Committee plus their directors general meeting normally once a month to drive cross-gateway decisions, consider recommendations for funding allocations and make recommendations for the evolution of the "Cluster Blueprint".

• The GOLI Management Committee which includes the directors of GOL and the GOLI director general meet once a week to oversee the management of the GOL program, including all integrated portals (gateways and clusters) activity.

Shared Outcome(s)

Key Programs, Resources and Results

Contact:

Christine Desloges, Director General, Government On-Line, Information Technology Services Branch

Organizational Readiness (OR)

One of the five broad objectives set for the Government On-Line initiative was to develop a strategic human resource management framework to address culture and workforce changes associated with the introduction of on-line services. Working with departments, agencies and strategically important communities, Organizational Readiness has developed and is beginning to implement competency-based Human Resources Frameworks made up of proven practices and approaches. Organizational Readiness chose a "community-led" model as an effective means of providing the necessary horizontal, whole-of-government perspective while respecting the vertical accountability of departments and agencies. This model and the Frameworks have been designed to be easily adaptable to meet change-management needs for any significant initiative.

Planned Spending*

* Estimates include activities carried out under original mandate only.

Roles, Responsibilities, and Governance Structures

Organizational Readiness is a strategic unit that leads horizontal initiatives to improve capacity, agility and the management of human capital in the Public Service, working through the Information Technology (IT), Information Management (IM) and Service Delivery (SD) Communities. These initiatives are critical to the success of Government On-Line (GOL), Shared Services, Management of Government Information (MGI) and other policy and change agendas.

Organizational Readiness engages senior leadership through committees of Community Champions at the Director-General and Assistant Deputy Minister level. The IT and IM Champions Committees are sub-committees of the Chief Information Officer Council (CIOC), and the Service Delivery Champions Committee reports to the Service and Information Management Board (SIMB). Both CIOC and SIMB ultimately report to the TBSAC Information Management Sub-Committee (TIMS). In addition to the influence they have on whole-of-government decisions at the CIOC, SIMB and TIMS levels, the Champions individually play key roles in leading department-specific change-management initiatives within their respective organizations. The understanding they develop of broader "enterprise" and community objectives helps ensure the decisions they make or influences are well aligned with government goals.

Shared Outcomes and Key Results

Contact:

Ed Fine, Executive Director, Organizational Readiness Office, Information Technology Services Branch