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

e. Secure Channel Project

Common Secure Infrastructure (CSI)

The delivery of services on-line is being pursued by the Government of Canada (GoC) to significantly improve service delivery to Canadians and business and to help realize efficiencies. Effective and efficient on-line delivery of GoC services is being made possible by the development and implementation of a common secure infrastructure. This work involves the development of a GoC Business Architecture and the provision of strategic advice to individual departments and agencies for architecture activities, as well as the development of tactical architecture models. Also fundamental to this work is the development of policy in support of strategic infrastructure solutions, including policies on technology, security, privacy and architecture. Such policies establish the necessary environment in which the common infrastructure can best serve Canadians by prescribing the processes for management of identities and information.

The Secure Channel is at the centre of the GoC's common infrastructure and, as such, forms the foundation of the Government On-line (GOL) initiative. The Secure Channel provides citizens and businesses with secure and private access to all federal government on-line services, thereby helping to realize the GoC's Service Vision of client-centric, cross-government service delivery anytime, anywhere and in both official languages. The migration of over 100 departments and agencies to the Secure Channel Network (SCNet) was completed in the fall of 2003. Continuing enhancements to this common infrastructure is enabling more departments to deliver applications on-line, improving integrated service delivery to Canadians.

Also part of the common secure infrastructure, the Certificate Authority (CA) confirms the identity of users and issues public-key infrastructure (PKI) certificates (e-passes), enabling clients to connect with the Government on-line. It remains the largest CA in the world, demonstrating the Government of Canada's leadership in this area. In addition, the Secure Applications and Key Management Services (SAKMS) provide GoC employees with a common PKI certificate service and the security infrastructure to protect and ensure integrity of transactions. SAKMS' centralized deployment helps individual departments avoid having to build their own infrastructure at a high cost. The GoC is also developing electronic directories to integrate information on government personnel and services, and PKI certificates to enable on-line transactions.

The Government of Canada extends common infrastructure solutions to other jurisdictions and other trusted partners as well. For example, on behalf of the GoC, PWGSC is currently in discussions on joint initiatives with provincial governments concerning different sectors (e.g., policing, health and banking).

See also www.publiservice.pwgsc.gc.ca/securechannel/text/whatis-e.html.

Partnering Efforts

Development of the GoC common secure infrastructure is a case study in partnerships. Design, construction and implementation of the Secure Channel is an ongoing exercise in consultation and cooperative management. PWGSC is partnering with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC/SDC) in the development of the instrumental Common Registration System (CRS) component of the Secure Channel by which Canadians will be able to identify themselves once before accessing multiple GoC services. PWGSC and HRSDC/SDC worked together in the successful development and launch of HRSDC's Record of Employment (ROE) on-line. To date, over 170,000 records of employment have been submitted using this very effective tool. Following the successful launch of CRA's Address Change On-Line (ACO) service, PWGSC and CRA continue in their joint efforts to develop the suite of services known as My Account through which Canadians will be able to access all their tax information on-line.

Similarly, PWGSC is now working in concert with many departments and agencies to connect their unique services to the Secure Channel. Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC), Industry Canada, the Canadian Radio-Television and Television Commission (CRTC), Foreign Affairs Canada, Statistics Canada, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and others will soon be offering their services on-line via the Secure Channel.

PWGSC is also partnering with Team BCE, a consortium of Canada's leading Information Technology (IT) companies, in the design and development of the Secure Channel. The department is also heading the initiative with other jurisdictions to broaden Secure Channel's reach to the provinces (e.g., Quebec, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario), Canadian municipalities and other national governments.

Roles, Responsibilities and Governance Structures

PWGSC serves as the lead department in the development and implementation of the GoC's common secure infrastructure. It established the Secure Channel Project and provides strategic direction, professional project leadership and project management on an ongoing basis. As well, it manages the contract with the private consortium (Team BCE) selected to provide most of the hardware, software and services used by the Secure Channel. PWGSC is also responsible for development of the internal-to-government infrastructure providing common PKI certificate services to government departments and employees, as well as the electronic directories.

Acknowledging the broad impacts of common infrastructure development and implementation, the GoC has established a horizontal governance structure representative of the interests of departments and agencies. For example, the Secure Channel Advisory Council (SCAC) provides ongoing advice to senior Secure Channel executives and governance bodies on strategic, tactical and operational issues, investment strategies and implementation priorities. SCAC membership is composed of Directors General from lead departments (e.g., CRA, HRSD/SD) and representative Directors General from smaller organizations.

Shared Outcomes

Key Programs, Resources and Results

Contact

Michael de Rosenroll, Director General, Strategic Infrastructure Services Sector (SISS),
Information Technology Services Branch (ITSB), PWGSC

Douglas M. Lloyd, Senior Director, Infrastructure Requirements & Program Alignment (IRPA)
and Project Manager Secure Channel

Departmental GOL Initiatives

In addition to Government-wide GOL activities, the following section outlines PWGSC's departmental initiatives that support the overall vision to connect Canadians with government, each other and the world.

Government of Canada Marketplace (GoCM)

The GoCM is a project of the Electronic Supply Chain (ESC) Program. This new end-to-end purchasing service will allow participating departments and agencies to shop for, buy and report on their purchases. In addition, it will support the payment, settlement and assets management requirements of participating departments and agencies. The GoCM will enable or support many of the government's supply-chain business processes within an efficient and secure electronic environment made possible by the Secure Channel. It will generate savings by delivering volume price discounts, consolidating procurement instruments, such as standing offers, allowing for increased credit-card rebates, and improving and simplifying procurement processes. The GoCM is fundamentally a business transformation initiative that will allow government to transform and automate its purchasing processes and will support government initiatives and legislation, while maintaining the highest levels of transparency and accountability.

Roles, Responsibilities, and Governance Structures

PWGSC, in addition to being responsible for the development of the economic and business models to support this initiative, will conduct oversight for the various elements of the GoCM Service throughout its implementation and operational lifecycle. Electronic Acquisitions Program Sector (EAPS), under the auspices of the GoCM Project, is addressing potential policy and legislative changes as opportunities arise for doing business in a different manner through the GoCM; this is being done in collaboration with PWGSC legal and policy/program groups and TBS. The Treasury Board Secretariat will establish policy requirements while other Government departments and agencies are responsible for engaging the service in accordance with Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) established.

The GoCM involves the following key committees and working groups:

• The Electronic Supply Chain Steering Committee (ESC SC) is chaired by the Assistant Deputy Minister (ADM), Acquisitions Branch and provides strategic direction for the ESC Program with membership of ADM or equivalents from 17 departments and agencies;
• The Business Design Coordination Team is a client-oriented working group with membership presently comprising 17 departments and agencies; and
• The Directors of Supply E-Business Management Committee comprises the Directors from the Acquisitions Branch of PWGSC representing the program and commodities planned for integration with the GoCM Service.
• The GoCM Management Board is comprised of appropriate representatives from each of the 4 lead departments and agencies. It is supported by the Financial Advisory Working Group (FAWG), which has membership from the same departments and agencies. Together, these two groups provide direct functional and financial guidance to the GoCM from a client perspective.

Shared Outcomes and Key Results

Contact

Jack Lazaruk, Director, Electronic Projects Management, Acquisitions Branch

Gateway and Cluster Content Management Solution (CMS)

A key component to the GOL strategy is the initiative that aims to simplify access to government information and services by gathering information from thousands of federal Web sites and partner Web sites (such as communities) into subject-based clusters and gateways. The purpose of the Gateway and Cluster Content Management Solution is to:

• Provide a common repository and tools to clusters and gateways to enhance their content management capabilities and share common and overlapping content holdings more effectively.
• Improve access by Canadian businesses, citizens and non-Canadians to information across thousands of federal Web sites through more effective cluster metadata content management.

Roles, Responsibilities and Governance Structures

PWGSC is responsible for the evaluation and acceptance of a content management solution and the overall management of the initiative. The Gateway and Cluster managers are responsible for articulating and defining acceptable common requirements, in addition to managing product integration within their departmental Web environments.

The Gateway and Cluster CMS requires strong horizontal governance with a collective approach to risk management, evaluation and reporting. A strong governance and accountability framework will articulate common objectives, expected results and risks, while at the same time allowing sufficient flexibility for innovation. Gateway and Cluster managers, PWGSC project managers and Central Office for GOL comprise the current governance structure.

Shared Outcomes and Key Results

Contact

Peter Cowan, Director, Web Innovation and Technology, Information Technology Services Branch

GOL Procurement Office

The GOL Procurement Office provides information about the procurement options available to meet clients' GOL needs.

Roles, Responsibilities, and Governance Structure

Ongoing activities carried out by the GOL Procurement Team include procurement services, refreshing supply arrangements and supporting the Business Opportunities and Contract Reporting System (on-line tendering service).

The GOL Procurement Office is highly visible to all stakeholders. It has the support of, and reports regularly to, PWGSC and the Central Office for GOL.

Shared Outcomes and Key Results

Contact

Sylvain Cardinal, Manager, GOL Procurement Office, Acquisitions Branch

Project Name: Secure Channel Project

Project Phase: Implementation & Sustainable Operations

1. Overview

Secure Channel (SC) is the centrepiece of Canada's common infrastructure that supports the Government On-Line (GOL) initiative. The project's primary goal is to provide citizens and businesses with secure, private and high-speed access to the federal government's services. The Secure Channel/Common Infrastructure is a fundamental component of the electronic platform providing a single electronic window for Canadians and businesses to conduct on-line transactions with the federal government and potentially other levels of government. The Secure Channel includes a comprehensive set of:

• Inter-networking services that connect departments with citizens, businesses and other governments.
• Common payment services that enable citizens and businesses to pay for government goods and services on-line.
• Common registration services that provide a single electronic credential to citizens and businesses. It also provides a single registration point for access to all government services.
• Common credential management services that create and manage security certificates and passwords.
• Common security services for federal departments and agencies, including intrusion detection/prevention, anti-spam, managed firewalls and security certification and accreditation.
• Help desk services that provide citizens and businesses with first-level user support for epass.
• Common directory services that provide electronic directories of all employees, departments and services.
• Intelligent brokering services that manage messages and transactions, and ensure millions of transactions find their organization.
• Client implementation services that provide consulting and technical services for departments that want to integrate with the Secure Channel.
• Licenses, services and product management and testing services that help departments test their on-line applications before making them available to the public. Such services decrease integration times and mitigate risks.
• A product management regime to effectively manage Secure Channel and all its subordinate services as a single product for government.

On December 12, 2003, responsibility for the entire management of the Secure Channel along with other components of the Government On-Line initiative was transferred from the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) to the Information Technology Services Branch of PWGSC. Secure Channel will be the primary vehicle for all electronic services for the Government. Several provincial government departments are also considering the Secure Channel as their common infrastructure base for their on-line services. Secure Channel is evolving into the technology infrastructure of choice for serving Canadians in a secure manner on the Web.

2. Project Phase

The Secure Channel Project has evolved in the past four years in a structured phased approach. Four phases were established from the beginning: planning, design build, field trial/implementation management and then sustainable operations. The Project will end its third phase, field trial/implementation management by September 2004 and enter into an operational mode thereafter.

In the sustainable operations phase, the Secure Channel will continue to be enhanced to meet changing departmental requirements and industry technology innovations to increase its security and service value. As a service, the Secure Channel will support an ever-expanding client base in a timely manner and meet the GOL objective of providing services to Canadians, anytime, any place and in the official language of their choice.

3. Lead and Participating Departments

a. Lead Department or Agency: Public Works and Government Services Canada

b. Contracting Authority: Public Works and Government Services Canada

c. Participating Departments:

• Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA)
• Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)
• Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC)
• Social Development Canada (SDC)
• Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)
• Statistics Canada, Census
• Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)
• Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
• Industry Canada (IC)
• Immigration Refugee Board (IRB)
• Public Service Commission (PSC)
• Canadian Competition Tribunal
• Other departments

4. Prime Contractor and Major Sub-Contractors

Prime Contractor: Bell Canada Enterprises

Major Sub-Contractors: Bell Nexxia, BCE Emergis, Cisco Systems, CGI, Entrust, Microsoft, IBM, Adobe, Canada Post

5. Major Milestones

As part of the progressive growth of the Secure Channel, we will maintain the operations and critical infrastructure. We will continue to develop and evolve the Secure Channel as a reliable and client-responsive family of services. We will also proceed with the following initiatives:

• Accelerate departmental adoption rate of Secure Channel -- March 2005
• Develop provisioning strategy (multi-jurisdictional and internal/external services) --Winter 2005
• Implement and support Compensation Web Application, GoC Marketplace and other employee e-services projects -- March 2005
• Support GoC "Protected B" and Cabinet Documents messaging projects -- March 2005
• Support Public Security & Anti-Terrorism (PSAT) Integrated Justice Information (IJI) Interoperability project -- ongoing
• Lead/support the GOL catalytic projects respecting portals and business authentication --March 2005. The GOL catalytic projects are aimed at transforming the products and services that are already offered on-line to meet the evolving needs of Canadians.
• Develop an Employee Portal Authentication and Authorization Strategy -- Winter 2005
• Pursue strategies for multi-jurisdictional service delivery leveraging Secure Channel -- March 2005
• Cross certification with the United States -- Fall 2004

6. Progress Report and Explanation of Variances

The project is progressing on schedule and within approved budgets.

As originally conceived, and approved in 1999, Secure Channel is a centrally funded and managed common infrastructure project. Long-term sustainable funding options are being developed in consultation with departments and are being considered by Treasury Board Ministers.

The project has received initial Effective Project Approval (EPA) funding until the end of September 2004. A new submission has been made to Treasury Board to extend Secure Channel's spending authority to March 2005.

The Secure Channel EPA provides:

• Project authority to the end of September 2004
• $44.3M from October 2003 to March 2004, and $60.5M from April 2004 to September 2004
• Authority to recover an incremental cost of $12.5M for the period of April 2004 to September 2004

7. Risk Analysis

Secure Channel Project risks:

Slow Adoption Rate

Lack of a long-term sustainable solution for Secure Channel (SC) puts at risk departmental migration to the common infrastructure. This may inhibit contract negotiations with the service provider and adoption by departments and other government levels.

Mitigation Strategy: Actively reassure departments and other government levels that the lack of earmarked long-term funding does not reflect lack of GoC commitment to SC. The Secure Channel has been given policy approval by Cabinet but funding has only been allocated until September 2004. Cabinet has identified Secure Channel funding as a priority in the context of Expenditure Review re-allocation.

Inter-jurisdictional Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) Service

PWGSC needs approval of an Order in Council and the Secure Channel contract scope assessment to enable the department to provide services to the provinces and other jurisdictions. A delay puts at risk the National Public Sector PKI Service, Secure Channel and GoC Common Infrastructure.

Mitigation Strategy: Legal Services is presently preparing the necessary Order in Council and completing its analysis of the Secure Channel contract.

8. Environmental Assessment

N/A

9. Industrial Benefits

Team BCE, the contractor for the Secure Channel Project, comprises 9 of the leading Canadian information technology firms. It represents a significant coordinated effort that involves the sharing of industry leading information and cutting-edge technology to develop and implement a best-in-class system recognized around the world.

10. Summary of Non-recurring Expenditures

Note 1: expenditures from project inception to 30 September 2004
Note 2: covers the period 1 October 2004 to 31 March 2005
Note 3: funding beyond 30 September 2004 has not been approved.