Departmental Overview

The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces (DND/CF) is a vital national institution and plays an important role in contributing to the achievement of national priorities, which includes the Government On-Line (GOL) initiative. The Department established the National Defence On-Line (NDOL) Program to help facilitate doing more business on-line with the public, other government departments and agencies and industry partners.

The role of the Canadian Forces (CF) is to protect Canadians both at home and abroad. This is reflected in the DND/CF Transformation, the cornerstone of the Defence Policy Statement recently announced by the Minister of National Defence, the Hon. Bill Graham and by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Rick Hillier.

The CF has and will continue to be a leader in embracing new technologies offering fast, flexible solutions both at home and abroad, technologies which help improve the ability to meet national and international commitments. A critical component of the NDOL Program is supporting delivery of the information management/information technology (IM/IT) infrastructure and on-line capabilities required for DND/CF to interoperate with Canadians, industry, allied forces and other government departments and agencies.

Migration of service delivery and business processes to an on-line, network-centric model is consistent with the Defence Information Management Strategy 2020. In fact, the DND/CF has adopted the Internet as a major communications and business tool. Significant benefits have been realized by pursuing on-line business, public affairs, operations, e-commerce, e-learning and communications opportunities.

Through the Communication Security Establishment (CSE), the Department of National Defence/Canadian Forces has provided specialized security advice and support to the Secure Channel initiative led by Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC). Similarly, the CF is increasing its capacity to provide operational forces with timely and accurate information and direction through "Network Enabled Operations" which results in quicker decisions and more effective operations.

In meeting the challenges it faces, the DND/CF is concentrating its time, energy and resources on what matters most - investing in military capabilities which best serve Canada's national interests. Defence is the only public function of government that falls exclusively under federal jurisdiction and the Department (through the CF) is responsible to the Canadian public for the protection of Canadian sovereignty, the defence of Canada's national interests and the promotion of Canadian values abroad. The federal government is committed to ensuring that the Department of National Defence fulfils Canada's defence commitments through the Canadian Forces.

For questions about the National Defence On-Line Program contact LCol Chantal Cloutier, Program Manager at cloutier.cl@forces.gc.ca, (613) 944-7295.

National Defence On-Line (NDOL) Program

National Defence On-Line Vision

National Defence will conduct its business with the public and industry online, consistent with Government direction and Defence operational effectiveness and business efficiency.

National Defence On-line Framework

DND/CF has migrated key business and operational services to an on-line service delivery approach. Continuous change and improvement is accepted as a business necessity in order to achieve the vision and objectives of the Department's strategy as expressed in the document "Shaping the Future of Canadian Defence: A Strategy for 2020", June 1999. Much has been accomplished to-date and many initiatives are presently underway and/or have been completed that are being reported as components of the NDOL Program. Five key service areas have been identified and submitted to Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) as part of the Departmental GOL Planning and Reporting Requirements, these are:

Communications;

Emergency Management;

Canadian Forces Recruiting;

Materiel Acquisition and Support; and

Information Technology Security.

In addition, many functional areas of the Department have added member services to their internal web sites. The availability of on-line access to personal and pay information, the ability to order non-operational military uniform items, and access personnel support programs over the Internet greatly enhances the quality of life for CF members.

National Defence On Line Review

In late 2004/early 2005, an independent review of the NDOL program was conducted. The purpose of the review was to provide an interim assessment of the National Defence On-line Program in order to improve the overall effectiveness of program delivery, derive lessons learned for future innovation programs and identify transition recommendations for the closeout of the NDOL Program by March 2006.

The objectives of this independent review were to:

• Provide independent analysis of program performance to ensure continued consistency with program objectives
• Identify and document program "lessons learned"
• Identify existing program activities that should be integrated into the overall DND program once the NDOL Program is shut down
• Provide guidance as to how best close out NDOL activities and transfer identified services into the overall DND program

NDOL is essentially an investment in web-based service innovation, an enabler for business transformation that can ultimately deliver resource savings. The Review found that the Program has been very successful and that it offers DND/CF an effective management model as the basis for future transformation-enabling initiatives. It is an excellent example of how innovation can be fostered rather than forced, guided and supported by central administration with decentralized identification and implementation of innovation opportunities. Over and above the successes of individual L1 initiatives, NDOL has several broader accomplishments worth noting. NDOL has, for example:

• Fostered an understanding of how web technology can enable fundamental changes in service delivery;
• Pushed back cultural, procedural and technical challenges to web-based process innovation and demonstrated many opportunities for on-line service delivery;
• Facilitated cross-functional sharing of ideas and experiences focused on web-based service improvement; and,
• Clarified the relationship and priority of the IM infrastructure building blocks needed to support web-based service transformation.

Overall, NDOL's flexible, client-first approach promoted bottom-up innovation without rigid controls striking an effective balance between responsiveness and bureaucracy. As a program fostering innovation, the NDOL Program established a model worthy of emulation.

For questions about the National Defence On-Line Program contact LCol Chantal Cloutier at cloutier.cl@forces.gc.ca, (613) 944-7295.

Member Services

NDOL has facilitated an investment in web-based service innovation, an enabler for business transformation that can ultimately deliver resource savings and enhance efficiency and effectiveness. NDOL has supported the migration of key business and operational services to an on-line service delivery approach and identified specific ways to meet Departmental, military member and employee needs. The term "Member Services"was adopted to categorize those initiatives that improved service to CF members and their families and greatly enhances the quality of life.

Many important NDOL funded initiatives, such as those carried out in CFPSA and ADM (HR Mil), could be classified as "Member Services". In addition, many functional areas of the Department have added member services to their internal web sites. Some examples of member services that have been implemented to support CF members and their families follow:

Pay Statement On Line

The pay statement on line project resulted in the delivery of pay statements electronically to Regular Force military personnel. This may be expanded in the future to include T4 slips and Reserve Force pay statement delivery.

The primary objectives of the Pay On-Line project were to:

• Reduce cost by 25% annually;
• Reduce requirements for reprint;
• Reduce time lag between issuing of payroll & deposit/access to pay statement;
• Reduce the volume of casual payments; and,
• Enhance service to members by providing alternate service delivery.

Pay statements are viewable and printable through an internal application over the National Defence intranet and in future this capability may be available through kiosks. The new functionality also enables pay statements to be sent by e-mail on the secure server and CF members have the ability to send via e-mail to personal home addresses.

Centrepointe

Centrepointe, (www.centrepointe-europe.ca) is a portal developed for Director Military Family Services, Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency (CFPSA), with the aim of giving Canadian Forces (CF) families living in Europe and the U.K., access to information about Europe as a whole, their respective host families in particular, and the services and resources available under the Military Family Services Program.

This portal, launched in June of 2002, enables Canadian Forces members and their families to freely share experiences and information with each other using simple communication features on the site. Centrepointe has been designed and built as a scalable Internet Military Family Resource Centre (MFRC) focusing on providing superior MFSP programs, services and resources that would otherwise be unattainable. It is a hub of information, resources, communication and sharing.

Centrepointe provides access to a wealth of information and on-line activities for family members of all ages, while also allowing users to create and manage their own online photo albums, contribute personal stories or news and voice their opinions on a discussion forum.

Ombudsman On Line

The Ombudsman is mandated to act on the Minister of National Defence's behalf, independent of the chain of command, as a neutral and objective sounding board, mediator and reporter on matters related to the Department of National Defence and Canadian Forces (DND/CF). The creation of the Office was an initiative to ensure openness, transparency and accountability within DND/CF.

The Office of the Ombudsman can be accessed by telephone, e-mail, mail or fax with the majority of requests for information and complaints received by telephone. In a 2001 survey conducted by the Office electronic methods of communication came second to the telephone as the preferred means of contacting the Office (17%). In the time period between October 21st 2002 and January 13th 2003, 22% of initial contacts were made electronically, 6% by e-mail, 16% by using the comments section on the web site.

The Ombudsman On Line application facilitates an Internet-based on-line transaction capability to allow members of the DND/CF community to file complaints from anywhere, anytime to their Ombudsman electronically, while maintaining confidentiality and security.

Youth Website

The challenges faced by CF youth are similar to those faced by their adult counterparts. The need for a permanent connection to the community and portability of information is important when one has to move on a regular basis. Connecting CF Youth is a website for youth to exchange ideas, access information, learn, have fun, make new friends and stay in touch. The design and content of the site was developed by the youth themselves. The web site provides opportunities for youth to:

• Access information about youth services at all CF locations (youth centre);
• Keep in touch with friends as they move around (chat room);
• Access information about the community (education, employment opportunities, volunteer work);
• Virtually experience the CF community culture to learn about, and/or prepare for, relocation; and,
• Connect with other youth, including Canadian serving organizations.

In addition, the development of the national youth web site serves the needs of a secondary target group within CFPSA, namely, PSP and MFRC staff, by providing opportunities for staff to:

• Share best practices;
• Exchange ideas and ask questions;
• Access information about youth services at all locations; and,
• Connect with other youth serving organizations.

Employee and Member Access Application (EMAA)

With a geographically dispersed employee base, there is a need to provide quick and easy access to the information required to conduct day-to-day business, as well as a need to provide secure access to personal information. The Employee and Member Access Application (EMAA) is a web-enabled application currently in production that offers CF and civilian members access to selected human resource information in a read-only presentation on the National Defence intranet. The accessible information for CF Members includes:

• Annual Readiness Verification Report
• Career Information
• MPRR,
• Next of Kin information
• Personal Information
• Personal Leave Information
• Perstempo Report

The information accessible to civilian employees of DND/CF includes:

• Current Employment Information
• Personal Information
• Next of Kin information
• Personal Leave Information

Additional information will be made available to both CF members and civilian employees. Future plans also include the ability to change or add personal information, for example, address and names of dependents, as well as the provision of secure access via the Internet is planned for the future.

Military Careers On Line

The mission of the Director General Military Careers (DGMC) is the assignment of military personnel to meet the defence mission. Managing and administering military personnel through the Canadian Forces Assignment System supports the accomplishment of this mission. The administration and management of the Canadian Forces members careers has been largely manual and the information on the DGMC website not as helpful to CF members and staff as it could be.

The military careers on line initiative will provide a "one-stop-shop" for both CF members and DGMC Staff in order to enable the CF members to be involved more personally in their careers, to enhance the member's quality of life by providing more decision-making time and to assist the career managers and DGMC staff by making their taskings and activities more efficient, effective, inclusive and accessible. CF members will be able to:

• View and update their career map;
• Identify the required training for subsequent promotions;
• Determine opportunities that may be available to them over the next few years;
• Obtain pertinent and up-to-date information on career administration; and,
• Access the documents, forms and processes to facilitate and support these activities.

And for their part, DGMC staff will be provided with a state-of-the-art tool enabling them to improve efficiency and exploit the electronic media.

Community Gateway

The Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency (CFPSA) exists to enhance the quality of life of the military community and contribute to the operational readiness and effectiveness of the Canadian Forces. CFPSA provides personnel support programs and services to Canadian Forces members and their families, including retail services through CANEX, insurance and other financial services through SISIP, and numerous personnel support programs (PSP) including recreation, sport and fitness, military family services, deployment support, mess services, Health Promotion, Mission Information line, and deployed operations and the recapitalization program to construct new facilities at CF locations.

As part of CFPSA's customer centric approach to serving the military community, it has committed to the implementation of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program. The development of a web site called the Community Gateway to Morale and Welfare Programs and Activities is the central component of the delivery of CRM benefits to military members.

The Community Gateway consists of a series of linked websites (one for each base/wing) that has a common look, feel and structure and provides a site map to all base/wing NPF programs and activities, including NPF operated publicly funded programs. Anyone can browse the website; members can log in to access programs, enrol in activities on-line and update their personal information. Additional CRM initiative components will be integrated with the Community Gateway site and central database to deliver other online services to CF members and their families.

For questions about the National Defence On-Line Program contact LCol Chantal Cloutier at cloutier.cl@forces.gc.ca, (613) 944-7295.

The Defence Learning Network

To improve the retention of trained CF members and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of delivering training, the National Defence has initiated the Defence Learning Network (DLN) project.
This project is a major initiative that will allow DND to create a flexible, continuous learning environment for military members and civilian employees. The ability to deliver learning opportunities to all Defence Team members "anywhere, anytime, just-in-time"is fundamental to supporting and achieving the operational mandate and objectives of DND/CF. The project's broad mandate, in support of the Strategic Human Resource Plan is to develop a network of career centres with on-line learning capabilities that will:

• Lead to greater career flexibility;
• Rejuvenate skills in the civilian workforce;
• Invest in people and through a 'learning organization';
• Maximize employment opportunities;
• Maximize use of the national academic civilian infrastructure;
• Support self development and continuous learning activities;
• Develop a new training strategy to provide all CF members with the knowledge and skills to operate in the battle space of the 21st century.

Development of DLN directly supports the DND/CF National Defence On Line initiative as well as Treasury Board's Government On-Line (GOL) initiative and the Canadian Government's thrust towards more effective use of technology. The planned approach to implementation includes liaison and partnership with Other Government Departments to examine opportunities for sharing facilities, development resources, information, and courseware. In addition, the drive to make all departments "continuous learning organizations", as reflected in supporting white papers (e.g. A Policy Discussion Paper - A Public Service Learning Organization from Coast to Coast to Coast, June 2000), was a cornerstone of the October 1999 Speech From the Throne. The new knowledge-age demands that we enhance the quality of life of our members, in order to remain competitive with other employers in a knowledge economy.

For questions about the National Defence On-Line Program contact LCol Chantal Cloutier, Program Manager at cloutier.cl@forces.gc.ca, (613) 944-7295.