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CANADA'S LESSONS
FOR IT SERVICE DELIVERY
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Efforts to improve public sector service delivery
began decades ago, almost as long as governments have been
delivering services to citizens. This is how Canada did it.
 The
international consulting firm Accenture has identified Canada as
a world leader in public sector service delivery, and other
countries are now looking to Canada as a best practice example.
Addressing GovTech delegates on Monday, David Primmer, chief
information officer of the government of Manitoba in Canada,
highlighted some of the key lessons learned as it embarked on an
IT and people-centric strategy.
Over the past ten years, Primmer said, the Canadian public
sector had undertaken a remarkable journey in service
improvement, from research to results. He said the service
performance of many Canadian public sector organisations now
surpass private sector results and benchmarks.
The government of Manitoba focused on increasing its
connectivity and broadband network, which resulted in rapid and
widespread usage and adoption of the internet by citizens and
business, boasting a staggering 80 percent penetration.
Canada's Federal System also supported investments in
infrastructure and opportunity for innovation and
experimentation. As a result, a culture of collaboration and
partnerships emerged. However, whilst services need to be
multichannel, the information must come from a single source, he
warned.
Primmer said some of the lessons learned included that public
sector reform initiatives should be rooted in research.
Additionally, building communities of practice can establish
platforms for change across the public sector.
He added that a results-based, 'citizen-centred', 'outside-in'
approach to public management can transform the performance of
the public ICT (technologies, frameworks, disciplines) and will
increasingly serve as catalyst and enabler of service
transformation.
Beginning with New Brunswick, governments at all levels have
turned to multichannel service delivery organisations to meet
the needs of Canadians for improved access and integration of
government services. Similar organisations now exist in Nova
Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario,
British Columbia and the government of Canada.
"Service Canada" provides one-stop access to federal government
service and integrates service delivery across all three
channels: Internet, telephone, and in-person. Service Canada's
mandate is also to build integrated, seamless service delivery
for Canadians, by partnering with provincial and municipal
single windows.
The Service Canada vision of multichannel one-stop access was
supported by three pillars: electronic service (Canada site),
telephone service (1-800-O-CANADA) and in-person service access
centres.
In 2002, the PSSDC and national CIO community (Public Sector CIO
Council) agreed to formally collaborate on the service delivery
agenda. Together, the communities support the development of
critical enabling building blocks of modern citizen-centred
service delivery:
Primmer added that the key to Canada's success had been the
implementation of:
- Communities of practice - networks, councils and an
Inter-governmental Institute - to provide the necessary
organisational platforms for collaborative work.
- Action research focused on obtaining feedback from citizens
that can be quickly translated by public managers into service
improvements that citizens want and notice, including single
windows, electronic gateways and service clusters.
- Service improvement methods that focus rigorously on the
"drivers" of citizen satisfaction in government service
delivery.
- Common measurement tools and surveys that facilitate
comparative benchmarking and results measurement.
Looking to the future, Primmer said the government aims to
leverage the power of IT to perform common basic transactions,
including revenue (e-commerce), grants, permits, forms and
licenses. There are also plans to centralise its servers and
infrastructure as well as mobile government, putting real time
data in the hands of employees, be it nurses, social workers or
inspectors.
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