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ARCHIVED - Performance Measurement for the Government On-Line Initiative
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Trust and confidence in on-line service delivery – In general, Canadians have confidence in the security and privacy of on-line federal services; their confidence in federal Internet offerings is on par with, or higher than, their confidence in on-line banking services. More effort is needed to communicate with Canadians, both Internet and non-Internet users, about the security and privacy safeguards that are in place for on-line transactions and interactions, particularly as more services benefit from Secure Channel services such as on-line client authentication and electronic payments. Robust security measures are needed to protect the confidentiality and integrity of the information collected by the federal government. Departments and agencies are at various stages in implementing the Government Security Policy, but are meeting the security expectations of their clients; this policy requires threat and risk assessments and mitigation strategies, business continuity plans, compliance assessment, and enhanced training for all employees to foster a better understanding of security requirements and expectations.
Positive economic impacts – Some of the early benefits identified for clients of on-line services are easier access and time savings. Departments and agencies are also seeking benefits such as cost avoidance, cost savings and/or increased productivity. Some cost savings and/or avoidance are being realised in almost half of GOL services, and savings are being reinvested in the on-line channel and better service delivery. About two-thirds of GOL services are realising some productivity benefits, allowing employees to shift their focus from routine and low-value transactions to more complex client requests and higher-value activities.
There is no evidence of significant savings from the shift to on-line services, however, and many would argue that this is because it will take time to realise savings, as the Internet is an additional channel and existing channels have not been closed. On the other hand, there is little evidence that GOL departments and agencies are setting explicit benefits targets for services. There is also a lack of reliable information on service delivery costs by channel, which, together with client migration strategies, is necessary for the effective management of service delivery across channels within departments and agencies, and at an enterprise level across the federal government. About two-fifths of GOL departments and agencies were unable in 2003 to predict the impact of the Internet channel on their in-person, call centres, and/or mail centres for at least one of their services. They will need to develop benefits capture, client migration, and channel management strategies that are aligned with the service visions for individuals, businesses, and international clients over the next year.
The detailed results follow. As mentioned above, the strategy has been to rely on existing data sources where possible, which vary in terms of scope and methodology. It will therefore be necessary to continue to work on strengthening data quality while ensuring that the collection process remains easy to implement from a departmental perspective. Further work is also required to determine whether, and where, additional performance benchmarks are appropriate.
