DIGITAL STATE AT THE LEADING EDGE

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DIGITAL STATE ATTHE LEADING EDGE

• Kenneth Kernaghan
• Department of Political Science
• Brock University

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MAKING CONNECTIONS IN THE DIGITAL STATE
CONSULTING AND SERVING CITIZENS

• BASED ON CHAPTERS 4, 8 AND 9 OF
• DIGITAL STATE AT THE LEADING EDGE
• Presentation to the Annual Conference of the
  Institute of Public Administration of Canada
• Winnipeg, Manitoba,
• August 27, 2007
• Kenneth Kernaghan
• Department of Political Science
• Brock University

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CONNECTING WITH CITIZENSTWO DIMENSIONS

• 1) increasing public consultation and citizen
  engagement
• 2) improving service delivery to citizens
• Both dimensions require collaboration - part of
  broad society-wide emphasis. Even governments
  can get involved by utilizing the new digital
  tools to transform public service delivery and
  engage their citizens in policy making.
• (Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams,
  WikinomicsHow Mass Collaboration Changes
  Everything. 2006)

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CONSULTATION AND ENGAGEMENTMEANINGS

• Citizen consultation - involves governments
  receiving information regarding citizens views
• Citizen engagement - involves governments
  entering into deliberative dialogue and shared
  decision making

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THE VIRTUOUS CIRCLEBUILDING TRUST AND
ENGAGEMENT(Based on K. Kernaghan - An Honour To
Be Coveted - 2001)

PERFORMANCE
Consultation Service Delivery
PRIDE
RECOGNITION
Morale Motivation Commitment
Trust Appreciation Respect
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E-CONSULTATIONTHE ROLE OF LEGISLATORS

• substantial increase in computer
  literacy for both MPs and MPPs (Ontario)
• great majority of legislators - IT important
  for communicating with constituents
• majority (increasing number)believe that
  Internet technologies should be used for more
  frequent and broad consultations with citizens
• however, as many as one-third are opposed or
  uncertain re desirability of consultations with
  citizens

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E-CONSULTATIONLEGISLATORS

• legislators websites focus on features like
  biography, contact info and press releases
• very few sites with advanced features like
  online surveys and video clips
• The most computer literate legislators are not
  making comparatively greater use of advanced
  features. So increased computer literacy may not
  lead to much increased use of more interactive
  features

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E-CONSULTATION POLITICAL EXECUTIVES AND PUBLIC
SERVANTS

• e-consultation can provide useful input into
  policy development - more visible, accessible and
  effective policy deliberation and cost savings
• helps to prepare for and supplement
  face-to-face deliberations
• federal and Ontario governments have created
  electronic channels as permanent feature of
  policy-making process
• both governments moving from e-consultation to
  a greater e-engagement (e.g. posting responses
  online, moderated discussion forums)

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THE PARTICIPATIVE WEBTOP TEN WEB 2.O TECHNIQUES

• 1 Interaction. Use channels to provide human
  interaction and take on board customer feedback.
  These could include real time chat, instant
  messenger or lingubots.
• 2 Personalisation. Deliver a personalised
  experience by providing tailored content in
  response to queries, such as special offers or
  added information.
• 3 RSS. Keep customers and partners updated with
  changes to areas of interest automatically
  through RSS feeds.
• 4 User communities. Build communities that enable
  users to exchange information and help
  self-support.
• 5 Blogging. Engage in dialogue with customers
  through relevant and tailored blogs.
• (Source Transversal Corporation, 2007)

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GOVERNMENT 2.0?TOP TEN WEB 2.O TECHNIQUES

• 6 Social networking. Build links with relevant
  social networks through interaction and posting
  tailored information.
• 7 Search Engine Optimisation. Tailor your website
  to ensure that queries are pushed quickly to the
  correct page from internet search engines such as
  Google.
• 8 Tagging. Allow users to rate usefulness of
  answers and information provided to gather
  valuable feedback on customer service
  effectiveness.
• 9 Wikis. Use wikis to share information quickly,
  particularly for a technical audience.
• 10 Podcasts. Make information and updates
  available through other channels than your
  website through channels as podcasts and video
  updates.
• (Source Transversal Corporation, 2007)

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MORE EMPHASIS ON ONLINE SERVICE DELIVERY THAN
ONLINE CONSULTATION

• Both the federal and Ontario governments are
  more aggressive in developing online service
  delivery than online policy development
• KPMG 2007 survey of senior public servants in
  Canada, Australia, Germany, the US and the UK
  shows over 84 think that improved quality of
  services is important or very important compared
  to 52 for improved citizen engagement

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CONNECTING WITH CITIZENSIMPROVING SERVICE
DELIVERY

• Integrated service delivery
• - the result of bringing together - and fitting
  together - related government services so that
  citizens can access these services in a single
  seamless experience based on their wants and
  needs.

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CONNECTING WITH CITIZENSIMPROVING SERVICE
DELIVERY

• Integrated channel delivery
• - the result of joining up the major service
  delivery channels (Internet, telephone, walk-in
  service centres) to provide seamless service to
  citizens.
• It involves not only providing service delivery
  through multiple channels but also the
  rationalization and convergence of the channels.

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TW0 BROAD SERVICE DELIVERYMODELS

• Service Department Store (Service Canada) -
  large range of related and unrelated services -
  from employment benefits to immigration advice
• Service Boutiques - more specialized - provide
  related services
• Canada Business Service Centres
• Canada Consumer Information Gateway
• BizPaL

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CATEGORIES OF BARRIERS TO ISD

• Political and Legal
• Structural
• Operational and Managerial
• Cultural

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POLITICAL AND LEGAL BARRIERS

• 1. Mollifying ministers - political opposition
  can be show-stopper. Ministerial
  responsibility focuses on vertical dimension.
  Concern re credit and blame. Especially
  problematic across jurisdictions.
• 2. Valuing visibility - ministers and governing
  party want credit for contributions - blurred by
  collaborative arrangements, especially between
  governments.

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POLITICAL AND LEGAL BARRIERS (cont.)

• 3. Legal barriers - have to remove legislative
  and regulatory barriers. For example, privacy
  acts restrict data sharing, especially across
  jurisdictions.

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STRUCTURAL BARRIERS

• 4. Departmentalism Departmental model
  emphasizes vertical dimension - resistance to
  interdepartmental and interjurisdictional ISD.
  Need for common standards etc across departments
  and governments.
• 5. Minimizing interdepartmental tensions - use
  of influence, not authority. Collective
  ministerial responsibility helps across
  departments.

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STRUCTURAL BARRIERS

• Minimizing interjurisdictional tensions Tensions
  here reflect nature of Canadian federalism.
  Collective ministerial responsibility not
  available. More reliance on influence,
  negotiation etc
• 7. Finding funding Greater challenges across
  jurisdictions. Wealthier governments contribute
  more?

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OPERATIONAL AND MANAGERIAL BARRIERS

• Inter-operability Not just technological
  challenges. Differences between departments and
  governments re policies, standards etc
  Multiple accountabilities, different financial
  rules and HR management policies.
• 9. Ensuring privacy and security Concerns
  prompt citizens to stay in off-line channels.
  Many governments (and even departments) with
  different IMA systems

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CULTURAL BARRIERS

• Tunnel vision Result of working in silos with
  strict accountability requirements. Impedes
  peripheral vision.
• 11. Turf tension Reluctance to share
  information across departmental and especially
  jurisdictional boundaries.

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OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO ISD

• 1) Perfecting partnerships
• 2) Establishing the governance
  framework
• 3) Dedicated funding
• 4) Leadership
• 5) Marketing
• 6) Designing service delivery models

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OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO ISD

• Perfecting partnerships Take account of learning
  points re effective partnering. Challenge of
  multiple accountabilities, especially across
  jurisdictions.
• 2) Establishing the governance framework Clear,
  transparent and comprehensive, but flexible,
  agreement. Time to spell out accountabilities,
  harmonize standards etc

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OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO ISD

• 3) Dedicated funding Funding arrangements
  agreed upon in original agreement. Specify who
  will pay, how much, for how long etc
• 4) Leadership 1 critical success factor? Need
  champions, preferably from senior public
  servants. Also political support
• Marketing Need to communicate evidence of
  improved service and/or cost efficiencies
  resulting from ISD (e.g. recent Service Canada
  advertising)

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OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO ISD - NEW SERVICE
DELIVERY MODELS

• ISD departments (ServiceOntario)
• Single-government, corporate service utilities
  (Service New Brunswick)
• Inter-jurisdictional service utilities
• - some single-jurisdiction public corporations
  have become multi-jurisdictional (Canadian
  Tourism Commission)
• - some multi-jurisdictional ISD entities
  operate as NGOs (National Health Information
  Institute)

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BARRIERS TO INTEGRATED CHANNEL DELIVERY

• Political challenges - equity considerations
• Structural challenges - organizational silos,
  inter-channel competition
• Operational/managerial challenges - resource and
  inter-operability constraints - how to handle
  pressure for migration to self-help channels
• Cultural challenges - turf tension and tunnel
  vision

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OVERCOMING BARRIERS TO INTEGRATED CHANNEL
DELIVERY

• Restructuring organizations to provide for
  integrated management of the channels
• - to minimize channel silos and channel
  competition, and
• - to foster channel rationalization and
  convergence
• Integrating systems to achieve consistency and
  inter-operability
• Incentives for migration to self-serve
  channels (Internet, telephone IVR)

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NEXT-GENERATION INTEGRATED SERVICE DELIVERY

• Collaboration is key to
• reducing the enduring fragmentation of
  structures, systems, policies and services
• promoting greater integration in back offices
  to support citizen-centred delivery at front end
• increasing channel rationalization and
  convergence
• making progress towards a pan-Canadian approach
  to identity management and authentication to
  reduce privacy/security concerns
• achieving effective ISD across jurisdictions