ARCHIVED - Blueprint for Renewing Government Services Using Information Technology

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Message from the President of the Treasury Board

Rapid technological change is creating opportunities to deliver services in ways that are more accessible, responsive and affordable.

In many areas, the federal government is on the leading edge in using information technology to improve service to its clients. In other areas, however, where we still have a way to go.

The serious fiscal challenges facing the country mean that we need to look at how we can do things better.

The Blueprint provides an integrated approach to renewing government services using information technology in a manner that capitalizes on our strengths and makes the best use of our investments.

I see the key to its success being tapping the expertise, commitment and imagination of all Public Service employees.

We are making the plan widely available because it is important we all agree on the best way to deliver government services in the future.

I invite you to send in your suggestions on renewing government services. Your comments can make a difference.

Art Eggleton

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Foreword

Mounting fiscal pressures force all governments to provide services to clients with continuously shrinking budgets. The "Blueprint for Renewing Government Services Using Information Technology" proposes a vision of affordable, accessible and responsive federal government services and an integrated approach to help achieve this vision.

The Blueprint takes a fresh, enterprise-wide look at government services using a client focus. It recommends creating, managing, and prudently sharing information electronically among departments and their different services in a way which protects the security and privacy of the information. It envisages the use of a government-wide electronic information infrastructure to simplify service delivery, reduce duplication, and improve the level and speed of service to clients at a lower cost to the taxpayers.

The Blueprint emphasizes the critical importance of employees. Their involvement and commitment are essential to successful business renewal. In this vein, information technology will be applied in a manner to improve the "human face of government" as well as the efficiency and affordability of service delivery.

The Blueprint builds on the experience gained from renewal activities already under way in program delivery and administrative areas of the federal government. Many departmental staff specialists and line managers have contributed to the document.

This Blueprint is being circulated in draft form in order to get a wide range of views on its principles from both inside and outside of government. In its final form, it will establish a framework for using information technology to support government-wide service renewal. The vision and principles enunciated in the Blueprint will assist all departments and agencies in implementing their own renewal initiatives.

We value your input and encourage you to provide us with your comments by May 31, 1994. To facilitate this, you can contact the Blueprint team in one of four ways: (1) by sending an E-mail through X.400 to C=ca; A=govmt.canada;P=gc+tbs.cts;S=chu;G=tony; (2) by calling Bernie Gorman at (613) 957-9645 or Tony Chu at 952-3366; (3) by returning the facsimile response sheet attached at the back of the Blueprint; or (4) by mailing your response to: Tony Chu, Office of Information Management, Systems and Technology, Treasury Board Secretariat, 8th Floor, West Tower, 300 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0R5, Canada.

J. A. Macdonald Chief Informatics Officer

I. D. Clark Secretary of the Treasury Board

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Acknowledgements

The Blueprint is a collective work by many staff specialists and line managers from departments as well as from central and common service agencies. They all contributed to its development by participating in workshops or by reviewing and advising on the Blueprint's development. These individuals include Tony Chu (team leader), Treasury Board Secretariat; Ted Pender, Correctional Service Canada; Rita Moritz, Heritage Canada; Philip Carr, Gary Depew and Claude Fairfield, Human Resources Development Canada; Kate Dobson, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada; Tom Racine, Industry Canada; Bob Provick, National Archives of Canada; Barry Walker, National Defence; Richard Brigden, Bruce Catley, Alain Fortin, Jacques Gélinas, Robert Hopwood, Anne La Salle and Joe Sauvé, Public Works and Government Services Canada; John Read, Transport Canada; Bob Landry, Western Economic Diversification Canada; Ed Acheson, Paul Baack, Emmanuel Buu, Catherine Caule, Joe Côté, Jim Eddy, Jim Ewanovich, André Fauchon, Ron Fauvel, Cliff Filion, Amy Gibbs, John Keay, Bruce Lindsay, Marilla Lo, Don Lusby, John Mayne, Michael Nelson, Jane Panet, Les Pratt, Ngan Ling Tam, Conrad Thomas and Chip Wiest, Treasury Board Secretariat.

The Blueprint Program Advisory Committee provided direction for this publication. Consultation with the members of this committee at critical points of the Blueprint's development ensured that its direction was consistent with the needs of departments. The Committee includes Michael Binder (chairperson), Industry Canada; Claude Bernier, Transport Canada; Hy Braiter, Human Resources Development Canada; Paul Cochrane, Health Canada; Brian Ferguson, Treasury Board Secretariat; Willie Gibbs, Correctional Service Canada; Phil McLellan and René Guindon, Public Works and Government Services Canada; Richard Manicom, Revenue Canada; Claire Monette, Industry Canada; Monique Plante, Human Resources Development Canada; David Wightman, Transport Canada; and Alan Williams, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Many private-sector specialists provided advice and comments on the methodology, content and format of the Blueprint. They include Art Caston, Jim Grant, Shirley Bishop, Jeff Carruthers, Tony Crawford, John Davis, Ray Healey, David Rothwell, Linda Russell, Pierre Sicard, Bob Simpson, Don Tapscott and Michael Vaughan.

In addition to the significant effort by the project team and advisors, the Blueprint would not have been possible without the excellent service for its production. We would like to thank Simonne Lauriault and her team of Lorraine Fournier, Luc Gendron, Lori Lapointe, François Perreault and Lillian Saikali of the Client Support Centre; Carole Croteau and Claire Dionne of the Government Systems Division; Nancy Hoyt and her team in Communications and Coordination; Gilles Bisaillon and his team of Suzanne Bégin, Suzanne Henrion, Craig Kennedy, Suzanne Le Blanc, Ginette Lefebvre, Vanessa Novini and Anne Taillefer of Print Communication Services; David Berman; Arnaud Archimbaud, Arlette Harvey and the team in Translation Services.

Bernie A. Gorman
Executive Director
Office of Information Management, Systems and Technology

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A Perspective

Why is Accessible Service at Lower Cost So Important?

In the private sector, the pressure for restructuring and renewal has come from increased competitiveness and the unforgiving nature of high costs. Many argue that consumers have become more demanding as they look for better service and quality at a lower price.

For governments, the pressure is for better service in the face of reduced revenues and mounting debt. Many consumers of government services appear to have lost their tolerance for bureaucracies. They feel they receive better service from banks, car rental companies, even supermarkets, which have transformed business with innovative information technology. The government increasingly appears to be out of date. Many want to know why they have to spend their precious time finding answers to their questions, after being bounced from department to department, when sometimes (not always) it is easier to get satisfaction from customer-hungry private companies.

These are questions that governments must take seriously. Government must re-invent itself, as other institutions have had to do to survive. Government must fundamentally improve the way it administers its business and delivers its services.

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What Does Information Technology-Enabled Business Renewal Mean?

In today's information age, knowledge workers, freed from organizational constraints and enabled by modern telecommunications and computing technology, can have greater capabilities to access information, to seek solutions and to provide services. The potential is considerable for knowledge workers, acting in concert with one another, to do more work and to do it better. Therein lies the basic thrust of an information-based approach to transforming business.

Key components of a business-driven renewal in the information age include:

• a clear focus on client service, so that employees can concentrate on providing value-added services;
• an organizational culture of continuous learning, personal development and employee involvement in managing change;
• empowering individuals to think and plan, access and analyse information, apply knowledge, make decisions and take action;
• an organizational structure that is cost-effective, flexible and non-bureaucratic, and that fosters open communication and consultation;
• teamwork and partnership, so that workers can take advantage of their knowledge-based environment instead of trying to work alone;
• the presence of an information technology infrastructure to provide computing resources, establish connectivity, distribute information and intelligence, and support business renewal;
• work processes that are automated, streamlined and interconnected, to create paperless, transparent, integrated business operations designed to serve clients; and
• common solutions in functions and processes that can be discovered and then shared broadly across organizations, to reduce duplication and improve service.

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Executive summary

This document describes an integrated approach to improving the delivery of government services while significantly reducing associated costs.

Living with shrinking budgets

The integrated approach reflects the recognition that the business of government must be dramatically reassessed, to live within shrinking budgets.

Thus, establishing the business rationale for the government service, then determining how the service will be delivered to the clients (the work perspective), are the first two critical steps into a process of renewal outlined in this blueprint.

Next, the approach underscores the importance of incorporating an information perspective into any service renewal activity, i.e. knitting related work processes together through proper management and sharing of information.

Designing computer applications to automate work processes and to manage and share information is the fourth step in the five-step approach.

The final step involves leveraging information technology -- the hardware, software and communications, and their interfaces which comprise the common technology architecture -- to deliver an efficient and effective service to clients.

Reviewing services on an enterprise-wide basis

The Blueprint focuses on renewing government services on an enterprise-wide basis and, in so doing, uses information technology to make this possible. The "human face of government" in service delivery must be enhanced, to the benefit of both clients and staff.

The Blueprint is designed to capture the broad improvements and full savings that will result from an integrated approach to renewal, not just the incremental benefits reaped when change is piecemeal. As well, an integrated approach reduces the risk of ending up with incompatible and conflicting results.

Employees must be involved, committed and focused on improvement. This is the key to change. Successful implementation of the Blueprint hinges on the abilities of employees and the smooth transition of staff to the new work environment. Special consideration must be given to planning, consultation and communication in order to carry out cultural and organizational changes and to resolve the human resources management issues.

Pursuing an electronic infrastructure for government

The Blueprint identifies the need for a government-wide electronic information infrastructure (namely a network of electronic highways and byways and associated information and computing services), with connections to other public or private networks, to support renewal of service delivery. The federal government will explore cost-effective, innovative means to meet its infrastructure needs, such as making use of available systems and forming partnerships with the private sector and other levels of government, rather than relying on unique in-house solutions.

The overall benefits of applying this blueprint will be more efficient and effective program delivery, reduced overall costs across government(s), and maintained or even improved customer service in the face of fiscal restraint.

Building on program renewal experience

The approach proposed in this blueprint builds on the experience gained from program renewal projects under way in such agencies as Revenue Canada, Health Canada, Human Resources Development Canada and Public Works and Government Services Canada, as well as from the Council for Administrative Renewal.

• For businesses, Revenue Canada is introducing a Single Business Registration Number which will provide comprehensive, one-stop services, covering initially, the corporate income tax, the goods and services tax, source deductions and importer accounts. This will also reduce duplication and improve government operations.
• For income security recipients, the Income Security Program Redesign project at Human Resources Development Canada promises improved turnaround for applications for Canada Pension or Old Age Security. Again, information will be better integrated, making it easier for government staff to create, maintain and query records and provide improved service. Studies are under way to see if the model can be extended to veterans and unemployment insurance applicants. These steps could also lead to a single-window service for persons wishing to deal with the federal government.
• For most federal departments, which together handle millions of payments and invoices each year, a new Electronic Procurement and Settlement system from Public Works and Government Services Canada will offer a common, distributed, computer-based solution, eliminating the need for duplicate departmental systems while replacing paper-driven processes.
• For federal Public Service employees, a government-wide telecommunications network infrastructure is being developed, which will enable them to contact colleagues anywhere in Canada by electronic mail. It will set the stage for electronic commerce, single access to government information, and electronic delivery of government services to Canadians. It will also trigger significant efficiency gains and reduced duplication of networking facilities.

Sharing successes across government

In publishing the Blueprint, a key objective is to actively involve service delivery managers in this integrated approach to renewal. The approach described in the Blueprint should apply to situations within many different departments or agencies. The Blueprint also envisions that experiences will be shared across government(s).

The Blueprint provides a vision to guide government service renewal. It describes five different but interrelated architectural views: government businesses, associated work processes, information, system applications and technology. The activities in these five areas must be integrated in support of the renewal of government services. The Blueprint also illustrates future scenarios for delivering government services. Finally, the Blueprint proposes an approach to implementation.

The vision, the architectural principles, and the service delivery scenarios are founded on the importance of having a client focus, sharing resources, developing standards, facilitating access to critical information and, above all, recognizing people as key to business renewal.

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The Vision

Government Services That Are Affordable, Accessible, and Responsive

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• Direct Service to Clients. Delivering and providing easy access to services through electronic means. It envisions bringing services to the clients and providing them with "single-window" access for multiple services (as opposed to developing services with the convenience of the service provider in mind).
• Transparent and Seamless Service. Streamlining and integrating processes across functional and organizational lines to provide transparent, seamless services to clients (as opposed to continuing with stovepipe processes that cannot interact with one another).
• Value-added Service. Rationalizing operations and empowering knowledge workers to provide value-added services directly to the clients (as opposed to pursuing control-oriented solutions, well-removed from the client interface).
• Continuous Learning. Enhancing the knowledge, skills and active participation of employees to ensure they can meet the changing needs of clients and provide quality services in a fair and cost-effective way.
• Standardized, Interconnected Tools. Developing a standard suite of interconnected system tools, readily available to management and staff, to support decision-making and service delivery (rather than having a proliferation of different, incompatible and, often, proprietary computer applications).
• Shared Solutions. Routinely sharing solutions and resources for common functions and processes and using departmental clusters to share common systems and services, reducing development, maintenance, and/or operating costs (as opposed to each agency or department developing its own unique solutions, at greater overall expense).
• Shared Information. Developing and implementing a standards-based electronic information infrastructure consisting of common information, applications, technology platforms and networks to make it possible to share information and computing resources, as well as to rationalize operations enterprise-wide (as opposed to developing isolated islands of information).
• Paperless Environment. Redesigning as well as automating routine processes in order to reduce paper and the need for human intervention (as opposed to manual processing or merely automating existing processes).

Achievement of this vision of renewal requires five sets of key architectural principles.

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Key Architectural Principles

People are key

Fundamental to all the principles below is the recognition of the importance of people management, shared values, and a responsive and flexible work environment. The value of investing time and resources in enhancing employees' knowledge, skills and abilities and of involving people in changes must also be recognized as essential to cultural change, renewal and improvement.

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1. Business. Government services will need to be transformed to focus on serving clients, on sharing solutions for common functions, on seeking innovative business partnerships, on exploiting information technology and on facilitating accountability.
2. Work. Service delivery will need to be automated, seamless and available through a single window, convenient with options, free from such constraints as functional or organizational barriers, red tape, time and location, and measured against standards for continuous improvement.
3. Information. As a valuable national resource, government information will need to be accessible, secure, captured once and validated close to source, properly maintained to ensure privacy and integrity, and electronically distributed to authorized users.
4. Applications. Computer applications will need to interact freely with one another, have a consistent look and feel, and be modular, re-usable and broadly shared across government.
5. Technology. Information technology will need to be open, flexible, practical, and secure to provide the capability for supporting distributed and accessible computing environments.

Table 1 displays the five sets of key architectural principles in greater detail.

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Table 1

1. Business Principles to transform government services.

• Client Service Focus - client needs will drive the design of government services.
• People Management - employees' involvement, development, and commitment are critical to successful business renewal.
• Common Shareable Solutions - common requirements will be addressed by common, shareable solutions.
• Partnership - strategic alliances will be pursued with other governments and the private sector.
• Accountability - accountability, performance standards, and evaluation capabilities will be incorporated into the design and delivery of government services.
• Enabling Technology - information technology will be used to its full advantage for redesigning the delivery of government services.

2. Work Principles for the redesign of government service delivery processes.

• Single Window/Seamless Service - government services will be delivered to common clients through a single window.
• Streamlining - the process between the client and delivery of government service will be minimized.
• Choices - where practical and cost justifiable, clients will have options as to how government services are delivered.
• Consistency - the same types of work activities involved for different government services will be done the same way.
• Location and Time Independence - clients will have access to government services at any time and from many places, where practical and cost justifiable.
• Continuous Improvement of Service - services will be improved on an ongoing basis, with measurements embedded in the service processes.

3. Information Principles for managing government information.

• Managing Government Information - government information, in all forms (e.g., print, voice, electronic, or image), is a strategic resource and will be effectively managed throughout its lifecycle.
• Data Administration - all government information will be subject to data administration to ensure common definitions, integrity, and consistency of use.
• Sharing and Re-using Information - information will be captured once, as close to source as possible, then shared and re-used by authorized users.
• Exchanging Information - once captured and where practical, government information will be stored and exchanged electronically to avoid manual transcription and re-entering.
• Protecting Information - the security, integrity, and privacy of government information will be ensured through various electronic and manual security measures.
• Retaining Information - government information will be retained only for valid reasons, such as business needs, policy or legislative requirements, and historical and archival needs.
• Stewardship - specific organizational units will be accountable for certain classes of information to ensure integrity, quality, relevance, and authorized usage.

4. Application Principles for managing computer systems.

• Sharing Systems - computer systems for common processes or functions will be shared broadly across the government to reduce maintenance and development costs.
• Modularity - computer systems will be designed using modular components to facilitate sharing, development and design changes.
• Rapid Application Development - joint development teams will be used for short term projects to yield a working prototype, to be refined and improved via successive iterations through to implementation.
• Re-usability - computer systems will be designed to use common, shareable components.
• Distribution - computer systems and tools will be designed for replication and distribution on the government electronic network.
• Standard Inter-application Interfaces - standard interfaces between system modules will be used to facilitate information sharing and transfer of transactions.
• Consistency - computer systems and tools will be designed to provide a consistent look and feel to users.

5. Technology Principles for managing information technology in the government.

• Modularity - technology components that can accommodate expansion, upgrading and substitution easily with minimal disruption to services will be used.
• Inter-operability/Connectivity/Portability - technology components will be able to work with one another using modern connectivity tools and standard components and interfaces.
• Distribution - processing, storage, and communications technologies may be distributed to multiple levels in the architecture, where appropriate, to support dispersed business operations.
• Workstation Orientation - intelligent multi-functional workstations supporting industry-standard interfaces will be preferred.
• Network Orientation - all workstations will be attached to the government electronic network, with appropriately secure communications linkages to all authorized servers and users.
• Infrastructure Management - the architectural design will provide for the management and security of the information technology infrastructure.

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Future Service Delivery Scenarios

Linking Canadians to responsive government services

In the Work View section, six models are offered of ways services can be provided to clients in the near future through applying technology. Note that these models, listed below, are illustrative only. They are designed to provide readers with a more practical view of possible ways of service delivery.

• Auto-Service. A client's own computer system generates a service request and the supplier's system provides a response, with minimal human intervention.
• Self-Service (electronic). Individual Canadians, businesses or Public Service employees use desktop computer workstations to access information and to generate transactions, orders and payments, resulting in reduced paperwork and fewer approval processes.
• Self-Service (walk-in). Internal and external clients seek information, goods and services by visiting common walk-in centres, where Public Service employees use computerized services to respond efficiently and effectively.
• Service with On-site Support. An intermediary group or agency provides multiple services, sometimes for numerous clients, maximizing the benefits of information technology and minimizing duplication and paperwork.
• Specialist/Expert Service Centre. By using computer connectivity technology, internal and external clients access "experts" in government directly and quickly, reducing the need to duplicate similar services and improving responsiveness to requests.
• Supplier Interface (extended enterprise). Suppliers and internal consumers are connected directly to the government's order and payment systems, becoming an extension of these systems.

Changing the way services are delivered

Implementation of the vision and the principles will change the way services are renewed and ultimately delivered to internal and external clients. Benefits and changes for program managers will flow from this implementation.

This document sets out an approach to implementation and concludes with the proposed next steps.

Implementation Approach

The Blueprint is a dynamic, integrated framework for implementing government service renewal over the next five years. It builds on initiatives already under way. The following six elements are critical to its implementation.

• Community Leadership. Ministers and deputy ministers, with the strong and effective support of the Chief Informatics Officer, must champion the service renewal in government, recognizing that significant benefits will accrue to departments and their clients. Treasury Board policy centres will provide supporting functional expertise. The Office of Information Management, Systems and Technology will coordinate implementation and provide support in business re-engineering and information technology architectural design.
• Commitment to the Vision. Leaders, having espoused the Blueprint's vision, will communicate and explain it to government employees and will seek their effective commitment. This commitment, which will also be sought from potential partners, must be sustained over time, since it constitutes an essential ingredient of change management.
• People Management. Strategies and plans must be directed towards involving and committing people; fostering open communication; involving employees in conceptual design and implementation and facilitating their shift to the new culture and structures; assessing composition and competencies of the work force; and resolving the human resources issues associated with the transition and change.
• Partnerships. The implementation of the Blueprint will require an effective and sustained partnership among staff within departments. In recognition of the increased interdependencies reflected in the Blueprint, partnerships will also extend to other departments, other levels of government and the private sector. Partnerships must be pursued and promoted aggressively to leverage common requirements, to take advantage of specific skills, to spread risks, and to share experience, innovation and investment.
• Forging Ahead for Results. The Blueprint represents an architectural framework that will be implemented and, where necessary, adjusted over time. To accomplish this, a set of service renewal projects will identify change management and technology requirements, develop migration plans, provide incentive through success and begin a government-wide rollout. A government-wide electronic information infrastructure project will support these service renewal projects as they spread across government.
• Departmental Implementation. Departments will use the Blueprint in planning and implementing their own internal renewal activities. They will reflect their planned approach to implementation in such planning instruments as annual operational plans and information management plans, starting in fiscal year 1994-95.

Overall, the Blueprint does not start at square one, but builds on existing renewal activities and policies (for example, Enhancing Services Through the Innovative Use of Information and Technology: Strategic Direction for the 90s, issued by Treasury Board). The transformation envisaged in the Blueprint will be achieved through continuous improvements. There will be ongoing measuring and monitoring of government service delivery.

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• Communicate. The draft Blueprint will be communicated to interested parties inside and outside the federal government in order to refine the document, and to obtain feedback, buy-in and departmental participation in pilots. Distributing this document has started the process, which will continue for the next several months.
• Endorse the Principles. The Treasury Board Ministers will be asked to adopt the principles set out in the Blueprint as a policy for renewing government services for internal and external clients. The Blueprint will serve as a basis for reviewing, adopting and promoting an integrated, enterprise-wide approach to the delivery of government services, following the consultations.
• Review the Requirements. There will be consultation with groups such as the Blueprint Program Advisory Committee, the Advisory Committee on Information Management, the Government Systems Committee, the Council for Administrative Renewal, the Treasury Board Senior Advisory Committee Information Management Subcommittee, and the Treasury Board Senior Advisory Committee, on the requirement for resources, skill sets, methodologies and governance processes. This will take place at the same time as the communication activities.
• Launch Service Renewal Projects. The Office of Information Management, Systems and Technology will work with departments and policy centres to select the first wave of renewal projects. The federal government will actively seek out partners in the private sector and other levels of government. Project champions from the community will then organize and plan project implementation; the Office of Information Management, Systems and Technology will support them, as required. This will take place beginning the second half of 1994.
• Launch a Government-wide Electronic Information Infrastructure Project. There will be an examination of the issues relating to developing a government-wide electronic information infrastructure, designed in part to meet the connectivity needs of the first wave of service renewal projects and future efforts. This review will be undertaken in close collaboration with Public Works and Government Services Canada, Industry Canada and other interested parties, parallel to the service renewal projects.

The Benefit

The Blueprint approach is based on the assumption that an information-technology-enabled renewal of government processes and services will generate benefits for all involved, in addition to the often-discussed savings in resources.

Transforming the way Canadians deal with government

• For the public, service renewal will reduce time spent in obtaining access to government information and services. In many cases, it will improve these services. Properly used, computing and telecommunications technologies should transform the way many Canadians deal with the government, just as it has dramatically changed the way the public now deals with financial institutions.
• For suppliers to government, the service renewal activities offer a number of benefits: the opportunity to provide services in partnership with government; the prospect of reduced costs through speedier ordering and payments; and the possibility of taking products developed and skills learned while dealing with the government and applying them in the global marketplace.

Increasing job satisfaction

• For employees directly involved in delivering services, there will be less need to re-enter critical data from associated systems, reducing wasted effort and improving the reliability of the output. Service renewal will automate mundane activities and reduce central controls or build them into systems supporting service renewal, resulting in job enrichment and increased job satisfaction.
• For those who manage programs and support functions, successful renewal through an integrated use of information technology will result in resolving service delivery issues faster and thereby allow more time to deal with clients' needs.

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Introduction

Objective and Scope

This blueprint describes an integrated, enterprise-wide approach to renewing government services through applying information technology (information, computing and telecommunications). The objective is to transform government processes to better support program delivery to the public at a much reduced cost.

Assisting managers to provide high-quality service

The Blueprint also proposes to take important steps in planning and deploying an enabling government-wide IT infrastructure (government-wide electronic highways) to support the re-engineering of program delivery, administrative renewal and overall government restructuring.

The Blueprint will assist managers and staff to provide high-quality, efficient services to their clients, while at the same time coping with severe fiscal restraint.

The Blueprint will serve to reinforce the importance of managing human resources and resolving people issues. The Blueprint's focus on clients and enterprise-wide perspective will give front-line staff the information, tools and support to satisfy clients; in so doing, the Blueprint offers the prospect of a more human face for government services, to the benefit of both staff and the public.

Individual departments have already begun to re-engineer a number of their program delivery processes. This blueprint will support their efforts and provide guideposts for future activities.

Initiatives under the Council for Administrative Renewal (CAR) have demonstrated the potential for savings and improvements in administrative services. The Blueprint will give direction to these initiatives, identify further opportunities and help them realize their full potential.

The Blueprint will be used to inform stakeholders, both in the private and public sectors, of this major business renewal and IT infrastructure initiative and to increase their awareness of the opportunities for participation and partnership.

Blueprint is an evolving document

Finally, it is important to note that the Blueprint was created using group workshops involving many participants from across the affected areas of government. Subgroups addressed the specifics of each "architectural view" described in the Blueprint. They also produced a set of corresponding architectural principles to guide their thinking and to give direction to the more detailed planning that will be required to implement this blueprint. For this and other reasons, the Blueprint should be viewed as a dynamic document, reflecting collective views and portending further changes as the process of service renewal within the government evolves.

The Vision

The Blueprint provides a vision for the renewal of government services.

Simply put, the vision is:

Government services that are affordable, accessible, and responsive.

The renewal is founded on the importance of having a client focus, sharing resources, developing standards, and facilitating access to critical information and services.

The vision must be achieved if government is to

• deal successfully with fiscal constraint;
• adapt to and exploit the accelerating revolution in information technology and the convergence of information, computing and telecommunications;
• rekindle the sense of true public service in employees of the federal government, both on the front lines and in the required supporting roles for delivering services to the public; and
• reverse the public's deep-seated frustration with government services.

The central underpinnings of the vision are listed below.

Bringing services to clients

• Direct Service to Clients. Delivering and providing easy access to services through electronic means. It envisions bringing services to the clients and providing them with "single-window" access for multiple services (as opposed to developing services with the convenience of the service provider in mind).
• Transparent and Seamless Service. Streamlining and integrating processes across functional and organizational lines to provide transparent, seamless services to clients (as opposed to continuing with stovepipe processes that cannot interact with one another).
• Value-added Service. Rationalizing operations and empowering knowledge workers to provide value-added services directly to the clients (as opposed to pursuing control-oriented solutions, well-removed from the client interface).

Enhancing the skills of employees

• Continuous Learning. Enhancing the knowledge, skills and active participation of employees to ensure they can meet the changing needs of clients and provide quality services in a fair and cost-effective way.
• Standardized, Interconnected Tools. Developing a standard suite of interconnected system tools, readily available to management and staff, to support decision-making and service delivery (rather than having a proliferation of different, incompatible and, often, proprietary computer applications).
• Shared Solutions. Routinely sharing solutions and resources for common functions and processes and using departmental clusters to share common systems and services, reducing development, maintenance, and/or operating costs (as opposed to each agency or department developing its own unique solutions, at greater overall expense).

• Shared Information. Developing and implementing a standards-based electronic information infrastructure (consisting of common information, applications, technology platforms and networks) to make it possible to share information and computing resources, as well as to rationalize operations enterprise-wide (as opposed to developing isolated islands of information).

Reducing paper

• Paperless Environment. Redesigning as well as automating routine processes in order to reduce paper and the need for human intervention (as opposed to manual processing or merely automating existing processes).

Approach and Methodology

The Blueprint uses as its analogy the concept of an integrated architectural planning approach, consisting of five interrelated architectural views. Each represents a different aspect of the way government services must be re-engineered. This model is driven first by business needs and uses the enabling capabilities of information technology. Underlying the overall model, with its five views, is the need to put a human, service-oriented face on the services delivered by government; this requires special attention to human resource issues in all five views. These five views, which are described in the chapters that follow, are shown in Figure 1 on the following page.

Taking a horizontal view of business

Business View. The Business View establishes the strategic business context for the necessary changes and improvements to government services. This document takes an enterprise-wide view of government business and redefines it as seamlessly serving clients. This differs from the traditional multi-functional orientation of government administration and program delivery. The design of service delivery must recognize the situations where services are interdependent and common. As well, the Blueprint expects that solutions and delivery mechanisms will be shared and a more integrated suite of services to the public will be created. This approach will require a government-wide electronic information infrastructure.

Work View. The Work View describes how the re-engineered government services will be delivered to clients. The Blueprint identifies the importance of moving away from the stovepipe approach that is particularly common across government. As work processes are adapted, so too must staff skills be modified -- to improve service by integrating delivery and providing choices, thereby ensuring client satisfaction. The Blueprint also describes a number of scenarios in which different approaches to service delivery can lead to reduced costs and improved services. These range from complete automation, where all work activity has been replaced by computer applications (e.g., using electronic data interchange), to client self-service (e.g., clients obtain service directly through a desktop workstation), to various ways of assisting service providers to better support their client interactions (e.g., permitting clients to use telephones or modems to directly access "experts" who are fully connected and supported by IT).

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Renewing government through information sharing

Information View. The Information View reflects the critical role that information must play in renewing the business of government. The Blueprint identifies shared information as a critical common resource, with information delivered to clients in a fully automated and electronic manner. Examples of common information resources are summarized in the Information View. The Blueprint emphasizes the importance of automated collection and dissemination of information from administrative and business processes, in order to make it possible to automate and integrate such services on a broader scale. The Information View identifies the types of information involved in process automation and the ways in which information must be collected, managed and distributed. Under this approach, information will need to be accessible, secure, captured once and validated close to source, properly maintained to ensure privacy and integrity, and electronically distributed to authorized users.

Application View. The Application View links the work processes and information requirements together. The goal is to have as much of the information as possible maintained in computer-accessible form. Applications create, update, access, and delete these automated information bases. These applications support the work processes by providing automated procedures and managing information storage and retrieval in support of service delivery. The Blueprint makes key distinctions between applications that assist the user in performing the work processes (workflow managers) and applications that manage the resulting updates to information files (transaction managers). Under the Blueprint, applications will need to cooperate freely with one another, have a consistent look and feel, and be modular, re-usable and broadly shared across the government.

Creating a more accessible computing environment

Technology View. The Technology View addresses the required platforms and network services to meet the needs of various types of users at identified work locations, thereby closing the circle on the five views. Having many types of IT applications means that different technologies have to cooperate in both operational and developmental situations. The architecture for the technology must also deal with various information bases used by applications, and ensure that the information can flow where it is needed. The challenge of integrating different technologies and information resources requires an infrastructure based on a mixture of standard components and modern interconnectivity tools. In this way, information technology will be open, capable of supporting distributed (as well as centralized and mainframe) computing systems, and create a more accessible computing environment.

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BUSINESS VIEW

The Business View establishes the strategic business context for the necessary changes and improvements to government services. It represents the first critical step in the Blueprint's approach to renewing government services, i.e. asking the questions "what business are we in ?" and "how do we conduct business?".

Taking the enterprise-wide view

The Blueprint expects these questions to be asked from an enterprise-wide perspective, rather than from the traditional departmental, program or functional viewpoint. Taking this broader view is especially important in maximizing opportunities for restructuring government services. It is also important in making it easier to share processes, information and technologies used in delivering these services across the federal government and, indeed, different levels of government.

The Blueprint reflects the need to re-engineer radically in the face of fiscal pressures and rising public demand for improved services. The re-engineering will involve focusing on clients' needs, working in partnership with other groups inside and outside the federal government, improving the efficiency of service delivery by using information technology judiciously, and reducing duplication.

In asking the question "what business are we in?", it is critical to seek the answer from the client's perspective rather than from the organization's perspective. This will require a re-examination of the skills required by staff to reinforce a client focus in the delivery of services.

Business of Government Services

Program Services. The government exists to serve the public. Government services include programs in various areas such as agriculture, citizenship and culture, education and training, employment and labour, the environment, foreign affairs, health and safety, immigration, international trade, industrial development, national defence, natural resources, parks and recreation, public infrastructure, public information, regulated utilities, security and protection, social assistance, and taxation.

Recognizing the interdependence of programs

Some program activities share common clients with one another in the federal government as well as across different levels of government. In addition, there is an increasing awareness of the interdependency of programs within and between governments. For example, recent discussions about redesigning the delivery of unemployment insurance recognize the need to integrate labour training and retraining. Similarly, provincial governments recognize the growing interdependence between unemployment insurance and provincial welfare programs.

Administrative Services. Administrative services support the delivery of government programs. Basically, administrative services provide four types of essential resources for program delivery: human, financial, physical (materiel or assets), and information. These resource services commonly exist in all federal departments and, in fact, in all governments and organizations. Administrative services are closely related in that they need to be considered together (including making trade-off decisions) in order to provide an optimal resource base for program delivery.

Seeking relief from bureaucratic processes

A key to renewing government service is discerning and taking advantage of the commonalities and interdependencies of program and administrative services. Management and delivery structure can then be rationalized within and across governments. In the final analysis, this rationalization must focus on serving the ultimate clients (i.e. the public) who are seeking relief from bureaucratic processes and who are demanding services from their government rather than from a multitude of departments.

Common Electronic Information Infrastructure. In today's information era, electronic information infrastructure services are of critical importance to the delivery of government services. In effect, these infrastructure services have stretched information as a resource beyond its traditional role. The common need for these services necessitates a backbone infrastructure across the government. Elements of the electronic information infrastructure are listed in Table 2. 

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Table 2

Elements of the Electronic Information Infrastructure

Networks to interconnect internal and external clients, suppliers and users with the applications, services and information they require and share.

Servers to provide processing, storage and information services across the network. A range of operating environments will be supported. Computing resources will be widely distributed for different applications and operating areas.

Communication facilities to make it possible to transfer information reliably and interactively. A range of standard multi-media connectivity solutions supporting the government's enterprise network will be available.

Workstations to access network-based services and information where and when needed. A range of user devices, interface standards, personal and workgroup computing tools will be supported.

Services components:

Standards management services to plan, develop, promote and monitor standards required to implement the IT infrastructure of the government.

Guiding Business Principles

The Blueprint proposes a series of guiding business principles that should be used to shape the renewal of government services. The principles are presented in greater detail in the Appendix.

• Client Service Focus - Client needs will drive the design and delivery of government services. This will require a clear recognition that government programs must be responsive to the public's needs and that administrative services must support program delivery. Service standards, consultations transparency and flexibility will be necessary.

Involving employees is essential

• People Management - Employees, their involvement, development and commitment, will be critical to successful business renewal. A new management philosophy of commitment to employees and their development within a continuous learning culture will be necessary. There will be ongoing dialogue to discuss job structures and content, training, development and other essential issues in managing change. The resolution of human resources management issues is paramount to a smooth transition and the ultimate success of government services.
• Common Shareable Solutions - Common requirements will be addressed by common, shareable solutions. This will require a government-wide focus and funding, to identify shareable solutions and roll them out to interested departments. Participating departments will benefit through lower costs of acquisition and maintenance.

Pursuing partnerships

• Partnership - Strategic alliances will be pursued with other governments and the private sector. This will allow risks to be shared with the private sector and with other levels of government and lead to lower costs because of increased purchasing power. It will also promote innovation. Governments will benefit through lower costs and new solutions to common problems. The private sector will benefit from having access to a potentially larger market within the federal government. This access could be a springboard to other markets, such as other levels of government and export markets.
• Accountability - Accountability performance standards and evaluation capabilities will be incorporated into the design and delivery of government services. This will require a new approach to defining accountability between the service provider and the client. Benefits will include a clearer definition of service levels and program performance and costs lower than those associated with existing delivery processes.

Using technology to have common process design

• Enabling Technology - Information technology will be used to its full advantage for redesigning the delivery of government services. This should lead to reduced labour costs and improved (faster) service. It will require increased training for staff and new investments in computer technology. Other benefits will include new IT opportunities for the private sector.

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WORK VIEW

The Work View represents an important second step in the Blueprint's approach to renewal, following a fresh, enterprise-wide look at the business. It proposes moving away from a stovepipe approach and instead refocusing on both the delivery of services and the organization of associated work activities on an enterprise-wide basis. Clients must be able to receive total service rather than piecemeal services from various component organizational units. As well, modern information technology will be used to facilitate better communications, organization of work and service delivery.

Pursuing total service

The Work View provides a brief outline of the nature of government program and administrative activities, including their interrelationships and the similarities of the work processes involved. It proposes that the delivery of government services be consolidated; streamlined; consistent in outlook and procedures; designed to provide clients with options; independent of time and location; and measured and monitored for continuous improvement. The Work View also provides illustrations of more efficient and effective ways to deliver government services using modern information technology.

Maintaining a human touch

The Work View will produce significant changes in the work environment for staff. For example, services that are independent of time and location may require employees to work split shifts, so that staff are available to deal with client needs from the start of business on the East coast to the end of business on the West coast. Adopting more integrated and consistent processes should increase the prospects for job mobility for staff. It will be essential to maintain the human touch when redesigning work processes to deal with clients.

Work Processes of Government Services

Linkages across Services. Many government program and administrative activities are closely linked. They have an impact on one another. For example, address changes reported by clients in one government program affect all other programs to which the clients also subscribe. Inspection findings of one government program may be important for the development and implementation of other programs. Program activities often require administrative support services. Within the administrative domain, for example, staffing action usually requires committing salary budgets and procuring office equipment and tools.

Coordinating work activities horizontally across programs, administrative functions, and departments will make government operations more efficient and service delivery to the public more effective.

In his John L. Manion lecture on "Partners in the Management of Government: Changing Roles of Government and the Public Services ", Mr. Marcel Massé observed:

Taking account of linkages

In the administrative area, a good illustration of the need for coordination is resource planning. With mounting fiscal pressures and the introduction of operating budgets, federal government managers at all levels need to look at the resource picture in its totality and make trade-off decisions for program delivery. Unfortunately, many program and administrative services continue to operate in a linear, sequential fashion, without taking into account the need for horizontal coordination as well as vertical delayering. High costs and lengthy delays of services are the results.

Routine and Repetitive Processes. Many common, routine processes are done manually and repeated within and across program and administrative areas. As a result, many government employees are unnecessarily buried under paper processing, having little contact with clients or appreciation of their needs. Automating these processes and re-using the information generated across programs and administrative functions will not only improve efficiency but will also free up staff for value-added work. This will reduce overall costs and improve services to the public. Figure 2 displays a process model for service delivery. As one can see, most of the processes listed are routine, common, and repetitive in nature.

Guiding Work Principles

In order to sketch out the Blueprint under the Work View, a series of work principles are proposed for shaping the renewal of government service delivery. Adopting these principles will help eliminate the stovepipes and improve service to customers.

• Single Window/Seamless Service - Government services will be delivered to common clients through a single window and be free of functional and organizational barriers. This requires redesigning the way services are now provided, including a refocus on customer service and client satisfaction. To succeed, it will require a greater flow of information to and from associated service groups. Benefits will include improved service to customers and improved staff morale.

Reorienting from task to services

• Streamlining - The process between the client and delivery of the government service will be minimized. This will require re-aligning staff functions, from task-oriented to service-oriented, and significant re-investments in staff training and new customer-oriented service delivery activities. Benefits will include good client service levels and lower costs, due to eliminating non-essental intermediary activities.

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• Choices - Where practical and cost justifiable, clients will have options as to how government services are delivered. This will likely require new investments and regular reviews of clients' needs. Benefits will include new opportunities for innovation on the part of staff, lower costs for service delivery, and improved choice for clients.
• Consistency - Where the same types of work activities are involved for different government services, they will be done the same way. This would require redefining existing activities, policies and procedures and it could take time to implement. Benefits will include lower operating costs, lower training and retraining expenses, and the potential for less disruption and increased staff mobility.
• Location and Time Independence - Clients will have access to government services at any time from many locations, wherever such access is cost justified and warranted. This will make it possible to expand new automated services (24 hours a day, 7 days per week, if appropriate). New investments in technology will be necessary, however. It might also alter work patterns. Benefits will include improved customer service, lower costs for services that can be located outside of expensive urban areas, and the opportunity for increased employment opportunities in areas that can be economically connected through telecommunication links.
• Continuous Improvement of Service - Services will be improved on an ongoing basis, with measurements embedded in the service processes. This will require new ways of measuring progress, customer needs and client satisfaction. Benefits include the opportunity for ongoing improvements and elimination of unnecessary processes.

Future Service Delivery Scenarios

To help readers understand the implications of changes resulting from the Work View perspective, the Blueprint includes six scenarios of how information technology could be applied in different ways in a client-focused business renewal process. It should be noted that, in almost all cases, there are already examples within government of activities or experiments within each of the six categories. For this reason, they are presented as near-future examples, recognizing that other variations will likely emerge over time. How far each service can go in following these scenarios will have to be determined through actual implementations, with proper consideration of such factors as nature of the service, desire of the clients, staff implications and the operating environment.

The objective is to automate, streamline and network most work processes, using the appropriate IT infrastructure. This will result in paperless transactions that are seamless to clients. These scenarios, therefore, provide the direction for renewing the delivery of government services.

Six scenarios are presented, as follows:

1. Auto-Service
2. Self-Service (electronic)
3. Self-Service (walk-in)
4. Service with On-site Support
5. Specialist/Expert Service Centre
6. Supplier Interfaces (extended enterprise)

1.  Auto-Service. A client's own computer system generates a service request and the supplier's system provides a response, with minimal human intervention.

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Example: At 4:00 a.m. every morning, a desktop computer in a large federal office building in Montreal automatically places a call to a computer across the city. The purpose: to collect news that will be in the morning's newspapers across the country and that will touch on areas of importance to the department's minister and senior executives. By 6:30 a.m., the information is available on the department's Executive Information System, by opening an electronic window. Meanwhile, down the hall, another computer is preparing to place an electronic data interchange (EDI) order to restock the department's central office supplies. The order includes all the information needed to complete the transaction, including payment on confirmation of receipt the next day.

In both cases, arrangements have been made ahead of time so that minimal human intervention is required for routine transactions; these can be filled quickly.

Other examples of services that could be delivered in this scenario:

• payroll and deductions (such as direct deposit of pay), and
• accounts payable (such as recurring payments for rent and telephone).

Benefits include lower costs and increased speed of delivery and payment to both the service provider and recipient, along with reduced record-keeping and manual data entry. This could translate into less repetitive work for staff and a greater need for value-added, knowledge workers.

2.  Self-Service (electronic). Canadian citizens, businesses and Public Service employees use workstations to access information and to generate transactions, orders and payments, resulting in reduced (or eliminated) paperwork and fewer approvals.

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Example A: Instead of having to go to an employment centre in another part of town, a client visits an electronic kiosk at a nearby shopping centre. Using a "smart card" issued by the government, he peruses jobs that seem to match his computerized skill profile. A touch on an icon on the kiosk screen produces a print-out of local jobs that seem promising. Another touch on the screen provides a just-released schedule of new training courses at a local high school. He decides to apply for one course on the spot and, again using his individualized smart card, obtains almost instant approval from the government and from the high school. It's just like using a bank machine, he thinks, as he signs off.

Example B: An officer requires some specialized supplies for upcoming field work. She logs onto a purchasing system from her desktop computer and browses an on-screen, electronic catalogue. As soon as she selects the supplier and places her order electronically, the departmental accounting system also completes the internal paperwork (after checking the officer's budget to make sure she has both the funds and the authority to place the order). The order is transmitted directly to the supplier via EDI. It's as easy as ordering books by telephone or fax, she thinks, and the goods will be delivered just as quickly and painlessly.

Other examples of services that could be delivered in this scenario:

• placement agency services for hiring temporary workers,
• travel and accommodation services, and
• government database searches.

Benefits include convenience to the user, lower costs and increased speed of delivery and payment to both the service provider and recipient, and the ability to collect data on purchases electronically. For employees, it will be easier to access information across government, allowing them to deliver enhanced service to clients. As a result, there will be less frustration and wasted effort.

3 Self-Service (walk-in). Internal and external clients seek information, goods and services by visiting common walk-in centres, where government workers use computerized services to respond efficiently and effectively.

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Example: A businesswoman takes the elevator down to the main floor in her office building in Saskatoon. Instead of going for a quick lunch, she decides to stop in the local government business service centre next door. Her partner has been wondering whether it would be worthwhile to try to develop some foreign sales for their recently patented polymer building panels. But neither one knows where to start. "Perhaps they'll know in here," she thinks.

Inside, she's directed towards a researcher who, after consulting a database of contacts, calls the building material specialist at the National Research Council in Ottawa. The business centre researcher suggests that it might take a little time to get all the information and perhaps he could fax it to her when it's ready.

Two hours later, a three-page fax arrives. The first page lists four upcoming trade shows featuring new external building materials; one is highlighted, with a note in the margin from the building specialist in Ottawa suggesting that this has proven to be the most successful show for manufacturers of similar products in the past. The second page is a print-out from a Canadian commercial database and lists a two-day-old United Nations (UN) Request for Proposal for innovative, light-weight, all-weather building material for experimental housing for central Africa; contact names, telephone and E-mail numbers are provided. The third page lists three Canadian prefabricated building companies which have all established records selling abroad. A marginal note from a trade official in Tokyo confirms that the embassy will keep the new supplier in mind in upcoming discussions on joint Canada-Japan cooperation on new uses of polymer building materials for the Japanese housing market.

Other examples of services that could be delivered in this scenario:

• Old Age Security, Guaranteed Income Supplement, Unemployment Insurance, Veterans Allowances benefits administration,
• training and skills development, and
• library services.

Benefits include enhanced convenience to the user, lower operating costs for service delivery and improved levels of service delivery (faster, more accessible service). For staff, there will be greater job satisfaction, since information and tools will be available to respond quickly and efficiently to client needs. It will also be easier to work with colleagues electronically, via "virtual networks", reducing the need for endless face-to-face meetings. 

4.  Service with On-site Support. An intermediary group or agency provides multiple services, sometimes for several clients, maximizing the benefits of information technology and minimizing duplication and paperwork.

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Example: A prominent Canadian is on the telephone with a government minister, agreeing to chair a special task force. The work has to be completed in four months. He is promised a small staff, a modest budget and "all the support you need".

Twenty minutes later, after a couple of quick calls to contacts in the federal government, he dials the telephone number of the head of "Accommodations Canada" ^*, a special operating agency responsible for providing office accommodations and support services for small agencies, judicial inquiries and, yes, special task forces.

Three days later, while the Chairman interviews candidates for executive director and research director, the phones are being installed in his new suite of temporary offices five blocks from the minister's department. A technician is making the final connections to a small network of computers, the automatic voice messaging system is already storing messages, and the office manager is signing the delivery receipt for the Chairman's five boxes of critical reference books.

For the next four months, the Chairman will only have to authorize one monthly bill for the complete suite of offices, technology and support staff. The same billing system and technical support facilities are also shared with several dozen other small agencies, meaning lower costs than the traditional "one-off" approach.

Other examples of services that can be delivered in this scenario:

• staff and organizational planning,
• retirement and job assignment counseling,
• financial planning,
• government lands and facilities maintenance,
• site security services,
• office maintenance and services, and
• publishing and communication services.

Benefits include greater convenience to the user, shared costs and improved pricing, and less administration and paperwork. For staff, it will mean less hassle in getting a new operation up and running.

5.  Specialist/Expert Service Centre. Through the use of computer technology, internal and external clients can access "experts" in government directly and quickly, reducing the need to duplicate similar services and improving the rate and success of client response.

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Example: It's 5:00 p.m., Tokyo time, and the trade officer clicks the mouse on her computer to transmit the meeting report on a just-completed international conference on new building materials. Seconds later, in the very early hours of the morning, the report arrives at six computers back in Ottawa, awaiting action from a "virtual group" of experts who meet as required by computer. By noon that day, the building materials expert at the National Research Council has electronically routed a summary of the report to a list of six Canadian companies which the expert group decided could benefit from three marketing opportunities unearthed at the conference by the trade officer. A businesswoman and her partner in Saskatoon receive the report by fax and have a request for more information on their fax back to Tokyo by end of day in Saskatoon. Six months later, the Saskatoon company is closing a deal with companies in Vancouver, Calgary and Tokyo to participate in a bid to provide a UN aid agency with portable all-weather shelters in refugee camps in a war-torn part of the world. Back in Ottawa, the expert group of building material specialists is commenting on a consultant's report prepared for the World Bank. A summary is scheduled to be faxed to nine Canadian companies which might benefit, including one in Saskatoon. The trade officer in Tokyo will also get a copy overnight by E-mail.

Another example of a service that could be delivered in this scenario:

• a cross-country consultative process where professional association executives participate with departments using computer conferencing.

Benefits include convenience to the user, and lower travel costs for experts and other employees. There will also be increased opportunity for carrying out activities that add value and for generating revenue.

6.  Supplier Interface (extended enterprise). Suppliers and internal consumers are connected directly to the government's order and payment systems, becoming an extension of these systems.

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Example: In the offices of six different suppliers, sales managers are watching the clock and their computer screens. In 10 minutes, and for the following hour, the federal government will be holding an electronic auction-style competition for the right to provide a year's supply of optical disks, magnetic tape and computer disks. It's an experiment, a bit like electronic trading on the stock market, but it beats shipping a five-pound document by courier every month to the government's bidding centre in Hull. One of the advantages is that, because the products are to be delivered to federal and provincial agencies in 16 separate geographic locations, there's a good chance that all of the suppliers will get some business, depending on how they bid on transportation costs for each of the regional "buys". And, of course, because the bids are made in electronic form, payment is made directly to the supplier's bank account as each shipment is received.

Another example of a service that could be delivered in this scenario:

• an electronic news service, in which the information provider delivers news to client departments on a daily basis through direct links. In exchange, the supplier regularly downloads relevant, authorized government information from databanks.

Benefits include convenience to the user, lower handling costs and increased speed of delivery and payment to both the service provider and recipient. For staff, it will translate into more demand for knowledge workers, to handle and interpret the electronic information coming into and leaving government.

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INFORMATION VIEW

The Information View represents the third step in the approach to government service renewal and underscores the importance of redesigning processes and systems to gather, access and share common information.

The two main objectives of this view are to

• eliminate the need to collect the same or similar information more than once within a department or within government; and
• provide government programs with access to information collected by other programs, especially where this would improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government service delivery.

In order to achieve the above objectives, it will be necessary to give due regard to privacy and security issues, including assuring that information collected by law for only one purpose will not inadvertently be used for other purposes.

As with other views in the Blueprint, the Information View benefits considerably from taking an enterprise-wide perspective. Information gathered for a program or service that is being re-engineered may, upon examination with a broader view in mind, be extremely valuable to programs or services in another part of government or at another level of government.

Sharing information is essential

The common collection, analysis and sharing of information within and between government programs and services will be essential in delivering government services to clients in a more unified way. For example, the Revenue Canada project to create a single system for corporate taxes, including customs, income tax and GST, is founded on the ability to share taxpayer information between programs and systems. Creating a single registration number and consolidated account for a corporate taxpayer requires having access to and sharing information.

The Blueprint vision of increased connectivity within government, with other governments, with private industry and with members of the public reflects the view that collecting, analysing, using, managing, transferring and disseminating information will soon become an even more essential role of government departments and agencies.

To play its proper role in the improved delivery of government services, information must either be collected originally in or translated into a digital format. The information must be shared and re-used rather than re-collected in different forms by various programs and services. Special steps must be taken to ensure the integrity and quality of the information and the consistency of its use. Government will also have to ensure that special precautions are taken to respect individual privacy, security and information access laws that have been enacted by governments to protect its citizenry against unwarranted information intrusion.

Some of the information collected by government will have additional value when shared with other levels of government and with the public. For example, aggregated and segmented economic information will be of special interest and value to the business sector. There may be new opportunities for partnerships. Private-sector information enterprises, for instance, could disseminate government information and provide government with the external information it needs to manage and renew the Public Service, while public-sector institutions, such as public libraries, could expand their roles as repositories of government information. Demographic and statistical information will become more readily used in business, education, research and other everyday activities.

Benefitting from an integrated approach to information

The integrated approach to information set out in this blueprint provides a variety of benefits: improved decision-making by program managers and policy-making by government as a whole, at both strategic and operational levels; enhanced client service, especially where government processes collect usable information about clients and their wants and needs; and easier and speedier service delivery to all regions of the country, especially rural and more remote areas. In addition, information is a vital instrument of government accountability.

The existence of timely and reliable information in electronic form permits the creation and operation of "virtual" groups of experts or decision-makers. These groups can make faster and more accurate decisions on, for example, the entitlement of individual Canadians to social benefits. It is also an essential ingredient for new forms of remote training and education. Staff will gain greater interaction with colleagues and easier access to mission-critical information. They will also be required to upgrade knowledge-worker skills through continuous training.

Treating government information as a national resource

Under the Information View, there are two types of information: that required for internal processes and, therefore, for automating processes; and that which has value as a common resource, for third parties. Some would argue that both categories of information residing within government represent a public good. Government information, in this way, should be treated as a national resource, vital to the country's social, cultural and economic development.

Another area of growing importance is external information brought into government for decision-making. It may be electronic news used to keep abreast of government announcements and relevant political and business developments, or statistical or financial information required for the analysis of business trends and conditions. Or it may be reports, via electronic mail, of international trade opportunities from government posts abroad.

Information Management for Automating Processes

Information is collected for use across government to carry out its business. This information can be managed so that business processes related to delivering common support services over a networked environment can be automated. Examples follow.

• Client Information - profiles of the requesting individual or group, and their entitlements under the service offerings
• Service Information - descriptions of the service offerings available, the associated rules and guidelines, and the appropriate means of supply
• Client Service Order Information - descriptions of the requested services from the clients and the related status
• Resource Information - descriptions of the available resources to deliver the requested service and their scheduled commitments
• Supplier Information - descriptions of the available suppliers of the requested service or materiel and the associated contracts and agreements
• Administrative Information - charts of accounts, financial transactions, financial assets and liabilities, and employee agreements

Managing Common Information

There is also a need to provide various types of government information of common use across the government. These can readily be put into a computer-accessible form and made available via the government enterprise network. These include:

• directories of people, places, services and information;
• references and databanks on federal legislation, policies, procedures and guidelines;
• schedules of government events and periodicals (e.g., budget and planning cycle dates, collective bargaining, bid closures);
• catalogues of supplies, services and suppliers;
• on-line libraries of government reference information and financial reports;
• training and course curricula, schedules and provider lists;
• Canadian geographical, demographic and statistical information; and
• news media reports.

Common information, once captured, can be shared among multiple users. After information that satisfies many requirements is identified, services can be developed and shared for planning, acquiring, maintaining and disposing of it. Common information is an integral part of the renewal efforts for re-engineering work processes and developing and sharing application systems.

The public and special interest groups also have a direct interest in many of these information resources. Providing improved access to this information by using the government enterprise network will benefit many client groups.

As with technology, there is a need to increase the use of standards for collecting and exchanging data in order to minimize costs, maximize efficiency, and encourage the free flow of information.

The valid concerns regarding copyright, privacy and security are fully recognized in the Information View of this blueprint.

Guiding Information Principles

Simplifying the search for government information

• Managing Government Information - Government information, in all forms (e.g., print, voice, electronic, or image), is a strategic resource and will be effectively managed throughout its lifecycle. Metadata (information about work processes, information, applications and technology) is an information resource and must be managed according to the same principles as information itself. Management of electronic and hard-copy information will need to be integrated. Coordinating and integrating the management of electronic and hard-copy information and voice and data networks will be important. It will be necessary to implement mechanisms to easily and accurately find government information. Benefits include improved availability and quality of information for processing and decision-making, resulting in improved service.
• Data Administration - All government information will be subject to data administration to ensure common definitions, integrity and consistency of use. This will require having standards at all levels and maintaining a data dictionary and repository. Benefits include reduced costs to obtain and manage information.

Capturing information once

• Sharing and Re-using Information - Information will be captured once, as close to the source as possible, then shared and re-used by authorized users. This will require investments in new telecommunications links, common standards, and special precautions to protect privacy and security. Benefits include significant cost savings associated with eliminating duplicate data entry and the need to verify data.
• Exchanging Information - Once captured, government information should be stored and exchanged electronically to avoid transcribing and re-entering it manually. This will require further study on who is responsible for maintaining the data. Exchange standards will have to be developed and implemented. Benefits include higher data integrity and reduced costs of collection and dissemination.
• Protecting Information - The security, integrity and privacy of government information will be ensured by integrating information technology security measures with physical, personnel screening and other security measures. This will require security and privacy measures to be designed into all new information technology systems through an integrated set of safeguards which ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information and its related processes. Benefits include improved privacy, the protection of information from loss, and increased public confidence in how the government handles information.
• Retaining Information - Government information will be retained only while there exists a business need, a legislative or policy requirement, or when it has historical or archival importance. Benefits include reduced costs in maintaining information records and a full archival base for future generations of Canadians.
• Stewardship - Specific organizational units will be accountable for managing designated classes of government information to ensure its integrity, quality and relevance and to restrict its accessibility to authorized users. Benefits include improved ease of access to government information, improved productivity and a lower overall cost.

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APPLICATION VIEW

The Application View (the fourth step in the approach to government service renewal) links the work process and information models together. The goal is to have as much of the information as possible maintained in computer-accessible form. Applications create, update, access and delete these automated information bases. These applications support the work processes by providing automated procedures and managing information storage and retrieval in support of service delivery. The Blueprint makes key distinctions between applications that assist the user in performing the work processes (workflow managers) and applications that manage the resulting updates to information files (transaction managers).

Future Application Environment

• The Blueprint is proposing to continue to move away from traditional approaches to an application architecture: from centralized and integrated to modular and shareable.

Moving away from large integrated applications

• In the past, most applications were designed as highly integrated, on-line transaction processing systems for a given functional area of the business. They included, usually in a centralized location, all of the associated business transactions for that function, all of the related information files or databases, the required data capture screens, and inquiry and reporting capabilities. They became large, complex, expensive and difficult to maintain. The Blueprint proposes separating these functions into different application components.
• In the Blueprint application environment, there will be suites of systems (consisting of modular, "Lego-like" interconnectable pieces), each dealing with specific functionalities.

Providing staff with desktop intelligence

This future application environment will provide staff with the "intelligence" at their desktop computers to handle the information and the transactions associated with their day-to-day activities. While the skills required will be higher in many cases, challenge and job satisfaction should also be much enhanced.

The different types of applications are described below.

Application Components

• Workflow Managers. These are used to guide users through the computer-based processes of requesting, planning, executing and delivering services. At each step, the workflow managers capture the required information, present and explain the options available, apply the associated rules, track the progress of the request and link to the appropriate service transaction manager when the preparation is complete. Workflow managers should have the same look and feel, independent of the type of service being used.
• Service Transaction Managers. These are transaction processing engines that create and update the information that supports process automation. Each service transaction manager will be dedicated to handling a specific type of transaction. Each can generate further events to trigger other transaction managers. Functions of service transaction managers include:
• managing client information - maintaining information on clients such as identification, location and entitlements (this application information is shareable across multiple services);
• managing services - maintaining information on the nature of the services available, the associated rules and guidelines, and planning management information on forecasted and actual usage;
• managing orders - maintaining information on the nature, status and performance of a specific client's service requests; and
• managing delivery - maintaining the plans for and status of the methods of executing the client's service order.

Using middle-ware as a bridge

Service transaction managers will evolve gradually to become generic and discrete, dedicated to a very specific common type of transaction. By using middleware, older, mainframe-based applications can continue to be used. They can be treated as quasi-service transaction managers by suppressing reporting and other functionalities. Their transaction processing capability can be adapted to accept data capture from readily available workflow automation mechanisms such as intelligent electronic forms.

• Supporting Productivity Tools. In the target architecture, a number of personal and workgroup productivity tools will be available to the users on a network through a standard interface on intelligent workstations. These include:

• document creation tools - a standardized set of functions for composing documents, supporting the full range of mixed media requirements (such as text, tables, diagrams, images and voice annotation, as needed);
• electronic mail and bulletin boards - technologies for distributing messages and documents to clients across the common resource services network;
• decision support tools - a range of selected analysis and modeling tools to support individual and work group decision-making. These will include standard spreadsheets with graphic display capabilities, as well as more advanced simulation and modeling tools for special applications; and
• interactive conferencing tools - functions for bringing various parties together interactively and, especially, for linking with support service experts over the common services network. In their simplest form, these are enhanced telephony audio conferences, but technology breakthroughs now make video and shared-screen conferencing at the desktop a distinct possibility for high-demand areas.

• Client and Supplier Applications. To some extent, these are also part of the application environment. Certain program area applications (mostly resource related) can be directly linked to the support services, through such techniques as electronic data interchange (EDI) or sharing databases.

Supplier applications can also be directly linked with support services through such techniques as EDI, bulletin boards or sharing databases. Typically, the common support services would interface with supplier information applications and order processing, order status management and settlement processes.

Considerations for Development and Migration

Developing re-usable modules

• As discussed, many work processes and sub-processes for government services have a high degree of commonality -- a circumstance well suited for modular design, sharing and re-using. Large departments may customize applications around core common workflow and transaction managers for added functionalities. A repository of re-usable modules should be developed for broad distribution.
• Modular systems design will be used to develop the next generation of applications, leading ultimately to the Blueprint environment made up of workflow managers, service transaction managers, productivity tools, and interfacing with client and supplier applications using EDI.

Guiding Application Principles

• Sharing Systems - Computer systems for common processes or functions will be shared broadly across the government. This will require developing funding mechanisms for co-operating efforts and addressing change management issues. It will also be necessary to plan the development and migration of shared systems. Benefits include reduced systems development and maintenance costs since departments will no longer manage systems independently.
• Modularity - Applications will be designed using modular components for basic and optional functions. This will require an organization responsible for driving and managing the common modules. Benefits include increased ease of reconfiguration, which will reduce costs and improve service. The approach should also shorten development time for new and reconfigured systems.
• Rapid Application Development - To minimize risks in application development, use joint development teams on short term (i.e. 4-6 months) projects which focus on yielding a working prototype, which may then be refined and improved via successive iterations through to implementation. This will require a revised system development lifecycle methodology using Rapid Application Development tools. Users will have to assume more accountability for application development and will work as partners with information technology professionals.
• Re-usability - Applications will be designed to use common, shareable components. This will require a methodology and organization to identify, acquire and manage common modules. Benefits include reduced development time for new applications and lower costs for maintenance, implementation and staff training.
• Distribution - Applications and tools will be structured so they can be replicated and distributed on the government enterprise network. Using the network to maintain and distribute software should lower costs and reduce duplication of effort. Licensing agreements and partnership issues will have to be addressed.
• Standard Inter-application Interfaces - Standard interfaces between application modules will be used to accommodate information sharing and transfer of transactions. This will require managing application interfaces. Benefits include improved interconnectivity and applications being shared more easily, resulting in lower costs.
• Consistency - Applications will be designed to use industry-standard user interfaces, providing a consistent look and feel to the users of multiple applications and tools. This will require decisions and standards on user interfaces, e.g., Graphical User Interface (GUI). Benefits include lower costs for training and support and, over time, reduced costs for developing applications.

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