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Executive Summary

Through Canada's Government On-Line (GOL) initiative, the most commonly used federal information and transaction services will be available on-line by the end of 2005. The approach GOL has taken is citizen- and client-centred, as well as "whole of government"; the overall objective is to put federal services on-line in a manner that increases client satisfaction with services, while also improving the operational efficiency of service delivery.

This report measures progress towards expected outcomes for the GOL initiative, including:

Data sources to assess performance across these eleven dimensions include: citizen and client feedback from a range of surveys, departmental self-assessments of GOL progress, and third-party analysis and benchmarking.

In 2003, the GOL initiative remained on track in terms of putting the 130 most commonly used federal services on-line, and developing their target levels of functionality. The achievement of these target levels of functionality will be the key measure of success for the Government of Canada's commitment to put the most commonly used federal services on-line by the end of 2005.

The Internet is now the second most frequently used method of contacting the federal government. A high percentage of Canadians think that on-line federal services are easy to access and use; a high percentage report that they could find the information they were seeking and that it was up-to-date.

Canadians have more confidence in governments than either banks or the private sector in terms of offering safe on-line services. A reliable "whole of government" incident handling process is in place to respond to external electronic threats, and the Secure Channel – a comprehensive set of network infrastructure and operations services, security services, and enabling software tools – offers secure authentication and e-payment capabilities.

While many Canadians still have concerns about conducting on-line transactions that require the exchange of personal information, a high percentage think that the federal government has put appropriate privacy safeguards in place. Privacy Impact Assessments are conducted before services are put on-line to ensure that designs safeguard personal information – more than 50 services have conducted an assessment (or preliminary assessment) since this requirement came into place in 2002, a number that is expected to double over the next two years.

For the most part, departments and agencies have automated services, achieving modest improvements in client convenience and processing requirements, rather than completely rethinking or integrating them. Fundamental service transformation is more complex, risky, and costly; because of this, departments and agencies have been encouraged to determine the appropriate degree of transformation for each service. Progress is being made in laying the foundation for fundamental service transformation – for example, through the development of inter-departmental gateways and Web portals, a common secure infrastructure that supports interoperability, and integrated service delivery pilots. A key challenge in 2004 will be to define what a longer-term, fundamental transformation agenda would look like, including the principles that would guide this effort, measurable and time-limited goals, as well as indicators that would track progress towards their achievement.

Also in 2004, departments and agencies will continue their efforts to improve the navigation and format of Web sites, accessibility for persons with disabilities, and the quality of French language content. Canadians' awareness of on-line federal services remains modest – a targeted marketing strategy is needed, as well as channel migration and management strategies in order to encourage clients who are willing and able to move to self-service channels; greater take-up of on-line offerings will maximise departmental productivity, cost savings, and cost avoidance benefits. Departments and agencies also need to regularly conduct client satisfaction surveys, publish the results, and use them to establish service improvement strategies.

The full results from the GOL initiative will be realised over time. The federal government will continue to refine its performance measurement approach in order to strengthen both the reporting of progress as well as the use of this data to improve service delivery to Canadians.

1)      Introduction

Through Canada's Government On-Line (GOL) initiative, the most commonly used federal information and transaction services will be available on-line by the end of 2005.

The approach the GOL initiative has taken is both citizen-/client-centred and "whole of government"; its overall objective is to put federal services on-line in a manner that increases satisfaction with services, while also improving the operational efficiency of service delivery. The following report summarises the specific outcomes that are expected, the results achieved to date, and the actions needed to improve performance and strengthen the measurement regime.

The emphasis on outcomes is a reflection of the fact that four years have passed since the 1999 Speech from the Throne announcing the GOL initiative. The most commonly used federal services are now at least partially on-line. Because of this, it is appropriate to focus on the impacts – or results – of these services, including the extent to which clients are using them, their perceptions of service delivery quality, the extent of interjurisdictional collaboration, and efficiencies resulting from electronic service delivery.

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