Information Technology
Ontario's e-Government Strategy is to use electronic tools to transform:
- service delivery
- the internal management of government
- our management of broader public sector systems
- our interactions with citizens
Our goal is the achievement of:
- better service quality
- greater citizen trust in government
- better value for taxpayer dollars
- increased client satisfaction
- increased economic growth
- meeting citizens' needs
By improving service delivery, we will give our clients and citizens seamless, simple, accessible, transparent and accountable services and provide better value to Ontario taxpayers.
The e-Government Strategy has built on the foundation of the I&IT Strategy to enable us to:
- deliver faster, more convenient and more responsive client service
- improve customer service
- achieve savings and internal efficiencies
- increase effectiveness and efficiency
- improve horizontal linkages and improve data sharing between organizations
- reduce I&IT costs and duplication.
Other fundamental components of e-Government include:
- policy and legal frameworks (e.g. ensuring secure and privacy-protected electronic transactions for citizens, and identification and authentication of electronic signatures)
- governance and accountability processes (e.g. committee structures and reporting structures to facilitate collaboration and coordination inside government, with our external partners and with citizens)
- common I&IT infrastructure (e.g. networks, systems and processes to ensure inter-operability and consistency across government ministries and agencies)
- common standards and best practices (e.g. standards to ensure high quality, accuracy, timeliness and user-case validation)
- common service delivery components (e.g. processes to enable re-use and integration of I&IT components to deliver a range of services and facilitate cross-ministry client relationship management)
- common progress reporting and impact assessment (e.g. methods to measure results consistently, show progress across government, align priorities and understand impacts on clients, partners and citizens)
Achievements
The Ontario government has successfully achieved its target of increasing Ontarians’ satisfaction with government services to become a world leader in delivering services electronically by 2003. In moving toward our target, we have significantly expanded the range of electronic services available to Ontario's citizens to improve quality of life. Our electronic channels include the Internet and e-mail, and also kiosks, call centres, interactive voice response systems and fax-on-demand. Almost 75 per cent of government services are now offered through electronic channels, up from 60 per cent in 2000.
Ontario has been recognized as an e-Government leader, ranked 3rd in a global third-party study. Representatives from around the world come here to learn from us.
Some examples of our e-Government achievements include:
- On-line application process resulted in the immediate processing of Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) applications, down from 10 weeks and 88 per cent of OSAP applications were processed electronically for the 2002/03 school year, resulting in one-third fewer staff to assess 150,000 applications per year.
- Telehealth Ontario has received more than two million calls since its launch in December 2001, with the volume of calls increasing progressively to an average of approximately 3,300 calls per day
- more than 43 per cent of callers did not have to visit doctors' offices or emergency rooms for health advice
- customer satisfaction is high - on average half of all callers are repeat callers
- Elections Ontario reduced on-the-ground enumeration by 90 per cent by using data from Land Information Ontario
- Major Case Management System (MCM) is a single computerized case management system for predatory offences across the province. It has been implemented in 66 police services across the province, with 3,450 major cases entered to date.
Moving Forward
Ontario has successfully used I&IT to support the internal government transformation. The government can continue to use I&IT to support its strategic priorities by broadening the scope of transformation to fully engage stakeholders in creating transparent and accountable government.
An outwardly focused e-Ontario strategy is being developed to:
- enable government and cross-jurisdictional collaboration to drive social development, economic competitiveness and regulatory harmonization
- support integrated, cross-jurisdictional service delivery through multiple channels that is customer-focused, seamless and convenient
- develop enterprise management systems and approaches that derive more value from investments e.g. legacy systems, back office re-engineering, horizontal funding, project management and internal capacity building
- connect government and citizens through increased transparency and citizen engagement opportunities.
