Presentation Notes

Slides 1-4

Opening and title slides

Slide 5

We are here today to launch a major Government strategy for how New Zealanders will benefit from the opportunities and challenges of the information age.

You have already heard some of the main reasons the Government is doing this from the Prime Minister. I am going to give a bit more detail on this, expand on what we are going to be doing, and talk about what we will achieve.

Releasing this strategy is the next step in a journey that began in May 2000, when the Government launched its vision for e-government.

Slide 6

In the vision, the Government staked out its major aims as being around using e-government to change, and improve, the way New Zealanders get access to government information and services, and are able to have their say in government in the future.

Although the vision obviously responds to the role the Internet can and will play in peoples' futures, I want to make a point that you will hear me repeat a lot:

E-government IS NOT a big information technology project.

E-government IS about using technology to improve government for people.

PEOPLE FIRST - TECHNOLOGY SECOND

Slide 7

A vision on its own is not enough. When the Government launched its vision, it also set up an E-government Unit at the State Services Commission.

The Unit was told to go away and develop the strategy that government agencies will follow to turn the vision into action, and achieve the Government's objectives. After a lot of consultation (in and outside of government), and a lot of learning from what other countries have done, that goal has been achieved.

The strategy is called "government.nz@your.service". I think this captures what we are trying to achieve pretty neatly. Of course, there is more in the e-government strategy than just a focus on putting government more at peoples' service, but if there is one overarching goal, this is it.

The strategy has a vision, which is that New Zealand will be a world leader in e-government. By this, we mean a world leader in getting the best results for people out of e-government.

It also sets a challenging mission for government agencies - by 2004 the Internet to be a dominant means of connecting government and people together. We don't intend that it becomes the only means - you can't do away with face-to-face contact, and we wouldn't want to even if we could. Also, even by 2004, not everyone will be ready, willing or able to use the Internet and we will not leave these people behind.

However:

Things are going to change quite fundamentally - we are going to have best-of-breed information-age government in New Zealand.

Slide 8

In putting a major strategy like this in place, it is important to be clear about why you are doing it.

When the Government decided to develop this strategy, it saw that there were three major things about government that it could improve through creating e-government.

Briefly, these are:

• Better service: government can use the power of the Internet to deliver better services to people. Just as with business, the Internet can be used to deliver services in a more customised and user-friendly way. This can be done for people no matter where they are as long as they can get on the Internet, have the skills to use it, and want what e-government can and will deliver.

• Relationships with citizens: as e-government takes shape, we will be able to make it easier for people to have their say in government. This might be about the type of service they want or need, what they think about policies government is developing, or one day how they will cast their vote in an local or central government election.

• Internal performance: government is a large part of our economy, and a major social institution. All New Zealanders will benefit from the contribution e-government will make to increasing the internal performance - the efficiency and effectiveness - of government agencies.

Slide 9

Although it is important to know why you are putting a strategy in place, it is even more important to know what you will achieve.

When you look at the strategy, you will see that there are a lot of deliverables and milestones running out until June 2002. These are major steps towards achieving what we are calling the 3 key characteristics of e-government. These are the things that are most important to the Government. Briefly, they are:

Convenience and satisfaction: by this we mean "24 x 7 x 360 degrees" - services provided anytime, anyhow, anywhere in the world"

Customers will be able to access government information and services using channels that are convenient, easy to use and deliver what the customer is looking for.

Integration and efficiency: here our aim is to deliver "integrated, customer-centric, efficient services"

Information and services will be integrated, packaged and presented in a way that minimises cost for both customers and departmental administration.

Participation: finally, the Government is committed to goals around "citizens participating in government".

New technologies will enable easier access to government information and processes. Citizens will be better informed and better able to participate.

Slide 10

Although it is important to know why you are putting a strategy in place, it is even more important to know what you will achieve.

When you look at the strategy, you will see that there are a lot of deliverables and milestones running out until June 2002. These are major steps towards achieving what we are calling the 3 key characteristics of e-government. These are the things that are most important to the Government. Briefly, they are:

• Convenience and satisfaction: by this we mean "24 x 7 x 360 degrees" - services provided anytime, anyhow, anywhere in the world"

• Customers will be able to access government information and services using channels that are convenient, easy to use and deliver what the customer is looking for.

• Integration and efficiency: here our aim is to deliver "integrated, customer-centric, efficient services"

• Information and services will be integrated, packaged and presented in a way that minimises cost for both customers and departmental administration.

• Participation: finally, the Government is committed to goals around "citizens participating in government".

• New technologies will enable easier access to government information and processes. Citizens will be better informed and better able to participate.

Slide 11

A good example of how e-government can make life more convenient for people is in the education area.

It is important for parents to know about the quality of the education available to their children. The Education Review Office provides reports on school reviews on its website. Anybody can access these, and use the information to help them make choices about their children's education.

Slide 12

After clicking on the reports button on the front page of the site, you can enter a school into the search engine, click, and find...

Slide 13

...a comprehensive review of the school.

Slide 14

Now I'll give you an example of e-government being convenient for businesses. For a while now, our Companies Office has been regarded as an e-government world leader in its field.

Its web-based services are offered as part of the website of its parent department - the Ministry of Economic Development.

I won't drill down into the site - it is sufficient to say that the service offered has been widely praised. E-government has allowed the Companies Office to drastically reduce the time it takes to register a company, and also to constantly reduce the fees it is charging.

If that doesn't lead to satisfaction - I don't know what does!!!

Slide 15

Now I want to illustrate the concepts of integration and efficiency. I'll start with the efficiency side of the equation, and look at what can be achieved in a specific sector - again education.

Slide 16

This is the home page of Te Kete Ipurangi - The Online Learning Centre.

This site represents a huge step forward in using the Internet to deliver curriculum material to New Zealand's teachers. This allows a major gain in efficiency, and will directly benefit children through enabling their teachers to get up-to-date curriculum material.

It also provides a place where teachers can communicate with each other much more efficiently than before; thus speeding up the sharing about ideas and experiences that can contribute to better educational outcomes.

There is another special feature of this site...

Slide 17

- it is one of the best examples we have to date of using the Maori language on government websites.

Slide 18

Another great example of the efficiency benefits of e-government is provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's e-cert system for certification of animal product exports.

This service has transformed the process of certifying animal product exports. Not only has the government side of the process become much easier to deal with, but the meat industry itself has been able to reap benefits from a more streamlined process.

Also, the New Zealand Government has been able to improve inter-government processes for clearing New Zealand exports. Everyone benefits, from producers and processors, through to exporters, and also taxpayers.

Slide 19

Now I want to take a look at what the future of e-government holds in store.

As well as making sure that all government information and services are available online, our strategy also aims to progressively integrate them across traditional organisational boundaries.

Integration will take a bit longer, but will deliver even more value to New Zealanders in time.

As integration progresses, the results will become available through our e-government portal, which will be a centrepiece of the e-government environment. It will be the single window to government.

The portal will be built on the back of the current all-of-government website - New Zealand Government Online. The home page of NZGO, which is currently New Zealand's third most visited website, is on the screen at the moment.

Slide 20

USA EXAMPLE OF GOVERNMENT PORTAL - COMMON SUBJECT MODEL

The strategy for creating the portal is already under development.

As it has been developed, we have been looking at the portals that other governments are creating.

One example of what is possible is the US Government's FIRSTGOV site. Here you can see how government's can bring together a diverse range of information from a myriad of agencies and group it together in ways that make sense to people outside of government.

Slide 21

SINGAPORE EXAMPLE OF GOVERNMENT PORTAL - LIFE EVENTS MODEL

Another example is the e-citizen portal that has been built by the Singapore Government. This shows how government information and services can be integrated and presented to people in the context of life events where people typically come into contact with government.

Slide 22

CANADIAN EXAMPLE OF GOVERNMENT PORTAL - SECTOR SPECIFIC (BUSINESS) MODEL

A third a final example of government portals is the business gateway portal that has been developed by the Canadian Government to better meet the needs of Canadian businesses.

I expect that we will have several such portals able to be accessed directly, or through NZGO, in the future - one for business, one for the health sector, one for education etc.

Having these and other examples of how governments are going to integrate services and information using the Internet is an enormous advantage to us as we develop our own strategies in this area.

Slide 23

I want to very quickly address the matter of achieving our aims of providing people with opportunities greater participation in government.

These opportunities will be diverse, and many different aspects of our strategy will contribute to achieving this goal:

• Making more government information available online.

• Making services available online, and the delivery process interactive and customised to the needs of individuals.

• Opening up more policy issues for consultation over the Internet

• Eventually, allowing people to vote electronically....

...All these things will contribute.

It is already possible to participate online.

Slide 24

For example, if you go to NZGO, you will find that there is a section where matters being consulted on are advertised.

If you click on the button for the gaming review, you go through to the Department of Internal Affairs...

Slide 25

.... which set up this website specifically for consulting on this matter.

Once again, as we look overseas we see good examples of how we can develop this side of e-government in the future. For example....

Slide 26

Here is the website that the UK government has set up to allow people greater participation in government.

Slide 27

The strategy projects out over the next fourteen months, and specifies a lot of deliverables. I'm not going to cover every item in the strategy - you can read that for yourself.

The deliverables split into two broad categories of work - building the foundations of policies, standards, frameworks and strategies for e-government, and creating the infrastructure that will be used to deliver e-government.

Some examples of these deliverables are:

By June 2001

• Finalising the strategy and standards for building the e-government portal.

• Putting in place a metadata framework so that government agencies can catalogue all their information and services for easy discovery by the public.

• Building an interoperability framework so that agencies can start to integrate information and services, and share technology investments.

• Finalising the policies for the government Secure Electronic Environment, and the use of Public Key Technology.

• Issuing the RFI/RFP for a government-wide e-procurement solution.

By January 2002

• Building the e-government portal.

• Finalising a change-of-address strategy.

• Piloting the use of e-billing technologies.

• Piloting the chosen e-procurement solution.

 By June 2002

• We will have a strategy for electronic delivery of integrated services.

• The e-procurement solution will be rolled-out across the public service.

• Authentication policy finalised.

Slide 28

Now I want to quickly answer the question of who will develop e-government in New Zealand.

The short answer is everybody.

The longer answer is that the E-government Unit at the State Services Commission has a mandate to work directly with the Public Service to build e-government, and every department is expected to contribute to the effort - there are no exceptions.

We will also be communicating the strategy to the wider State Sector - Crown entities, State Owned Enterprises, Officers of Parliament and so on - and encouraging them to get involved where opportunities exist to improve the experience of government that they provide to their users or customers, either on their own, or in collaboration with other organisations across government.

Finally, we will be inviting local government to partner with central government to create and deliver e-government. For many people there is more contact with local government than with central, and in many cases people don't want to know which part of government they are dealing with - they just want a good service, or accurate and up-to-date information.

Slide 29

With a strategy of this type, it is pretty important to know you are doing the right things in the right way, and achieving the goals we have set.

In developing the strategy, a series of indicators of success have been identified. In line with our aim to change people's experience of government, many of them reflect the types of change that e-government will introduce.

Some examples of these changes are:

• Multiple access channels - there will be both online and traditional ways (e.g. counter-service) of accessing government - people will be able to choose the way that suits them best.

• Anywhere, anytime - people will be able to access many services when they need to - not where and when it suits government agencies.

• Easy access to information

• Easy feedback to government - it will be easier to feedback on the quality, satisfaction, and content of information and services that government provides.

• Open and inclusive policy development processes - there will be more opportunity for discussion and consultation over policies.

Slide 30

E-government will drive a lot of change. This change will occur in an environment of rapidly changing technologies, and innovation in thinking about how government can work better in future.

E-government will also be created in an environment of local and global change in the way economies work, and the way information and technology affects all of our lives.

Responding to these challenges will be a long-term effort - we can't achieve all the change we need or want overnight. By moving at a sensible speed, we can learn from our own successes, from people's feedback on what we deliver, and from what other governments are doing.

Our strategy is to have a big vision, but make change in small, incremental steps, while keeping an eye on longer-range issues.

Around the world, a picture of e-government change is starting to emerge. The end goal is usually seen as major transformation of government as an institution. How will this change unfold?

Slide 31

We see a four-stage process of change ahead of us.

These stages are:

Publish information and advertise services on offer on and offline. We are already doing a lot of this in New Zealand. For example, take applying for a passport. You can find out about the process, and download the necessary forms from the DIA website.

The next stage is to Interact with customers and citizens, over design and delivery of services, and development of policies. In the case of passports, this could involve completing and submitting forms online, and getting direct access to somebody if you have any enquiries in the process.

The next stage delivers the ability to fully Transact with customers - actually starting and completing service delivery and democratic interactions with people entirely over the Internet, where that is appropriate. In the passport example, this would involve starting and completing the transaction over the Internet, including verification of identity, and accepting payment for the service.

The last stage is where e-government allows us to Integrate functions and services across traditional agency boundaries, across levels of government, and across the boundaries of government, business, communities, and the individual. To continue the passport example, this could mean that while you were applying for your passport, you could also set up the process for getting vaccinations, apply for visas, and perhaps provide relevant information to your travel agent to smooth the process of arranging your travel plans.

Slide 32

Finally, I thought I should provide you with a picture of how government is going to look once we have achieved our goals.

It is quite simple really:

First, people and businesses are going to be coming to government for information and services, or with ideas and opinions, just like they always have. E-government will mean that there are more ways to do this than in the past, and it will be easier, and provide greater satisfaction. We will be working to create what we are calling the integrated front office of government

Slide 33

Secondly - behind the scenes, we will make sure that the back-office information systems, and a raft of business processes, are integrated together so that e-government can be delivered in a sensible, cost-effective way. At the same time, we will be working to instil a new culture of collaboration into the public sector.

Slide 34

And finally, the back-office and the front office will meet in the middle through the creation of our e-government portal. The portal will support delivery of e-government over the Internet, and across the counter.

Slide 35

Want to know more about e-government?

Go to the programme website...http://www.e-government.govt.nz/

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