Part 1—Why e-government?

E-government delivers better results by adapting government to the environment of the information age and the Internet.

The public has invested hugely in the information, technology, and processes used by government, as well as in people and public management systems. E-government makes the best of this investment to deliver improved services to New Zealanders.

Technological change is only part of achieving this goal, and the Internet will not fully replace all the other ways government relates to people. Technology does not guarantee better public sector performance on its own. Success also depends on making ongoing improvements to the design, operation, and culture of the public sector, so that it can better respond to the changing demands of New Zealanders.

E-government is best understood in the context of:

• the Government's broader goals to improve public management;

• what New Zealanders (people and business) want from e-government;

• public sector ethics, values and standards; and

• new thinking about how service delivery should be electronically enabled.

E-government improves public management

Before the State sector reforms of the 1980s, government undertook its role with an emphasis on probity and legality, and within a tightly prescribed framework of management processes and input controls. While keeping the focus on probity and legality, the reforms of the eighties moved government toward management efficiency through output specification, more management discretion, and advanced financial management.

These reforms contributed to big performance gains in the 1990s, but yet more can be achieved.

Today, the Government wants agencies to deliver 'outcomes' as well as outputs, and achieve better results for people. This will involve agencies working more effectively across their traditional boundaries and collaborating with other agencies, stakeholders and their customers.

The last three years have seen a number of major new initiatives to achieve this, of which e-government is just one. These initiatives have several goals in common:

• focus more on results - managing for outcomes;

• be more citizen- and community-centred in how the public sector does business; and

• build public sector capability through:

  • strengthening people, culture and leadership.

  • strengthening the integration of structures and processes—breaking down the silos, building a network culture and processes, improving coordination, and using enabling-technology better.

The initiatives with the strongest connections to e-government are:

• Managing for Outcomes, which aims to improve results for citizens by refocusing central government planning to achieve results and build departmental capability, as well as deliver outputs.

• Initiatives arising from the Review of the Centre, which was established by the Government in 2001. The December 2001 report and recommendations of the Review's Advisory Group endorsed a range of existing initiatives and changes (including the development of e-government), and identified three priorities for change:

  • better integrated, more citizen-focused, service delivery;

  • addressing fragmentation and improving alignment in the State sector; and

  • enhancing people and culture.

The Review also identified a need for more innovation in the sector, and for central agencies to exert greater leadership, especially on whole-of-government matters, and wider than just the Public Service.

The State Sector Standards Board also looked at how government can perform better. Some of its findings and suggestions are relevant to e-government. In its first report to the Minister of State Services, the Board noted, "State Sector activity is remarkably fragmented and needs to be more strongly oriented to whole-of-government issues". It stated that it "considers that value would be gained by the centre having a stronger role in areas such as setting common standards and protocols for IT systems and specific technologies and improving government procurement."

What people want from e-government

In October 2002, New Zealand was part of an international survey of public use of e-government. The New Zealand results of this survey tell us broadly that New Zealanders are:

• aware of e-government;

• likely to use e-government, if they use the Internet;

• currently most likely to use e-government to find information; and

• interested in more convenient proactive e-government, for example:

  • being automatically reminded of obligations (such as renewing a driver's licence);

  • finding all related information and services with one search;

  • being automatically told about entitlements; and

  • having services from several agencies bundled together.

The survey also tells us that there is a challenge ahead in making sure that people feel safe about using the Internet, and e-government.

What business wants from e-government

E-government is not good just for citizens - business benefits too. Above all, business would welcome lower compliance costs. Like citizens, business wants government to deliver information and services in an easier, cheaper, more accessible and responsive, integrated, and customer-oriented way, so they can more easily meet their legal and regulatory obligations.

E-government and the community and voluntary sector

E-government is seen by many parts of the community and voluntary sector as a desirable addition to the existing channels for accessing and delivering government information and services. There are, however, valid concerns that, if developed unwisely, e-government could:

• create inequities in public access and service delivery (e.g. through inappropriate closure of offline channels);

• compromise privacy and security of personal information; and

• load additional costs on to the sector (e.g. driving additional need for voluntary assistance, increased costs of technology and consumables, and need to train voluntary workers to use technology).

These concerns must be borne in mind when agencies are planning their e-government efforts. While e-government may replace other modes of delivery, more often it will augment them. Agencies must think carefully about their stakeholders' needs, and how best e-government can assist in meeting them. They should heed the desire of the public and the Government for integrated services. They should also avoid arbitrary decisions to close offline channels in favour of online ones, and should not assume that community and voluntary organisations have the resources needed to act as intermediaries for those who cannot access and use e-government

E-government vision, mission, goals, and outcomes

Vision

New Zealand is a world leader in e-government.

Mission

By June 2004, the Internet will be the dominant means of enabling ready access to government.

By June 2007, networks and Internet technologies will be integral to the delivery of government information, services and processes.

By June 2010, the operation of government will have been transformed through its use of the Internet.

Goals

Better services—more convenient and reliable, with lower compliance costs, higher quality and value;

Cost effectiveness and efficiency—cheaper, better information and services for customers, and better value for taxpayers;

Improved reputation—building an image of New Zealand as a modern nation, an attractive location for people and business;

Greater participation by people in government—making it easier for those who wish to contribute; and

Leadership—supporting the knowledge society through public sector innovation.

Outcomes

The Government has identified three broad characteristics that mark out successful e-government:

These outcomes will not be achieved overnight, rather progressively through several phases of development:

Key messages

E-government changes how government works

The Government is concerned that the public sector has become fragmented—a collection of so-called 'silos' that do not work with each other very well, making it hard to deal with government as a whole. E-government enables a more networked style of government, where agencies act more coherently, making government as a whole easier to deal with.

The all-of-government web portal is just the first step in what will be a major transformation of government. Successful government will become synonymous with processes and services integrated across the traditional boundaries between government agencies, rather than ones confined to compartments. It will also mean people being able to participate more readily across a spectrum of public sector activity and processes.

The prerequisites for this transformation are expressed in a service delivery architecture and an agreed set of information and technology standards. But they also lie in developing shared public sector data resources; building an infrastructure of shared software and hardware; and in finding innovative ways of conducting business between agencies, and with citizens, customers and stakeholders.

E-government focuses on people

People want information or services delivered quickly and easily. They are less interested in which part of government provides what. E-government focuses on what gets delivered to people more than on the agencies that deliver it.

E-government means better service

E-government means people's needs can be met in more timely, tailored and convenient ways, while maintaining their privacy and the security of their personal information.

E-government means better value

E-government doesn't just mean better delivery of results. It also enables better use of taxpayers' funds. Agencies will share more information and technology, and design better business processes, generating a better return on the public investment involved.

E-government affects all government organisations

E-government can't be ignored. All government agencies will inevitably be part of e-government in some way because they all deal with the same people, who have the same expectations of government. E-government is good for both customers and providers. It is the only sensible way to organise and deliver results in the 21st century, and will be a significant factor in the success of organisations across the public sector.

The Public Service is required to participate fully in all aspects of the e-government programme. Other State sector organisations are encouraged to participate fully in the programme. Local government is invited to participate in the programme.

Collaboration is key

E-government depends on agencies working together to deliver results, integrating their services, sharing information and technology, and committing to jointly deliver better results for New Zealanders.

E-government is about delivering results, not technology.

E-government is not an IT project. Although building infrastructure and putting services online will generally involve IT projects, e-government is about delivering results through better information management, and organisational and cultural change enabled by Internet era technologies and business models. Without this change, technology will just add to the cost of government without improving the results it delivers.

Public officials need to understand technology

Even though e-government is not an information technology project, IT is critical to delivering the outcomes of the programme. If public officials do not understand how IT, and especially the Internet, underpins success, then they are less likely to deliver quality results.

The E-government Unit has a role

The E-government Unit provides leadership, it develops strategy and policy, it facilitates, fosters collaboration and coordinates, and it assesses progress towards e-government. The Unit has also played a central role in building the foundations for e-government, including developing and operating the new infrastructures needed for e-government (e.g. the portal, S.E.E., and policies and standards such as the Interoperability Framework, the Metadata standard and the Web Guidelines).

Government agencies have a role

Agencies will deliver e-government, building on the foundations they have worked alongside the E-government Unit to create. Involvement in this process is not entirely discretionary. For some agencies (especially those of the Public Service), Cabinet has made some aspects of e-government mandatory. To engage effectively in the e-government programme agencies should:

Plan

• Work with Ministers, Boards, Councils, or other stakeholders to incorporate e-government into agency objectives, strategies, and business plans from 2003 onwards.

Prepare

• Make delivering e-government a top-tier management responsibility.

• Spread accountability for delivering e-government through all levels of the organisation.

• Recruit and retain people with the skills to deliver e-government.

• Prepare the organisation to operate in an integrated environment built on common foundations.

• Assess the impact of meeting mandatory e-government requirements.

• Prepare to eliminate or change activities and projects that are not aligned with, or superseded by, e-government initiatives.

• Develop the capability to understand people's wants, needs and abilities to interact with the agency online.

Participate

• Participate in e-government networks.

• Align organisation strategy and activities with the e-government strategy.

• Actively seek opportunities to deliver e-government in collaboration with other agencies.

• Work with customers and stakeholders to learn how they can benefit from e-government.

• Meet mandatory requirements, such as authoring NZGLS metadata and complying with e-GIF.

• Volunteer or ask to be included in e-government projects and activities that are congruent with the department's activities.

• Ensure business plans (outputs, services, budgets) cater for the required activities.

• Integrate the common foundations of e-government into the organisation's business environment.

While these have been made explicit responsibilities for the Public Service, they are good practice for any organisation participating in e-government in the wider State sector and local government.