Service delivery channels

Electronic channels need to be assessed alongside traditional forms of service delivery to determine their relative business value, and to identify limitations and barriers to success. Some government services are by their nature manual processes, and will not lend themselves to being provided electronically. This includes a number of social services such as some of those provided by health professionals, social workers, teachers, and Police. There is a case to say that many of these manual processes could be made more efficient by the development of supplementary, supporting e-services (e.g. an electronic case-note system for health and social workers). However, this debate lies outside of the scope of this assignment.

Decisions around the appropriate mix of service delivery channels are not only driven by considerations of cost efficiency. Other key issues include the nature of the transaction, the need to ensure that government services are available to a full range of the population, legislative requirements, whether the service is demand or entitlement based, and who bears the cost for the service.

There are a number of existing frameworks that influence the delivery of services by government to the public. Of particular importance is the legislative framework that specifies the range and nature of government services and in some cases, directs how they should be delivered. In addition, there are some existing government policies that provide guidance and boundaries around how services can and should be delivered to the public.

Legislation

The review of a sample of current legislation carried out for this assignment did not reveal general legislative barriers to the introduction and common usage of e-services. Under current legislation there remains a small number of services that require manual processing. Examples include witnessing marriages, and signing legal declarations for such things as setting up companies (refer Review of Legislation).

However, the Electronic Transaction Act, 2002 was enacted to ensure that in the majority of cases provisions under law can be interpreted to include electronic modes of interaction including recording, storing, retrieving, transmitting, and communicating by electronic means. More recent legislation (e.g. the Land Transfer Amendment Act, 2002) specifically enables electronic transactions. In the general case, however, there are few instances where services are specifically legislated to require manual processing. Most New Zealand legislation is drafted to be less prescriptive and therefore can be applied to include providing services electronically.

Policy frameworks

Since the Review of the Centre in 2001, a considerable amount of work has been done in the State sector to focus public services on being more citizen and community centred. For example, the 'Integrated Service Delivery' work stream driven by the State Services Commission sought to improve the integration of service delivery at the regional and local level through three discrete initiatives - family violence circuit breakers; addressing school absences in Rotorua; and the provision of migrant services in Auckland.

The development of government e-services may be a tool for effecting greater collaboration between agencies, but the evidence of the 'Integrated Service Delivery' work programme [Progress Report on Integrated Service Delivery Programme, Joint SSC/ Ministry of Social Development report to the Minister of State Services, and Minister of Social Services and Employment, 02 April, 2003.] indicates that there is a range of practical issues involved in implementing cooperative policies at local and regional level that may inhibit success. If e-services are to be a mechanism for transforming the public management system, the practical realities of service delivery need to be taken into account early.

Similarly, the 'Managing for Outcomes' approach mandated within the State sector [Refer Outcome 3, Statement of Intent, State Services Commission.] is about improving results for citizens including when they interact with individual government departments and agencies. There is a clear directive in this approach to ensure that "... Service delivery must be wrapped around the citizen" [CIAG [Refer: Review of the Centre - Going Forward, Report from the Change Implementation Advisory Group (CIAG) on the work undertaken to implement the Review of the Centre SSC, File Ref: POL-ROC-2] Final Report, p 5]. The development of e-services is one of the means to achieving this outcome.

It is through the 'Managing for Outcomes' work programme that the broad, contextual issues of service delivery by government to the public are being addressed. The contribution of the e-government work programme to the reform of the public management system needs to be carefully managed. Any misalignment poses high risks to the success of both programmes. It is unlikely that any real transformation of government services can be achieved by the development of e-services in isolation from a broader public management reform programme.

Users' channel preferences

Research both in New Zealand and internationally [Erin Research Inc., ctizens first 3: Summary Report, The Institute for Citizen-Centred Service & The Institute of Public Administration of Canada, January, 2003.] demonstrates that at the current time demand by the general public for transactional government services online is not yet high. Forty-five percent (45%) of people living in New Zealand have used the Internet to access government services (largely non-transactional) in the past 12 months. [Government Online: A National Perspective 2003 (NZ)] This is higher than in most countries, as the global average is 30%.

New Zealand user preference research

The channel people in New Zealand most prefer to use to contact government varies with the purpose of the interaction. To find information the most preferred channel is either a website or email (48%). For other types of transactions, traditional manual processes seem to be preferred. For example, when dealing with a problem the most preferred form of contact is the phone (56%), with most people wanting non online contact (total 87%). Similarly 58% of people preferred to use a phone to book a facility or make an appointment (non online total 79%).

The most recent survey of New Zealand user preferences also shows that those people with the highest education levels combined with the highest income levels are more likely to prefer online transactions. Most government transactions that are available to individuals tend not to include this group of people. Face-to-face interactions are most preferred for applying for a grant/ benefit (48% - non online total 78%) and for paying for a service (53% - non online total 79%). Maori and older people are those groups most likely to prefer to contact, and interact with, government officials face-to-face (70%).

Although it seems apparent to government agencies that making their services available online may reap efficiency gains, these can be severely reduced if the uptake of the services remains low and agencies are forced to maintain traditional channels to ensure responsibilities of access and equity are met.

User surveys indicate that future demand in New Zealand for government services online is most likely to come from young people, well educated high income citizens, particular interest groups (such as genealogists), and the business sector. In some cases there is not a strong match between some of these groups and the delivery of government services. For example, government is more likely to deliver services to the socially disadvantaged than those with higher education and higher incomes, except where the latter operate businesses.

International user preference research

Internationally, similar findings are emerging. In Canada for example, the telephone is the channel most widely used and the most preferred for dealing with government. [Erin Research Inc., Ibid, January, 2003.] The Internet, however, is increasingly proving popular when transactions are more complicated, or where many contacts are required to achieve the desired outcome. As with the New Zealand data, the preferred channel often depends on the nature of the service required. Where services are sensitive, or are of a personal nature, people prefer to interact with government officials face-to-face.

Similarly, Australia reports increasing use of the Internet for access to government services particularly for the purpose of gathering background information. Typically, however, when transactions are more complex people prefer face-to-face interactions. [National Office for the Information Economy, E-government Benefits Study, April 2003 www.noie.gov.au, now www.agimo.gov.au] This pattern is one that appears to be common across nations.

Future demand

The scenario portrayed by user preference surveys suggests that any move to e-services needs to be carefully managed. Not only do potential services need to be rigorously assessed for cost efficiency, but the calculation of potential uptake needs to be conservative. For business benefits to be realised, new electronic channels need to be effectively targeted, and astutely marketed to potential users. This presents a strong case to support the Treasury position that e-services should not be developed of and for themselves, independent of the supply and demand context of the market.

At the same time, future demand is a difficult thing to gauge accurately. As people become more familiar with government e-services, more aware of their benefits, and more proficient in their usage, demand can increase rapidly. The demonstrable growth in the use of cell phones, laptop computers, and electronic banking services are examples of this in the private sector. The general principles equally apply in the State sector, and the demand for electronic transactions with government from business interests that some organisations are experiencing is evidence of this.

Similarly, feedback from consultation exercises carried out with the public regarding authentication issues showed clearly that New Zealand young people expected to have transactional government services available in the future, and were impatient with potential barriers to progress. [Refer: Authentication: Summary Report from Consultation on Concepts, SSC and Authentication: Session with Youth Group at Auckland City Library, 6 March 2003, SSC.] This supports the argument that in the future the greatest benefits to organisations may be to carefully target electronic transactional services to those people who are most likely to readily and confidently use them as a preferred channel option, rather than providing them as a general service to the public.