Executive Summary

Alongside the stories of users of government services, the focus here falls on the perspectives of agencies which deliver government services. In-depth analysis of 60 initiatives undertaken by such agencies reveals four common themes:

User-centric focus

Most initiatives demonstrate greater consideration of user needs in the planning or delivery of government services. User-centric thinking is also reflected in the "one-stop-shop" approach to service delivery. This approach is expected to become more evident and increasingly sophisticated as agencies provide joined-up service delivery. Some agencies might evolve gradually from providing user-centric services to providing user-driven services – with users participating in their planning and design.

Building blocks to transformation

Many of these initiatives have entailed incremental steps towards the transformation of government. Some have been infrastructural developments, such as shared systems or networks which can be applied with benefit across government, which will transform how agencies use and exchange information. Others have entailed developing new processes and practices, providing a foundation for increased collaboration amongst agencies. These initiatives are changing fundamentally the ways that organisations can work together and services can be delivered. Systems and processes now being introduced are allowing the consistent capture of information, and flexibility to tailor information to different purposes, and minimising the need for users to provide the same information to government repeatedly. Agencies are gradually transforming service delivery to allow people to access multiple programmes from one place simultaneously.

Cultural change

All these initiatives signal changes in attitudes, values, and behaviours across government that correspond with the development of transformative building blocks. Increasingly, collaboration is becoming the assumed way of working across government. Agencies are accepting the idea of sharing infrastructure, so that systems are built once to be shared by many. Agencies are increasingly user-centric when designing services as they respond to the fundamental need to change their understanding of user preferences. Further changes will be required in agencies’ thinking about service delivery as they encourage direct public participation in policy development and service planning. The blurring of the edges of government, and the increasing use of intermediaries to deliver government services, are causing agencies to develop new ways of operating and planning for service delivery.

Changing role of government

Increasingly, agencies are recognising the need to operate together as a joined-up entity to present a cohesive face to the user. This is changing each agency’s role in relation to its users, from being the provider of services, to being responsible for only part of a wider range of services that are delivered collaboratively with other parts of a much larger entity. Other fundamental changes to the role of government are occurring as traditional business processes are affected by new technologies. Government might function increasingly as facilitator or participant in systems and environments for which it is not directly responsible. It might need to deliver (or make easily discoverable and useful) bits of government information for others to harvest, mash up, and reuse – perhaps together with information gathered from other, non-government sources – for purposes that are difficult to anticipate. These new roles will require government employees to have new skills to develop, facilitate, and manage these activities both across and outside agencies, as services are delivered beyond the traditional bounds of government. It will also introduce interesting challenges for the governance of processes and accountability for information.

It is evident that, increasingly, agencies are designing and delivering services that manifest the characteristics of successful e-government as defined by the E-government Strategy: Convenience and Satisfaction; Integration and Efficiency; Trust and Participation . However, it also signals that significant progress is being made beyond the 2007 e government milestone (that networks and internet technologies are integral to information and service delivery) towards the transformation of government service delivery through the use of technology.