State Services Commission

State Services Commission

Context

The State Services Commission (SSC) is one of the three central agencies, and therefore works closely with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the Treasury. SSC's E-government Unit is providing leadership and coordination for New Zealand's e-government programme.

The State Services Commissioner:

• appoints and employs Public Service Chief Executives on behalf of the Crown
• reviews the performance of Public Service Chief Executives on behalf of their Responsible Ministers
• sets standards of conduct and integrity for the Public Service
• investigates and reports on matters relating to departmental performance.

State Services Commission E-government Initiatives

• Treaty of Waitangi website
• Government portal
• New Zealand Government Jobs Online website

Summary

Ready Access: SSC provides ready access to information on its websites, which are of a high standard. SSC manages the government portal, providing government information and services to the public from one website.

Alignment: SSC manages a number of websites to provide integrated information. The level of information integration is good, and aligns well with the E-government Strategy.

Internet and Communications Technology

SSC is an effective user of the Internet to provide people with access to information.

SSC uses websites to provide general information about the SSC, some topic specific websites, plus several websites that provide information and services relevant to the whole Public Service.

The Treaty of Waitangi website is an example of one of SSC's topic specific websites. It sets out to give a concise account of the Treaty of Waitangi itself and the issues surrounding it. The intention of the three-year programme is to raise the level of public knowledge about the Treaty of Waitangi through the provision of factual and balanced information. The Internet is a vital information channel to disseminate this information.

SSC manages New Zealand Government Jobs Online, a website advertising vacancies and secondments in New Zealand State sector. Any organisation within the NZ State sector may place advertisements using the online functionality. People use the site to find information and application details about vacancies. Links to the Department of Labour's immigration website are provided, which has information about obtaining a work permit for New Zealand.

SSC also manages the government portal that provides a gateway to information and services provided by New Zealand government organisations, local councils and some community organisations. SSC has a stewardship role for the NZGLS metadata standard, the official New Zealand Government standard for creating discovery-level metadata, and for the enforcement of the e-Government Interoperability Framework (e-GIF).

Other SSC websites are aimed at specific audiences. For example, the Public Service Training Organisation (PSTO) uses an informational website to promote improvements in the quality of training of employees in the Public Service and other selected State service organisations. People can download some information and use links to some online training.

Within SSC, staff access to information is facilitated though an intranet. Document filing and storage is managed using a document management system.

Ready Access to Information and Services

Metadata

SSC has 69 metadata records. Overall, records are of a high standard. The language is clear, concise, and appropriately written for the public. There is good coverage of SSC information and services on the portal.

The E-government Unit collects metadata from agencies to populate the government portal, so that New Zealand government information and services are readily accessible to the public from one website.

Website Assessment

Websites assessed during June 2004 included:

www.ssc.govt.nz
www.e-government.govt.nz
www.psto.govt.nz
www.jobs.govt.nz

Overall, SSC's websites are of a high standard.

The strengths of the sites are in information delivery and required government content. In future, the usability of the sites could be improved.

Key quality issues noted during the assessment included:

• Good range, depth and presentation of information and services content.
• Usability and site navigation could be improved for easier use.
• Required email addresses are not available or were not answered during the assessment.
• Missing accessibility features, such as navigation skipping, access keys and style sheet problems may impede some physically impaired people's access.
• Some broken links prevent people from accessing some content.
• Contact details could be more specific to enable responsive handling of enquiries.

Alignment With E-government Goals

Convenience and Satisfaction

SSC uses websites effectively to provide information to a wide audience. Generally, the language used on websites is tailored for its intended audience, and some websites are bilingual.

The government portal provides ready access to government services and information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to New Zealanders with Internet access.

Integration and Efficiency

Both the New Zealand Government Jobs Online website, and the government portal are examples of integrated information and services. SSC has a coordinating role because the websites rely on information other agencies supply directly. SSC's involvement includes setting information standards and monitoring content.

The E-government Unit has introduced a number of initiatives over the past two years, such as standardised guidelines for web access and interoperability frameworks, shared workspace and secure electronic environments. These initiatives have provided the foundations for government services to be more integrated, more customer focused and more efficient.

Participation

The SSC's main website is not used to encourage people to participate in government through the SSC. However, many of the web site pages provide opportunities for people to contact SSC.