IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) released the 2005 annual report for the Government On-Line (GOL) initiative late last week. It showed Web-based interactions with the government quadrupled over the last three years. GOL was launched six years ago to provide online access to the 130 most commonly used federal services.

If you want to know the best time to get a passport at the federal government building near our office in Toronto, you can consult a handy chart that sits outside the main doors. It uses colour-coded bars next to various times of the day to show when volumes typically reach their peak. Not surprisingly, things are easier in the morning, but it gets heavier by noon and is still sometimes crowded before the end of the day. I can offer an even better hint, which I would have known even if I'd never stepped into that office: there's no lineup on the Internet.

A news release said the contract will go to OmniGlobe Networks as part of a project that aims to provide every person in the province with access to an Internet connection.

"We are pleased that the unserved areas of rural HRM are now included in the Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia initiative," Economic Development Minister Angus MacIsaac said in a news release.

Soon after the government announced the funding in the 2009 federal budget, officials wanted more information from Canada Health Infoway about where the money would be spent. Infoway complied and agreed to an audit that came back with no problems.

Then last September, finance officials emailed Health Canada to say the Prime Minister's Office had decided the money would be held back until 2010.

Electronic service delivery, for years the most important issue for the federal public sector, is not the priority it once was, according to a recent joint IDC/Technology In Government study of public sector IT spending in 2005, which also indicates subtle shifts in the way government sees the role of IT.

Digital economy is the term it uses to describe the network of suppliers and users of digital technologies that enable everyday life.

These technologies enable businesses to be innovative and productive; help governments to provide services; and allow citizens to interact and to transmit and share information and knowledge.

"We have made great strides in making government more accessible to Canadians," said Minister Owen. "Forty-five services are now fully on-line. The Government On-Line 2004 report highlights our achievements to date and addresses the remaining key challenges to put all 130 of the services most needed by citizens and businesses on the Internet by 2005."

The government's online strategy was well-articulated but it ultimately fell by the wayside, largely because so many ministries were proceeding in "somewhat different directions," and now needs a strong leadership to get it back onto Ottawa's agenda, said John Reid, president of Ottawa-based CATA.

The report finds that even in today's wired world, most family doctors' offices in Canada use computers only for administrative duties, such as scheduling appointments and electronic billing.

Hamilton may soon become one of Ontario's most high-tech municipalities, offering wireless Internet access throughout the city - all a lucky byproduct of the provincial government's plans to conserve energy.

The province's initiative requires standard residential electricity meters to be replaced with new smart meters - meters that offer two-way communication and realtime monitoring and adjustability. Installation will be done progressively and is expected to take until at least 2010.

A senior Bay Street financier has quit the provincially appointed board of Toronto's local health authority in protest over the slow pace of computerization of the health-care system.

Tony Fell, chairman of RBC Capital Markets, sent in a stinging resignation letter to the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) on April 2.

At a new 289-bed hospital in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., now under construction and scheduled to open next year, wireless technology is being implemented everywhere from nursing stations to patient rooms.

The goal is twofold: improve patient care and reduce cost.

Stephen Foster, director of ICT services with EllisDon Corp., the primary builder of the $250-million facility, says that administrators have done "a terrific job" to ensure they are protected both now and into the future.

The five-year project to electronically secure the borders involves immigration, the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency. Federal immigration spokesman Karen Shadd said under the program, applicants will have to provide fingerprints and a photograph as part of their digital visa application.

That's about all I am going to learn for now about the grizzled-looking man before me -- and getting that out of him takes a bit of work as he answers most questions with, "Who wants to know?"

So it's with little surprise that I find Ernie's not so sure about a plan by the provincial government to issue identification cards to people like him, whose weather-beaten backpacks hold most of their worldly possessions and home is a mat at one of the city's shelters.

The paper outlines what sufficient funding and government co-operation could accomplish by 2015 by employing information technology to enable more effective use of health care facilities, especially during a time when an aging population is bound to stress the system's capacity.

Called "Enhancing Emergency Services: A Patient-Centred Approach" (EES), the initiative aims to better support nurses and physicians with smart tools so they can work more efficiently and effectively to enhance patient flow and improve patient care.

Wilmer Matthews, chairman of Eastern Ontario's Champlain health network, said 18 of the region's 20 hospitals are now able to share patient records electronically. All 20 of the region's hospitals are due to be linked together by the fall, he said.

The Champlain health network is the first of the province's 14 health regions to produce a web-linked patient records system that is alsocompatible with the province's health care database. This means if someone from Eastern Ontario needs medical care outside the region, his or her medical records are a click away.

Prime Minister Paul Martin might not know a lot about IT, but he does know a thing or two about governance, which is a hot topic for IT types these days. Martin, who has been invited to open this year's GTEC event, had not confirmed his presence at press time.