IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

Many countries around the globe have over the past several years dedicated themselves to making government information and services easier to access for their citizens by utilizing the Internet. Commonly referred to as eGovernment, the Internet is helping citizens access government services on their schedule and in the comfort of their own home.

The Citizen Compass survey, released Wednesday by PWC Canada, found that 80 per cent of Canadians are interested in accessing innovative online services through a home computer or cellphone. However, only 20 per cent are willing to pay to access online offerings that would allow them to get faster access to government services.

During May 2003, 52.9% of online Canadians visited a government website, ten per cent greater penetration than in the United States. In Australia, the comparable figure was 29.7%, and only 24.2% in Japan.

Canadians living in rural areas are less likely to have access to a reliable Internet connection, a serious obstacle to accessing services that are delivered virtually. This problem isn't insurmountable, but solving it will require resources and political support.

Michael Kedar, the champion of the wireless, secure health information network, recently profiled by André Picard in the Globe & Mail, today called on the federal government to act on the results of a recent poll on e-health. The poll (conducted for the Canada Health Infoway agency) shows that Canadians overwhelmingly favour an electronic health record.

Canadian governments, at all levels, are introducing or have already implemented austerity measures to reduce expenditures and a new PwC report finds that Canadians want government to also provide them with cost-effective and convenient electronic services (eservices). Citizen Compass, an online initiative undertaken by PwC to gather and measure the views of citizens on emerging public policy issues, shows that the next generation of eservices must accommodate the lives of Canadians, while meeting their expectations for quality customer service.

Canadians are already more likely to go the online route when accessing government services — when the option is actually available, that is — and want more digital choices to avoid having to pick up the phone, use snail mail or wait in line, suggests a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada.

This was one of the findings of a recent a recent survey sponsored by Canada Health Infoway, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, and Health Canada.

The region's call center -- dubbed Access Halton -- has been ranked among the top 5% for citizen satisfaction in an independent study by Service Quality Measurement Group Inc. (SQM). The study represents all call centers in Canada and the U.S., said Vernon, British Columbia-based SQM.

Nortel Networks (NYSE:NT) (TSX:NT) today announced several deployments of its Optical Ethernet solution by local governments and municipalities looking to leverage technology to create 'connected' communities and provide secure, on-line information and services to their citizens. The City of St. Hyancinthe, Quebec; the City of Roanoke, Virginia; and the City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin are the latest cities to have deployments underway or completed.

Technology developed in Halifax by former Saultite Charles Cartmill

They're assuring us they won't be able to identify specific vehicles or record our licence plate information.

But City Council will be asked Monday to approve a pilot project in which radar sensors will be installed in a limited number of Sault Ste. Marie street lights.

Many countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Japan are facing the problems of an ageing population and declining productivity, smart city has become their best solution.

Research institute IDC observes that among the five smart city projects that every nation focuses on, three are data related, namely data use, digital trust, and data-driven public safety, and these are closely related.

Central to this will be the development and publication of policies for ‘Digital Economy’ leadership.

This is a crucial piece of the puzzle, because as the article Digital Nation 2011 from Backbone Magazine highlights, Canada is still missing this essential policy.

01 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The first city in Canada to develop and implement a digital strategy, Vancouver continually aims to improve the ways in which residents can access city services and information.

“Our digital transformation initiatives across the organisation have delivered value and benefits to residents, staff, businesses and visitors,” says Jessie Adcock, City of Vancouver chief technology officer.

PwC is launching new research to see if Canadians are ready to receive more services and information electronically through their phones, computers and tablet devices. The project, called Citizen Compass, begins April 18, 2012 and invites the public to participate, in either a survey format or an idea forum to make suggestions or discuss issues. The link to the site is http://CitizenCompass.pwc.com.

But it wasn’t as simple a job as it sounds.

Emails and incident response reports from the department charged with overseeing the IT infrastructure shared by 43 different government departments give a glimpse into how Shared Services Canada interacts with other departments, and how sophisticated email scams can bypass firewalls and successfully con federal workers with messages appearing to come from government agencies.

In an official report from Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, Mark Mayrand, on the 41st General Election of May 2nd, Mayrand has announced Elections Canada’s pursuit of electronic voting.

Mentioning the fact that Canadian society continues to experience rapid change, Elections Canada has seen expectations of more convenient government services. Along this line in general, Canadians are increasingly expecting to be able to conduct business online. Thus Elections Canada has been pursuing the option of providing e-services, says the report.