The Government of Canada is currently undertaking a large-scale litmus test that will yield at least two major results. The Census is a very important statistical portrait of the different people who live in Canada. Perhaps more importantly, the other will be an indicator of how comfortable and capable Canadians are with respect to our government's on-line service delivery. Governments around the world, including Canada, have all reached this critical junction of delivering "service citizens can trust." It is this latter point that has many observers particularly enthused as Statistics Canada conducts its latest Census survey, a once-every-five-year event. This time around, there are going to be far fewer canvassers knocking on doors as StatsCan markets and promotes their online survey. This is a new mode of operation for the Census that varies dramatically from the past. While the Census serves as a snapshot in time, how Canadians embrace the new online service may give us an indication of where, and at what speed, government service delivery will move into the future. It will also provide a basis for how the Canadian government promotes the adoption of their service strategies. How many Canadians will fill out their Census forms online? For its part, StatsCan has estimated that as many as 15-20 percent of Canada's roughly 13.5 million households will do so, but the actual number will not be known until the month-long journey is complete. Without doubt, the inability to know precisely how many Canadians will be driving this new vehicle poses some challenges. But if there is reason to be confident that the system will work, it is Canada's remarkable record of service delivery and leadership to date with respect to the delivery of government services through the Internet. For six years Accenture has examined global trends in eGovernment—governments' practices and progress related to delivering services online. We have seen governments evolve from their first tentative steps publishing information online to developing sophisticated interactive and transactional capabilities across a broad range of services. The survey of government on-line services has placed Canada No. 1 in the world for service delivery for the past five years. By providing Canadians with the ability to participate in the 2006 Census using the Web, the federal government is building on an already rock solid reputation as a world leader in delivering services on-line. This is no small feat. It has taken a concerted effort to build a system for the online exchange of information between Canadians and their government that is safe and secure. And work on this system—often referred to as the "Secure Channel" —is propelling Canada to the forefront of government service delivery leadership and further value creation. Started in 2001, the Secure Channel is the direct result of work between the government and a consortium that includes Bell Canada and other high-technology firms. The inclusion of an online component to Canada's census-taking puts the country well ahead of developments in the United States, where online delivery will not be put in place until 2010. In many ways, Census 2006 stands apart from other government on-line initiatives already underway within Canada. For one, as part of the overall infrastructure solution supporting the on-line census initiative, StatsCan and Public Works have developed a service known as Secure Encryption and Automated Login, or SEAL. Unlike other governments around the world that are finding their backbone incapable of supporting their growth, Census 2006 has an infrastructure that is capable of supporting its ambitious new strategies. SEAL enables the secure exchange of confidential or sensitive data in cases where the identity of the individual is not important. Like a double-sealed envelope, SEAL enables information to be exchanged on-line without being seen by a third party. And what also makes the development of SEAL so important is that it is a service that can and will be used elsewhere by other government departments. The Canadian Government is taking a leadership role in ensuring the protection of personal information. Web savvy Canadians demand no less, but the benchmark set by the government raises the bar for companies that wish to use do business on-line with Canadians, and for other governments around the world. This is an important step as the federal government maintains its position as a global service delivery leader. Still another benefit is the overall impact the online 2006 Census initiative will be the overall success of marketing and, in turn, encouraging Canadians to use government online services and the concomitant impact on confidence in such services. Globally, Accenture has found that governments' relative inexperience with marketing, lack of robust marketing capabilities and often overly simple approaches has been part of the struggle with driving online adoption. Despite the continuing struggle, we did find evidence that some leading countries are beginning to apply effective methods to improve citizens' acceptance of their most efficient online channels. Canada could once again lead in this area. There is every reason to believe that a project of this scope—and few single government initiatives are larger in terms of impact within a strictly defined period of time—will tip the scale in favour of many more future users in Canada. The objective? Better online service delivery for Canadians, a more efficient and productive government and plenty of reasons for all Canadians to celebrate. To Top |