gol/service delivery public opinion research findings and trends overview

Government of Canada Gouvernement du Canada

GOL/Service DeliveryPublic Opinion Research

Findings and Trends Overview

Cathy LaddsApril 2003

2Government of Canada Gouvernement du Canada

Government of Canada is a world leader because we include the “citizen” in the evolution of GOL and service transformation

• Accenture calls our Internet Panel with Canadians “innovative”

Thousands of Canadians have had input

• In FY 2002/2003 – more than 10,000 Canadians (+ business and international audiences as well) participated in surveys and focus groups related to GOL and service transformation

Public Opinion Research is Important:


International Perspectives:

Canada’s e-government efforts always rated at or near the top:

• Accenture – eGovernment Leadership: Engaging the Customer • Canada is No.1 for 3rd year in a row – only country to reach “service

transformation” maturity stage

• UN – Benchmarking E-government A Global Perspective• Canada in 3rd (USA No.1) – high e-government capacity

• TNS – Government Online an International Perspective• Canada in 7th (Sweden No.1) – 48% of population used government on-line

services in past year

• Global Information Technology Readiness Report • Canada ranks 12th overall (USA No.1) but 6th in terms of e-government

• The Economist Intelligence Unit e-readiness rankings• Canada ranks 9th overall (USA No.1)


Internet:

• Most surveys say 65% to 75% of population use the Internet on a regular basis – growth is considered flat

• 49% of Canadian households had at least one household member regularly using the Internet from home in 2001 (StatsCan - HIUS)

• Demographics:• Gender differences are almost gone• Age, income and education differences remain• Regional differences remain

• Alberta, BC, Ontario – higher• Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nfld., Quebec - lower

• 70% of Internet users have visited a federal Web site

• 27% of Canadians indicated their most recent contact with GoC was through Internet

How Canadians Use Service Delivery Channels:


Internet:

• Internet channel is used more for information (simple requirements) than transactions (complex requirements)

• Even Internet panel members indicated they would go in-person (46%) or use the telephone (29%) if they needed to provide or receive very important/personal information from GoC - only 14% said they would use the Internet

Telephone:

• Telephone remains the preferred channel although Internet channel is growing – most recent contact via telephone (42%)

• Canadians are clearly frustrated with telephone channel• IVR and voice mail• Being bounced around• Busy lines• Who to call – blue pages still hard to use



In-Person:

• Use of this channel is constant – 9%

• Strengths - customized/personalised service and ability to deal with serious/ complex issues – users looking for “human touch”

• Time is main drawback of channel

Mail:

• Use of this channel is also constant – 21%

• Strengths – Confirmation/documentation and inexpensive cost

• Lack of immediacy is main drawback



• Service quality has a major impact on citizens’ confidence in government and they expect greater quality of service from government than private sector

• Channel integration increasingly important – half of all service transactions now involve more than one channel

• Prime reason for multiple channels: inability to conclude transactions in one channel

• Canadians would prefer to only use one channel but do see some benefits in using multiple channels – preparation, verification, etc.

• The more contacts required to complete a transaction the lower the satisfaction rate – the key factor in this is time

Service Delivery in a Multi-Channel World:


• Citizens feel the government service delivery network will evolve to a “bank model” – greater use of technology and greater integration of channels

• “Account” information will follow the user regardless of channel

• Canadians (Internet and non-Internet users) value choice:

• Elimination/reduction of access to channels by GoC = NO

• GoC should recommend the best (most efficient) channel = YES

• 91% of the GOL Internet panelists agreed with the statement “When dealing with the GoC, you can choose how to access information or services (e.g. on-line, by telephone, by regular mail and/or in-person).”

Service Delivery in a Multi-Channel World:


Gateways and Clusters – the Blueprint and Beyond :

• Validation projects have demonstrated the blueprint for gateways and clusters matches (and often exceeds) Canadians’ expectations – subject/audience clustering is mostly on-target

• Canadians don’t want to see a reduction in clusters – each “transition cluster” considered valuable according to recent focus groups

• Some navigation/usability issues remain but these are being addressed – gateways/clusters work closely on common issues

• New Canada Site redesign in March 2003 – will need to examine metrics to determine if there are any changes in traffic patterns

• Individual gateways and clusters do usability/web testing studies – data is shared widely

GoC Organization of Information and Web Sites


GoC Organization of Information and Web Sites :

Common Look and Feel:

• Canadians want GoC sites to:

• Have uniform navigation buttons – that way they only have to learn how to navigate GoC sites once

• Have uniform menus

• Have a similar “look” but they don’t have to be exactly the same – colour, graphics, layout variations are okay

• Clearly display the Canada wordmark and Canada flag – sense of trust and knowing where they are on the Web

• But:• Visitors are not making full use of the CLF menu bar at the top of the page

• Some terminology confusing – e.g. important notices & privacy statements

• Canadians are not aware that CLF is in place in order to make GoC web sites more globally accessible to everyone


Impact of Privacy/Security of Service Delivery:

• Canadians consider privacy/security factors when interacting with GoC

• Canadians support GoC efforts to increase security and protect personal privacy – they also understand why governments need more mechanisms in place to protect personal information

• Concern about identity theft is growing – primarily, but not exclusively, an on-line issue

• Internet perceived to be least private/secure channel – 70% of Canadians are concerned (somewhat to extremely) with conducting a transaction on-line that requires the exchange of confidential or personal information with GOC

• Canadians want access to the government’s information about them – to verify/correct


Impact of Privacy/Security on Service Delivery:

• Canadians are not sure what federal depts are doing with their personal information:

• All depts. have easy access (34%)

• All depts. have access through special request to dept. holding information (25%)

• All depts. have access but only with a person’s consent (19%)

• All depts. except for the one being dealt with are prohibited from accessing the information (18%)

• Further evidence – 71% of Web site visitors have not read a government privacy statement

• In general, 65% support mandatory ID cards for Canadians – 70% support them if they contained biometric information; but they have clear doubts about the ability of the GoC to put a national system in place


Engaging Canadians On-Line:

• One in three (33%) of Canadians have participated in consultation or engagement exercise in past year (on-line or off-line) – note: Canadians consider a telephone survey/poll to be consultation

• Elements of consultation exercise that will likely increase participation:

• Representativeness – all sides are heard, national representation• Feedback loop and decision-maker commitment – participants need to see that decisions

will be taken and changes made based on input provided

• Modest enthusiasm exists for e-democracy/e-consultation

• 68% of Cdns. say they would likely participate in a face-to-face consultation with govts. on an issue of interest to them – 59% say they would participate in an Internet consultation

• 46% of Internet users are moderately comfortable and 38% are comfortable registering their views and opinions on a federal site – main reasons for discomfort relates to privacy/security/anonymity

• 42% of Internet users approve of e-voting


Engaging Canadians On-Line:

• Benefits of on-line approaches:

• Ease/speed of access, input and response• Cost effective• Less intimidating than face-to-face

• Concerns about on-line approaches:

• What about Canadians without the technology – will they be left out of the consultation process?

• Security/privacy – who else will see my opinions?

• Canadians are split on whether technologies such as Internet will harm or improve overall democracy – daily Internet users less likely to see harm (35%) compared to non-users (58%)

• One of the most frequent requests made in focus groups – Cdns want to have easy access to the e-mail address of MP – want to be able to contact MP on-line


Canadians Want to be Informed:

• Canadians are always telling us they want to know more about government services that are available (on-line and off-line) and the best way to access them

• Canadians reviewed a list of GoC services – services they believed could be completed entirely on-line without having to go to an office were:

• Check for weather reports from Environment Canada (93%)• Book a campsite in a National Park (83%)• File your personal income taxes (82%)• Provide comments/feedback on a new GoC policy/program (81%)• Take a virtual tour of a national museum (78%)• Apply for CPP or OAS (57%)• Register a new business (56%)• File for a patent for a new product or invention (52%)• Apply for EI (47%)• Obtain a SIN number for a child (35%)• Apply for a passport (31%)


Canadians Want to be Informed:

Advertising Campaigns:

• 46% GOL Internet Panelists recalled seeing a Canada Site ad in the past few months (67% of these recalled seeing TV ad)

• Public transit ad campaign – 18% of regular transit users recalled seeing ad about a GoC Internet site

• 7% said they did something as a result of seeing ad – e.g. visit the site, read the ad, write down address, etc.

Awareness Levels:

• Only 10% of Canadians say they are “very familiar” with the range of information/services the GoC currently offers on-line – 56% say they are “not very or not at all familiar”

• 25% of Canadians indicated they were aware of the URL for GoC’s main web site – of this group only 7% correctly identified canada.gc.ca

• Of the 75% unaware of the URL, 7% guessed it would be canada.ca and 7% guessed gov.ca


Directions Provided by the Research:

• Canadians are looking for seamless service delivery – it shouldn’t matter which channel or how many channels are used

• More marketing/communications required – we need to tell Canadians (also businesses and international) what we have available and the best way to access it

• Messaging should highlight:• benefits – especially ease and convenience• choice• how personal information is safe and secure

• Regular testing will continue to be important as Canadian usage of service delivery channels evolve

• Research participants appreciate and recognize the value of being involved – they leave with a positive impression of GoC


TBS-CIOB’s Planned Research Initiatives:

• GOL Internet Panel • Refresh/renew panel members – contracting underway using MERX• Two on-line surveys and one set of on-line focus groups planned for FY 2003/2004

• Taking Care of Business/Business First• ICCS managing project with partner input at all stages• Phase 5 to carry out business equivalent of Citizens First• Fieldwork in the summer – results Dec./Jan.

• Ekos – Rethinking the Information Highway• Fieldwork this spring – results early summer

• Communications/Marketing Focus Groups• TBD

• Epass/Privacy/Security Research • TBD

• Gateway/Cluster Research• TBD

Government of Canada Gouvernement du Canada

APPENDIX

Listing of Public Opinion Research Projects

FY 2002-2003


2002/2003 – Public Opinion Research Study List:

1. GOL/e-Government Internet Panel – 3 separate projects

2. Ipsos-Reid Omnibus Telephone Survey (March 2003)

3. Ekos-Rethinking the Information Highway (Summer 2002)

4. Ekos-Rethinking Citizen Engagement (Winter 2003)

5. Compas – Multi-Channel Service Delivery Focus Groups (Jan. 2003)

6. Phase 5 – epass, authentication and information sharing (Jan. 2003)

7. Business Gateway – Transition Cluster Focus Groups (Winter 2003)

8. Canadians Gateway –Transition Cluster Focus Groups (Winter 2003)

9. Phase 5 – Canada Site Prototype Focus Groups (March 2003)

10. Ipsos-Reid – Qualitative Research on the Canada Site (Dec. 2002)


2002/2003 - Public Opinion Research Study List:11. Phase 5 – About Canada focus groups (Fall 2002)

12. On-Line Survey – New look for About Canada (June 2002)

13. On-Line Survey – Customisation/e-mail notification/feature enhancements (Oct. 2002 – March 2003)

14. Phase 5 - Qualitative Research - Foreign Language Services (Fall 2002)

15. Doing Business With Canada – Research with Foreign Representatives

16. Going to Canada – Usability Testing (March 2003)

17. Web Validator – Export Source (June 2002)

18. Environics – Virtual Trade Commissioner Focus Groups (October 2002)

19. Leger Marketing – Evaluation of CultureCanada.gc.ca Web site with International Audiences (May 2002)

20. Canadians Abroad Interviews (Jan/Feb. 2003)


2002/2003 - Public Opinion Research Study List:21. Strathmere – Consumer Information Gateway - Online Satisfaction Survey (June 2002)

22. Delta Media – Concept/Needs Testing for the “Canadian Consumer Information Gateway” (Dec. 2002)

23. Goss Gilroy Inc., Consumer Information Gateway - Online Survey of Gateway Partners, 2003

24. Goss Gilroy Inc., Consumer Information Gateway - Evaluation; Draft Report (March 2003)

25. Delta Media Inc. - Consumer Needs Assessment for Possible Enhancements to “Canadian Consumer Information Gateway” and New Product Development Ideas for OCA (March 2003)

26. Phase 5 – Justice & the Law Cluster – Web Site Usability (Nov. 2002)

27. PriceWaterhouseCoopers/GPC – Modernizing Services for Cdns. (Nov. 2002)

28. Decima – Awareness of the Virtual Museum (May 2002)

29. Usability Testing of Calendar Club Site/Other Materials for NRCan (May 2002)

30. Vision – Web Usability Testing of the Natural Hazards Portal (June 2002)


2002/2003 - Public Opinion Research Study List:

31. Public Safety Portal – Online Surveys of Customer Satisfaction Waves I and II (Nov./Dec. 2002 and Feb. 2003)

32. Canada and the World – Usability Testing (March 2003)

gol/service delivery public opinion research findings and trends overview

Documents

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service transactions

service quality

service delivery channels

internet users

government of canada

greater quality of service

canadians business