Government of CanadaGouvernement du Canada GOL/Service Delivery Public Opinion Research Findings and Trends Overview Cathy Ladds April 2003.

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)

Government of CanadaGouvernement du Canada GOL/Service Delivery Public Opinion Research Findings and Trends Overview Cathy Ladds April 2003.

Documents

canada government of

canada internet

internet channel

internet telephone

customer canada

internet users

benchmarking egovernment

global perspective canada