Victorian Government Digital Innovation Review - September 2012

Victorian Government Digital Innovation Review

Craig ThomlerManaging Director

Delib Australia12 September 2012

‘Digital innovation’ – how it was defined for the Digital Innovation Review

The use of digital channels, tools and relevant methodologies to improve the operation of organisations and the delivery of services

Within government this includes the use of social media and Government 2.0 approaches and channels, as well as broader use of online tools to improve agency management, policy development and service delivery

Digital Innovation Review included

Assessment of the digital readiness of Victorian citizens and their capability and interest in engaging state agencies through digital channels

Audit of digital innovation in Victorian agencies, including written and oral interviews

A survey of Victorian public servants regarding personal and agency use of digital channels

Environment scan of agencies around the world to identify digital innovation good practice

This presentation & a full report (to come)

Overall findings

The Victoria Government has been a digital innovation leader in Australia with much to be proud of, but can’t afford to coast on past success

The change program is well underway, however it needs reinvestment in support and training to gain momentum and move forward

Key points

Victoria had a strong start, but risks losing momentum without a continued focus and effort on innovation

The Government’s digital talent pool is strong, but small – many officers are still unsure about what they are permitted to do or what is possible

Some agencies have firmly embedded digital in their ‘DNA’, but most are still building foundations

Austerity budgets bring risks as well as benefits for digital

Some digital activity is being deferred, meaning benefits will take longer to realise

Other agencies using digital to realise cost-efficiencies

Victoria’s digital citizens

Online is increasingly the number one channel used to engage with government

Overview

Australia is one of the most connected nations and Victoria one of the most connected states

Areas of disadvantage remain: older and disabled Australians, remote communities

Victorians are the most active Australian social networkers

Mobile is growing faster than people think

The lounge room is the next frontier

99% of Victorians access the internet

79% of Victorian households have internet access

70% of online Victorians use social media

51% of Australians 16+ own smartphones

Sources: Yellow Social Media 2012Interacting with Government 2011

Quick stats – positives

85% of Vic smartphone users access social media

51% of Australians 16+ own smartphones


76% of Vic smartphone users access the internet



80% of main televisions in Australia are digital

63% of Australian households have game consoles

Sources: Television Sets in Australian Households 2011

Digital Australia 2012

Quick stats – challenges

81% of Melbourne h/holds have internet access

60% of Mallee h/holds have internet access

50% of disabled Victorians accessed internet (2009). Represents 16% of Victorians

38% of older (65+) Victorians accessed internet (2009). Represents 17% of Victorians

Source: ABS Household use of information technology 2011

Quick stats – social media use in Victoria

No. Vic. users % Victorians

Facebook 2,674,740 59%(aged 13+)

LinkedIn 657,953 16%(aged 18+)

Twitter 500,000 12%(aged 18+)

Post in an online community or forum 912,867 22%(aged 18+)

Read blogs 1,161,830 28%(aged 18+)

Maintain a blog 207,470 5%(aged 18+)

Contribute to wikis 165,976 4%(aged 18+)


How Victoria compares versus other Australian state/territory jurisdictions

Rank Usage National Average Rating

Internet use

Access the internet 2nd 99% 98%

Household internet access 3rd 79% 79%

By older people (aged 65+) 7th 38% 41%

By persons with a disability 7th 50% 57%

Metro/rural connection divide (small is better) 6th 21% 18%

Sources: Yellow Social Media 2012ABS Household use of

information technology 2011

1st

2nd/3rd

4th/5th/6th

7th/8th Legend:



Social media use

Social media use (by internet users) 2nd 70% 62%

Facebook use (by social media users) 3rd 98% 87%

LinkedIn use (by social media users) 2nd 19% 16%

Twitter use (by social media users) 3rd 15% 14%

Google+ use (by social media users) 5th 9% 8%

Post reviews/blogs (by social media users) 2nd 27% 24%

Read reviews/blogs (by social media users) 3rd 70% 68%

Source: Interacting with Government 2011

1st

2nd/3rd

4th/5th/6th

7th/8th Legend:



Mobile

Use SMS/text messaging (AGIMO 2011) 8th 79% 81%

Use web via mobile device (AGIMO 2011) 4th 38% 37%

Use mobile apps (AGIMO 2011) 6th 33% 39%

Use a tablet computer (Google 2012) 4th 11% 12%

Sources: Interacting with Government 2011Mobile Planet Google/IPSOS 2012

1st

2nd/3rd

4th/5th/6th

7th/8th Legend:

Their last government contact by which channel for Victorians?

State GovernmentCommonwealth


35%

21%

15%

30%20%

17%

28%

20%

34%

32%Local Government

19%

29%

Via internet (including egovernment use)

Via landline telephone

Made in person

Via post

How Victorians rate state agency sites (compared to how NSW/QLD residents rate their own state government’s sites)


Excellent =

Citizens and government

Victorians are able and willing to interact with government online

Victorians were generally happy with the quality of Victorian Government websites, rating them highly for content and ease of use

HOWEVER had concerns over finding information in sites


Victorian public service

Approach

An online survey was held over three weeks in July 2012

Widely distributed over a number of digital platforms

Received 173 completed surveys

Respondents from every Victorian Government department

Included a diverse range of professions

Professions of respondents

• Policy officer/analyst

• Online communicator/web manager

• Manager/team leader

• Project manager/officer

Source: Digital Innovation Review 2012

Key findings

Respondents had a good understanding of social media, most believed they understood it better than their agency

Largest barriers to using Gov 2.0 were:

1. Budget/resourcing

2. Leadership within agencies

3. Security risks

Respondents had a mixed understanding of Gov 2.0, however most believed it would assist their agency in meeting its goals

Government 2.0

Gov 2.0 understanding was mixed, however slightly stronger personally than by agency

Social media

Strong personal understanding of social media, however respondents though that their agencies lagged

Level of understanding of social media and Government 2.0


Why did Victorian public servants rate their agencies in this way?


25%

31%

28%

30%

12%

7%

12%

21%

Lack of communication or education

Risk, fear and conservatism

Technology limitations

Lack of resourcing

(Lack of) practice using platforms

Maturity and age-related factors

Positive comments

Other

Can Government 2.0 assist agencies?


Benefits of Government 2.0

% of Respondents

Improved services to the community 55%

Increased citizen participation in government 53%

Increased innovation within government 53%

Improved government transparency 53%

Better understanding and appreciation of the government 49%

Collaboration with external stakeholders 48%

Improved policy development processes 34%

Collaboration between agencies 32%

Collaboration between governments 25%

Other 8%


Barriers to Government 2.0 adoption

% of Respondents

Lack of budget (RESOURCING) 49%

Lack of clear leadership within the agency (LEADERSHIP) 41%

Security concerns (RISK/EDUCATION) 40%

Uncertainty regarding what resources (staffing) are available (RESOURCING) 36%

Technical expertise/ability (EDUCATION/RESOURCING) 32%

Lack of clear mandate from government (LEADERSHIP) 25%

Legal concerns (RISK/EDUCATION) 23%

Lack of a compelling need or reason (EDUCATION) 14%

Other 9%


Majority of respondents were using social media in stakeholder engagement


64% using social media either with government and/or non-government stakeholders

Has social media helped stakeholder engagement?To what extent do you agree that the use of social media and networking tools

helped you more effectively carry out your work with these stakeholders?


Why has social media helped stakeholder engagement?


Victorian Government agency use of social media tools % of

Respondents

Microblogging (eg. Twitter) 45%

Internal microblogging (eg. Yammer) 44%

Social networking (eg. Facebook) 42%

Blogs 38%

Video sharing (eg. YouTube) 36%

Mobile apps 32%

Forums 30%

Professional networking (eg. LinkedIn) 28%

SMS communication 26%


Victorian Government agency use of social media tools (cont) % of

Respondents

Extranet wikis (eg. Wikipedia) 23%

Other 17%

Groups (eg. Google groups) 14%

Presentation sharing/viewing (eg. Slideshare) 11%

Photo/picture sharing (eg. Flickr) 10%

Ideation systems (eg. Ideascale) 5%

Virtual worlds (eg. SecondLife) 2%

Augmented reality (eg. Layar) 1%

No/Don’t know 8%


Level of use of social media by purpose Victorian Government versus Commonwealth Vic. Gov. Aust. Gov. Difference

Operating an information campaign 47% 42% 5%

Stakeholder engagement or collaboration 45% 54% -9%

Internal collaboration 36% N/A N/A

Engaging or collaborating with other agencies 27% 41% -15%

Responding to enquiries/comments/complaints 25% 42% -17%

For public consultation processes 24% 27% 3%

Monitoring views and activities 22% 29% -7%

For engaging with journalists & media outlets 17% 41% -24%

Restricted access consultation process 12% 22% -10%

Policy or services co-design 6% 12% -6%

Source: Digital Innovation Review 2012, eGovAU Commonwealth FOI 2012

Perceived agency position on social media


Who is seen as leading?

CAVEATS:

• Represent perception of survey respondents

• Small sample from each agency

• Ignores scale of activities

• Subjective viewpoints

If staff are unaware of an agency’s social media and Government 2.0 activities or guidance, are they operating with a full toolkit?

Who is seen as leading?

Seen as leading

Department of Justice 1st

Department of Premier and Cabinet 2nd

Department of Planning and Community 3rd

Department of Business and Innovation 4th

Department of Primary Industries 5th

Department of Sustainability and Environment 6th

Department of Health 7th

Department of Education and early Childhood Development 8th

Department of Transport 9th

Department of Human Services 10th

Department of Treasury and Finance 11th


Summary

Social media understanding amongst public servants was strong, while Gov 2.0 understanding is mixed

While lack of communication and education was the main reason respondents felt agencies lagged in Gov 2.0 and social media, resourcing and leadership were seen as the main barriers to activity

Victorian agencies already use a wide range of digital channels for engagement – there’s lots of experiences to share across the VPS

Internet is an essential tool for Victorian public servants (some other jurisdictions are still debating if it is necessary for public servants to have access)

Digital innovation position

Considered seven areas:

• Staff empowerment

• Agency operations

• Environment scanning

• External communication and engagement

• Service delivery

• Open government

• Platform sophistication

Digital innovation benchmark


Subjective, not objective benchmark – designed to highlight key areas and provide guidance

Rating system: (vs Australian/International)

Strong/Strong =

Strong/Average, Average/Strong, Average/Average =

Average/Weak, Weak/Average =

Weak/Weak =

Rated overall Victorian Government (not agency) performance compared to Australian and global jurisdictions

Compared to other Aust. jurisdictions

Compared to global best practice

Rating

Staff empowerment

Leadership Average Weak

Capability Average Weak

Agency operations

Staff engagement Average Weak

Intra-agency collaboration Average Average

Inter-agency collaboration Strong Average

Management and governance Average Average



Strong/Strong

Strong/Average, Average/Average

Average/Weak

Weak/Weak Legend:



Rating

Environment scanning

Website monitoring & reporting Strong Average

Social media monitoring & reporting Average Average

External communication & engagement

Informing Strong Strong

Consulting Average Average

Involving Weak Weak

Collaborating Weak Weak

Empowering Average Weak



Strong/Strong


Average/Weak

Weak/Weak Legend:



Rating

Service delivery

Online services Average Average

Mobile services Strong Strong

Open government

Open data Average Weak

Copyright Average Average

Freedom of information Average Average



Strong/Strong


Average/Weak

Weak/Weak Legend:



Rating

Platforms

Web Average Average

Social media Average Average

Mobile Strong Strong

Maps Average Average



Strong/Strong


Average/Weak

Weak/Weak Legend:

Doing well

External communication and engagement

• Informing• Rated well in Interacting with Government report

compared to other states

• Strong performances from sites such as Better Health Channel

Service delivery / Platforms

• Mobile services / Mobile• Strong range of apps (40), using a range of

approaches

• Second generation apps in pipeline

Staff empowerment

• Leadership• Develop a continuing mandate for digital innovation

• Continue building senior understanding of digital innovation capabilities

• Capability• Continue building expertise across agencies,

leveraging the existing pool of talent

• Build whole-of-government digital capabilities that allow agencies to cost-effectively engage online

Areas to focus on

Areas to focus on

Agency operations

• Staff engagement• Build on the VPS hub, with functionality agencies can

leverage through their own intranets and even co-invest in

• Encourage broader participation in the Hub, particularly amongst senior leadership to model behaviour for other staff

• Provide training and support tools to build staff engagement capability

Areas to focus on

External communication and engagement

• Involving, collaborating, empowering• Formally endorse the use of online channels for

engagement activities

• Develop guidance for agencies seeking to incorporate online at different stages of engagements, including model processes integrating online and offline

• Consider the introduction of engagement platforms as a panel agencies can draw on, or via whole-of-government central hosting, which can be accessed by agencies as required to support their specific engagement needs

Areas to focus on

Open government

• Open data• Build on the first generation data.vic.gov.au site to

provide capabilities that broaden its public reach and appeal and to make it easier for agencies to upload and maintain data in reusable formats

• Consider the platforms now available for open data sites and whether they offer advantages over a custom-built platform, or can be learnt from

• Develop guidance and support within agencies to help the creators of data to design data collection and analysis processes to make open data release easier and more seamless

Questions?

Craig [email protected]@CraigThomler

0411 780 194

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.twitter.com/@CraigThomler

http://www.twitter.com/@CraigThomler

Victorian Government Digital Innovation Review - September 2012

Technology

use of social media

yellow social media

quick stats social media

use of digital channels

social media users5th

social media users3rd15

social media users 3rd98

social media users 2nd27