Chapter 2 Government services
2.1
As described by the Department of Finance and Deregulation (DOFD), ‘ICT
is a critical enabler of government and its administration, governance and
delivery of services to citizens and business.’[1]
2.2
Broadband is an essential component of governments’ use of ICT. Through
its ubiquity, the NBN will enable government to deliver an increasing number of
services online to an increasing number of people. Through its speed, the NBN
will enable government to advance its online service offering by incorporating
technologies that improve citizens’ experiences.
2.3
This chapter examines the NBN’s impact on government services and
operations, but does not include the range of government services covered in
other chapters (such as health, education and infrastructure management). The
chapter will look at current e-government services in Australia and then look
at how e-government services might be used in the future to improve efficiency
and citizen engagement.
Current services
2.4
In 2009, a survey conducted by the Australian Government Information Management
Office (AGIMO) indicated that the internet is now the preferred method for
Australians to make contact with government. The survey also indicated that
more people would interact with government online if the usability of services
was improved.[2]
2.5
Supporting these findings, one of the key observations from the United
Nation’s (UN) 2010 e-Government Survey was that:
On-demand access to information, services and social networks
on the Internet through a personal computer is no longer considered
cutting-edge in developed regions but a norm that many people take for granted.[3]
2.6
The development and implementation of e-government services has
important benefits, as noted by the Broadband Commission for Digital
Development in its recent report Broadband: A Platform for Progress:
Easy access to information about government services and
activities helps to improve accountability and the quality of the services that
an administration provides … In addition, by making it easier and cheaper to
access information, broadband connectivity is becoming a key facilitator of
good governance.[4]
2.7
Australia has made good progress to date in e‑government services,
as evidenced by our high ratings in the UN survey cited above. DOFD’s
submission notes that the survey ranks Australia:
… first in Connected Services, second in its e-participation
index, fifth in online service development, and eighth in the world on its
e-government development index overall.[5]
2.8
Despite this achievement, the Australian Information Industry
Association (AIIA) suggested there is still significant room for improvement:
First generation e-government—the use of ICTs to improve
access to public services, improve and increase transaction flows and interactions
with citizens—has enabled government agencies to deliver better services and
achieve a range of efficiencies. But despite over 15 years of intense
investment and effort, with few exceptions, the way in which government
services are delivered has not fundamentally changed. Citizens are still
filling in forms, attending offices, receiving letters in the mail, compiling
documents to prove who they are, liaising with multiple agencies, presenting the
same information multiple times …[6]
2.9
The DBCDE submission expressed similar sentiments:
… it remains the case that there are many transactions that
still require the client to visit a government office. For the elderly, the
disabled, families with young children and those living in regional and remote
Australia, the need to travel to a shopfront can be difficult and inconvenient.[7]
2.10
As an example of this limitation, Centrelink—the most commonly cited
service delivery agency during the inquiry—still conducts 62 per cent (69.5
million) of its transactions on-site.[8]
2.11
DOFD observed that many online services are less developed than they
could be because of the poor broadband services on offer in many parts of
Australia—particularly in regional and rural areas.[9]
2.12
This issue was described as the ‘lowest common denominator approach’ by
Adult Learning Australia. While the example relates to education services, it
applies equally to other government services:
Currently, around the country … there are a range of
technologies that are used to provide learning experiences and enhance social
inclusion. However, each one is stymied by some participants having access to
reasonably fast broadband and others having limited or no access … excellent
learning and engagement tools are not used or are used at the level that
matches the internet speed of the user with the worst connection.[10]
Services under development and future services
2.13
The Government’s National Digital Economy Strategy sets a goal
that four in five Australians will choose to engage with government online by
2020.[11]
2.14
However, as the UN explains in its 2010 e-Government Survey, ‘e-services
cannot substitute for traditional methods if citizens do not have ready access
to the requisite infrastructure.’[12]
2.15
The submission of the Department of Human Services (DHS) outlines that
the saturation of broadband across the community (usually referred to as
ubiquity) is a significant factor for the delivery of e-government services.[13]
The NBN will enable agencies, for the first time, to plan their online services
knowing that all of their clients potentially have access to a high-quality
level of broadband service.[14]
2.16
During the course of the inquiry the Committee heard about a range of
new e-government services—some that are being developed and others that are
simply envisaged as a concept. In most cases the services would require
broadband speeds far beyond what is available to the majority of Australians
with current infrastructure, but at speeds that will be available when the NBN
is rolled out.
2.17
Unquestionably, the speed and ubiquity offered by the NBN presents
significant opportunities for governments, but also significant challenges, as
summarised by the AIIA:
With demands for improved transparency and accountability of
public administration, increased pressure for community involvement in decision-making
processes, and heightened citizen expectations of service quality and
convenience, nothing short of transformational change is required. The NBN
provides exactly what is needed to achieve this. Not only does it provide the
underpinning infrastructure but also a platform for the convergence of
technologies, applications and innovation necessary to change existing service
paradigms.[15]
2.18
Responding to a question at a public hearing about what is needed to
take advantage of the opportunities, Ms Suzanne Roche, a Director of the AIIA,
stated:
To me it is culture. Centrelink is a very good example of
this … You have had 70 years of history of an organisation asking people to
come in, stand in a queue, fill in a form, go home, bring in documentation …
After 70 years, getting people to change how they do something—and that is from
the provider side as well as from the consumer side—is difficult … We know that
you cannot change behaviour overnight, but it is fundamentally what does need
to change.[16]
2.19
As noted in the DOFD submission, AGIMO is attempting to lead this
cultural change through strategic documents such as the Declaration of Open
Government, the Cloud Computing Strategic Direction Paper, and the Whole-of-Government
Tele-working Policy.[17]
Efficiency in service delivery
2.20
The key reason for pursuing e-government service delivery is
efficiency—whether it is achieved through less travelling and waiting time for
citizens, less need for manual processing of data by government employees, or
less need for agencies to maintain expensive service delivery shopfronts. These
and other opportunities for efficiency in service delivery will be enhanced by
the NBN.
2.21
DHS has overarching policy responsibility for the Federal Government’s
key service delivery agencies, including Medicare and Centrelink, and
highlighted a range of areas where service delivery efficiencies could be
achieved:
- The
use of real-time interactions and web 2.0 technologies for interactions with
customers including video-conferencing, chat rooms and collaborative online
workspaces.
- Enhanced
ability to share and integrate information from across government and service
providers. Customers would be able to utilise high bandwidth functionality
including the ability to scan documents and present electronic evidence to
support their interactions with the portfolio in real time. This can reduce the
need for customers to attend offices in person which has benefits for
particular customer and client cohorts.
- Authenticated
information could be passed between agencies in real time, with customer
consent, obviating the need for customers to physically provide certain types
of validating documents.
- Active
content that changes in real time based on the actions of the user allowing
them to manage their own information, make claims, and identify and self assess
eligibility. This includes tailoring the content to suit users’ preferences,
including their preferred language, what services are included and how they
like to share their information.
- Ability
for substantial mobile applications to be enabled by NBN such as mobile phone
applications and other ubiquitous computing.
- Increased
broadband coverage can be leveraged to provide more targeted services,
particularly for people who are geographically isolated. This includes any
planned growth in new suburban areas where broadband infrastructure is built
into the suburban landscape.[18]
2.22
While this list focuses on the opportunities for DHS agencies, the
Committee considers that it applies equally across all levels of government.
2.23
Throughout the inquiry, video-based technologies were commonly cited as
the key drivers of future use of bandwidth, and this is also true in relation
to the future of government service delivery. CSIRO, using Centrelink as an
example, highlighted what could be possible:
A network that provides broadband communications will make
the provision of tele-presence service between government offices, homes and
other public locations … possible and readily available …
Customers visiting a Centrelink office could talk with the
expert for each specific customer case, anywhere in the country. Whilst this does
not remove the need for the presence of the Centrelink officer, it does remove
the need for the officer or the customer to travel, possibly substantial
distances. It also allows people with different skills and experience to be
connected to customers with particular needs anywhere in the network. The
customer experience will be similar to having the customer and the service
officer involved in a private face-to-face consultation. The involvement of an expert,
regardless of the location, in solving the customer’s problem will result in
faster and better service quality.[19]
2.24
Continuing this theme, Regional Development Australia (RDA) Townsville
and North West Queensland (among many other regional organisations) cited the
potential importance of video-conferencing applications for isolated
communities:
High speed broadband will ensure greater equity across
Australia's communities in regard to access to government services. Federal,
state and local governments and communities will be able to communicate more
readily using online services including web-based video-conferences, improving
the reach, efficiency and productivity outcomes for governments and customers
alike.[20]
2.25
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) described how
greater availability of video-conferencing could assist its unique services:
Implementation of the NBN could enable professional (DIAC)
services to be delivered from home. An example of this is the provision of
interpreting services via video-conferencing in early NBN release sites across
Australia. The high data speeds and reliability available through the NBN will
enable interpreter services to be provided by video-conference, enabling body
language and other nuances of behaviour to maximise comprehension and reduce
miscommunication.[21]
2.26
The AIIA explained how government services might be delivered using even
less conventional technologies:
Augmented reality tools (a live, direct or indirect view of a
physical, real world environment augmented by computer generated sensory input
such as sound or graphics) open the potential for new and innovative ways to
deliver training, provide customer intervention and support emergency and
outreach activities remotely. Without an NBN infrastructure the scope of
application and benefits that can be achieved using these smart applications
will be limited.[22]
Efficiency in government operations
2.27
As well as driving efficiency in service delivery, the Committee considers
that the NBN will drive efficiency in the day-to-day internal operations of
government agencies, including through expanded utilisation of
video-conferencing, cloud computing and tele-working.
Video-conferencing
2.28
The most obvious area is through more extensive and effective use of
video-conferencing.[23] Across federal, state
and local governments, there is undoubtedly an enormous amount of money and
time spent travelling for meetings. As the NBN is rolled out, and as the cost
of the necessary equipment becomes less prohibitive, the viability of
high-quality video‑conferencing as a substitute for travel and
face-to-face meetings will be enhanced.
2.29
CSIRO explained some of the characteristics and technological
requirements of modern video-conferencing systems:
The term ‘tele-presence’ is used to describe high
definition, high frame rate, low latency, immersive video-conferencing
facilities. The experience for the user is similar to being in the same room as
a person or group at the other end of the communication link. Such services
typically cannot operate over ADSL links as they require high bit rate
symmetric networks of the order of tens of Mbit/s … Early tele-presence systems
were expensive, costing over $300 000 per installation. Prices have fallen
rapidly in recent years and we now see commoditisation of this type of
technology …[24]
Cloud computing
2.30
Cloud computing is another area where there is scope to improve
efficiency in the operations of government. DOFD explained that cloud computing
involves the delivery of ‘technology as a service across broadband
connections’. This includes the delivery of standard applications such as email
and word processing, as well as data storage. DOFD suggested that ‘cloud computing
provides opportunities to access technology at lower cost and more flexibly
than traditional computing methods’.[25]
2.31
National ICT Australia (NICTA) proposed that there are two avenues of
benefit for governments through cloud computing:
The first is in enabling government agencies to operate their
IT architectures more efficiently internally and, because cloud approaches make
it easier to share data and standardised services, support inter-agency
integration. The second avenue lies in the ability to scale services to the
public more efficiently and effectively, again using standardised services on
scalable cloud architectures.[26]
2.32
The submission went on to comment on the necessary supporting
infrastructure: ‘For cloud computing to work well there must be a reliable
high-speed broadband connection, such as the NBN, between the user and the
cloud facility.’[27]
2.33
The Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) noted potential
benefits from shared cloud computing platforms, and highlighted that more than
40 Victorian Councils have joined to such a platform to improve their
collective ability to deliver services. The submission argued that:
The outcomes of a national broadband network are key enablers
that will allow councils to transform the way services are delivered to their
communities. Without such capability each council is constrained to building
and maintaining its own communication and technology infrastructure that
significantly diminishes the opportunity to deliver reform and innovation
through collaboration.[28]
2.34
The Municipal Association of Victoria also focussed on the shared
services initiative, and commented on the network capacity required to run
these and other cloud services for local government in the future. Box 2.1
contains more information on the Association’s plans.
2.35
While acknowledging the potential of the NBN for local government in
areas such as cloud computing, ALGA cautioned that smaller councils in
particular would need assistance to realise the potential.[29]
The Committee considers that the Federal Government’s recent announcement of
the Digital Local Government Program should provide some assistance in this
regard. The Program will provide grants of up to $375 000 to councils in each
of the first 40 NBN release sites ‘… to develop solutions that can be adopted
by other councils and rolled out across the country as the NBN rolls out.’[30]
Box 2.1 Shared services for Victorian local governments
The Municipal Association of Victoria said that more than half of its 79
councils have collaborated in developing a shared service project and that 12
of these are now ready to implement the first stage of a shared ICT service
that is planned to go live on 1 July 2011. The Association noted that:
The outcomes of a national broadband network are key enablers that will allow
councils to transform the way services are delivered to their communities. Without
such capability each council is constrained to building and maintaining its own
communication and technology infrastructure that significantly diminishes the
opportunity to deliver reform and innovation through collaboration.
However, to fulfil its role as an enabler of shared services (with particular
benefit for rural councils), the Association emphasised that the NBN must
have sufficient capacity to run council business in the ‘cloud’:
The intention is to place all business applications in the cloud and manage it as a
virtual service. This includes all the telephony and video-conferencing services.
Whilst 100 to 1000 Mbit/s may sound excessive today we believe that as the paradigm
for local government business changes we will soon see applications and services that
are dependent upon these high speed networks. We believe it would be short-sighted to
fix the network at the 10 Mbit/s limit of today's business need or to migrate a larger
proportion of the service to a wireless solution.
Source: Municipal Association of Victoria, Submission 135, p. 7. |
2.36
Cloud computing is discussed in more detail in Chapter 6 on economic
development, and is also discussed in Chapter 5 in relation to the
environmental benefits of green data storage.
Tele-working
2.37
Another area where government at all levels will benefit from the NBN is
the increased capacity for employees to work from home or other remote
locations. Tele-working, or tele-commuting, involves ‘employees utilising
technology to work from locations other than the traditional workplace’.[31]
The NBN is expected to promote increased levels of tele-working by ‘improving
digital sharing of information and resources’ and enabling ‘cheaper and easier
access to video-conferencing, higher speed internet and other associated IT
infrastructure’.[32]
2.38
A 2010 study by Access Economics (commissioned by DBCDE) found that growth
in tele‑working will provide a range of benefits, including:
- Time and cost savings
from travel avoided;
- Office expenses
avoided;
- Recruitment and retention
gains;
- Increased workforce
participation; and
- Infrastructure
savings.[33]
2.39
The National Digital Economy Strategy identifies an increase in
tele‑working as one of the key outcomes from the NBN.[34]
It is therefore important that the Government demonstrate leadership by
promoting tele‑working opportunities within its own workforce. The
Committee notes that an online ‘Tele-work Forum’ was hosted by the Government
on 3 August 2011 in order to ‘showcase Australian business and
government agencies that are using tele-work to improve their performance’.[35]
2.40
The ‘remote’ opportunities for government agencies through NBN also
extend to locating more staff in regional areas. This was highlighted by the
Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU):
The NBN creates the opportunity for a greater physical
presence for federal government agencies outside of major capital cities. This
has the potential to allow for dispersed networks of federal government ‘back
of office functions’ such as claims processing and phone based client service
work that can be used to support government shop front services in smaller
population centres where the volume of client traffic may have made a physical
office presence previously unviable. The location of some government services
in regional centres would also provide significant economic benefit to those
areas.[36]
2.41
NICTA expressed similar sentiments:
An additional benefit from pervasive broadband is that gives
the government greater scope to locate government employees outside Australia’s
major cities. This benefits the regions [by] bringing high-value jobs to the
region, the government by lowering the cost base, and alleviates the congestion
and over-crowding that plague our cities.[37]
2.42
Tele-working is discussed in several other areas of this report,
including Chapter 5 which looks at the environmental benefits, Chapter 6 which looks
at productivity benefits for businesses, and Chapter 8 which looks at the work–life
balance issues.
Other areas
2.43
The Committee was advised of less obvious areas within each unique
portfolio that will also benefit from the NBN’s capacity. For example, the
Department of Defence’s submission identified ‘networked capability’ and
‘network centric warfare’ as key components of the Defence Force’s future strategy.
The submission concluded:
Defence’s expectation is that the NBN will provide the
underlying carriage for the future Defence network, with the capacity to scale
to the ADF’s needs, and to reach Defence locations around Australia.[38]
2.44
Another example, identified by the Department of Innovation, Industry,
Science and Research (DIISR), is Australia’s Earth Observation System (EOS)
capabilities. The Department advised that there are ‘at least ninety-two
government programs, totalling $1.3 billion in annual expenditure, dependent on
EOS’. This includes key activities such as the National Carbon Accounting
System, National Weather Forecasting Services and reporting obligations under
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Department concluded:
The infrastructure and communication systems needed to
collect and transfer EOS data require modernisation and rationalisation to cope
with the increases in data volumes that are expected over the next decade. The
NBN will play an important role in providing this needed boost to capability.[39]
Gov 2.0
2.45
‘Gov 2.0’ is a term that is used to describe governments’ use of ‘Web
2.0’ technologies that rely upon user-generated content. According to
Government 2.0 Taskforce—commissioned in mid-2009 by then Minister for Finance
and Deregulation, the Hon Lindsay Tanner—Web 2.0 ‘encompasses the way in which
the internet has become a platform for the distribution of vast quantities of
data’. The Taskforce also highlight that:
The tools of Web 2.0 include blogs, wikis and social
networking platforms. These tools enable communities of interest to develop
rapidly to find people with local knowledge or technical expertise to build
understanding of issues and solve problems as they emerge.[40]
2.46
In its December 2009 report, the Taskforce recommended that:
Public agencies and public servants should engage more using
the tools and capabilities of ‘collaborative web’ or Web 2.0. Forming or
joining existing online communities of interest around issues of relevance to
government policy, service delivery and regulation will help public agencies
and their officers become more informed, responsive, innovative and citizen
centric.[41]
2.47
The Government responded favourably to the majority of the report’s
recommendations in May 2010, and in July 2010 released the Declaration of
Open Government, outlining a commitment to utilising Web 2.0 technologies
and making public sector information more accessible.[42]
2.48
Government agencies appear to have made some good progress in their
adoption of Gov 2.0 technologies. Around 50 agencies have Facebook pages and
around 100 have Twitter accounts, while several agencies are hosting and
participating in online blogs and posting material on YouTube.[43]
Box 2.2 contains a sample of a recent Twitter feed set up by the Australian
Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for the 2011 Census.
2.49
The Committee agrees that the NBN will play an important role in
furthering the Gov 2.0 agenda. The ubiquitous coverage to be delivered by the
NBN will enable more people to be engaged with government online through Web
2.0 technologies. The speed of the NBN will enable government agencies to
include more bandwidth intensive material in their online engagement
activities.
2.50
Several inquiry participants commented on the benefits and potential of
Gov 2.0. NICTA explained how government agencies have used social media
applications to assist with emergency management:
A powerful example … was the Queensland Police Service’s use
of Twitter and Facebook during the 2011 floods and Cyclone Yasi. The Queensland
Police Service was able to distribute important information to a wide audience
quickly and curb the propagation of rumours and false information.[44]
Box 2.2 Sample Twitter feed for the 2011 Census
Source: Twitter <http://twitter.com/#!/2011Census/> viewed 9 August 2011. |
2.51
DIAC explained that the NBN and Gov 2.0 technologies will improve the
capacity for public engagement on migration issues:
Considering recent changes to the migration landscape, it is
expected that the community will seek to engage with the department more often
by accessing departmental information regularly. The NBN—through wider access
to social media tools and a faster internet—will support these interactions.[45]
2.52
The submission of the City of Geraldton-Greenough highlighted its ‘2029
and beyond’ deliberative democracy program as an example of the potential of
Gov 2.0. The program seeks views from citizens about the City’s strategies and
projects using online engagement tools, including a blog site that enables
citizens to ‘brainstorm’ ideas for new projects. The submission noted that the
NBN will assist the implementation of the program and help expand the services within
the region.[46]
2.53
The AIIA commented on another aspect of Gov 2.0—the increase in
government information being collected and made available online. The NBN is
expected to improve the capacity to transmit and leverage government data:
The Government invests heavily in collecting, analysing and
transforming vast amounts of data, information and content. In a world where
information is so highly valued, coupled with new technology tools that enable
us to rapidly aggregate, manipulate, analyse and disseminate it, the NBN
provides a means to leverage national information assets in ways that were
never imagined possible. With access to high speed broadband for collecting,
analysing and disseminating information, the NBN will enable the Government to
use information analytics to gain better insights to business and social
problems, make better decisions and create better outcomes …
Making the data available in the public space means it can be
mashed with external data sets to generate broader and whole of economy
business innovation and community and national benefits.[47]
Committee conclusions
2.54
The Committee agrees with inquiry participants that the NBN will be a
catalyst for change both in the way government services are delivered to
citizens, and in the way government agencies conduct business more generally.
2.55
The Committee notes that there is already strong public demand for e‑government
services. Australia ranks highly in international comparison surveys of e‑government
services, suggesting that good work has been done so far in progressing the
e-government agenda. But there is quite clearly a lot more that can be done. Traditional
service models involving signing and posting documents or turning up at
government offices are still very common. Ubiquitous and fast broadband has the
potential to make citizens’ interactions with government much more efficient.
2.56
The NBN can also facilitate efficiencies in the way government
organisations undertake their day-to-day business (beyond service delivery). The
Committee is confident that modern, high-quality video‑conferencing
systems will enable public servants and service delivery clients to travel
less, providing time and cost savings as well as environmental benefits. This
relates not only to interstate travel for meetings, but also to the ability of
government employees to work from home. Adoption of cloud computing promises to
deliver savings to governments by reducing capital spending on storage and
applications.
2.57
Gov 2.0 applications can vastly improve the way governments provide
information to, and engage with, the community. The Committee notes the work
agencies have done in engaging with existing platforms (Facebook, Twitter etc.).
These and other Web 2.0 technologies have a significant role to play in
facilitating community engagement in government policy and decision-making
processes.