Canadian Government Executive - Volume 22 - Issue 3

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March 2016 // Canadian Government Executive / 13
The Interview
ment of Community Services in 2013, we’ve been on a path of mod-
ernized and transformed social services. We’ve had great support
from government and are now starting to implement some of the
opportunities to reduce administrative burden, share information
across programs, and really start to look at what can be done elec-
tronically with our clients: income verification, better use of the
telephone as a channel, and more broadly with our colleagues in
the Department of Finance, Department of Health and Wellness,
and Labour and Advanced Education to better serve the “whole”
client. There is so much opportunity.
I also think that this next generation of consumers will demand
more on-line options and will be willing to forgo a physical (“bricks
and mortar”) office to get it. Governments will be challenged to
maintain both over the next decade and may have to make some
decisions about the relative priority of one over the other
Q: Should government be doing more to advertise the
services it provides to the public?
I recall a specific experience where we had about 18% on-line ser-
vice take-up and during months where we advertised, our take
up went up over 30%. However, it’s only meaningful if I need the
service being advertised. For example, you can advertise on-line
vehicle permit renewal, but if my permit doesn’t expire for 8
months, the advertising won’t mean much to me. It’s also not a sus-
tained “bump” like discounts or service guarantees have proven to
be. Instead of advertising dollars, I think a smarter investment is
in our web development and understanding user experiences. If
our web presence was effective, it would be the first place people
would go to see if a service is offered on-line.
Q: The ICCS has had great successes in terms of
creating citizen-focused service training. Do you think
this will continue? What is on the frontier?
I’m really pleased with how this training programs have rolled out
within Canada and beyond. I’m particularly energized to say that
we are currently undergoing a re-fresh of the content and deliv-
ery to make sure that it’s meeting needs of 2016 and beyond. This
unique offering allows public sector organizations to set the bar
for their culture and for employees.
Q: What is the relationship between ICCS and the
Public Sector Service Delivery Council (PSSDC)
and Public Sector Chief Information Officer Council
(PSCIOC)?
The Public Sector Service Delivery Council (PSSDC) and Public
Sector Chief Information Officer Council (PSCIOC), both of which
are unique innovations on the world stage, are critical constructs
of Federal, Provincial, Territorial, and Municipal government rep-
resentatives who focus on service delivery and technology in the
public sector in Canada. The ICCS provides critical secretariat
support and enabling services to the Councils, and equally im-
portantly provides training programs, research, and collaboration
platforms for the purpose of ensuring excellence in public sector
service delivery in Canada.
Q: Let’s talk about the ICCS. How are its priorities set?
I have been in and around the ICCS, for the most part, since its
inception in 2001. I would say the last two years have been abso-
lutely critical for us as we went through a full review of our lines
of business: what investment have we made, what result have we
achieved, and what is the future potential. This has been clarify-
ing for both the staff and leadership of the ICCS, for the Board,
and for the members and partners with whom we interact. We
are fully focused on: providing secretariat support and value add
to Joint Councils; providing a neutral platform for inter-jurisdic-
tional collaboration and shared learning; undertaking research
into expectations and priorities for service improvement; provid-
ing tools for client satisfaction measurement and benchmarking;
supporting service culture and learning; and maintaining our
position as a global authority and centre of excellence in citizen
centred service delivery.
Q: You’re a consumer and a citizen also. As such,
have you had a particularly galling or delightful
experience in government service lately?
Generally, I think the public sector is held to a much higher stan-
dard of privacy, security, and identity management and those
high expectations make it much more challenging for all of us to
quickly introduce new offerings in the on-line and mobile world.
Recently I renewed both my vehicle permit (on-line) and my pass-
port (mail) – both of which were so easy to do – one provincial and
one federal. I think these are shining examples of where an “in
person” interaction is not required or desired.
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