Re: eGov IG, Multi-Channel Delivery, first draft.

and this one closes ACTION-53.

-- Jose


El 14/04/2009, a las 19:54, Miguel A. Amutio Gómez escribió:

> Hello all,
>
> I send you attached a first draft for the issue of Multi-Channel  
> Delivery.
>
> Best regards,
> Miguel A.
>
> Multi-Channel Delivery
>
> The objectives of this issue are as follows:
>
> Identify ways to facilitate the deployment, delivery and  
> availability of multi-channel services by governments: Identify any  
> gaps to be filled in creating a complete suite of standards to  
> enable services that can be located, accessed and consumed by all  
> potential users, through different networks, terminal devices or  
> platforms and interfaces, satisfying quality and security conditions.
>
> Gather information about best practices in multi-channel delivery of  
> public services.
>
> What is Multi-Channel Delivery?
>
> Channels are different means used by service providers to interact  
> with and deliver services to their user community. Multi-channel  
> service delivery is the provision of services through different  
> networks, terminal devices or platforms and interfaces, in an  
> integrated and coordinated way, with comparable levels of user  
> friendliness.
>
> Governments, like other sectors, also interact with citizens through  
> different channels, from the traditional ones such as the counter or  
> face-to-face and postal delivery to the electronic channels such as  
> Internet web-sites, e-mail, SMS-messaging, fixed phone, mobile  
> phone, interactive voice response systems, digital television, fax,  
> self-service terminals (ATMs), etc. Governments also have challenges  
> in relation to the elimination of barriers in the access to their  
> services and in relation to the provision of choices about how to  
> access their information and services.
>
> Mobile devices, digital TV and others are opening new ways of  
> interaction between citizens and governments, so that electronic  
> services are no longer limited to the PC. This is possible thanks to  
> the evolution of terminal devices with better features in terms of  
> processing capacity, memory, power autonomy, screen size and  
> quality, on one side and to the improvement of networks, protocols  
> and mark-up languages on the other side.
>
> Industry and citizens are getting used to these new electronic  
> channels taking advantage of their possibilities and new services  
> and there is an expectation that governments may be able to do the  
> same.
>
> These new electronic channels require the adoption of new  
> architectures and systems able to provide the top of their  
> functionalities.
>
> The Web is a main channel to access government services permanently  
> available and it should be possible to offer the citizens such  
> services through any device incorporating Internet access. This  
> would allow a significant increase in the usage of government  
> services by means of any kind of widespread channels such as PDA,s,  
> smartphones, WAP, WebTV, and others; in this way the access to  
> government services would be really anyhow, anywhere, anytime  
> through mobile devices.
>
> What Public Policy Outcomes are Related to Multi-Channel Delivery?
>
> Multi-channel policies developed by governments generally address  
> the following goals:
>
> Facilitating e-Inclusion, avoiding digital divide and reaching the  
> disadvantaged citizens. For instance, the Lisbon Ministerial  
> Declaration [MD-LISBON] refers to multi-channel delivery in relation  
> to inclusive eGovernment. Also, the ICT PSP work programme 2009 [EC- 
> CIP] focus the multi-channel service delivery to the socially  
> disadvantaged and opens this entry explaining that one third of the  
> European population is currently considered socially disadvantaged,  
> most of it suffering from multiple difficulties leading to social  
> exclusion (economic, physical, cultural, geographical factors etc.).
>
> A closer government to the citizens, providing transparency and  
> openness and expanding citizen participation in public policy  
> decision making. The Obama administration's memo on Transparency and  
> Open Government [OB-MEMO] emphasizes these questions. Also it is an  
> issue in the the Lisbon Ministerial Declaration [MD-LISBON].
>
> Making available egovernment services to large part of the  
> population. This is specially interesting in countries with low  
> computer penetration as explained in the case of the “Multi-channel  
> Citizen Service Centers in Greece” [EV-PAPA]. It has to be taken  
> into account the world wide expansion of mobile networks and the  
> forecast that by the end of 2010 there may be four billion people in  
> the world with access to a mobile phone.
>
> Expanding citizen´s choice, extending and providing citizen centric  
> and personalized services; also referred in [EC-CIP].
>
> Multi-channel delivery of government services in support to the  
> process of combined service delivery across different  
> administrations, also referred in [EC-CIP].
>
> Reusing data and applications independently from the channel,  
> reducing the costs of providing services, included in policies  
> oriented to efficiency and effectiveness.
>
> What are the Main Benefits of Multi-Channel Delivery?
>
> Main benefits of multi-channel delivery may be for the user  
> community and for the service provider:
>
> An increase of flexibility in terms of anytime, anywhere, anyhow and  
> accessibility for the user.
>
> An increase of the choice according to the user´s preferences;  
> access to the same information and services through different  
> channels.
>
> Wider usage and impact of government services; a higher population  
> or user community reached by government services.
>
> Cost savings along the delivery chain for the service provider.
>
> Quicker deployment of services through new or additional channels  
> which may provide easy, accurate and personalized content delivery.
>
> Integration of government services in the front-office.
>
> How Can Multi-Channel Delivery Be Achieved?
>
> Developing a multi-channel strategy.
>
> As a starting point governments develop strategies so that the  
> access to their Web sites may be available through mobile devices  
> offering more choice to citizens. More global approaches design  
> strategies which combine face to face offices, call centers and web  
> sites, as in the case of the Multi-channel Citizen Service Centers  
> in Greece [EV-PAPA], with equivalent experiences to this one in  
> other countries like Spain.
>
> The study about “Multi-channel delivery of government services”  
> elaborated by the Program IDA of the European Commission[EC-MCD]  
> elaborates on how to develop a multi-channel strategy; this study  
> includes a list of possible channels with their main features,  
> proposes a channel selection framework and provides implementation  
> guidelines of the multi-channel strategy. This implementation may  
> require a number of steps such like the following:
>
> Identify candidate services for multi-channel delivery.
>
> Investigate whether the service can be divided into distinct steps.  
> Given one service, sometimes one specific channel can satisfy the  
> full transaction; in other cases the full transaction could take  
> several steps which might involve different channels.
>
> Carry out research and segmentation of the target user community.
>
> Analyze organizational changes including business processes, back  
> end and front end applications, staffing.
>
> Analyze technical solutions.
>
> Determine the channels to be implemented.
>
> Quantification and evaluation. Statistics of access through the  
> different channels enabled.
>
> Using standards: URI, XML, XHTML, WML, SOAP, WSDL, ...
>  Using the Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0 [W3C-MOBILE] : Design for  
> One Web, rely on Web standards, stay away from known hazards, be  
> cautious of device limitations, optimize navigation, check graphics  
> & colors, keep it small, use the network sparingly, help & guide  
> user input, think of users on the go. And verify the result [W3C- 
> VALIDATOR].
> What are the Main Issues and Limitations with Multi-Channel Delivery?
>
> There is a number of issues to be considered:
>
> General requirements of the user, as pointed out in [EC-MCD]:  
> flexibility, accessibility, usability (easy to use), quality,  
> security.
>
> Some of them are specially relevant like security providing trust,  
> and simplicity so that the content may have a similar appearance  
> from any device, providing transparency from the point of view of  
> the user.
>
> Many people uses the mobile phone only for phone calls and are not  
> aware of the rest of possibilities of the device, because its  
> operation may result difficult for them. This inhibiting factor  
> decreases the usage of the offered services. For instance, trying to  
> write an URL in a mobile may be a difficult task because certain  
> characters (“@”, “/”, “?”, “&”, “:”, …) are hard to find and the  
> writing task is generally troublesome. The user usually has to  
> remember a crowd of short numbers, key words, URLs, while using  
> impulsively a mobile device with low help capabilities and requiring  
> a quick answer to solve an specific problem.
>
> General requirements of the service provider, as pointed out in [EC- 
> MCD]: efficiency, effectiveness, security.
>
> Limitations of mobile devices, as listed in [WIK-MB-LIM]: Small  
> screen size, Lack of windows, Navigation, Lack of Javascript and  
> cookies, Types of pages accessible, Speed, Broken pages, Compressed  
> pages, Size of messages, Cost - the access and bandwidth charges,  
> Location of mobile user, Situation in which ad reaches user.
>
> Adaptation to the access to the Web through mobile devices, which  
> may require, between others, the reduction of download traffic and  
> the processing consume, because of the need to keep the battery,  
> reduce the cost by traffic and the time response perceived by the  
> user when used intensively or when downloading contents.
>
> The ideal scenario is that introduction of new electronic channels  
> would be as non-intrusive as possible; for instance without having  
> to modify content managers used for the production of information  
> for the Web.
>
> This may require the deployment of intermediate elements which adapt  
> or format the content taken out from the web appropriately according  
> to the kind of device involved in the transaction.
>
> Management of contents that can not be showed in a mobile device,  
> have a large size very costly to download and memory consuming  
> (images, PDF documents).
>
> Coordination and integration of different channels is necessary to  
> provide a focus on the user, a consistent approach to data and  
> databases available or shared by all channels and consistent look  
> and feel.
>
> Interoperability, discussed above in this note.
>
> Facilitate the deployment of services through new channels.
>
> Conditions about the reuse of government information by the public,  
> as explained in [GSA-TRAN].
>
> References:
>
> [EC-CIP]
>
> European Commission, COMPETITIVENESS AND INNOVATION FRAMEWORK  
> PROGRAMME (CIP) ICT POLICY SUPPORT PROGRAMME ICT PSP WORK PROGRAMME  
> 2009, http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/ict_psp/index_en.htm
>
> [EC-MCD]
>
> European Commission – Program IDA, Multi-channel delivery of  
> government services, June 2004,http://ec.europa.eu/idabc/en/document/3119
>
> [EC-MCEGOV]
>
> European Commission, 'MC-eGov: Study on Multi-channel Delivery  
> Strategies and Sustainable Business Models for Public Services  
> Addressing Socially Disadvantaged Groups', http://www.epractice.eu/community/InclusiveeGovernment
>
> [EV-PAPA]
>
> Evangelos Papanikolaou (Ministry of the Interior, Public  
> Administration & Decentralization) Multi-channel Citizen Service  
> Centers in Greece, http://www.epractice.eu/en/cases/csckep
>
> [GSA-TRAN]
>
> GSA Office of Citizen Services and Communications, Intergovernmental  
> Solutions Newsletter, Transparency and Open Government, Transparency  
> in Government,http://www.usaservices.gov/events_news/documents/Transparency.pdf
>
> [MD-LISBON]
>
> Ministerial Declaration, approved unanimously in Lisbon, Portugal,  
> on 19 September 2007,http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/egovernment/docs/lisbon_2007/ministerial_declaration_180907.pdf
>
> [OB-MEMO]
>
> Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies on  
> Transparency and Open Government, B. Obama,http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/ 
> .
>
> [W3C-MOBILE]
> Mobile Web Best Practices 1.0, http://www.w3.org/TR/mobile-bp/
> [W3C-VALIDATOR]
>
> W3C mobileOK Checker , http://validator.w3.org/mobile/
> [WIK-MB-LIM]
>
> Wikipedia, Mobile Web, Limitations, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Internet
>