Accenture's fifth annual global e-government study

Canada
2004 Rank: 1
2003 Rank: 1
2002 Rank: 1
Vision introduced: 1999
Vision title:
Government On-Line
Vision summary:
Our goal is to be known around the world as the
government most connected to its citizens, with
Canadians able to access all government information
and services online at the time and place of
their choosing.
Regular Internet users (percent of population):
63.41 percent
Regular Internet users who have ever visited an
eGovernment site: 79 percent
Canada
Canada’s eGovernment program continues to set
the standard for the rest of the world. The country
ranked number one for the fourth year in a row and,
in fact, increased its lead over its closest challengers,
Singapore and the United States. Canada was once
again the leader across all categories of eGovernment
maturity—service breadth, service depth and customer
relationship management.
Canada’s vision and eGovernment action plan
essentially have not changed since first articulated.
The government’s goal is to connect better with citizens
and its strategy is twofold: to have the most
commonly used services online by 2005, with a 10
percent increase in citizen satisfaction by 2005.
Looking at Canada’s performance over the past few
years, it is clear to see why the country consistently
scores so high—and why, in fact, it continues to
experience growth year after year.
As in many other countries, Canada’s vision of
eGovernment is predicated on the idea of customer
centricity and a whole-of-government approach.
The government considers eGovernment as an
enabler for transforming service delivery to reap
operational efficiencies and better results for
Canadians. Unlike many countries, however,
Canada’s eGovernment action plan is built on
a remarkably solid foundation of fact—based on
known information from its customer base.
Canada’s program of regularly surveying citizens
and businesses for indications of attitudes and
needs appears to be the most extensive of any of
the countries in this leadership survey. The country
uses a broad range of mechanisms. For example,
from 2002 to 2003, more than 10,000 Canadians
participated in surveys and focus groups conducted
by the government on eGovernment and service
transformation. Through the Institute for Citizen-
Centred Services, the federal government, nine
provincial and territorial governments, and five
municipal governments recently sponsored a third
round of Citizens First research with a representative
sample of 9,000 Canadians. Canadian government
research covers multiple angles—taking the form of
online surveys, usability interviews, focus groups
and one-on-one qualitative interviews.
Building on this solid base of information, Canada
has developed visions for service to Canadians,
service to business and for international services
to guide future transformation initiatives. The
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