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The Network Society - University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Canada has probably gone furthest in the deliberate targeting <strong>of</strong><br />

user satisfaction with services, addressing the 5 main drivers <strong>of</strong> satisfaction<br />

(timeliness, knowledge, extra mile/smile, fairness, and outcomes)<br />

and showing a steady improvement between 1998 and 2002 at<br />

every level.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se evolutions <strong>of</strong> service delivery models raise some difficult<br />

issues. One is that each further state <strong>of</strong> evolution requires some shared<br />

data systems across organisational boundaries, and some common<br />

protocols. Some countries have felt able to adopt unique identifiers as<br />

in Finland; but in many others there is insufficient trust in the state to<br />

allow this. Another is that integration <strong>of</strong> services across boundaries<br />

may be easier for non-state organisations given the nature <strong>of</strong> bureaucratic<br />

and pr<strong>of</strong>essional interests: those states most willing to allow<br />

porousness across boundaries may reap gains fastest. A third is that<br />

these all enable more networked organisational structures with greater<br />

decentralisation <strong>of</strong> operational decision making in ways that are likely<br />

to threaten the power <strong>of</strong> middle tiers.<br />

All are in part about altering the mix <strong>of</strong> channels to maximise public<br />

value—which implies automating some services and intensifying<br />

the personal nature <strong>of</strong> others.<br />

Trust<br />

Reshaping the State and its Relationship with Citizens 231<br />

<strong>The</strong> most difficult area <strong>of</strong> public value has always been the third—<br />

trust. Here, the development <strong>of</strong> e government is bound up with the<br />

broader opening up <strong>of</strong> the state to scrutiny, and the changing nature<br />

<strong>of</strong> the conversation held between states and the public. <strong>The</strong> picture is<br />

complex. Most citizens relationships with states are abrupt, unsatisfying<br />

and disjointed—voting in an election, serving on a jury, receiving<br />

schooling, being paid pensions and so on. 3<br />

<strong>The</strong>re have been some common moves to reframe the environment<br />

for trust, including:<br />

• Greater use <strong>of</strong> pre-legislative scrutiny, with legislation online<br />

prior to its agreement<br />

3 See Touching the State, Design Council, London, 2004

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