Executives behind the eGov initiative yesterday said that more than 500 businesses had been registered, 120 babies had been registered with Social Security and more than 2,000 residents had been processed into the Island’s tax system using new working practices.
They have moved to reassure Islanders that the scheme has been progressing after it was ‘refreshed’ at the start of 2015.
Earlier this year the initiative came under fire from Digital Jersey – the body responsible for promoting the Island’s digital sector – which said the scheme seemed to have been stopped in its tracks.
However, the programme’s director, Jonathan Williams, said that while one element of the project –a decision about the lead partner – had been delayed, work had continued and was delivering results.
At a briefing at the Société Jersiaise he also said that a number of short-term goals had been met and that parish rate payments could now be made online.
An online provision for social security contributions went live last month, he said, a revised health screening programme had been implemented and work was being done to allow Islanders to make sports bookings using the internet.
He added that online Customs and GST payments were due to be made available before Christmas, that there had been huge advances towards having a more mobile police force and that having an online planning application process was around two or three months away from being introduced.
Mr Williams explained that as well as finding more efficient ways for Islanders to interact with the States, such as having online payment or registration functions, eGov was also about larger changes in the way that departments worked.
He said that eGov had ‘never stopped’ and that the team was now seeing results from its work.
‘We very deliberately proceeded with a stance of under-promise and over-delivery and we believe that the credibility of the programme comes in delivering things that people can use and see as opposed to having the risk of talking up expectations,’ Mr Williams said.
‘That’s been an approach supported by our political oversight group. Even though we’ve been quiet, a huge amount has been going on to change the way we deliver services.’
Senator Philip Ozouf, whose political portfolio includes the digital sector, added: ‘I think eGov is something that has got to be a function of all departments, making them better, more user-friendly, more modern and more efficient.
‘It’s not a single programme or single system that’s going to deliver a more efficient and better States.
‘What you’ve heard from Jonathan Williams is it’s a multifaceted set of projects from birth registration, population office registration, eHealth, eEducation to accounting systems and online payment systems that embrace technology to deliver better value services and better value to the public.’
- The eGovernment (eGov) programme aims to improve customer service and make the States of Jersey a more efficient business.
- This is done by re-engineering processes and moving services online.
eGov aims to:
- Improve customer service by making the States easy to do business with
- Reduce the cost and time of delivering services
- Create services that are built around customers and delivered in a secure, robust and efficient way
- Improve information management and data sharing
- Stimulate local digital industry
WHAT a difference a couple of words can make.
Earlier this year members of the public could have been forgiven for believing that the States eGovernment programme was ‘on hold’.
Yesterday we were told by senior civil servants that on the contrary, work had ‘never stopped’ – despite the admission that an attempt to find a ‘lead partner’ has proved to be fruitless. The cost of that exercise remains a mystery.
Regardless of the opaque responses coming from the Chief Minister’s Department, it is nevertheless clear that ‘eGov’ is not something that is going to go away. Members of the public will increasingly be expected to communicate with States departments ‘online’ for services ranging from registering new infants to signing up to pay tax.
Why States officers should feel the need to ‘reassure’ the public that the work is continuing is not entirely clear. Certainly for the digitally minded members of the population it is undoubtedly easier to pay rates online than to pop in to the parish hall with a cheque. But not all members of our community have access to a computer and may feel that this drive towards the digital is yet another barrier to getting their voices heard.
It is also clear that although eGov ‘will deliver’, it comes at a considerable cost.
For example, over the next four years £21 million has been set aside in the Medium Term Financial Plan to replace ‘essential’ IT systems.
In next year’s Budget, £5.8 million has been set aside for IT-related changes within the Chief Minister’s Department alone, including £2.2m for eGovernment, and another £2m or so for items such as desktop upgrades, income/payment management systems, corporate web platform refresh, web search engine upgrade, content management system refresh, hardware refresh and taxes office system renewal.
What will these changes mean, in practical terms, for the ordinary taxpayer? It is to be hoped that in the longer term, savings will be made in administrative costs and time.
But right now, as ministers struggle to balance their finances, a close eye will need to be kept on the cost of the drive towards a digital world.
Online services may be desirable in the longer term, but they should not come at any price.
