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Ontario
convergence: ontario
IN THE DIGITAL AGE By Susanne Bergmann // Freelance Writer
In 2018, the Ontario's digital plan (the Plan), “Start with users. Deliver together. Ontario’s path to simpler, faster, better,” 1 was published. Within the scope of the Ontario Digital Service, the Plan is designed to deliver simpler, faster and better end-to-end services within a people-centred government, provide a consistent, inclusive and delightful experience online, and increase opportunities for savings. The Plan is timely, given the expansion of online services and their use, and the facts speak for themselves: › Some 92% of Ontarians use the Internet;2 › There are more than 175,000 daily visits to Ontario.ca; › A total of 66% of Canadians believe technology saves them time.3 The Plan is based on guiding principles that drive the work of the roughly 60,000 people striving to bring digital opportunities to all levels of government.
THE FIVE GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR A CONSISTENT, INCLUSIVE AND DELIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE 1 › People are at the centre of service and policy design, actively participating in government program development by telling us what they need and will use.
2› People have a common way to identify who they are when they interact with us online through a single digital identity across government.
3› People don’t have to inform multiple ministries every time they move or change information—government uses a ‘tell us once’ approach to data and information.
4› People have an easier time completing a task with government because common transactional elements are in
place for all online services (e.g., payments, notifications, etc.), and designed to be interchangeable and built with open standards.
5› People
can track the progress we’re making because open performance metrics are available online for all services.
1
Government of Ontario, “Start with users. Deliver together.,” last modified January 12, 2021, https://www.ontario.ca/page/start-users-deliver-together. Statistics Canada, “The Internet and Digital Technology,” last modified November 14, 2017, https://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2017032-eng.htm. Statistics Canada, “Life in the fast lane: How are Canadians managing?, 2016,” last modified November 27, 2017, http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/171114/dq171114a-eng.htm.
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