Carrot and stick for e-services
27 January 2005

The public sector should consider ways of compelling people to 
use some e-services, according to the latest official guidance

The Cabinet Office has published a set of guidelines for public
authorities attempting to achieve the government's efficiency targets
by developing and encouraging the use of e-services. The Service
Design and Delivery Guide aims to provide assistance to authorities
involved in e-enabling public services.

It was drawn up to reflect the new agenda for e-government since the
2004 Gershon Review. This focuses on take up of e-services, efficiency
savings and designing better quality public services.

The guide says that public authorities should consider various ways 
to encourage take up of e-services, including compulsion, migrating
people from one channel to another, and marketing efforts. The
document advises public authorities to set and manage a migration plan
which progressively moves customers to cheaper channels and a lower
cost per transaction, whilst maintaining or improving the quality of
the service.

It also says they should ensure there are specific milestones for
switching off or winding down expensive channels. For some services,
particularly those which are price sensitive, offering financial
incentives may be an appropriate means to encourage take up, it says.

Organisations delivering e-services are also expected to make use of
existing cross-government initiatives such as Directgov, according to
the document.

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Source: Kable's Government Computing
Publication date: 27/01/2005 12:20:58

http://www.kablenet.com/kd.nsf/Frontpage/
47C23DB1636FE4A480256F9600437BFF?OpenDocument


Cheers, Steve...

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