Summary:
Transport Canada (TC) has embraced service modernization at this critical time when information and services are being accessed at any time and on any device at a constantly accelerating pace. Canadians expect to receive government services using digital tools that are easy to use, accessible and inclusive.
The Service and Digital Group (S&D) has begun work on enabling the modernization of TC’s 305 external and internal-facing services. This involves leveraging industry expertise to review the current service designs and develop blueprints for future state designs upon which to act and implement solutions, including real-time service performance data. Currently, select key TC services are undergoing service modernization (e.g., Issuance of Civil Aviation Medical Certificates and Civil Aviation Personnel Training and Licensing) and governance has been put in place to help prioritize modernization efforts. Other initiatives within TC’s service modernization journey include the Right Touch Air Initiative for improving the air travel experience, enhancing data management and analytics at TC, and the launch of the annual TCnext Service Modernization Summit where best practices and useful innovations are shared among TC employees.
Overview:
In 2022, TC turned its focus from the Transformation Plan, launched in 2018, to Service Modernization. Modernization will mitigate departmental risks of unmanageable service backlogs, insufficient security and privacy controls, aging IT and technological readiness, and limited performance data.
Modernization of TC services adheres to the Policy on Service and Digital, Canada’s Digital Ambition and the Government’s Digital Standards to ensure that our services are secure, accessible and inclusive by design to all users.
Service Delivery Modernization
The objective of modernization is to increase service performance through changes in small incremental steps, to reduce pressures on staff that provide the service, and to establish a framework that continually improves the service over time. Reviews are underway for two safety and security services: Issuance of Civil Aviation Medical Certificates and Civil Aviation Personnel Training and Licensing, to be followed by the Transportation Security Clearance Program and Civil Aviation Aircraft Registration. The Review process is as follows:
- Current State Assessment (Service Reviews)
- Target State Design (Service Blueprints)
- Service Implementation
- Continuous Improvement
Right Touch Air Initiative
S&D is also facilitating Review of the Right Touch Air Initiative, which will look at transitioning from current paper-based, manual passenger processes to an automated one, following the 4-step process outlined above. This initiative will result in the development of a blueprint to build towards a more integrated and seamless travel experience for air travellers.
Service Performance
The health of TC’s external services is detailed through an established service inventory that is updated annually in accordance with the Policy on Service and Digital.
As of fiscal year, 2021–2022, TC has 305 external-facing client services:
- 73% of the 305 services have service standards (79% of which have known performance results)
- 10% are partially available online
- 2% are end-to-end digital (fully available online)
- 54 services are “not applicable” for any online offering due to legislation or other regulation
Data Management and Analytics
S&D is continuing to improve data management and analytics to support data-driven and evidence-based decision-making. Recent achievements include:
- Delivery of cloud-based enterprise platforms
- Providing users with tools that support data science and data discovery
- Implementing a modern data storage and analytics architecture (data lake) to enable multimodal, multi-subject, horizontal, and integrated information access and analysis
- Enhanced data capabilities to allow for more timely collection of both structured and unstructured data from industry, partners, Other Government Departments (OGDs), streaming services, sensors and social media
- Enablement of cloud-to-cloud data sharing between TC and OGDs
TCnext Summit
The Service and Digital Group hosted TC’s first annual TCnext Service Modernization Summit in October 2022. The summit was open to TC executives and select managers involved in modernizing their services and programs and comprised of a mix of panel discussions, demonstrations, and interactive workshops. The topics discussed included where TC is today, the potential of modernization, and highlighted available tools to start the modernization journey. All regions were represented with a total of 170 participants present. Quarterly virtual TCnext “extra” events are scheduled to build on the momentum created during the summit.