Government Gateway: A model for e-government service (plus events for your diary)
Whilst the concept of online transactions is now a mainstream activity for most consumer organisations, designing and building this type of online service in government presents unique challenges. Unlike online banks, or eBay or Amazon, an online government transaction platform has to be designed with inter-agency operation in mind from the very beginning - which is a much more complex challenge than a commercial, single-domain solution.
When I think of successful projects focused on e-enabling government services and transactions, my mind often goes to the pioneering Government Gateway system - the website citizens use to register for online government services. Established over 15 years ago in partnership with Microsoft, today the Gateway processes tens of millions of transactions per year.
I believe the Gateway is a clear-cut example of how to design a robust e-government system that spans departments, services and business processes, yet provides a single, front-end view for the citizen. And it continues to grow. Today, 166 enabled services from over 55 government offices are made accessible to citizens using the system. People use the Gateway for a seemingly endless list of services, from claiming child tax credits to paying parking fines to checking pension entitlements. In fact, these days people are very likely to use the Government Gateway without even knowing it. This is a result which I believe speaks to the ease-of-use and seamless
experience it provides citizens.
While established several years ago, the Gateway continues to inspire and influence many similar Gateway models, most notably in the Czech Republic, which has deployed the same logical architecture. As governments continue to strive to deliver public services and transactional platforms online, I believe that this success story can provide a valuable reference. Learn more about the Government Gateway and how it’s influenced similar projects. One of our earlier blog posts, also has some great background.
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Written by Gordon McKenzie, Government Solutions Lead, from the Worldwide Public Sector Team.
EVENT DATES FOR YOUR DIARY: Test drive the future of productivity with Microsoft and our partner Risual! Join us for a hands-on, interactive exploration of just what the latest Microsoft solutions have to offer. There are two dates and locations to choose from...
Wednesday 25th January 2012
Location:
Risual House, Parker Court, Staffordshire Technology Park, Stafford. ST18 0WP
OR
Monday 13th February 2012
Location:
Microsoft Offices, Cardinal Place, 80-100 Victoria Street, London. SW1E 5JL