Ce prix récompense PwC pour son excellence dans la conception du site Web, et pour son contenu et son engagement. Le jury était composé de 200 étudiants et nouveaux diplômés. Parmi les autres finalistes, on comptait notamment Conoco Phillips Canada et GE Canada.

The award celebrated PwC’s excellence in website design, content, and engagement and was judged by a panel of 200 students and recent graduates. Other top finalists for the award included Conoco Phillips Canada and GE Canada.

 The Choicebook (http://citizencompass.pwc.com/home/choicebook/)

I found the Choicebook to be a very interactive experience that did not me take longer than fifteen minutes to complete. In fact, I was so intrigued by certain concepts and stories that were shared on the Choicebook that I had lost track of time. 

By clicking on the link above and indulging into the Choicebook, you will be asked important questions about government eservices. What I loved about these questions was their neutrality as they made you ponder of both the pros and cons of the e-services. I don't want to spoil the fun for you but let me just highlight one "pro" and one "con" that stood out to me as I surfed through the questions on the Choicebook. As always, feel free to challenge my opinion in the comment box below if you believe otherwise after completing the Choicebook. Discussions with me are always a win-win situation!  

The concept that immediately caught my attention was the possibility of the government incepting a location-based application to be used on your cell phone or tablet. This one-stop application would include live updates on traffic around your location, local weather, public transit (schedules and delays), waiting times for walk-in clinics around your present location and a list of the nearest post offices to you. What I love about this concept is the fact that I do not have to download five different applications to get the information I need.

Believe it or not, I currently have a weather application, a traffic application, a public transit application and an application that lists the nearest post offices to me. Not only is it annoying to download updates individually for each of these applications, but it clutters up my phone and makes it run slower. With the click of a single government application, I can view all the information I need in an organized manner without having to pull my hair over how much time my phone is taking to switch between the different applications. What is your take on this idea?

As always, developing such applications is not only time consuming but also extremely expensive. Of course, where else would the government get its money from than our own wallets? In my opinion, a serious problem I see not only with the application above but with any government eservice is that it will be costly to develop and maintain. The Choicebook does a good job of getting your opinion on this matter. Would you be comfortable paying a monthly service fee for government applications, such as the one mentioned above? Would you pay $5, in addition to the regular charge by the government, to renew your license from your iPhone or Blackberry? What about a convenience fee for being able to update your health card or driver's license picture by taking a new one from your iPhone via a specialized application? This is where things begin to get interesting. This is where you come in and share your opinion online so that when the time comes for government decision makers to analyze the results from the Choicebook, they will know not to charge us for these eservices.

The Idea Forum (http://citizencompass.pwc.com/home/choicebook/)

I don't know about you but I love competitions. What I love even more are competitions where I am competing against other people to receive the highest votes for a certain idea. Welcome to the Idea Forum. After having completed the Choicebook, you are probably more familiar with both the pros and cons of the government adapting eservices. It is time to join the competition online. It is time to share your ideas with Canada that can make possibly make everyone’s life a little easier.

By taking part in the Idea Forum, you can read and learn about the ideas from other Canadians! Share your own idea with others! Comment on what others are saying! Vote on the ideas you like, and see the best ones float to the top! For those of you who are in it to win it, the winning idea will be rewarded with a special prize from PwC!

Click on the link above to view my idea. Don't forget to vote for it by either giving it a thumbs up, or a thumbs down. Let's compete!

Act, Don't React!

This is a golden opportunity for you to finally make a difference in the way you live your life. Through the support of PwC, you are finally given a chance to let your ideas be heard that can potentially change the way us Canadians live forever! Key government decision makers will read your ideas on the Idea Forum and answers to various questions in the Choicebook. Your opinion will not go unnoticed.

"The world is not interested in what we do for a living. What they are interested in is what we have to offer freely - hope, strength, love and the power to make a difference!”

It is time for you to make that difference now.

When I participated in the Choicebook, ideas that stood out to me as being excellent were:

Location-based Services

I cannot express how helpful location-based services would have been while I attended university. I moved from my small home town to a larger city when I went to university.  Things such as public transit, and walk in clinics were something that I knew nothing about. I had to figure it out on my own (and quickly)! Location-based eservices would provide such a benefit. They would allow Canadians to have access to the latest information no matter where they were.  In the Choicebook, you have the chance to meet Zahir and Sharon who show how they would benefit from location based services through traffic reports. This again would provide Canadians an easy access point to get the latest updates on the best routes to take depending on the time of day and destination. 

The one concern some people have is that a government site would be tracking where you were at any point in time. However if you think about it, don’t internet-based services already do that? When you use Google, to look up a restaurant, the first hit in the results field is always the location of the nearest restaurant to you. Isn’t Google then tracking where you are? Further to that during the current Facebook era, many individuals “check in” to their current location, sharing that update with anyone who is on the social media site. The reality is we already share this information more then we think.

Documentation Updates

The other eservice ideas that stood out to me were documentation updating, meaning renewing your driver’s license, renewing your passport or obtaining a birth certificate. I definitely hate standing in line at my local government establishment to have my license renewed and picture taken. I also tend to forget the date of renewal. I never inspect my license to look at the renewal date or keep that date to memory; however, what I do check every day is my email and my cell phone. I therefore think updates and reminders being sent electronically would be a great idea. Again, through Zahir and Sharon’s story you have a chance to see how updates, alerts and reminder s would be very beneficial when having a baby.

Another area that the Choice book polls the participants surrounds security and how these eservices would be accessed. The Choice book wants to know if Canadians would share information such as email, address, name and birth date. I see no issue with sharing this information. You hardly can enter a store without the cashier asking for your email address so that they can send you weekly updates. Also, every time you call the bank, the cable company or a credit card company you must validate your identity by answering a few questions such as what is your birthday. The reality is again we share this information all the time without even realizing it sometimes.

The Choicebook suggests that to access these services a user name and password is required. This is typical of any web-based services. Choicebook makes a very valid point that people forget passwords all the time, and suggest that using your banking information may be a good alternative as typically this is one password you tend to use enough that you won’t forget. I agree that the e service access point must be secured with an important, unique number that identifies you and only you however I’m not sure if I completely buy into using my banking information. My suggestion is to use SIN numbers as the unique identifier. It is a distinct number that everyone is given, it will never change and everyone is cautioned not to carry it on them in case of losing it or theft but to memorize the number.

This represents a small insight to how I feel about government eservices, to read more ideas and opinions (not just my point of view), please visit the idea forum http://CitizenCompass.pwc.com. The initiative will continue to be open until May 18^th. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions on the content!

Finding ways to manage my time better

Every month, week and even day that goes by, I am starting to feel like I am having less time to myself. The last thing I need is to wait two hours in line to renew my Ontario health card or wait on the phone for an hour just to book an appointment at the clinic. I am sure we are on the same page with this.

What if there was a way to renew your health card online so you would not have to wait for hours in line? What if you could renew your driver’s license and your vehicle’s licence plate from your iPhone/Blackberry?  

With the 2012 budget released a few weeks back, what if you could get a tailored summary of how it affects you and your family (hopefully in a good way)? I am excited to let you know that the time has come for us to finally stop howling about how inefficient the government is with the services that it provides. Welcome to the Citizen Compass, an online initiative where our opinion and voice will be heard in regards to the types of eservices us Canadians want from our government. This is a channel where for once, we citizens will provide guidance and direction to how the government can save us not only our hard-earned dollars, but also the dreadful hours we spend at government offices and kiosks renewing our licenses, health cards and whatever else we are doing that I personally wish could be done from my couch at home.

Why I’m participating in this initiative

The reason why I am excited to participate in this initiative spearheaded by PwC is because I am constantly looking for ways to be more efficient. I am constantly looking for ways to make the most out of my time. The Citizen Compass will do all of that, and a lot more. I am excited to share my thoughts and ideas with PwC in regards to how governments can migrate certain services online not only to my laptop, but also to my smart phone and other handheld devices. By partaking in this program, I am excited to suggest several ideas and spark several discussions that can potentially save us all time and provide customized services from the government. As always, I am also excited to hear your ideas and suggestions.

Join myself and PwC from April 18 to May 18, 2012 to partake in the Citizen Compass, the perfect avenue for us to share our thoughts and ideas in regards to how the government can use emerging technologies to help save us Canadians time and improve access to services! Whether you are a student in university, recent graduate, working man/woman, professor or just a fan of my blog posts, click on the link below to learn more about the program and to join thousands of other Canadians, including myself, to make a difference in the services we are provided by the government. Spare a few minutes now to join the online discussion.  

http://CitizenCompass.pwc.com

Not only does PwC care about saving its clients millions of dollars, but leading this Canada-wide research shows that the firm cares about your time and money as well.

This is just another reason why PwC is a global market leader.

There is a growing public demand for improved government services, access points to these services and the use of emerging technologies to improve citizen experience. This is why I am interested in the Citizen Compass campaign, and this is why you should be too! The focus of the campaign is to give Canadians a chance to voice their opinion, to provide their feedback and to have their insight into the types of electronic services Canadians want from their government.

The reality is everyone uses government services at some point in their life. I am passionate about this topic because like everyone else, I too interact with the government through various services. However I will admit I don’t always find it easy and I also find that in some instances I am unaware or even uneducated of the programs and processes surrounding government services.

We are asking you to participate because you all have a story to share:

• University students have an opinion or have gone through the studentloan process
• New vehicle owners have experienced the process to obtain their vehicle registration
• Every Canadian who travels outside of the country has had an experience with the passport process
• New parents have experiences with registering the birth of their child and all that it entails

The way in which the world works is changing, a vast majority of people use smart phones. This is a time when individuals video chat with friends on their iPhone, surf the internet with the use of their tablet and the use their computer every day for work. We as a society are constantly connected so why can’t the government be too?

PwC wants to hear our opinion so between April 18^th – May 18^th join me in participating in the Citizen Compass initiative. Full details can be found here: http://CitizenCompass.pwc.com.

Also, continue to follow my blog posts, as I share with you my experience throughout the process and my ideas as to what electronic services would be beneficial to see implemented.

How would you improve government services using emerging technologies?

Share your ideas and opinions through online platform, Citizen Compass. From April 18 to May 18, you can join more than 2,000 Canadians by participating via two avenues in the Citizen Compass site:

• The Idea Forum where you share and vote on ideas, and
• The Choicebook featuring different government service options.

In late June 2012, PwC will analyze and share the results with the general public and government decision-makers.

Two of our bloggers, Fahad and Katherine, will participate and share their experiences below as well as answer your questions during this four-week initiative.  To participate and connect with them and other Canadians, visit http://CitizenCompass.pwc.com or http://lePoulsduCitoyen.pwc.com.

Katherine and Fahad's Citizen Compass blog posts:

The Citizen Compass: Voice Your Opinion Now! By Fahad
My feedback on the Citizen Compass crowd-sourcing platform by Katherine
The Citizen Compass: Let’s guide our future together! by Fahad
PwC wants your opinion on government eservices by Katherine