Appendix A: Glossary of Terms

Alternative Service Delivery: Alternative Service Delivery involves a wide range of approaches to streamlining or improving government's delivery of services to itself, the public and stakeholders. ASD solutions help to:

• Drive cost savings or avoid future costs — such as capital required to build new systems;
• Enhance service levels;
• Increase private sector involvement in the delivery of services, thereby allowing government to focus on its core business; and
• Support economic development and growth in British Columbia.

Examples of ASD are:

• Direct delivery — government delivers programs and services through its ministries;
• Agencies — programs and services are delegated to a third party serving on behalf of government;
• Shared services — consolidation of "like" programs and services into a single operating unit that services the needs of multiple ministries (see shared services below);
• Outsourcing — programs and services are provided by private sector companies under contractual arrangements;
• Public-private partnerships (P3s) — formal agreement to provide programs and services in partnership with private sector companies with a transfer of risk and an appropriate allocation of reward; and
• Divesture/privatization — government sells its assets or interests in a program or service to the private sector.

The ASD Project Secretariat focuses primarily on large-scale information technology and business process outsourcing initiatives.

Authentication: Authentication is any process that verifies that someone is who he or she claims to be. This usually involves a user name and password but can include other methods.

Best Practice: A superior method or innovative practice that contributes to the improved performance of an organization, usually recognized as "best" by other peer organizations. Also known as competitive benchmarking, the methodology that determines state-of-industry performance or application.

Broadband: Broadband technology refers to high-speed Internet access, which makes it possible to send text, video and voice by cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), fibre optics, or wireless connections. It eliminates waiting for dial-up connections and greatly improves the efficiency and ease of using the Internet.

Broader public sector: Other levels of government (federal and municipal governments) and other public sector agencies that provide services. These include regional health authorities, schools and universities, and provincial Crown corporations.

Client: (see also "customer") An organization that purchases the service solutions offered by the Ministry of Management Services, allowing the organization to focus on its core business.

Examples of clients:

• Ministries purchase the services of CITS and Common Business Services.
• The Ministry of Human Resources relies on Government Agents to deliver programs in communities where the Ministry of Human Resources has no office.

Community: Any location in British Columbia with a place name and either a public school, a library, or health care facility. (As defined by the Premier's Technology Council.)

Customer: (see also "client") An individual who receives a service or product from the Ministry of Management Services. Customers may be members of the public, businesses, or government staff.

Examples of customers:

• A citizen who visits a Government Agent Office to enquire about the programs of the Ministry of Human Resources.
• Government staff who contact the CITS Help Desk to resolve an information technology issue, or who contact CAS to track and reconcile payments to vendors.

Digital Divide: Those communities without broadband and therefore without access to the many basic programs and services it enables, such as e-learning, e-health and e-government.

e-Government: Government activities that take place by digital processes over a computer network, usually the Internet, between the government and members of the public and entities in the private sector, especially regulated entities. These activities generally involve the electronic exchange of information to acquire or provide products or services, to place or receive orders, to provide or obtain information, or to complete financial transactions. The anticipated benefits of e-Government include reduced operating costs for government institutions and regulated entities, increased availability since government services can be accessed from virtually any location, and convenience due to round-the-clock availability. In addition, e-government provides direct communications between legislators and their constituents via e-mail.

Governance: "The process by which stakeholders articulate their interests, their input is absorbed, decisions are taken and decision-makers are held accountable." (Institute of Governance; http://www.iog.ca) In addition to the process of decision-making, governance also includes the decision-making structure and accountability frameworks. In the case of the Ministry of Management Services, governance falls under the responsibility of the Chief Information Officer. The CIO establishes the decision-making structure and accountabilities associated with the use of information communication technology across government, including co-ordinating the Information Resource Management Planning (IRMP) process, developing the e-BC Strategy on electronic service delivery, and oversight governance of projects such as bridging the digital divide. In addition, the CIO has responsibility for the corporate privacy and information access functions of government.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT): ICT systems management is the application of modern electronic and computing capabilities (technology) to the creation and storage of meaningful and useful facts or data (information), and to its transmission to users by various electronic means (communication).

Information Technology: General term used to describe technologies that help produce, manipulate, store, communicate, or disseminate information. Includes both hardware and software.

Next generation: Designates the next version of a software program or technology. Much of the commercial Internet technology used today was built on first-generation applications; now programmers are developing next generation applications.

Portal: The first place people see when using the web. Typically, a portal site has a catalog of websites, a search engine, or both. A portal site also may offer e-mail and other personalized services to people who use the site as their main "point of entry" (hence "portal") to the web.

Procurement: All of the processes involved in requesting, ordering, auditing, and paying for goods and services.

Shared Services: Simply put, shared services means that all ministries share a common set of internal management services (finance, information technology, payroll, and procurement and supply), rather than duplicating these functions across ministries. Many people believe that shared services simply means consolidating or centralizing services. In fact, Shared Services is a "best practice" approach to reducing costs. Creating a Shared Services organization involves far more than consolidation. The Shared Services approach includes:

• modifying policies and streamlining processes;
• standardizing processes and leveraging expertise;
• using technology to drive out further efficiencies; and
• driving continuous improvement.

The shared services approach has other characteristics that set it apart. Shared services is client-led. Clients are involved in determining the services they want to receive. Shared services organizations value and use input from clients and industry experts to continuously improve service delivery and reduce costs. Generally speaking, governance (rules, policies and regulations) is separated from the delivery of services to ensure the organization focuses on service delivery.