Redesign online services for people and business

Work with the Ministries of Advanced Education and Skills Development, Health and Long-Term Care, and Government and Consumer Services (ServiceOntario) on a number of high-priority projects that will make it easier and more convenient for people to interact with government. This service redesign will begin with these ministries and then focus on redesigning high-impact services or services handling more than 5,000 transactions per year.

Deliver a consistent, high-quality user experience

Establish a Digital Service Standard that sets a new benchmark for exceptional service online and requires all new or redesigned public-facing information and services to meet this new Standard before they go live. The Digital Service Standard will be based on service design principles, consistent online design patterns, internet-era technology guidelines, web content style guides and related standards. A new assessment process will also be introduced to ensure user needs are woven into public services from the earliest concept stage and throughout the service life cycle.

Attract and nurture the best digital talent

To attract and cultivate world-class digital talent we need to find new and innovative ways to recruit, retain and develop high-performing digital teams. This includes experimenting with new approaches to recruiting and nurturing digital skills across the Ontario Public Service. The Chief Digital Officer will provide strategic advice in recruiting key positions at the senior executive level, including CIOs, while establishing new talent pipelines to support both the ODS and partner delivery teams, such as the development of digital communities of practice. The ODS will also introduce new digital training and development opportunities that will support staff by providing opportunities to advance their digital skill sets.

Enhance Ontario.ca — a world-class online platform

Enhance Ontario.ca, the province’s flagship website and the destination for government information and services online. Develop and continue to provide support for the online publishing platform for Cabinet Office Communications as they lead government communications and marketing priorities. Continue to support corporate web applications used by Cabinet Office Communications, such as the leading-edge Newsroom platform. The ODS will also prioritize new features, work with ministries to complete the transition to Ontario.ca, and retire duplicate content on gov.on.ca websites once migrations are completed to the site.

Build stronger partnerships with digital suppliers

Test new, more flexible procurement approaches to attract a diverse range of digital service suppliers to government. Drive the adoption of cloud and open source technologies, data-driven iterative development, APIs, and security and privacy best practices to safeguard data and maintain public trust. To support these efforts, the ODS will help the provincial government become a better partner to existing and new suppliers in a changing digital marketplace. In addition to these priorities, the ODS will draw on external expertise to share techniques and technologies to help the government deliver online services designed around user needs.

Set new performance benchmarks for top transactions

Develop common performance measures to evaluate the effectiveness of transactional services, including cost per transaction and completion rate. The ODS will also help ministries collect performance data, and publish and update this data on Ontario.ca, and work with ministries to improve signature services based on user feedback.

Embed service design into policy and program development

Work with ministries to integrate service design practices into a handful of new policy priorities using fully digital ways of working, including user-centred, iterative, multidisciplinary, cloud-first and open source software. In addition to embedding the Digital Service Standard into policy development and program design processes, the ODS will support new training opportunities for public service teams interested in building service design capabilities within their own ministries.

Implement a common approach to digital identity

Work with the Ministries of Government and Consumer Services (ServiceOntario), Health and Long-term Care and Transportation to develop a common, scalable and secure way for people to identify themselves online while protecting their privacy. Focus on making it easier for users to complete online services with government while ensuring that they are ready to be adopted across government as a whole.

Foster a digital economy

Work with key ministries, private sector and not-for-profit internet and technology organizations to address disruptive technologies and related opportunities emerging from the digital economy. For example, the Chief Digital Officer is working closely with ServiceOntario, the federal government and the City of Toronto on a blockchain proof of concept.

Create inclusive digital services

Deliver intuitive government services that are accessible to anyone who needs to use them. By supporting the advancement of ministry digital literacy work and inclusion initiatives, the ODS will help create a society where everyone can participate in, and benefit from, digital technologies in their lives.