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The Government of Canada's Web site is among the top five most frequented sites in the country. However, before Ottawa extends its initiative to Web-enable more federal services, the security of data and personal privacy issues must be addressed.

Canadians certainly seem anxious to take advantage of Web-based services offered by the federal government. For example, 1.5 million people filed their year 2000 tax returns via the Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency's Netfile service last year. As well, the federal government's redesigned Web site (www.canada.gc.ca), officially launched in February 2001, has become one of the top five accessed sites in Canada, according to consulting firm Accenture.

However, there is one huge stumbling block the Canadian federal government has to overcome before Web-enabling more of its transactional-based services -- security.

"For government services to really go online, they've got to protect the privacy and security of access to data," said Graeme Gordon, partner responsible for Accenture's e-government practice. "So they need a mechanism for people to feel comfortable that they can do some of these transactions."

In an effort to provide a secure authentication mechanism to its user, in June 2001, a contract to establish the Government of Canada's Secure Channel project was awarded to Bell Nexxia Inc. for $57.1 million. According to Michelle d'Auray, CIO for the Government of Canada, the Secure Channel portion of the Government On-Line (GOL) initiative "will provide the common infrastructure that will allow Canadians to conduct electronic transactions with the government of Canada in a secure environment."

The channel's first implementation, which is expected to be launched this April, will be the Canadian Customs and Revenue Agency's (CCRA) Address Change On-Line application.

"The application will have the ability to authenticate individuals and will provide Canadians with the opportunity to advise the government of Canada of a change in their address securely using the Internet," said d'Auray.

Other online applications expected to be rolled out in the short term include the Canada Pension Plan/Old Age Security program, as well as employment insurance applications. Employers will also be able to complete Record of Employment forms online. These will join patent filling, business registration and company incorporation solutions available online.

In August 2001, NFO Interactive conducted the Canadian On-Line Government Monitor study to determine which online government services they have used or would like to use. File/pay taxes was ranked No. 1 (66.7 per cent), followed by renew driver's licence (52.1 per cent), register to vote (48.1 per cent) and vote in local, provincial or federal elections (44.5 per cent). Other responses included apply for a new passport or passport renewal, pay traffic/vehicle tickets, apply for health/social/welfare services, and obtain building or similar permits.

While Bell Nexxia may have cashed in on one of the more sizeable federal government projects associated with the GOL initiative, there are still many formidable opportunities available to resellers.

"They (the federal government) understand what it means to contract out. They understand the benefits to them. They understand the process for doing that and they have spent a lot of money doing it. So it's a very good market for the vendors to play in," said Michael Martineau, director of business development for xwave, which has worked with the federal government on many projects over the past few years.

The advantage, from a vendor (and VAR) perspective of dealing with the government is that they tend to take a longer term view because of the budgeting process," said Martineau. "If you work with them, you can get a good understanding of where they're looking to go, what their issues are -- and (the VAR) can be in a position to help them do that."

Projects xwave have been involved in include the re-vamping of the Web site for the government's Communications Security Establishment, the arm of the government responsible for information security.

"They've had a bit of a bad rap as being spooks and spies on Canadians," said Martineau. "So part of trying to re-make their image (was) communicate more effectively what they do."

Xwave also built the federal government's electronic directory, which houses information regarding all government employees with respect to what they are authorized to do and see.

According to d'Auray, contracting related specifically to the GOL project is almost exclusively for services. However, when services are being revamped in such a dramatic fashion as the governments are, often entire infrastructures are also overhauled.

While the government will almost assuredly go for the lowest price when it comes to buying technology, if you provide a value-add solution that addresses a business problem then you're more apt to get the contract, said Martineau.

"Vendors can't supply all the services and product necessary. Nor can they supply heterogeneous products," said Paul Edwards, director of strategic partnering and alliances for IDC Canada. That's where VARs can take advantage of vendor partnerships, as well as the influence of consultants.

"Vendors certainly want to be able to influence those organizations (consultants), if they can, to make that purchase decision -- ultimately that particular vendor's product," said Edwards. "That's not an easy thing to do because a lot of those guys are brand agnostic. But then it's important for VARs, for instance, to partner, if they can, with those organizations in order to get that part of the business."

According to Gordon, in order to move the GOL initiative along, the government needs to consider private sector partnerships.

"It's a model that governments aren't used to working in," he said. "I think more and more, because of the funding challenge, that's a model that is going to be required to be successful."

In the December 2001 Federal Budget, the GOL project was allocated $600 million over four years. The GOL initiative's completion date was also extended by one year from 2004 to 2005.

While the government has been allotted a large sum of money to push its Web-enabling program, Martineau said resellers looking to become involved in the GOL project need to understand what has to be accomplished with those funds.

"They don't have the same type of IT budget as some of the larger private sector organizations (like) banks for example. Yet, they're being expected to step up to the same set of delivery standards as the private sector," said Martineau. "They're saying, 'I can do these types of things with the bank (use the ATM; online transactions), why can't I, Mr. Government, do it with you?"'

Part of the reason why the federal government is working towards Web-enabling many of its most frequently used transactional services, is to become more efficient. And like the private sector, which utilizes customer relationship management, Gordon said the government must create its own CRM definition -- citizen relationship management.

"(The government) is starting to realize that they've got to treat citizens as customers. What that means really is being able to treat citizens in a consistent and efficient manner across all the different channels," said Gordon. "People (in government) are starting to recognize that (the) private sector's been doing CRM for a while (and) that these principles do in deed apply to the government."

While it's easy to replace 'customer' with 'citizen' and say you want to apply a CRM solution within the government, actually doing it is another story. Which brings the argument back to security "The principles of government have been to make sure that data that's being collected from individuals for different uses, is only being used with the intent that it was originally approved by the individual who gave it to them," said Gordon. "That's the difference in the private sector versus the public (sector, which) is very cautious about sharing their data across government departments to make sure they're not breaking any privacy regulations."

It's nice to know that at least one organization on the Web cares about what it does with the information it collects from us.