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Showcase Ontario 2008 - September 8-10, 2008 - Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building
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September 8-10, 2008
Showcase Ontario 2008 - Awards of Excellence We would like to congratulate all of this year’s Diamond Award recipients! The awards were handed out on Tuesday, September 9, 2008 at the Diamond Awards of Excellence dinner. A detailed list of the winners is listed below. Pictures from the event will be posted online in the coming weeks. Serving Ontario’s Citizens Better Diamond Winner
Water Testing Information System
Ontario’s Water Testing Information System has been upgraded and expanded to include all twelve public health laboratories. In its sixth version, the system enables private citizens who have their own source of drinking water to submit it for testing. The ministry took a proactive approach, engaging customers and staff to improve the system and increase citizen safety. Test results are now available in as little as two business days through an automated telephone service, compared to some locations taking up to nine days to provide the same results. In 2008, a Teletypewriter service was added for customers with hearing challenges. If drinking water is considered “unsafe to drink” the local Public Health Department telephones to inform the resident they should immediately stop drinking the water. Merit Award Winners
Increase in Bandwidth Enabled by Smart Systems for Health Agency (SSHA)
This province-wide project is increasing network bandwidth to enable health care providers to maximize the benefits of e-Health technologies. The Smart System for Health Agency engaged all the Local Health Integration Networks to establish a list of priority sites. The first implementation, in the North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN is helping more than 20 of its largest organizations improve health care services to residents. Bandwidth speeds have increased between three to 40 times previous speeds, allowing electronic transmission of digital images. Now, a radiologist can read and report on an x-ray in just one hour and doctors can quickly collaborate on a diagnosis leading to faster treatment. Video conferencing is now possible, enhancing health care for rural patients and significantly reducing their need to travel.The Identity, Authentication, Authorization service within the government (ONe-Key)
After considerable effort in assessing potential alternatives, the Identity, Authentication, Authorization service was developed. Called the One-Key ID, the service provides the customer with an anonymous account that is used to access one or many government programs. The first of its kind in the province, the system currently provides all the advantages to business users of a single sign-on, while maintaining security and privacy across multiple programs and applications. Government employees now have fewer identifiers and passwords, along with easy and convenient 24/7 access to program resources.ServiceOntario’s Office of the Registrar General Contact Centre Service Improvement
Imagine you need to register a major life event, such as your child’s birth. Previously you might have made numerous calls to get beyond a busy signal. Or you may have had to wait an average of 45 minutes before you spoke to an agent. Cleary this was not the level of service that the Registrar General’s Contact Centre wished to provide. Through fundamental work, involving frequent consultation with Service Ontario’s front- line call centre agents, 80% of calls are now answered within 20 seconds. Busy signals are eliminated. Thanks to this customer-driven initiative, Ontarians can now choose a self-serve experience or speak to an agent within three minutes. Working Together Diamond Winner Child, Youth and Family Crisis Line for Eastern Ontario
In Eastern Ontario nine agencies partnered to integrate existing services into one region-wide crisis response system for children, youth and families. Gone is the confusion about which organization to call in a time of crisis. Now, one bilingual crisis telephone line is available 24/7 with designated and trained staff to refer callers to the most appropriate agency. The first of its kind in Ontario, the Crisis Line improves service access for clients by expanding to rural areas, while improving co-ordination and reducing service duplication. In addition to significant administrative and communication efficiencies, unexpected cost savings were achieved as the region experienced 4% fewer calls to police and 6% fewer calls to hospitals. 89% of surveyed callers were satisfied or very satisfied with the service. Merit Award Winners Client Information Management System
More than 100 social services agencies in Northern Ontario collaborated to implement a leading-edge, web-based client information management system. The goal was to expand and improve the system to better facilitate social service delivery to children and their families, as well as adults with developmental disabilities. By working together, the partners saved more than $277,700.00 while gaining access to resources and expertise they would not have had by themselves. The system enables geographically dispersed staff in different agencies to share client information. This means clients spend less time repeating their personal story or waiting for file transfers. As well, the system promotes communication and integrated thinking between service providers that has the potential to provide even better service to Ontarians in the future. Hospital Diagnostic Repository Services and Diagnostic Imaging Picture Archiving and Communications System Project
Ontario Disability Support Program Client Communications
Ontario disability support program recipients used to receive inconsistent and potentially unclear information, depending on how and where a letter was produced. To improve communication to this vulnerable group of Ontario citizens, partners from all levels in the Ontario Public Service, municipal government, external stakeholders and the community, implemented a solution that leveraged existing technology. The client communication application contains 99 standardized letters, available in French or English, which can be generated in under 35 seconds. Caseworkers can now spend more time interacting with clients. Clear communication and a 99% reduction in errors has resulted in fewer queries to field offices. Cost savings in printing and translation will continue to grow as more than 100,000 letters have been sent to clients to date. Innovation Diamond Winner OPS Virtual Career Fair on Second Life
In a competitive business environment, attracting youth and new professionals to the Ontario Public Service can be challenging. But the OPS Virtual Career Fair has revolutionized the way OPS markets its careers. This dynamic, interactive new tool was developed on “Second Life”, a 3-D virtual world environment. Using the virtual career fair, visitors to the site create avatars and walk through rich, interactive landscapes. They can choose to visit five “Career Showcase Stations’, each representing a real OPS work environment – a hospital, laboratory, forest fire, traffic media centre and business development centre. Visitors can fight forest fires, perform CPR in a hospital, test water samples and more. To date the Career Fair has logged contact with prospective employees from North America, Asia and Europe – achieving a global marketing outreach, with very little cost/investment.Merit Award Winners Mobile GIS Application for Roadside Assets Inspection
The introduction of the Mobile GIS Application has transformed the process of conducting annual road surface inspections -- from paper-based to an easily accessible digital system. Tablet PCs loaded with GIS applications were mounted on City tri-cycles and deployed as a mobile system. Dramatic efficiencies were quickly realized as Scarborough Road Operations Unit field staff were able to conduct more road inspections, increase the quality and reliability of recorded information and reduce response times. One hundred percent of Scarborough sidewalk inspections are now conducted using the new system and plans are underway to expand the mobile GIS application to other areas of the City. Trillium Health Centre’s HIAL: TOWARDS AN Electronically integrated community care services model Ensuring the smooth flow of information among hospitals, patients, families, clinicians, health providers and other key audiences is an enormous challenge. HIAL is a new solution developed by the Trillium Health Centre that enables information to be moved from numerous locations, integrated in a central hub and seamlessly delivered to a required destination. Now, diagnostic test results, hospital dictations and notifications of hospital admissions, transfers and discharges can be distributed securely and in real time to a family physician’s electronic chart. Enormous time-savings have been realized – multiple transactions can be accomplished in just minutes, compared with the traditional paper-based system that took several days. And easy access to accurate, up-to-date information from multiple sources translates to safe, more efficient care for patients. Integrated Birth Registration – Smart Systems for Health Agency Integration
The online Integrated Birth Registration is a “one stop” convenient service that allows parents to register the live birth of their newborns, register for a health card and apply for a Social Insurance Number all in one easy transaction. The project team demonstrated an ability to look beyond the traditional ways of doing business to achieve this powerful new tool. When the integrated model was first conceptualized, the team saw potential in the framework of the existing Notice of Live Birth service and seized the opportunity to expand it and make it accessible across Ontario. They also demonstrated innovation and creativity by meeting numerous cost, timelines, hardware and technical challenges. Small Project Achievement Award Diamond Winner Record and Document Management System (RDMS) Pilot Project
When information is dispersed, it is estimated that OPS staff could spend eight hours per week in document search related activities. To reduce this time, the Information Management and Architecture Branch of the Children, Youth and Social Services I&IT Cluster partnered with the Northern Region to implement an Enterprise Information Management solution to centrally manage all forms and information in geographically dispersed offices. This is the first OPS project to approach a Records and Document Management System solution using business analysis and key processes. 94% of key users in the pilot project indicate strong acceptance. The early estimate for document searching is only two hours per week. Applied OPS-wide, this represents a total potential savings of 536 million dollars per year.Merit Award Winners Knowledge Management of Land Registration Information – ServiceOntario DataLink and ServiceOntario Land Registration Information Bundle
ServiceOntario’s Policy and Regulatory Services Branch is the primary source of information and guidance for the land registration system in Ontario. Members of eChannel, eGovernment, PRSB and others formed a project team that developed and launched the DataLink Land Registration Information application and Land Registration Information Bundle. Both initiatives have efficiently replaced time-consuming methods of retrieving, storing and searching the very large amount of information and guidance about land registration. Available through the OPS Intranet and ServiceOntario website, both internal and external customer service is greatly improved. Since all 54 land registry offices are using the same source of information, DataLink has decreased the time senior staff answer front line questions by 44 percent. Toronto Social Services Mail Merge
Toronto Social Services staff generates more than 400,000 correspondences a year to clients and service partners. The previous letter writing process was labour intensive, inconsistent and costly. To help streamline and better manage this process, Toronto Social Services staff developed Mail Merge, a Web-based application that can integrate with other technologies. A personalized letter can now be created in 35 seconds, and requires approximately 80% fewer tasks and resources. It saves more than 67,000 staff hours annually and nearly 60,000 dollars a year in printing and labeling costs. Since Mail Merge saves all correspondence to a database, any staff member can easily view an account history to efficiently address and inquiry. Clients also find the consistent and straightforward language used, easy to understand. Toronto Social Services kids@computers
The term “digital divide” describes a growing gap between the education and employment prospects of children whose families can afford to buy a computer and those whose families cannot. But the Kids at Computers Scholarship Project helps narrow this divide by awarding children with a home computer and basic computer training. The project staff struggled to manually process 4,000 applications every year. Now there’s a technology solution which automates the administrative processes enabling staff to spend more time helping clients. The work required to create reports was reduced by 90 percent and the amount of time to schedule client training was reduced by 75 percent. As a result, the City has been able to dramatically increase the number of Kids at Computers scholarship recipients.Government Modernization Diamond Winner Ontario MD Portal
Ontario MD dot CA is a portal connecting physicians and their healthcare team members to a wide range of online information, tools and applications to help deliver efficient, quality healthcare. Physicians and other experts are involved in the development of the portal and its features to ensure it meets their needs. Physicians use the portal to quickly search drug information, look up research in journals/textbooks, download patient education materials and access clinical practice guidelines. In addition to providing physicians with access to future e-Health applications, resources on the portal will be integrated into electronic medical record systems. In two and half years, the OntarioMD portal has reached 67% of its estimated target audience, with 9,000 registered users. Merit Award Winners Modernizing Ontario’s Systems for Tax Administration (MOST)
The Modernizing Ontario’s System for Tax Administration (MOST) project is one of the largest business transformation and information technology initiatives currently underway by the Ontario government. It involves replacing more than 60 legacy systems, consolidating administration, re-engineering business processes and improving service to more than one million tax clients. In December 2007, the first phase was successfully launched; a new, integrated tax administration computer system for Retail Sales Tax (RST). At 17 billion dollars, RST represents the largest piece of Ontario’s 39 billion dollars in tax revenue. This project demonstrates strong governance, partnerships, client consultation and change management. It was also implemented on-time and on-budget. Clients will benefit by enhanced services, reduced compliance costs and a single point of contact. EVISTA
In the past, over one hundred paper copies of each final cabinet submission were printed – amounting to thousands every year. Each ministry had its own system to The Evista solution brings the cabinet submission process into the 21st century. All 28 ministries are saving valuable time using Evista to track and monitor cabinet submissions, including policy, financial and statutory submissions and proposed laws. Evista improves access to more accurate information and enables staff across the province to communicate and collaborate. Senior executives have an integrated perspective that is critical to ministries’ ability to deliver services. Fleet Services Driver Tracking System
The Fleet Services Driver Tracking system replaces the different ways that seven municipalities did business. Now, with this sophisticated information management tool, city staff can easily track and manage driver training, qualifications and safety records of more than 10,000 permanent employees and up to 5,000 seasonal employees. Developed in-house, the system has helped the city achieve amalgamation goals and meet public safety and compliance requirements. Less manual administration means trainers have more time to focus on training and management is pleased with the system’s amalgamated reports. In addition, over the last five years, the city has saved 4.2 million dollars because the Fleet Services Driver Tracking system automatically interfaces with Ministry of Transportation driver abstracts. Green Technology Award Diamond Winner NMAN – OMAFRA’s Nutrient Management Computer Program
Farmers across Ontario can dramatically reduce the environmental impact of their farming practices by using the powerful NMAN (Nutrient Management Computer) Program. NMAN is a software tool that educates Ontario farmers on how to effectively manage nutrients such as commercial fertilizer and manure in an environmentally responsible manner. NMAN was first introduced more than 10 years ago and the most recent version of the program was released in May 2008. Since its inception, the program has assisted farmers to reduce nitrogen use by half a million tons and phosphate use by almost one million tons. Using NMAN, farmers can also learn how to minimize soil erosion, appropriately size manure storages to prevent spillage and reduce the usage of commercial fertilizer. Merit Award Winners Electronic Mailroom Services (EMS)
Electronic Mailroom Services provides a rich new electronic document solution that has enabled the Ministry of Revenue to promote a paperless office and reduce the carbon footprint of its facilities. EMS reduces the environmental impact of the Ministry across a number of areas by automating and streamlining its mailroom and document handling processes. EMS technology now enables the capture of high quality certified images of these documents, dramatically reducing the need to catalogue and store millions of pieces of paper. The transition to electronic paper management also enables cost savings: through reduced fuel consumption as the need for mail trucks is substantially reduced; and lowered electricity costs resulting from the reduced need for storage facilities. Online Training Tools – Use of Live Meeting
Each year staff from across the Business Services Division’s more than 80 court locations attend training sessions to upgrade their skills. The introduction of Microsoft Live Meeting now enables the Division to offer these sessions online and in real time. The use of Live Meeting has realized a number of environmental benefits. As staff no longer have to travel to a central location, fuel consumption and emissions and pollution are reduced. Live Meeting also provides electronic material which eliminates the need to photocopy training manuals. In addition to its environmental benefits, with Live Meeting participants can record training events and store them locally or on the service. These become valuable training assets that can be viewed on demand. Justice Technology Services Knowledge Centre
The Justice Technology Services (JTS) Knowledge Centre is a highly collaborative system that enables online collaboration and centralized document management among JTS employees regardless of where they are located. Built on SharePoint 2007, the Centre quickly realized tangible environmental benefits. Just in time online collaboration has reduced staff travel time by more than 50 percent, resulting in a corresponding reduction in energy consumption. The demand on network bandwidth and e-mail storage has been reduced by 10 percent. SharePoint also automates common business processes that eliminate paper-driven tasks, improves end-user productivity and enables more effective internal controls. The centre has met with a tremendous reception and many routine work activities have undergone a radical transformation. I&IT Organization Outstanding Mentor Award Presented to: Wynnann Rose, Director, Service Management, Infrastructure Technology Services of the Ministry of Government Services. 2008 CCIO Award Modernizing Ontario’s Systems For Tax Administration- MOST- Contributors to this initiative included Infrastructure Technology Services of the Ministry of Government Services, and the Revenue Operations and Client Services Branch of the Ministry of Finance
The Modernizing Ontario’s System for Tax Administration (MOST) project is one of the largest business transformation and information technology initiatives currently underway by the Ontario government. It involves replacing more than 60 legacy systems, consolidating administration, re-engineering business processes and improving service to more than one million tax clients. In December 2007, the first phase was successfully launched; a new, integrated tax administration computer system for Retail Sales Tax (RST). At 17 billion dollars, RST represents the largest piece of Ontario’s 39 billion dollars in tax revenue. This project demonstrates strong governance, partnerships, client consultation and change management. It was also implemented on-time and on-budget. Clients will benefit by enhanced services, reduced compliance costs and a single point of contact.Showcase Ontario’s 10th Anniversary
The Ontario Government I&IT Strategies In 1998 the Ontario government released an ambitious I&IT strategy. The strategy set in motion a series of reforms which continued through the GO-e-2003 strategy, the e-Ontario strategy and the new Beyond e-Ontario strategy which was officially launched at Showcase this week. Ontario’s strategic approach to I&IT has transformed it into the modern organization it is today. It’s allowed it to move from 28 separate IT departments to 8 clusters under a shared governance, from a fragmented set of infrastructures to one common platform delivered by Infrastructure Technology Services, and from a vast range of different email and other applications to one common desktop and one shared catalogue of common applications and components. All of this has led to the Ontario Government being recognized in Professor Sanford Borin’s 2007 book as a digital state which is “at the leading edge”. The Ontario Government’s I&IT Strategies are truly worthy of the 10th Anniversary Showcase Award. Award Presented to: Scott Campbell, Joan McCalla and Rob Dowler |
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