National Roll-Out Training. Course Objectives Highlight the global trends and status of e-governance that will guide content management and portal management.

National Roll-Out Training

Course Objectives Highlight the global trends and status of e-governance that will guide content management and portal management Review the national strategies and standards for e- governance in Iraq and what they mean for content management and portal management Examine the complexity and interrelations between the different elements at the front-end and back-end that make up the portal management system Understand the content development and management process, particularly using adaptive content, metadata and taxonomy for a unified, citizen-centric and multi-channel delivery of content

Course Objectives Study the Web design principles—usability and accessibility Provide an overview of the governance structure, roles and workflow for content management and portal management Explore the common features of a content management system and the ways in which they can help to manage portals and websites Discuss the options and processes for diversifying e- content delivery and promoting e-participation

Provide an overview of the global trends in e- governance Discuss the status of e-governance in the Arab region and in Iraq Define key terms including content, content management, portal and portal management

Global e-Governance Trends Countries are moving to an integrated unified whole- of-government model Countries are paying closer attention to multichannel service delivery Countries are engaging more closely with citizens

Whole-of-government Model From silos to an integrated approach Driven by various societal forces such as: 1. Growing complexity of problems that call for collaborative responses 2. Increased demand from citizens for more personalized and accessible public services 3. Opportunities presented by the Internet to transform

Whole-of-government Model The product of this model is an integrated one-stop shop portal Two approaches: 1. One national integrated portal e.g. Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, Republic of Korea, UAE, USA 2. More than one portal, with thematic and/or functional services integrated in a manner that finds e-information separate from e-services or e-participation e.g. Most countries from the European Union

Multichannel Service Delivery The provision of public services by various means in an integrated and coordinated way so that users receive consistent information and services across channels Driven by: 1. Diverse needs and demands of citizens for services 2. Reach out to as many people as possible, no matter how poor, illiterate or isolated

Multichannel Service Delivery Mix of channels, complemented by human interaction and networks Online – web portal, website, email, online chat Mobile devices – mobile web, mobile application, SMS, cell broadcasting Telephone and fax Contact centre - can handle voice, Internet and written channels (fax and regular mail) Community service centres or telecentres or kiosks Government counters

Citizen Centric – Why? Governments recognize that the benefits of e-governance services are very much determined by the number and type of users of these services, and the frequency of their use Citizens uptake of e-governance services generally low, e.g. 32% in EU countries A shift from what services governments can provide to what citizens really need The focus on citizen-centric portal design, conduct of customer survey satisfaction and involvement of citizens in consultations and decision-making processes are evidence of this trend

Degree of Citizen Engagement The United Nations e-Government Survey measures the degree of e-participation against three benchmarks: 1. Does the national government publish information on items under consideration? (e-information) 2. Are there ways for the public to engage in consultations with policy makers, government officials and one another? (e-consultation) 3. Can citizens directly influence decisions, for example by voting online or using a mobile telephone? (e- decision-making)

Question What do you think are the implications of these trends on content management and portal management?

Stages of e-Governance Stage 1 Emerging Information Services Web presence Stage 2 Enhanced Information Services Simple two- way communication Stage 3 Transactional Services Services (financial and non-financial) available 24/7 Stage 4 Connected Services Integration and citizen empowerment

Question At what stage of e-governance do you think Iraq is at?

E-Government Development Ranking (Source: UN e-Government Survey 2012) Country20102012 Republic of Korea11 United Arab Emirates4928 Bahrain1336 Saudi Arabia5841 Qatar6248 Kuwait5063 Lebanon9387 Jordan5198 Syria133128 Iraq136137 Yemen164167 SomaliaN/A190

Bahrain (http://www.bahrain.bh) e-Government Authority established in 2007 to coordinate and execute e-government initiatives Work teams were created in all government ministries and entities to accelerate the transformation towards e-services Delivers e-services through multiple channels: e-government portal, mobile portal, national contact centre (a 24/7 call centre), and e- services centres and kiosks A customer charter ensures customer centricity of service delivery through the development of well-defined service levels and customer grievance redressal systems By the end of 2010, the customer satisfaction index reached 92% among individuals, 93% businesses, and 70% government employees

Qatar (http://portal.www.gov.qa) A governance model was established that included: Sponsor GroupSteering Committee Program Management CommitteeProject Steering Committee Project Delivery TeamsUser Committees Extensive new ICT infrastructure has been constructed to support the full integration of government service They include: Government NetworkGovernment Data Centre Government Contact CenterGovt Resources Planning Payment PlatformPublic Key Infrastructure Information Security Governance

Saudi Arabia (http://www.saudi.gov.sa) Some government agencies have been successful in implementing e-services, delivering over 50% of their e-services as full transactional services eDashboard portal verifies the identity of the citizen and serves as a single sign-on portal where citizens can access all services provided The Open Data Initiative makes information publicly available, encouraging e-participation

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (http://www.dubai.ae) Shared Services approach Centrally focused on building common parts needed by all offices (e.g., payment, customer support, content management system, hosting, etc.) Government departments were given the freedom to creatively build their own e-services Resulted in standardization, best practices sharing, cost savings and reduced time to market Relieves departments from the efforts and cost of establishing own electronic presence, including the infrastructure and expertise that other departments can utilize

e-Governance in Iraq (http://www.egov.gov.iq) The Iraqi e-Governance Ministerial Steering Committee was established in February 2009 It is chaired by the Minister of Science and Technology and is widely represented by the ministries across Iraq The National e-Governance Strategy and Plan of Action 2012-2015 has been developed and endorsed by the Cabinet of Iraq

e-Governance in Iraq (http://www.egov.gov.iq) Sectoral e-strategies developed. Includes: e-health, e- education, e-municipal works and e-citizens’ personnel records A strategic framework for local government developed to guide coordination and cooperation A Training of Master Trainers Programme on e- Governance initiated in July 2010, followed by roll-out of e-governance training throughout Iraq In July 2011, the e-Governance Iraq portal was launched

e-Governance in Iraq (http://www.egov.gov.iq) Community Services Centres (CSCs) will be established Post offices and youth centres will host the CSCs. The CSCs will be linked with the implementation of the pilot e-services CSCs will address local issues and priorities A Government Interoperability Framework and National Enterprise Architecture developed

Some Key Facts About Iraq (Source: World Bank ICT Little Data Book 2011) 20002009 Lower-middle income group average (2009) 2012 (Source: UN e-Gov Survey) Mobile phone subscriptions (per 100 people) 0.062.657.875.8 Mobile phone usage (minutes per user per month) N/A186342N/A Population covered by mobile phone network (%) N/A7277N/A

Some Key Facts About Iraq (Source: World Bank ICT Little Data Book 2011) 20002009 Lower-middle income group average (2009) 2012 (Source: UN e-Gov Survey) Telephone lines (per 100 people) 2.73.512.75.1 Internet users (per 100 people) 0.01.017.25.6 Fixed broadband Internet subscribers (per 100 people) 0.10.05.50.0

Exercise Because Iraq is considered one of the late adopters of e- governance, you have the advantage of learning from past lessons and failures and build upon and adapt the good practices from other countries Conduct an online research of e-governance in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia or Dubai (select one country) Draw out the lessons learned and good practices for content management and portal management in Iraq Summarize findings on a flipchart for presentation in a plenary

Content Content Management Content Management System Enterprise Content System Portal Portal Management

Content… Content management is the set of processes and technologies that support the planning, collection, development, editing, publishing, preservation and evaluation of information in any form or medium In recent times this information is typically referred to as content or, to be precise, digital content Digital content may take the form of: Text (such as electronic documents) Multimedia files (such as audio or video files) or Other file type that requires management

Content… In a content management process, digital content may be created by one or more authors Over time that content may be edited One or more individuals may provide some editorial oversight thereby approving the content for publication Publishing may take many forms. Publishing may be the act of making the content accessible to all users, or granting digital access rights to certain content to a particular person or group of persons Later that content may be superseded by another form of content and thus retired or removed from use This is an example of a content lifecycle

Content… Content management is a collaborative process. It often consists of the following basic roles and responsibilities: Creator – responsible for creating and editing content Editor – responsible for tuning the content message and the style of delivery, including translation and localization Publisher – responsible for releasing the content for use Administrator – responsible for managing access permissions to folders and files, usually accomplished by assigning access rights to user groups or roles. Administrators may also assist and support users in various ways User/viewer – the person who reads or otherwise takes in content after it is published or shared This process is governed by a set of rules, standards and workflows

Content… A content management system is a system of hardware and software that enables different people (technical and non-technical) to collaboratively create, edit, manage and publish (in a number of formats) a variety of content (text, graphics, video, documents), whilst being constrained by a set of rules, standards and workflows to ensure coherent, validated digital content

Content… Key features of a content management system include the following: Allows those without programming language knowledge to manage digital content Standard templates available for different content types (e.g. news, events, blogs) Able to tag and categorize content Able to track and manage multiple versions of a single instance of content Manages permissions for different users Controls workflow of different content Includes configurations for search engine optimization Provides data and access security

Content… Enterprise content management is the strategies, methods and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver content and documents related to organizational processes An umbrella term covering: Document management Web content management Search Collaboration Records management Digital asset management Workflow management

Portal… A web portal is a website that brings information from diverse sources in a unified way e-Governance portals are one of the most popular channel for offering government services online Portals designed around the needs of citizens or businesses are on the rise The goal of these portals is to provide a single window for public information and services so that citizens, businesses and government employees no longer need to go to different ministries, departments or agencies to find information or complete a transaction e-Governance portals let governments reach out to the citizens around the globe—inexpensively and around the clock as an integrated and single entity

Portal Management Front-end aspects are those functions and features that are visible to the users of the portal. They include: The design, organization, navigation, usability and findability of the portal The types and number of services offered The availability and accessibility, including access through multiple channels and access to all users, including poor, marginalized and disabled groups The increase of citizens’ use of the e-services through awareness and education campaigns The promotion of accountability and transparency The incorporation of security and privacy and the development of citizens’ trust in the use of e-services

Portal Management The back-end involves the internal operations of a government that support core processes and are not accessible or visible to the general public. They include: Business process reengineering to analyse, streamline, consolidate and integrate the steps in a service Change management and motivating personnel Increasing the capacity of the ICT infrastructure to handle the information, services and traffic volumes, cope with a variety of channels and ensure the security of online transactions Defining the ICT architecture that includes development of policies, standards and guidelines for building the ICT infrastructure, including e-government interoperability framework and national enterprise architecture Defining the information architecture that includes a taxonomy, content workflow, and web design and web content guidelines

Summary Trends Whole-of-government model Multi-channel delivery Citizen engagement Status Rapid progress in e-governance particularly in Arab countries An opportunity for Iraq to leapfrog the evolutionary process of e-governance and accelerate e- governance uptake

Provide an overview of the National e-Governance Strategy and Action Plan Explain the Iraqi Government Interoperability Framework (GIF) and National Enterprise Architecture (NEA)

Vision Harness ICT tools to improve basic services to all and to promote all-round good governance, including increased public participation, better social equity and justice as well as a general enhancement of the transparency and effectiveness of public institutions in order to build the necessary platform for a competitive, robust and knowledge-based economy

5 Strategic Goals 1. Strengthen the interaction between citizens and the state to enhance participation of civil society in public affairs and promote social inclusion 2. Disseminate and promote the new e-Governance services within the province so that all citizens have access to them on an equal opportunity standing 3. Increase the capabilities and responsiveness of public institutions through the use of ICTs to achieve better governance and to enhance efficiency, transparency and accountability 4. Contribute to the development of a favorable environment for sound economic growth 5. Foster the development of a knowledge based society and bridging the digital divide

10 Critical Components 1. Awareness Raising and Communication 2. Human Capacity and Resources 3. Government Interoperability, Standards and Applications 4. Organizational and Cultural Change 5. Regulatory Framework 6. Telecommunications Infrastructure 7. Financial Resource Management 8. Monitoring, Evaluation and Assessments 9. Connecting Services and Citizen 10. Data and Information Systems

Others Sectoral e-strategies and roadmaps – Guide development of content and services of the different sectors Strategic framework and action plan for local governments – Basis for planning content management and portal management at the local level

Key Themes To improve interactions with citizens Enable citizens to participate in decision-making Promote transparency and accountability One-stop shop portal envisioned Services will be groups into topics or life events Use everyday language of citizens Ensure all citizens have access to services Create community service centres (CSCs) Link CSCs with implementation of e-services Address local issues and priorities

Action Points Qualify the community centres in the governorates Develop a framework for the use and dissemination of information through mobile phone Coordinate with other ministries to qualify the enquiry offices in the service ministries Conduct customer satisfaction questionnaire

Action Points Identify parameters of governorate e-strategies and the role that they will do to deliver services to citizens Adopt open data policy Develop a mechanism to identify and involve other institutions and help them to develop and increase their available e-services and update their data In addition, a number of studies, standards, policies and plans are proposed

Exercise Study the National e-Governance Strategy Form groups of 2 to 4 people and choose a priority area or action point for discussion. Answer these questions: What are the steps that need to be taken to address the priority/area or action point Who will be involved What are the factors that will determine the success of the initiative? Summarize discussion on a flip chart for presentation

Interoperability The ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged

Benefits to Administrations Help them to do their jobs better, more efficiently, and fulfil their obligations faster at lower cost Speed up the development of public services and supporting systems Better decision-making, allowing data collected by different agencies to be aggregated, and serve as inputs to better, more informed decisions Allow for better coordination of government services resulting in higher added value to citizens and businesses

Benefits to Citizens Interoperability is the foundation of citizen-centric delivery of one-stop-shop services through a variety of channels Enabling the streamlining and simplification of e- government services offered to them (e.g. via integrated/single window-type applications) The seamless flow of information across government and between government and citizens/businesses can contribute to transparency and accountability

e-Government Interoperability Adoption of standards (in a GIF) Architecture (in a NEA)

GIF A set of standards and policies that a government uses to specify the preferred way that its organizations, citizens and partners should interact with each other Business process or organizational interoperability Technical interoperability Information or semantic interoperability

NEA A strategic planning framework that relates and aligns ICT with the governmental functions that it supports Provides a common framework that ensures general coherence between public sector ICT systems at the same time as the systems are optimized in terms of local needs

Open Standards GIFs/NEAs are often based on open standards Minimum characteristics for a standard to be open Easy accessibility for all to read and use Developed by a process that is open and relatively easy for anyone to participate in No control or tie-in by any specific group or vendor

Iraqi GIF/NEA Contains Technical standards – 4 categories Semantic interoperability

Iraqi GIF/NEA – Technical Standards 1. Interconnection/Network – to enable all government departments and employees to communicate with each other using a set of standard protocols and software e.g. HTTP, SOAP, SMTP/MIME, POP3, IMAP, LDAP, TCP, IPv4 / IPv6, IEEE 802.11, and more

Iraqi GIF/NEA – Technical Standards 2. Data Integration – the protocols and standards to allow the recognition, input and output of data e.g. UTF-16, XML, XSL, RDF, UML, and more

Iraqi GIF/NEA – Technical Standards 3. Access and Presentation Access - ensure that content is accessible to citizens with impairments to vision, hearing, speech and mobility Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), version 2.0 Presentation – the format of content for presentation for multiple devices (including websites and mobile phones), and for interchange between ministries, departments and directorates as well as third parties e.g. HTML, XHTML, WML, ODF, OOXML, PDF, CSV, JPEG, MPEG, and more

Iraqi GIF/NEA – Technical Standards 4. Security – lists open standards used to secure information stored and transferred on a government network e,g, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 24762, TLS, S/MIME, WS-I Basic Security Profile and more

Semantic Interoperability Ensures that the precise meaning of exchanged information is understandable by any person or application receiving the data This is accomplished by adding metadata

Metadata Used for Finding digital content Managing digital content Can be applied to Text Images Sound Videos Services

Metadata – Dublin Core Example Title=“APDIP e-Note 5 – Building Online Communities of Practice: The International Open Source Network Model” Creator=“Apikul, Christine” Subject=“Community of Practice Subject=“Open Source” Description= “Discusses the approaches, tools and technologies used by the International Open Source Network to build a participatory, sustainable and ever- expanding community of practice around issues related to free/open source software, open content and open standards.” Publisher=“United Nations Development Programme” Date=“2005" Type= “Text” Format=“application/pdf” Identifier=“http://www.unapcict.org/ecohub/resources/apdip-e-note- 5-2013-building-online-communities-of” Language=”en”

Iraqi GIF Semantic Standards ISO/IEC 11179 Metadata Registry Standard for cataloging and harmonizing data across organizations. Simple Dublin Core Standard for describing Web-based documents Open Archives Initiative – Protocol for Metadata Harvesting Standard for repository interoperability Iraqi e-Government Metadata Standards

Exercise In Iraq, the National e-Governance Strategy and GIF/NEA are key guiding documents for the management of portals and contents From your experience, what other policies, strategies, mechanisms, structures need to be in place to ensure that a whole-of-government, multichannel and citizen- centric e-governance portal can be successfully achieved? What are their statuses? Discussions in small groups will be followed by a plenary session

Summary To promote citizen-centric, whole-of-government, multichannel public service delivery, governments are developing strategies for: Standardized architectures, protocols and applications across organizations to allow systems integration and data sharing Organizational learning and changes to understand and meet citizens’ needs, and enhance collaboration between government organizations

Summary Building trust by introducing accountability and transparency measures and strengthening security and privacy policies More meaningful engagement with citizens—one that makes it possible for individuals to partner with government in creating public value and to participate in their own governance Partnering with private and non-government entities to supplement government’s technological and human capacity and create and deploy applications that serve public needs or support programme management

Discuss a comprehensive framework for portal development and management

Strategic Framework for Portal Management

Implementation Approach/Strategy Portal development as a project Put in place project management processes Set up project management unit Emphasize continuous improvement Manage knowledge Regular monitoring and evaluation involving users Key outputs to guide implementation Project Management Guidelines Knowledge Management / Sharing System

Governance A framework for decision rights and accountabilities 1. Governance model and leadership that is concerned with the authority or decision rights of e- government portals 2. User adoption strategy that is concerned with devising strategies to increase the adoption of e- government portals by users, such as branding and promotion

Governance Model & Leadership Identify roles and relationships needed for policy-setting, control and monitoring the use of the e-governance portal For decisions related to the technology used to develop the portal (ICT governance) For decisions related to the content that goes into the portal (content, workflow, metadata governance) Require strong and influential executive leadership Committees are set up to oversee the governance aspects across business functions

Saudi Arabia’s Yesser Governance Structure Supreme Supervisory Committee Yesser Steering Committee E-Government Program Directorate Project Managers

User Adoption Strategy Branding – Creates portal identity Promotion – “Voice” of the brand to inform, remind and persuade target users Incentives – Financial rebates/discounts or non- monetary conveniences (e.g. extended time to file tax) offered to encourage use of portal Communication – Throughout portal development process and after

Governance Key outputs to guide governance ICT Governance Framework Content Governance Framework Branding and Communication Strategies

IT Strategy IT infrastructure IT architecture

IT Infrastructure A combined set of hardware, software, networks, facilities, etc., in order to develop, test, deliver, monitor, control or support IT services

IT Infrastructure Computer Hardware Operating Systems Enterprise Software Applications Data Management & Storage Networking/Telecommunications Internet Platforms Consulting and System Integration Services

IT Architecture Links IT decision-making and investments with the organization’s business strategy Establishes and defines a consistent, agreed-to process for decision makers to follow in the form of documented procedures, methods, standards, protocols and infrastructure

IT Architecture Layers Access and Presentation Application Data Integration Infrastructure Security Operations

General Principles for IT Decisions Take long-term, high-level view and observe trends Adhere to open standards Adopt stable rather than cutting-edge technologies Adopt appropriate and sustainable technologies

Shared Services A common infrastructure and technology services used by all operating agencies, and for which a central organization plays the primary role in management Includes: Administrative business systems (HR, accounting, logistics, finance System software (operating systems, database management systems) Hardware (servers and network equipment) Communication services to connect with others, including users (bulk emails, SMS service and cell broadcasting)

Share Services Offered by the Government of Dubai for e-Governance: Electronic payment services (ePay) Mobile messaging services (mDubai) Electronic suveys (eSurvey) Cross-government information exchange (SYNC) Statistics on e-services (GESS) Hosting portal services (eHost) Multi-channel contact centres (AskDubai)

Information Strategy A key back-office attribute that decides what information is published and how it is published on an e-governance portal Information architecture Information (content) management

Information Architecture Focuses on: The structure and organization of content Navigation – so that users can browse and move around from page to page with ease Findability – so that users can search for what they want with ease Categorization and description of content Presentation, labeling and layout of content

Content Development and Management Create Update PublishTranslate Archive Retire Focuses on: Content purposes and contexts Content topics and types Content delivery channels Roles and responsibilities for different components of the content life cycle Content work flow Content Life Cycle

Service Delivery Availability – the types, levels and number of services offered via an e-governance portal Accessibility – the ease of attaining information and services offered through an e-governance portal This includes considerations for the disabled and the elderly Key outputs to guide service delivery e-Governance Strategy Accessibility Guidelines

Customer Orientation Segmentation enables managers to target information and services towards specific groups of people. It is an important attribute for ensuring increased use of an e-government portal By beneficiary By department/sector By life events

Customer Orientation Customer Support Automated help and support – FAQs, sitemap Human-intervened help and support – email, chat, phone

Customer Orientation Key outputs to guide customer orientation Customer Charter e-Participation Strategy

Usability The degree of ease with which citizens are able to use an e-governance portal Related to: Efficiency – accuracy and completeness with which users can achieve specific goals Design – graphics, layout, colours, multimedia and other features Key outputs to guide usability Website/Portal Development and Design Guidelines

Trustworthiness Transparency is a characteristic of governments, companies, organizations and individuals that are open in the clear disclosure of information, rules, plans, processes and actions. Accountability means ensuring that officials in public, private and voluntary sector organizations are answerable for their actions and that there is redress when duties and commitments are not met.

Trustworthiness Information security is the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. It is the practice of ensuring that the information being stored is safe from unauthorized access and use, ensuring that the data is reliable and accurate and that it is available for use when it is needed Privacy is the appropriate use of information. This means that organizations should use the information provided to them only for the intended purpose

Trustworthiness Key output to guide trustworthiness Human Rights Charter Open Data Policy Information Security Policy Privacy Policy

Exercise: Linkages In pairs, explore how the different components of the framework are interlinked

Portal Management System National Level Ministry websites that offer information and services on a particular sector or sectors (e.g. agriculture, education, health, employment) e-Services (that may require the involvement of more than one ministries at the back-end) (e.g. e- registration, e-payment, e-procurement)

Example: e-Health Portal Directory of health centres, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, laboratories Collection of images and videos Health-awareness campaigns Vaccination records Scheduling of appointments at government clinics Anonymously ask medical-related questions

Example: e-Health Portal Information about: Diseases First aid Health tips Drug prices Healthy cooking recipes Health tools body mass index and calories calculators

Portal Management System Local Level Local government websites for different governorates, and even districts or communities (managed by the community service centres) e-Governance portals for the different governorates or communities that aggregate information and services

Local Portals Access to local government information and e-services Users can issue and track service request Obtain various licenses, permits and certificates Make payment Look for information related to education, employment health and weather in the locality Multiple channels to communicate with local government See schedule of public consultations Conduct of e-consulations

Community Portals Managed by the Community Service Centres (CSCs) Provide information related to the CSCs (services, training schedule, etc.) Provide regular updates to the community (local weather, cropping and livestock advices, vaccination programmes, school events and cultural news) Provide a platform for community to share knowledge Provide a platform for community to collaborate in creating content

Exercise In groups of 4-6 people, take stock of the different websites and portals currently available and planned in Iraq. Discuss how they link together as part of the national e-governance portal system Creatively draw a diagram showing the linkages of the IT components in the e-governance portal system Draw another diagram showing the linkages of the content components After the exercise, the diagrams are taped to the walls. Participants in their same group can then do a “gallery walk” to view these diagram and take note of how they are similar or dissimilar to the ones s/he drew This is followed by a plenary to discuss the diagrams

Summary A set of strategies, policies and frameworks are essential to help guide the content management and portal management processes to achieve development goals and increase the likelihood of success A strategic approach to content management and portal management involves: o Reviewing existing policies and plans o Focusing on development outcomes o Consulting and engaging with stakeholders o Promoting multi-stakeholder partnerships

Summary National e-Governance Strategy and Action Plan Improve interactions with citizens Enable citizens to participate in decision-making processes Promote accountability and transparency Implement one-stop shop portal Ensure all citizens have access to e-services

Summary Iraqi GIF/NEA GIF addresses technical and semantic interoperability policies and specifications NEA helps connect public administration information systems across Iraq and facilitates the interoperability of e-services for citizens Based on open standards

Summary Portal management framework Back-Office Aspects Implementation Approach / Strategy Governance IT Strategy Information Strategy Front Office Aspects Service Delivery Customer Orientation Usability Trustworthiness

Provide the steps for developing an information architecture Provide the steps for developing a content strategy

Why? Getting the right content to the right people at the right time Content Strategy Information Architecture

Why? e-Governance portals and websites are opportunities to help citizens better their lives by making content: Useful Easy to understand Easy to find Timely Consistent Credible And an information architecture and content strategy aims to make content all of the above

Why? Information architecture and content strategy aims to make the process of developing and managing content: Efficient Effective Integrated For multi-lingual content For multi-channel delivery

Information Architecture Is about planning “where” content and services will be located on the website in the most convenient and logical way for users IA looks at how content can be organized in such a way that it will be easier to manage, find and use Labels and categorizes information Designs navigation and search systems Designs the website layout

Content Strategy Is about planning for “when” contents are created, updated, published, translated and archived It involves evaluating business and customer needs and providing strategic direction on how improved content and content processes can help to achieve specific objectives It helps both users and project teams understand: What content should be produced How it should be produced By whom When Why

Users First Who are the users – Audience Profiling What are they looking for – Task Analysis

Audience Profiling and Task Analysis Purpose Identify who the website is serving or will serve Define the priority information, content and functional features that should be made available on the website Contribute to the preparation of the information architecture and the navigational system to be used on the website Contribute to the preparation of the content strategy

Audience Profiling and Task Analysis A user may be a member of more than one audience profile and therefore may approach a website with a range of motivations or needs that may also change from one visit to another. Each audience profile provides: An overview of the types of information required by that audience The way in which one audience's needs are different from another The types of web functions and services that are required to meet that audience’s requirements on the actual website

Audience Profiling and Task Analysis Research Methods Interview people in the organization who have contact with the users e.g. contact centres, customer support Analyse existing user information, e.g. web analytics, customer satisfaction surveys Review research related to use of websites and other media, e.g. media survey Review and analyse similar, comparable sites and their user groups Analyse calls received by the contact centre (if established)

Audience Profiling and Task Analysis Research Methods Phone interviews with members of the public who have contacted an organization’s contact centre Face-to-face interviews with members of the public Online user surveys Focus groups with representatives of business and industry areas or members of the public Use social media to solicit comments and suggestions from members of the public

Audience Profiling and Task Analysis Internal and External Users Internal users are those within the organization who use content to assist them in doing their jobs, making decisions and supporting the external users External users are those outside the organizations who use content to get information about the organization including the products and services being offered, and contact information

Audience Profiling and Task Analysis AudienceUser profileDescriptionsInteraction types Special needsPriority Name audience groups, e.g. business, student, low- income group Choose from:  Primary  Secondary  Occasional  Non-user Short description of the characteristics of the audience List typical interactions eg. online registration, bill payment, find jobs Consider language, disability, location, etc. Rating:  High  Medium  Low Sample Audience/ Task Matrix

Interaction Categories Interaction Types Identification based (I know who I am, or which group I belong to) Audience classification options e.g. business, student, retired Task based (I know what I want to do) Transactional services, e.g. online bill payment Item based (I know what specific product or service I want) Fast track options to product or services through Search or Homepage access Location based (I want to know where something is) Interactive map showing location of office, resources, hazard, etc.

Interaction Categories Interaction Types Interest based (I know my general field of interest) Metadata providing access to categorized information and services Organization based (I know which ministry, department, directorate, or role of the person I want to talk to) Directories, organizational diagrams Time based (I want to know when something is happening or what’s on now) Latest news, events, alert services Random based (I am looking around to see if something interests me) Search and browse

Presenting different interaction types Structure diagrams, e.g. site map Process flow diagrams Wireframe diagrams Use case descriptions Interactive prototypes

Structure Diagram

Process Flow Diagram

Wireframe Diagram

Use Case CardholderATM Select withdrawal option Display withdrawal options Specify amount Check cardholder has sufficient funds Prompt cardholder to take card Take card Dispense amount Prompt cardholder to take cash Take cash Debit cardholder’s account Thank cardholder

Audience Profiling and Task Analysis Specifically related to multi-channel delivery, also, find out about: Format/media What format or media do users need the content in? What format or media would users like to have the content in? Access How do users access content? How do the users want to access the content? Level of detail At what level of detail do users want to see content? Do users want to see it at the same level of detail, or do they want to be able to switch from very detailed to top level?

Consolidating Results Two tools commonly used: Creating personas to identify major groups of users and the content they would use Creating scenarios to elaborate on when and how content is used

Personas A fictional person who represents a major user group for your site Not impersonal the way a standard profile is It is written as though you are describing a real person The persona has a name, a history and a set of goals Makes the exercise of web/portal design and content development for the sites more real and applicable

Personas To create a persona: Determine how many personas are required to effectively address the user base Give each persona a name and a picture that is representative of the particular user Define each persona's goals Describe the persona. Include as much detail as possible (likes, dislikes, needs, personality type, age, education, family status, job title)

Sample Persona

Scenarios Scenarios elaborate on when and how content is used by different personas to achieve their goals Scenarios can be short and task based e.g. Joe has recently graduated from university and wants to start up an IT business with his friends and he wants to know what he needs to do to get started Scenarios can also be more detailed with stories, questions and tasks that users bring to the website

Metadata and Taxonomy Metadata is a controlled list of fields whose values are added by the person (or machine) to the content A taxonomy is a controlled list of terms with one or more terms being applied to each piece of content

Metadata and Taxonomy Metadata Title Author Department Audience Topic Topics Employment Labour Law Job Search Retirement Education Schools Private Schools Public Schools Higher Education Undergraduate Postgraduate Healthcare Hospitals Health Insurance Audience Internal Executives Managers External Citizens Businesses Partners Taxonomy

Why? Provide a single methodology for categorizing information across offices, programmes and regions Build common agency-wide terminology resources Faster and more effective translation Reduce the time it takes to successfully target and find cross- programme/region information Get the right content to the right people in the right format at the right time Improve customer satisfaction survey results

Metadata and Taxonomy An information architect uses metadata and taxonomy to enable users to easily navigate and retrieve content A content manager uses metadata and taxonomy to retrieve content for reuse, for tracking of status and for improving workflow From a users’ perspective metadata and taxonomies, when implemented well, offer intuitive, user ‐ centred terms as pathways to information and services, leading to enhanced findability and usability

Taxonomy Design Steps Identify business case Planning Discovery Form taxonomy team Form focus group Build taxonomy Maintain & evolve Testing & review

Planning and Discovery Recognize that users may think about and look for information in different ways Understand your business objectives and practices and use the most appropriate categorization methods Involve content managers and content creators in developing a taxonomy to understand their needs, requirements and constraints Involve the different groups of users in developing a taxonomy to understand what information and services they expect and want, the terms that they are using to find information and services, etc. Identify appropriate standards (e.g. in the GIF), and be inspired by schemes that already exist and are being used

Building Taxonomy Gather terms used to describe your website's content from the audience analysis and research Determine the format and structure of each navigational taxonomy, e.g. sorting alphabetically, by relevance, by date, etc. Determine how navigational taxonomies will be grouped or categorized, for example by life event (birth, school, retirement) or topic (subject or functional) with the aim of structuring content into intuitive user-centric categories Identify non-topical terms for additional metadata fields, e.g. content types, organizations, location, audiences

Building Taxonomy Identify what style of language should be used, for example active versus passive language, subject versus function, or natural language versus technical/organizational language Develop a list of terms and establish hierarchies and relationships between terms (if required) Provide the list of terms to stakeholders for review

Gather Terms access to health care; aids (disease); alcohol and drug abuse; alcoholism; alternative medicine; antibiotics; assisted living facilities; bioterrorism; birth control; birth records; blood; cancer; clinics; communicable diseases; community health services; death with dignity; death records; dental care; dental health; dentistry; diseases; divorce records; drug abuse; drug testing; drugs and pharmacology; emergency medical services; environmental health; epidemiology; family health; family planning; first aid and emergency treatment; health and medical licenses; health care facilities; health cost; health education; health insurance; health occupations licensing boards; health maintenance organizations; health professionals; health promotion; health records; health research; health statistics; heart diseases; hiv/aids; hospice care; hospitals hygiene and personal cleanliness; immunizations; laboratories; long-term care facilities; lung diseases; marriage records; maternal and child health; medicaid; medical care; medical devices; medical education; medical ethics; medical malpractice; medical personnel; medical research; medical statistics; medical technology; medicare; mental health; midwives; nurses; nursing; nursing homes; nutrition; occupational diseases; over-the-counter drugs; peer review organizations; physical fitness; physicians; poison prevention; prescription drugs; preventative medicine; public health; public health laws; quarantine; refugee health; rehabilitation; rural health; sexually transmitted diseases; smoking; substance abuse; venereal diseases; women's health; wounds and injuries; workers' compensation; vital records; population

Find Commonalities Professions Dentistry, Pharmacology, Nursing Diseases HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Lung Diseases, Venereal Diseases Wellness and Prevention Family Health, Health Education, Immunization, Physical Fitness Drugs and Medication Antibiotics, Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Over-the- Counter Drugs

Identify non-topical terms Content types Magazine, News Service Report, Newsletter, Research Publication, Statistics Organizations Government, Non-Government Organizations, Private Companies, Donor Agencies, Hospitals, Pharmacies Geographic Areas Countries, Regions, States Audiences Policy Makers, Lawyers & Legal Staff, Media, Doctors, Nurses, Caretakers, Mothers, Fathers

Exercise: Card Sorting Work together in groups of 4-6 people Study the set of cards given. Each card contains a topic Sort the cards into groups. Blank cards are provided for you to add any topics that you think are missing from each group Once the cards are grouped, Give names to the different groups Talk out loud during the card sorting session Appoint a notetaker to take note of the conversations held during the card sorting process Discuss the process of card sorting in a plenary

Navigation Global navigation – available on every page of a website Local navigation – enable users to explore a specific topic Contextual navigation – not hierarchical, relational, e.g. “see also”, “for example”, “more”

Categorization By beneficiary By department/sector By life events

Segmentation by Beneficiary Government to Citizen (C2G2C) Government to Business (B2G2B) Government to Government (G2G) Government to Employees (E2G2E) Government to Visitors/Foreigners (F2G2F)

Segmentation by Beneficiary Budget Traveller Business Traveller Disabled Employee Employer Family Traveller Group Traveller Investors Job Seeker Muslim Parent Real Estate Agent Resident Retiree Scholar Student Tourist Volunteer (Source: http://oman.om)

Segmentation by Department/Sector Education Employment Environment Health Housing Social Affairs Tourism Traffic and Safety Utilities

Segmentation by Life Events Registering a Birth Being a Caregiver Buying a Home Changing your Address Finding a Job Following a Death Getting Married Getting Divorced Having a Baby Living with a Disability Lost Wallet Managing your Debt Raising a Family Starting a Business Starting Post- Secondary Education Retirement Planning Travelling Abroad

Categorization - Others By location By service type/task By popularity Any other?

Exercise In groups of 4-6, select a government portal or website and analyse its navigational structure and taxonomy Prepare a presentation that answers the following questions: What is your first impression of the site? How is the site organized? Provide an overview of some of the key navigational features and taxonomy? What is the key navigational feature that you would like to apply on your website/portal? Why? What three things would you suggest for improving the navigation of the site?

e-Governance Portals Australia – http://australia.gov.au Bahrain – http://www.bahrain.bh Canada – http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca Dubai – http://dubai.ae Hong Kong – http://www.gov.hk India – http://india.gov.in Oman – http://www.oman.om Qatar – http://portal.www.gov.qa Saudi Arabia – http://www.saudi.gov.sa Singapore – http://www.ecitizen.gov.sg UAE – http://www.government.ae UK – https://www.gov.uk USA – http://www.usa.gov

Content – The Problem Typically driven by groups saying, "We need content that talks about this or covers that," rather than by the groups that drive the user experience Content is measured by how well it's written, not by how well it conveys the right message or elicits the right response Content is handcrafted to get the message right as opposed to getting the correct content to the right users in the right context Disparate groups create their own content in isolation, resulting in a disjointed user experience Content is no longer restricted to a page, a particular screen size or platform. People expect to be able to access and use content on the device of their choosing.

Why Develop a Content Strategy? Focus on meeting user needs Reduce time and cost for content development, review and maintenance Reduce cost of translation Increase consistency and quality of content, therefore increasing user satisfaction and uptake Guide to multichannel delivery of content

Core Components of a Content Strategy

Substance Take stock of the content being developed and provided to different users (content inventory and audit) Is the content appropriate to the users? Does it help users complete their tasks, make the right decisions and satisfy their needs? Does the content "fit” the format / media channel that the users wish to have it in? What information or messages do users need to know? Why? How will the information be used? If you talk to the users regularly, what kind of information do the users ask you for or need?

Structure Can include communication planning, information architecture, metadata, data modeling, etc. What type of content is being produced in your organization—is there a taxonomy for content types? How is content prioritized, organized, formatted and displayed? Are there standards and guidelines for preparing content? What about standards and guidelines for translation?

Workflow How does content get created, reviewed, approved and published in your organization—is there a set process? Is the process being followed? What is your role in the content process (e.g., subject matter expert, content creator, content approver… all of the above)? Who else is involved in content development and management?

Workflow Does everyone know and understand what his/her responsibilities are with respect to content development and management? Is this documented? Does everyone know with whom they are supposed to interact with and for what? Is this documented? What are the tools being used to create, review and publish content? What are the quality control mechanisms?

Governance How are key decisions about content and content strategy made? How and who will monitor the implementation of the content strategy and ensure that the strategy remains relevant? How are changes initiated and communicated? How will changes by assessed for impact? Who will quality check and approve the changes?

Exercise Use the guiding questions under the four core components to analyse the content and the way content is created and managed in your organization Form groups of 4 to 6 people to discuss and share how different organizations are managing content Identify common good practices as well as common problems, including information gaps, and provide some recommendations for the way forward with respect to content management Present these good practices, common problems and key recommendations in a plenary for discussion

Substance Tools to assess substance: Content Inventory – A cataloguing of all information assets Content Audit – The process of evaluating that content. Is it out-of-date, can it be refreshed, does it need to be rewritten?

Content Inventory: Case Study of India About the Ministry/ Department/ State – includes profile, mission, roles and responsibilities, organizational structure and associated offices/organizations Acts and Rules – includes Acts passed as well as the Rules/Sub- ordinate legislations issued by the Departments based on these Acts Programmes and Schemes – includes welfare programmes and schemes, benefiting the individuals, special interest groups of citizens (e.g. widows, physically challenged etc) or community at large running in different regions and sectors across the country Documents – includes five-year plans, annual reports, gazettes, guidelines, budget documents, census reports, surveys, statistical report, speeches, etc.

Content Inventory: Case Study of India Forms – includes all application forms for availing different services and obtaining important certificates/licenses scholarships, grants, services, information, loans, utilities, etc. Services – some public services are provided online. For offline services, information as well as downloadable forms (if any) are available online Directories – includes telephone directories, web directories and email directories of a group of individuals or institutions Circular/ Notifications – include non-statutory advice and guidance on particular issues to expand on subjects referred to in legislation

Content Inventory: Case Study of India Sectoral Profiles – includes information on the various sectors of the Indian economy Regional Profiles – includes profile of a region (state, district) Media Gallery – includes high quality photographs depicting the various facets of India, and audio-visual clips of various national events, heritage of India, etc. News

Content Inventory: Case Study of India Tenders – includes notifications issued by governments and other public bodies across India for goods, services and works Press Releases Recruitment – includes vacancy notices, call for recruitment exams, eligibility criteria, etc. Announcements – related to important upcoming government events, bilateral/multilateral relations, new schemes/grants/scholarships/fellowships etc., and disaster warnings Events

Structure Models formalize the structure of content in guidelines, templates and structured frameworks To ensure that content is adaptable, it must follow a consistent approach in writing style and structure Adaptive content is format-free, device-independent, scalable content that can be transformed for display in different environments and on different devices for multi-channel delivery

Structure Responsive web design changes how content is visually displayed Adaptive content adjusts to different environments and device capabilities to deliver the best possible user experience, filtering and layering content for greater or lesser depth of detail

Structure – Example 1 Webpage Name Overview Description Contacts URL link Mobile Device Name Overview Contacts “More”

Structure – Example 2 Webpage Title Date Author Overview of news Detail of news Overview of hospital Contacts URL Link E-mail Newsletter Title Date Overview of news URL Link to news Title Date Overview of news URL Link to news

Workflow Defines how people and tasks interact to create, update, manage and deliver content Moves content from task to task, ensuring that the business rules are followed Once the workflow processes have been determined, tools can be selected to support and automate them

Workflow The components of workflow include: Roles (players) – The people who do the tasks, identified by their roles Responsiblities (tasks) – The steps to complete a particular piece of work Processes – The flow of tasks as performed by various players, showing the interactions and interdependencies among players

Key Roles Author – the creator of content of any type (e.g. text, graphics). Authors should have full permission to create, modify and delete their own content, but not anyone else's Reviewers – check content for accuracy, completeness and appropriateness. Reviewers are usually limited to making comments about the content without changing it Editors – review and make changes to content. The scope of their changes depends on their roles ad either substantive or copy editors Approvers – provide the final sign-off for content before it is published

Task Types Tasks that add value – When value is added to a task, the work is changed in some way Task that move the work along – How content gets to the next person ("by email to minister" or "courier original artwork to publisher") Notification tasks – e.g. When the content has been changed and is now ready for players to interact with Tasks that introduce a delay – They give a more accurate depiction of how long a process will take

Process Has a start point and an end point between which various tasks are performed, usually by a number of different people located in different places, often using different equipment or systems There may be different workflow processes for new content, and for updated content, and for different types of content (information about a particular ministry, instructions on using online services, disaster warning messages, etc.)

Workflow – Swimlane Diagram

Governance With the whole-of-government approach, collaboration and the sharing of content is essential Decisions must be made together and consensus reached with regards to content structure, standards and guidelines A mechanism needs to be in place to regularly review and improve upon the content structure, standards and guidelines A steering committee or governance board to “steer” the content collaboration process could be considered

Content Flow Process for India’s National Portal

What to Include in a Content Strategy Content Purposes and Contexts - What the content is supposed to accomplish and in what situations Content Topics and Types (high level) - includes major topics (e.g. e-governance services, sectors) and content types (e.g. service description, news, blog) Content Delivery Channels - Web, mobile, social networking sites, etc. Content Tone - Tone is critical to conveying a "brand image" and to develop a consistent "voice" for the content. Content Management, Governance, Standards and Maintenance - Information about a governance board, set of standards, content management system, content maintenance plan.

Summary Information architecture is about planning the content structure Content strategy is about planning the content approach They are closely linked to get the right content to the right people at the right time

Summary It is important to first understand the user characteristics, and the tasks and interactions that they want to undertake when visiting the website Upon a thorough understanding and analysis of users, a navigational structure and taxonomy can be developed for the website Together, they facilitate the delivery of intuitive, efficient access to information and services and are key determinants of whether users find a site easy to use

Summary Users are increasingly expecting that the content provided to them are adaptive—responding to the device, their location, their situation and their personalized needs Adaptive content increases consistency and quality of content, therefore increasing user satisfaction and uptake of e-governance A content strategy that covers substance, structure, workflow and governance is fundamental to adaptive content

Understand usability design principles and techniques Understand the importance of accessibility and ways to make a website accessible particularly to the disabled and the elderly

Web Design Principles The two common design principles commonly considered for e-governance portals and websites are: Usability Accessibility

Usability Refers to how well users can learn and use a website to achieve their goals and how satisfied they are with that process A key methodology for carrying out usability is called user-centred design Any user-centred design must be based on regular user analysis and usability tests

Usability Principles Ease of learning – How fast can a user who has never seen the website before learn it sufficiently well to accomplish basic tasks? Efficiency of use – Once an experienced user has learned to use the website, how fast can he or she accomplish tasks? Memorability – If a user has used the website before, can s/he remember enough to use it effectively the next time or does the user have to learn it again? Error frequency and severity – How often do users make errors while using the website, how serious are these errors, and how do users recover from these errors? Subjective satisfaction – How much does the user like using the website?

Navigation Tips Offer users a few ways to find information (such as navigational elements, search functions, site map, etc). However, do not offer too many options at once as this confuses many users Saudi Arabia’s Web guidelines follow a "three click" principle, that if the user needs more than three clicks from anywhere in the site to get what they need, then the navigation/site structure is too complex Breadcrumbs give users an alternative method of navigation, allow them to see where they stand in the hierarchy of a website, and reduce the number of steps needed to navigate to a higher-level within a website

Content Development Tips Enable skimming; provide clues that allow users to find their “nugget” of information, e.g use of headings in bold and/or in a different colour, use keyword-rich headings, use of bullet points “Chunk” information into small, digestible pieces and organize them into some type of schema or hierarchy that is meaningful to the user Ensure that the most important information is in the first paragraph To foster clarity, use short sentences, “everyday” words (instead of jargon or technical terms), active voice and active verbs such as “pay telephone bill” Ensure that content presented on the website is up-to-date Ensure content is free from spelling and grammatical errors

Design Tips Use graphics to illustrate/inform (not decorate), aid navigation and increase memorability Use graphics that are small (in file size) so that they download quickly, but they should be clear Use “white space” to visually organize the page, to make important elements stand out, and to give users’ eyes some resting space Avoid pop-ups as most browsers now have built-in pop- up blockers and many mobile browsers do not support pop-ups. Pop ups are also barriers to accessibility

F-shaped Reading of Webpages

Accessibility Accessibility is concerned with the extent to which a website can be used by persons with disabilities and the elderly people as effectively as it can be used by a person without disability

Accessibility There are four main categories of impairment to consider: 1. Vision impairment 2. Motor difficulties 3. Cognitive and learning 4. Deaf and hard of hearing Within each category, there are different degrees of impairment.

Exercise Going back to the same website or portal analysed in the information architecture exercise, see if they have an accessibility policy If so, study the policy and note the key points Study the features and tools used by the site to enhance accessibility Also, assess the site's usability using the usability principles presented earlier Present findings in a plenary

Accessibility Tips Websites and e-services should comply with the latest version of the World-Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Involve in the process of designing and testing of websites, persons with disabilities All users should be able to easily increase the font size of the website Ensure that all functionality is available through the keyboard

Accessibility Tips Wherever graphics and audio or video are used, the “alt” (alternative) tag should be used to give textual descriptors of the pictures for text-based access. This alt text is read out by the screen reader A “skip to content” should be provided to allow site users to go directly to the main content of the webpage bypassing the navigation

Accessibility Tips Ensure that links and images are a decent size and not too close together. For example ensure that the “Go” button for “Search” is a good size enabling users who have poor motor control to be able to select the button more easily Link text should give the user a clear idea of the destination and make sense when read out of context. Avoid the use of “click here”, for example. This is particularly important for screen reader users who may use a list of links to navigate the page

Accessibility Tips Notify users when a new window will be opened Ensure that the online forms have been designed as per accessibility guidelines such that they can be read using assistive technologies and filled-in Develop an accessibility policy and include an accessibility statement on the website/portal

Case Study: GovHK assistive tools for the visually impaired Use of style sheets Consistent document structure Use of hidden text Use of alt text Presentation of hyperlinks

GovHK Web page showing hidden links and text

Usability Test During usability test session, user is given a set series of scenarios or tasks to complete on the portal/website, without any assistance from the researcher The series of scenarios or tasks can test design, navigation, content and search features, depending on the goals of the usability test Researcher records user behaviours, emotional reactions, and the user’s performance as s/he attempts to accomplish each task Analysis of data from several users provides a means of recommending how and where to re-design the interface in order to improve its level of usability and thus, the user experience in general

Case Study: Usability of Qatar e-Gov Portal

Usability Testing of Qatar e-Gov Portal

Usability of Quatar e-Gov Portal Participants attempted to complete ten of the most common tasks on the portal In 2009, few could complete the tasks Recommendations provided in 5 areas

Usability of Quatar e-Gov Portal 1. Access and Site Performance – e.g. It was difficult to access the site in some browsers and outside of Qatar 2. Content and Naming – eg. Instructions were often too technical for users to understand 3. Navigation – e.g. To access content, users had to know about and navigate via a single path to get to content. It was difficult for users to understand where they were in the site and how to get to another section 4. Visual Design – e.g. Links did not use a consistent style throughout the site 5. Translation – e.g. The translations in English and Arabic were sometimes different

Usability of Quatar e-Gov Portal 2 nd usability test in 2011 This time, the issues users faced were minor and largely related to fine-tuning the existing interactions

Usability of Qatar e-Gov Portal

Summary Usability is concerned with: Effectiveness: the preciseness and completeness with which specific users can attain specific goals Efficiency: the resources that would be needed to achieve such preciseness and completeness Satisfaction: the level of comfort and acceptability of the system as viewed by its user Accessibility is about ensuring an equivalent user experience for people with disabilities, including people with age-related impairments

Summary Linkage between usability and accessibility An accessible web site would benefit all users, not just those who are disabled Accessibility is a subset of usability A web site is not usable unless it is accessible Whilst usability implies accessibility, the contrary is not necessarily true

Summary User-centered design processes include techniques for including users throughout design and evaluation Usability testing is a technique used in user- centered design to evaluate a website by testing it on users The aim is to observe the extent to which the website is understood, easy to learn, easy to operate and attractive to the users under specified conditions

Discuss the importance of planned and governed maintenance of websites and portals Explain the importance of monitoring and evaluating websites and portals Highlight and explain the tools used for evaluating websites—user satisfaction surveys and web analytics

Why? A website / portal requires ongoing monitoring and maintenance and, when required, changes The ultimate aim of managing change and growth in a website is to ensure that it remains relevant to users and that there is continuous improvement Planned and governed maintenance ensures that a website continues to deliver on its objectives and that any changes or expansions to it take place according to agreed processes and terms

Governance Put simply, governance is the process of managing change Based on a Greek word meaning "to steer," governance is about steering or directing the content, the people who create it, and the systems that support it through both the day-to-day and long- term processes around content requirements, system updates and development of new capabilities, etc.

Content Governance Changes to content must be managed at the content level (writing) and at the strucutral level (models) Content guidelines – What are the guidelines for creating and editing content? Content structure / model – Who creates the model? Who reviews it? How often? Who approves the changes to the content model?

Workflow Governance Workflow guides the content through its lifecycle from design and creation all the way to publishing. A complete workflow will even include feedback loops from the customer to improve the quality of the next version of the content. Who creates content? What happens after content is created? Who reviews and then approves it? What is the lifecycle of different kinds of content? When can content be published?

Metadata & Taxonomy Governance Who creates the metadata and taxonomy Who tags content? How often are the metadata and taxonomy reviewed? How are they reviewed and checked for relevance, completeness and quality? Who approves changes to the metadata and taxonomy? What is the process for approving changes?

Governance for Monitoring and Maintenance Specify monitoring requirements – What will be monitored, how it will be monitored and with what frequency it will be monitored Specify reporting requirements – What will be reported on, who it will it be reported to and with what frequency it will be reported Define and implement website statistical capturing and analysis Define the archiving strategy – How will content be archived and where will they be archived to

Governance for Adoption of Changes When changes may be made How changes will be assessed for impact How changes will be grouped into change types and how each type will be managed Who will quality check and approve changes

Steering Committee / Governance Board A steering committee or governance board to “steer” the content development, management and maintenance process is suggested This group normally sets high-level policy and procedures. They can also help settle conflicts This group typically do not handle day-to-day tasks of maintenance. They are more an executive, decision- making body. People in work groups or teams do the actual work. Work teams and working groups are tasked with specific agendas around ongoing maintenance processes

Steering Committee / Governance Board This group normally contains a broad range of knowledge about various aspects of the organization. These areas of expertise include: Business drivers and requirements – e.g. government leaders, lawyer Tools and technical landscape – IT, software developer, information architect, Web designer, trainer Content management – content strategist, content creator, editor, portal manager, taxonomy manager Needs of the end users – representative from contact centre, usability specialist

Case Study: India’s Content Framework National Informatics Centre *(NIC) coordinator of the National e-Governance Portal, developed an Content Framework. It includes: Content structure for the main types of content that is sector based, target audience based, life cycle based and location based Content management policies that outline the content contribution process, the procedure of content approval and moderation, content review, expiry and archival of content as well as the content consumption process

Case Study: India’s Content Framework Access control policy that details who can contribute to the portal, and a workflow on who will review and approve what type of content Content moderation and approval policy that is multilevel and is role based Once content is approved and published, the content review policy provides guidelines on what type of published content is reviewed when, to ensure that the portal continues to be updated and relevant to users

Case Study: India’s Content Framework Content archival and exit policy that determines the validity of different types of content Content consumption policy allows any department to access the content they created in the portal repository and display on their own website/portal

Questions What are the types of content (online and offline) created in your ministry/department/directorate? How do you decide what type of content to create? Who creates the different types of content? What do you do with the content once it’s created? What are the challenges of creating and managing content?

Monitoring and Evaluation Monitoring is an ongoing analysis of project progress towards achieving planned results for the purpose of improving management decision-making Evaluation focuses on the efficiency, effectiveness, impact, relevance and sustainability of the strategies and actions

Why Evaluate? To know if an intervention succeeded or failed to achieve its objectives To determine whether the intervention is likely to meet the needs of all stakeholders To establish that an intervention is financially and socially sustainable in the long run To establish whether investment in a solution is worth the expenditure To assess whether the solution is scalable, replicable or produces best practices that can serve as normative standards

M&E Cycle Citizen Centric Planning MonitoringEvaluation Using the findings

Monitoring and Evaluation Measure the performance of the portal/website by setting up specific, measurable and timed objectives and indicators at the planning stage. They could cover: Operational elements linked to effective running of the site (e.g. site availability) Level of access to the e-governance portal Measures of the user experience (e.g. user satisfaction) Impact on development outcomes

Evaluation Characteristics Impartial and independent of the programming and implementation of the project Credible – The evaluation is conducted by appropriately skilled and independent experts, and transparency is observed, e.g. through the wide dissemination of results Encourages the participation of stakeholders in the evaluation process to ensure that different perspectives and views are taken into account Ensures that findings and recommendations are useful through timely presentation of relevant, clear and concise information to decision makers

User Satisfaction Survey Why conduct a user satisfaction survey Identifies a site’s strengths and weaknesses Suggests actionable recommendations for site improvement Results can feed into the strategic planning of a website Better understanding of site performance by benchmarking with other government websites

User Satisfaction Survey The UK Government recommends four core question types for the user satisfaction survey. They include: 1. Overall satisfaction with the visit 2. Extent to which user achieved purpose of visit 3. Rating of the site on key dimensions 4. Likelihood to recommend the site to others

Web Analytics The measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing Web usage Can be used for monitoring and evaluation purposes by measuring the size of a website’s audience, its volume of traffic and the level of interaction Can also be used for re-design, planning and improving the website. For example, in the design of a navigation taxonomy by assessing user’s search terms

Terms Used Page View Visit / Session Visitor / Unique Visitor / Unique User Pages per Visit Average Time on Site Average Page View Duration Bounce Rate

Traffic Source Search engines (Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc.) Direct traffic (typing the domain name into the Web browser or through users’ bookmarks) Referring sites (clicking on a link from another website)

Tracking of Location

Search Terms What terms are used in internal search to navigate website Where are users navigating to after they have viewed the search results What term users entered in search before they clicked to enter website

Granular Analysis To understand whether the services or information provided are meeting user needs Analytical tools can be configured to show: The most popular pages The most popular areas (groups of pages) Usage of a group of web pages and documents relating to a specific subject or campaign How demand for specific pages changes over a selected timeframe (e.g. showing daily activity over a week)

User Experience Track user journeys Entry and exit pages Routes taken by users through the site

Limitations Web analytics should be used alongside other data in order to gain a deeper level of insight, including: Qualitative data (e.g. from online satisfaction surveys, interviews, focus groups etc.) Observational data obtained from user testing Expert reviews

Summary Governance is the strategies, roles and responsibilities, policies and procedures, and organizational structures that helps maintain the website or portal Roles and responsibilities define who does what Web policies and procedures guide the Web team's work and work processes Regular monitoring and evaluation are required to ensure that the website / portal continues to be relevant, effective and efficient, sustainable and meeting development outcomes

Discuss the features and functions of a content management system Introduce what XML is and the benefits of XML

Content Management System is A system of hardware and software Enables different people (technical and non-technical) to collaboratively create, edit, manage and publish content Manages a variety of content such as text, graphics, videos and documents Users are constrained by a set of rules, standards and workflows that ensure coherent, validated digital content XML is used in most content management system to make information sharing and systems integration easier

Features Allows those without programming language knowledge to manage digital content WYSIWYG Editor

Features Standard templates available for different content types (e.g. news, events, blogs) In most systems, templates can be customized or new templates created These content templates give the web content a standard structure, contributing to consistency and usability of a website These templates also allow the structure and appearance of all contents to be changed from one central place

Features Standard template for announcing an event can include: Title Description Event location Event start and end dates Body text describing the event Attendees Event url Contact details (name, email, phone)

Features Able to tag and categorize content List of taxonomies that content contributors can choose to tag Choose a content management system that applies the Dublin Core metadata standard, which is endorsed in the Iraqi GIF

Features When content is consistently tagged with an agreed upon taxonomy, content managers are able to aggregate content in different ways Tagging also facilitates search and easy retrieval A faceted search is a technique for accessing information organized according to a faceted classification system, allowing users to explore a collection of information by applying multiple filters

Features Able to track and manage multiple versions of a single instance of content Most content management systems keep a history of all the versions of a content page Versioning keeps track of all kinds of edits: content, metadata, settings, etc. There are usually options to compare versions and revert to the previous version Prevents overwritten changes by allowing content contributors to check out and check in content. When a content is checked out, it is locked as a read-only document

Features - Versioning

Features – Check In/Check Out

Features Manages permissions for different users Sets who can read, create, modify and delete content Based on roles. For example: Author can create, modify and delete their own content Editor can only modify content Designer can modify templates but not content Others can only view (read) content

Features Controls workflow of different content A content management system can automate workflow Match roles to tasks (assign who does what) Manages security (who can see or do what) Track, report and notify appropriate “players” when tasks are done

Features Content owner can submit content for review (content marked private) The editor submit the content for publication The approver “publish” the content and make it public

Multilingual Websites – Two Approaches 1. Treat each language as a separate site Used by organizations with branches in other countries www.yoursite.com, www.yoursite.de, www.yoursite.jp www.yoursite.comwww.yoursite.dewww.yoursite.jp Multisite capable content management system 2. One website with multiple visitor-selected language outputs Users may switch between any languages on any page of website, rather than navigate separate sites www.yoursite.com/en, www.yoursite.com/ar www.yoursite.com/enwww.yoursite.com/ar Multi-output capable content management system

Interface for editing a multilingual page

XML – What is it A markup language like HTML HTML is designed to display content, with a focus on how the content looks XML is designed to structure, transport and store content, not to display content In XML, tags are not predefined; authors can define own tags using metadata

XML – Example Jane Peter Reminder Don't forget our meeting this weekend

XML - Benefits XML separates content from HTML Content creators and managers can focus on developing and structuring content Web designers can concentrate on using HTML/CSS for display and layout Changes to content will not affect format, and vice versa XML simplifies content sharing XML data stored in plain text format provides a software- and hardware-independent way of storing data This makes it much easier to create content that can be shared by different applications

XML - Benefits XML simplifies data transport One of the most time-consuming challenges for developers is to exchange data between incompatible systems over the Internet Exchanging data as XML greatly reduces this complexity, since the data can be read by different incompatible applications XML simplifies platform changes Upgrading to new systems (hardware or software platforms) is always time consuming as large amounts of data must be converted and incompatible data is often lost XML data stored in text format makes it easier to expand or upgrade to new systems & applications without losing data

XML - Benefits XML makes content more accessible Different applications can access your content, not only in HTML pages, but also from XML data sources With XML, content can be available to all kinds of "reading machines" (handheld computers, voice machines, news feeds, etc.) XML also makes content more accessible to people with disabilities

Summary A content management system simplifies content creation and management, and enables collaboration Features: Allows those without programming language knowledge to manage digital content Standard templates available for different content types (e.g. news, events, blogs) Able to tag and categorize content Able to track and manage multiple versions of a single instance of content Manages permissions for different users Controls workflow of different content Makes it easier to manage translations on multilingual sites

Summary XML Structures content Transports content Stores content Tags are not predefined; Authors can define own tags using metadata Separates content from format Allows content sharing between different applications Makes content more accessible

Examine e-content delivery to mobile devices Discuss the challenges and best practices for managing e-participation and social networking sites

Going Mobile In Iraq, 75% population subscribed to mobile phone Opportunity to reach out to remote and marginalized communities GPS can be used to track mobile owners’ location and provide personalized information and services

Examples of Mobile Use Receive notifications for: Emergencies Reminders, e.g. to renew licenses, hospital appointment News, events, updates Report complaints and crime Send query, e.g. nearest health centre or local attraction Make payments

Examples of Mobile Use Find contact information of various institutions Find location of various institutions Find information about one’s locality, e.g. local attractions, landmarks, hotels, shops, restaurants There are numerous mobile applications for reference, utilities, education, health and fitness, medical, news, travel and business

Mobile Users: Three Mobile Mindsets I'm Microtasking In this mindset, users are using their phone in a context where they have a few brief moments to spare. They could be in line waiting. Their time is short. They want to get in, do what they want and leave I'm Local Sometimes, mobile users want to do something specific to their location, be it specific as defined by GPS or in a more abstract way, such as at their job site I'm Bored or I'm Curious Unlike the first mindset, these people have time to spare. They are browsing for interesting content and are typically not concerned with speed and efficiency. Ease of use is still essential

Questions Do you think these mobile mindsets are accurate in the Iraqi context. What other mobile mindsets can you think of?

Evaluating Mobile Concepts 1. Feasibility: The degree to which it is possible to develop the app or app component Acquiring the Necessary Data Does the data exist and is it available? Are there security, technical, or legal barriers to acquiring the data or using it as intended? Is the data current? How frequently is the data updated? Will outdated data cause users to misinterpret the data/content?

Evaluating Mobile Concepts Maintaining Conceptual Integrity on Mobile Platforms Can the app run quickly enough on a mobile platform to maintain its conceptual integrity? Will the app have to be significantly modified on the mobile platform due to technical constraints such as bandwidth or functional limitations? Maintaining Impartiality For public facing apps, can the technology be adapted to multiple mobile devices? Consider that the government must maintain impartiality and not endorse any product, service, company, non-profit or other enterprise.

Evaluating Mobile Concepts 2. Effectiveness: The degree to which the mobile app serves the target audience Evaluation Methods What elements determine the effectiveness of a mobile app? What methods are available to evaluate effectiveness? Isolating the Target Audience What audience is the mobile app intended to serve? How many members of this audience have access to the necessary technology?

Evaluating Mobile Concepts Mobile-User-Scenarios Most successful mobile apps offer users one or both of the following: Dynamic content in concise and accessible formats Tools that are useful in mobile environments Does the mobile app provide the user with dynamic content that is regularly updated? How frequent are the updates? Are the content and tools useful in mobile environments

Evaluating Mobile Concepts 3. Risk of Private Competition: The degree to which the government would have to compete for market share with private sector developers Is there a risk of private sector competition? What is the level of that risk? Can the mobile application concept be enhanced or modified to minimize the risk of private competition?

Evaluating Mobile Concepts 4. Government Justification for developing the mobile application Is the mobile app concept within the mandate of this governmental organization? Would development of the mobile application further the mission or goals of the organization or the administration? Examples of government justification include: Increasing the effectiveness of organizational programmes or projects Where private duplication exists: To leverage the authority of the organization/administration to disperse critical content to mobile audiences Where private duplication exists: To provide critical content to mobile audiences free of charge where private sector versions are sold for profit

Evaluating Mobile Concepts 5. Cost-Effectiveness: The relative cost to develop the mobile app What is the total development cost to the organization? What methods are available to estimate cost- effectiveness? Are the mobile app platforms intended for development the most cost-effective options for providing the target audience with the desired content and/or functionality?

Social Networking The use of websites and communications and collaboration technology to help people find, form and maintain social relationships Examples: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia, blogsites, online forums, webchats Common features: profile page, friend networks, multimedia sharing, status updates, commenting

Social Networking in Iraq Facebook penetration rate – 2.2 % Twitter penetration rate – 0.1 % Expect exponential growth and rapid uptake Source: United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Regional Profile of the Information Society in Western Asia 2011, Beirut, 2012.

Opportunities Better understand citizens and identify trends (through conversations, surveys, polls) Promote e-services (personalizing message and targeting audiences) Improve access to and quality of services (citizens reporting and tracking) Improve transparency and trust (through citizens’ access to and use of open data)

Opportunities Improve decision-making (through discussions and feedback) Share knowledge among peers across government organizations Collaborate in improving services, e.g. through the use of open government data to create mashups

Challenges Loss of control over content that could lead to public disorder and chaos Misinterpretation of content Long-term commitment of resources Managing change in bureaucratic system

Key considerations Understanding the audience What does your audience want to talk about and willing engage in conversations about? Where does your audience want to have these conversations? What value can you add to the conversations?

Key considerations Internal policies and procedures Is the social media initiative aligned with your organization’s goals and strategies? What are the rules of engagement for employees? What will be the workflow for developing, reviewing and approving content for social media sites?

Key considerations Internal policies and procedures What will you share? Are you going to post only major news? Are you going to ask questions? Are you going to provide tips? How will you monitor and archive the shared content and its comments? How will you measure the impact of your social media initiative?

Key considerations External policies and procedures How will you engage with members of the public? How will you incorporate and distill feedback? How will you respond in a timely manner and ensure action if required? How will you handle mishaps? Who should be informed of mishaps? Who are authorized to respond to mishaps?

Best practices Set clear, achievable and measurable objectives at the beginning Be transparent about intent and deliver on promises Use the right channels Put guidelines for use into place

Best practices Employ an integrated campaign that harnesses the full potential of numerous synergized platforms Create engaging content using interactive channels All for several trustworthy people to respond to user generated content Inform people whenever content is posted Continually monitor activity

Moderation Policies Set ground rules for public participation in online engagement initiatives Rules for pre-moderated content Rules for post-moderated content Getting the balance right between promoting e- participation and preventing inappropriate content Assess objectives of organization/initiative, target audience and platform to be used for e-participation

Exercise Explore and analyse selected government social media sites using the following list Purpose of site (is the purpose of this site clear) Target audience (is the target audience clear) Usability (is it easy to use) Taxonomy (is there a content structure) Design (quality, colours, brand presence, layout) Language style used (is the style simple, easy to understand, friendly or too technical and official) Types of conversations held (what worked and what did not) What are some of the good practices for responding to negative comments Does the site require registration? – If so, in order to perform which functions? Read the “About” section Review statistics if available Review terms of use and privacy policies Review the user group list How does this site link with other initiatives from the same government? Highlight three key findings from your analysis that can help you and others develop a social media strategy for your organization. Present your findings in a plenary for discussion

Social Media Sites Bahrain – http://www.facebook.com/egovbahrain, http://www.youtube.com/egovbahrain, http://www.twitter.com/egovbahrainhttp://www.facebook.com/egovbahrain http://www.youtube.com/egovbahrain Qatar – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hukoomi-Qatar-Government- Portal/186872247998431, http://twitter.com/#!/HukoomiQatar, http://www.youtube.com/user/HukoomiQatar http://www.youtube.com/user/HukoomiQatar Queensland, Australia – http://www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/, http://twitter.com/consultqld, https://www.facebook.com/ConsultQueensland REACH Singapore – https://www.facebook.com/REACHSingapore, http://twitter.com/REACH_Singapore, http://www.youtube.com/reachsingaporehttps://www.facebook.com/REACHSingapore http://twitter.com/REACH_Singaporehttp://www.youtube.com/reachsingapore UAE - https://www.facebook.com/Emirates.eGov, http://twitter.com/emiratesegov, http://www.youtube.com/emiratesegovernment, http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Emirates-eGovernment- 3894269?mostPopular=&gid=3894269, http://www.government.ae/web/guest/blogs, http://www.flickr.com/photos/egovuae USA.gov – https://www.facebook.com/USAgov, http://blog.USA.gov, http://twitter.com/USAgov, http://youtube.com/USAgovhttps://www.facebook.com/USAgovhttp://blog.USA.gov http://twitter.com/USAgov

Summary – Mobile Devices Three mobile mindsets: I'm Microtasking I'm Local I'm Bored or I'm Curious

Summary – Mobile Devices Mobile application concepts should be evaluated against these criteria: Feasibility Effectiveness Private competition Government justification Cost-effectiveness

Summary – Social Media Critical success factors Careful planning on content and delivery channels based on users’ analysis Development of workflow and a governance structure Regular and open communication internally within organizations and externally with stakeholders and users

Summary – Social Media Critical success factors Securing adequate resources in the long-term—both human and financial—for not only the e-participation process, but also the capacity to respond to and act on citizens’ requests and comments Developing and agreeing on a moderation policy that will give an agency the justification it needs to remove or prevent inappropriate content from being published online, while also being simple enough that it does not inhibit participation in its initiative

Key Trends Whole-of-government model Multi-channel delivery Citizen engagement

Strategic Framework for Portal Management

Content Management Framework Getting the right content to the right people at the right time Content Strategy Information Architecture

Core Components of a Content Strategy

M&E Cycle Citizen Centric Planning MonitoringEvaluation Using the findings

Conclusion Deployment of technologies should be done in the context of social and economic development goals and should support and enhance development outcomes Shifting to a more citizen-centric, interconnected whole-of- government approach will require collaboration and streamlining not only among governments but also with private sector and civil societies True transformation needs governments to pay close attention to reengineering processes, reforming institutions, and creating an environment for greater accountability and transparency e-Governance standardization gives rise to positive outcomes such as interoperability, consistency, reusability and quality maintenance Content management and portal management needs to be take this broader context into consideration

National Roll-Out Training. Course Objectives Highlight the global trends and status of e-governance that will guide content management and portal management.

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National Roll-Out Training. Course Objectives Highlight the global trends and status of e-governance that will guide content management and portal management.

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Presentation on theme: "National Roll-Out Training. Course Objectives Highlight the global trends and status of e-governance that will guide content management and portal management."— Presentation transcript:

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