Transforming service delivery while renewing technology – 2021
From: Employment and Social Development Canada
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Transforming service delivery while renewing technology
Canadians rely on Employment and Social Development’s services (ESDC)
- 2 million Employment Insurance (EI) beneficiaries
- 7.9 million monthly Old Age Security (OAS) and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) beneficiaries (including CPP Disability)
In 2019 to 2020, Employment and Social Development (ESDC) delivered $135.2 billion in direct benefits to Canadians, representing 6.15% of Canada’s gross domestic product.
- $17.5 billion in EI payments
- $49 billion in CPP payments
- $56.3 billion in OAS and Guaranteed Income Supplement payments
But decades of under-investment have put the services we deliver at risk...
Chronic underinvestment has created technical debt leading to:
- outdated networks, hardware and software with only 41% of applications considered healthy
- core systems are well beyond their expected life
- outages have increased 159% over the past 4 years
- inadequate protection against cybersecurity threats and fraud
Limiting our ability to serve Canadians effectively
- Reduced ability to implement policy and legislative policy quickly. EI takes 6 to 18 months to prepare, test and launch.
- Maintenance and upgrade costs are now unsustainable.
- Client experience is fragmented and service delivery is jeopardized.
- Opportunities for processing efficiencies are limited.
Advancing our Integrated Plan to remediate technical debt and implement Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM)
Integrated Plan: technical debt remediation and Benefits Delivery Modernization
Tech Debt is the difference between the technology we have and what we require at a minimum for a modern and functioning system. The Tech Debt Remediation initiative mitigates risks to service delivery by upgrading network capacity and updating the hardware and software used by Employment and Social Development Canada’s (ESDC) programs. It ensures that ESDC’s technology can support existing systems and the needs of the new Benefits Delivery Modernization (BDM) platform, and establishes disaster recovery solutions to minimize service disruptions that negatively impact Canadians.
BDM is a multi-year transformation that implements modern technology designed to streamline benefits processing, offer new digital services and enhanced service management capabilities. It offers an enterprise platform for existing and new benefits and service delivery continuity.
Action taken
- Investment in BDM and Tech Debt started in 2017 and 2019 respectively with funding in place until 2024.
- Detailed planning around remediation, enterprise platform and the incremental onboarding of benefits to BDM is complete and the core technology has been selected.
- Execution has been initiated in collaboration with the private sector.
Making progress
Achievements to Date:
- Stabilized aging IT systems with an initial focus on Pensions benefits continuity.
- Leveraged best practices and contracting with a network of globally-recognized systems specialists.
- Accelerated BDM based on lessons learned from the successful delivery of COVID benefits (17 weeks, 2 payments).
- Launched an ongoing citizen co-design process (Service Canada Labs).
Moving forward
- Continue to address Tech Debt, including root causes, and remediate business systems more broadly.
- Continue to operate existing benefit systems until the BDM platform is implemented.
- Continue with Tranche 1 work that is well underway, including the build of BDM Foundations and onboarding OAS.
- Seek decisions on priorities and sequencing of benefits delivery platform onboarding beyond OAS.
What Benefits Delivery Modernization means for our clients, our employees, and the Government of Canada
Proposed sequencing of benefits onto BDM
- Foundations (we are at this stage).
- OAS (underway).
- EI.
- CPP.
New or revamped benefits could be on boarded to BDM at any time.
Technical debt remediation is ongoing, as we onboard benefits to BDM.
Improved client satisfaction
- Ability for all clients to self-serve in a way that is easy and intuitive.
- Single sign-in with a “tell us once” principle (potential expansion to the Government of Canada(GC)).
- Digital identity with enhanced security features.
- Digital assistance.
More Flexible Delivery
- Increased delivery flexibility enabling Service Canada to deliver more services on behalf of other GC departments (such as Digital ID, Digital Services, Call Centre Support).
- Improved multi-channel integration-no wrong door.
Enhanced Security
- Better protection against fraud and cyber threats.
Increased Responsiveness
- Increased policy agility.
- Faster implementation of new policies and legislation.
- Enterprise platform to deliver a wide range of benefits.
BDM is a once in a generation opportunity to continue the transformation journey on how the Government delivers services to Canadians.
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