This article is written by Dr. Erin Grant, senior policy and legislation analyst, province of British Columbia, Canada

The year 2021 is surely one for public servants who are keen to get off the mark.

While the public increasingly expects public servants to deliver services in an easier and more accessible way, teleworking has pushed governments to cease debating the merits of digital government, and to start making it happen instead.

This put a spotlight on how stark disparities in access to government services really are. For example, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, where more than three quarters of people have access to online government services, 36% of them still do not enjoy consistent, fast and reliable access to the Internet.

This points to the difference between treating inclusive digital transformation as a traditional race, rather than as a marathon. During marathons, even those who break the finish line are known to turn back and help those struggling behind them. It is worth taking a pause to consider who your government might be leaving behind.

What is digital government?

The term 'digital government' describes the overlap between people, technology, service and governance. Last year, I was part of the digital policy framework team at the office of the chief information officer, which had been developing a new set of digital principles.

These principles were reflected firstly in strategic-level policy, and second, in the significant updates being made to existing policies for information management (IM) and information technology (IT). These policy tools were created or updated to support our digital framework, which is essentially the province’s effort to equip public servants so that they may deliver effective, accessible and equitable services that meet the needs of people in British Columbia.

When we can best use these tools, we can more easily gain the trust of our citizens.

Taking a digital approach means focusing on regaining citizens’ trust in all areas of government. It means being agile, as well as focusing on user design for all our services, so as to remain transparent, accountable and equitable in the eyes of the public.

As public servants, we shouldn’t take for granted that our services are going to be all these things just because they are part of our digital strategy. Not everyone has the same access to a computer, or to a phone, or even the ability to transport themselves to the locations in which our services are available. The good news is that we already have a tool to help with these challenges.

Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+)

Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) is a policy process and tool developed by the Canadian government, and adapted for the Government of British Columbia, to help decision-makers and policy-developers understand how policies, programmes and services affect the different sub-populations of the province.

Importantly, GBA+ is people-centred and evidence-based. It does not dictate outcomes, but it does offer comprehensive analysis, accounting for the age, sex, health status and geographic location of citizens. This means that leaders can roll equity considerations into their fiscal, environmental and economic decisions.

How your government can use GBA+

GBA+ functions as a series of questions public servants ask throughout the policy/programme development process. These questions centre on what assumptions they might be making:

  • Are you making assumptions about who your clients (citizens) are?

  • Are you assuming what is best for your audience?

  • What social factors, norms or stereotypes are informing these assumptions? For example, are you assuming that people share the same concerns, or access health and social services in the same way?

The home is where we can assume most people access available digital government services. Yet, home can be a dangerous place for those experiencing domestic violence, for instance. This danger is especially severe for women living in rural areas, indigenous women, or women with disabilities, as well as people who are LGBTQ+.

If digital government services do not adequately reach all of the people that they are supposed to, then this is simply not good enough

And so, it is important to ask who could be left behind. Questions you might ask include whether your team is making generalisations that mean various groups won't have access to digital services. In healthcare, for example, this could mean the loss of life, especially for people with lower socio-economic stability who have significantly reduced access to Internet access.

Further, when people in positions of low socio-economic stability live in remote areas (as do thousands in British Columbia), and in addition struggle with ethnicity, gender, language or disability barriers, these services are not easily available to them, or simply not at all.

Who you consulted

It is also important to ask the following:

  • Did you consult a cross section of different people represented in the population?

  • Did you consult indigenous people?

  • Did you consult those who will be directly affected by your services?

  • Did you give a voice to those who are often underrepresented?

Finally, it is important to ask about the data you looked at. Do you have access to data that is disaggregated by various intersections, such as gender, age, ethnicity, or even disability or geography?

According to KPMG Canada, only 35% of British Columbia’s rural indigenous communities, and 33% of rural non-indigenous communities, have access to the recommended 50+ Mbps broadband, which forms the backbone of the infrastructure needed to support digital government services.

Incorporating GBA+ into digital government development and design will help ensure that all citizens, regardless of their circumstances, are adequately supported under digital government

When it comes to implementing equity measures, ask yourself whether those measures take intersectional factors into consideration. Do they address barriers that a diverse range of people face? One way of addressing this is to provide information (about, say, Covid-19) in different languages and to work with community leaders to find solutions to barriers to accessing digital services in a way that builds trust.

Incorporating GBA+ into digital government development and design will help ensure that all citizens, regardless of their circumstances, are adequately supported under digital government. By taking a closer look at the diversity of our citizens’ needs, we can mend and (as far as possible) avoid the serious physical and psychological risks of their unique challenges.

If digital government services do not adequately reach all of the people that they are supposed to, then this is simply not good enough.

In August, I challenged you to look at how your organisation collects gender and sex data to make for a better government. Now, I challenge you again to maximise the power of that data, as part of your own GBA+ analysis, to implement the digital government services people need.

Don’t race unthinkingly towards the future. Instead, build government services that are strong enough to move fast, as well as help others over the finish line. – Dr. Erin Grant

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