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Executive summary


Overview

Centrelink's mission, as the human face of the Australian Government, is to provide easy and convenient access to high quality government and community services that improve the lives of Australian families, communities and individuals.

Centrelink's eBusiness Strategy supports this objective and sets clear directions for eBusiness to be incorporated as a principle component of Centrelink's Future Directions, which focus on customer orientation, innovation and the organisation's can-do ethos.

The strategy aligns with Centrelink's planning approach. It is in keeping with the Centrelink Business Plan (the initiatives Centrelink plans to undertake each year) and the Getting it Right strategy, which is part of the Australian Government's Australians Working Together legislative framework.

The eBusiness Strategy promotes consistency in the integration and accelerated take-up of eBusiness investment opportunities and creates a framework for the efficient and effective consideration of Centrelink's business policies, practices, procedures and workflows.

The direction set by the eBusiness Strategy will be supported by the development of a detailed implementation plan, which in conjunction with initiatives such as the Refresh project will ensure the execution of the strategy's initiatives (activities). This plan will incorporate specific deliverables, guiding principles, responsibilities, timeframes and performance measures.

eBusiness is: 'The use of electronic networks and associated technologies to enable, improve, enhance, transform or invent a business process or business system to create superior value for current or potential customers' (Sawhney & Zabin 2001).

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eBusiness in the Centrelink context

eBusiness in Centrelink represents the latest generation of online systems and strategies developed to record and manage customer details and interactions with business and community based organisations.

Centrelink's eBusiness Strategy creates opportunities to better service customer and business needs and underpins the introduction of a range of online services using web-based technologies and other interactive self service technologies, such as Natural Language Speech Recognition (NLSR). It reflects the increasing need to develop and deploy self service options to complement and support the eGovernment vision to connect with the community, customers and business partners and enable integrated service delivery.

An eBusiness strategy defines how the organisation will use internet technology to satisfy strategic goals. It provides a high level, prioritised, portfolio of projects to help the organisation successfully implement its business strategy... eBusiness strategy formulation takes the strategic goals of the organisation and the supporting business strategies as its starting point. It then tries to identify opportunities for using the internet to help the organisation implement its strategies. The focus of the search for opportunities can be a channel strategy, internal process improvements, alliances and partnering, and/or new business opportunities (ed. Philipson 2002).

Centrelink extends the Australian eBusiness Guide's eBusiness strategy definition and includes new technologies and the development of new and updated policies, practices and procedures potentially impacted by the pursuit of eBusiness opportunities.

The strategy reflects the need to balance people, process and technology in delivering eBusiness services. Centrelink's position as a trusted provider of government services - internally and externally - is a key element of its eBusiness Strategy. Centrelink sees eBusiness as an opportunity and an additional option to engage with customers and client organisations in the management of individual services and business requirements in an open environment that protects the individual's privacy and security.

Centrelink's eBusiness Strategy aims to streamline the integration of corporate, business and customer service systems and will ensure they operate in a consistent and coherent manner.

The establishment of a sound eBusiness capability is considered to be a core business enabler, which will allow Centrelink to:

  • deliver better social outcomes
  • provide integrated services
  • respond to customers' individual needs and circumstances when they need assistance
  • meet customer demand and offer service choices
  • improve business practices
  • streamline processes
  • empower and inform staff and customers
  • create new business opportunities
  • increase productivity and internal efficiencies.

Centrelink's commitment to an eBusiness strategy is driven by a number of factors, including government online requirements (as sponsored by the National Office for the Information Economy), customer expectations of increasing channel choices as a result of their experiences with other government and non-government organisations, and the potential efficiency gains to be made if customers and businesses are given opportunities to conduct business on more effective channels (Centrelink 2002).

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Strategy summary

Centrelink's eBusiness strategies are closely aligned and linked to the Refresh program, which aims to improve, modernise and expand the capabilities of Centrelink's information and technology systems. Collectively, the eBusiness strategies set out a road map for eBusiness transformation and through Centrelink's Business Plan.

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eBusiness Transformation - people, process and technology

Centrelink believes the key to eBusiness is finding the balance between flexibility (how easily and quickly people can change to meet the business need), speed to market (how quickly business practices and technology solutions can change) and positively adjusting the customer service experience (integrating the service delivery channels to create a better service experience). Ideally, eBusiness transformation will be achieved through flexible approaches, capacity to change and positive reinforcement of the benefits achieved.

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Centrelink's key change influencers

Centrelink's eBusiness transformation will use the proven knowledge, skills and expertise that have achieved widespread recognition, including the 2003 Government Gold Technology Productivity Award, which demonstrated Centrelink has become an eBusiness benchmark for government agencies both in Australia and internationally.

Key stakeholders to be engaged in the eBusiness transformation process include:

  • Customer Service Officers
  • business, service, systems and process analysts
  • technical strategists
  • members of the Guiding Coalition (Centrelink's internal corporate board).

The success of Centrelink's eBusiness transformation will be assessed externally by its customers, community providers, business and government policy departments, including local, state, federal and international jurisdictions.

Engaging customers in the designing of their service experience is a core business commitment, which allows Centrelink to understand its service offerings from the customer's perspective.

Through its eBusiness transformation Centrelink will enhance opportunities to better guide and inform its clients, government, community and business partners about the services performed and the contacts on their behalf.

As a significant provider of Australian Government services, Centrelink will play a major role in supporting and implementing a range of new initiatives and policy decisions. In the context of its eBusiness Strategy this is particularly relevant to the Australian Government's eGovernment strategy, Better Services, Better Government (National Office for the Information Economy 2002).

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Centrelink's eBusiness strategies

Centrelink's eBusiness strategies address the organisation's future directions and eBusiness priorities.

These strategies include:

  • delivering the vision of eGovernment
  • moving Centrelink to integrated, e-enabled service delivery
  • advancing self service
  • connecting with the community
  • making it easier for business to do business with Centrelink
  • creating quality eBusiness services through Centrelink people, processes and technology
  • protecting government outlays
  • protecting the individual's privacy and security and maintaining Centrelink's trusted provider status.

As Centrelink's eBusiness capabilities evolve it will be necessary to review and maintain the currency of these strategies on an ongoing basis.

Go to: eBusiness Strategy home | Executive summary | The strategies | References

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