Strategy in brief

Digital New Brunswick 2.0 is a refreshed vision for the path forward to help New Brunswick evolve into a more digital society. It includes a plan for government’s steps forward on that path 2023-2027.

Where we are

In 2018 only 10% of Service New Brunswick’s services were available online. Now more than two-thirds are! Now we have an opportunity to take advantage of the changes in technology and society since 2018 and refresh the Strategy to make it even more relevant. So we consulted across government and surveyed the general public to understand where we needed to go next for greater success.


What we learned on the way here

Two key lessons from the original strategy are:

  • Recognizing that our government colleagues across the enterprise are presenting us with interesting opportunities in their work to leverage digital solutions and perspectives, so the time is ripe to consider legislation and governance to help move us forward.
  • The digital transformation is an opportunity to earn and increase the public’s trust in government. And we must communicate better. We didn’t keep people inside or outside government informed well enough of the first strategy nor ask them to continually impact it themselves as it proceeded. That must change.

Where we’re going

The objective of the original strategy was to provide government services that were:

  1. citizen- and business-centric; and
  2. available from any device, any time, anywhere.

To this, from five years’ experience and from the best practices of other jurisdictions, we add a third goal for our service to citizens:

  1. consistent online service provision across government.

Consistency, no matter which program you access or from which department, increases user satisfaction and ultimately fosters greater trust.


Action plan

These are the changed approaches that will support and enable Part I of government to execute the strategy.

Policy

Create a digital-first policy.

  • First action: A policy to create all government services digital-first – but not digital-only.
  • Second action: create a path to data-sharing, allowing citizens to access services that cross departments. Revisit legislative, policy, and tech barriers to sharing that data while always respecting information privacy and security.

Governance

Refresh our governance model to support government-wide prioritization of initiatives and projects.

  • First action: establish an enterprise-wide way of prioritizing initiatives and resources/investment
  • Second action: create an enterprise roadmap for technology
  • Third action: establish a prioritized and funded approach to digital transformation and a formalized process to remove the old as we stand up the new
  • Fourth action: develop an enterprise analytics strategy to achieve data analysis government-wide for better decision-making, to make data a true corporate asset

Standards

Create standards for consistent online service delivery across government, as citizens have come to expect from other service providers.

  • First action: Create a Digital Service Standard led by OCIO’s Digital Office
  • Second action: Expand the use of Digital credentials
  • Third action: Provide digital skills training and foster new ways of working in government

Our critical enablers

  1. Security
  2. Privacy
  3. Data
  4. Design
  5. Collaboration: One Team, One GNB
  6. Transparency for trust
  7. Citizen input
  8. Communication

Roadmap: specific initiatives

Better websites and services

Better websites and services are consistent and put people first. They are easy to find, use and understand.

  • Create a Digital Services Standard
  • Move towards one front door
  • Move towards “Tell us once”
  • Expand use of Digital credentials
  • Design for mobile first
  • Personalize services
  • Design for people first
  • Provide barrier-free services

No one is left behind

Everyone has access to technology and the skills they need to improve their day-to-day lives.

  • Provide digital skills training for citizens, including school-age children
  • Provide digital skills training and foster new ways of working in government
  • Make the case for better rural internet infrastructure to those that can make it happen
  • Explore internet accessibility for more New Brunswickers through partnerships

Strengthen data security and privacy protection

You can feel confident that we will protect your information privacy and keep your data safe.

  • Improve risk ownership and management across government
  • Foster increased citizen trust in government services
  • Ensure privacy, security and resiliency by design

Use data to make better decisions

We will use data to guide us and inform decisions to serve you better.

  • Create a path to data-sharing
  • Develop an enterprise analytics strategy
  • Populate the open data portal

The right technology and a modern business

We will get the skills and adopt technology to improve how we work and serve you.

  • Create a Digital-first policy
  • Refresh our governance model to support Government-wide prioritization of initiatives and projects
  • Create an enterprise roadmap for technology
  • Modernize our legacy technology
  • Create a cloud services framework
  • Integrate applications
  • Create a paperless path where possible
  • Ensure easy payment methods
  • Support agile procurement
  • Enable One GNB, One Intranet: hub of the digital workplace
  • Seize opportunities for continuous learning
  • Empower our teams
  • Encourage the innovators
  • Focus on talent recruitment, retention, and succession
  • Expand our tech toolkit

What we're doing

This is how we’re working to make New Brunswickers’ lives better at home, school, work, and play.

See what we're doing