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Annex D: Common Infrastructures
A number of structures already exist which provide solutions to common problems associated with public service delivery, such as uniquely identifying citizens and being able to validate that identify online. Where possible service providers should consider the use of these structures where relevant to avoid the duplication of effort.
Customer First
Customer First is a Scottish Executive sponsored programme developed in partnership with Scottish local authorities and managed by the Improvement Service.
It underpins the Executive's commitment to provide financial support for, and work in partnership with, all of Scotland's councils to:
- deliver more convenient and responsive public services;
- encourage the take up of online (self-service) access to services; and
- ensure that at least 75% of core service requests can be dealt with at the first point of contact.
The Customer First programme is split into the following four sub programmes.
Customer Relationship Management ( CRM)/Local Citizen Account
Customer First programme staff are working with Councils to: develop the local citizen account along with local CRM priorities; develop a single point of contact for the first time delivery of core services; train multi-skilled front-office customer services staff who can deal with a wide range of enquiries. In addition, programme staff are working with councils to develop a common A-Z of services for the promotion and take-up of online (self-service) transactions.
Definitive National Address ( DNA) for Scotland
Customer First programme staff are working with every council to deliver a sustainable corporate address gazetteer that can be integrated into the local authority back office systems, and provide an accurate data source to sustain the national infrastructure.
National Entitlement Card
This sub-programme will deliver a national, voluntary entitlement card scheme and a single platform for the wider development of smartcard technology across Scotland. On 1 April 2006 over 750,000 elderly and disabled citizens were issued with a single smartcard containing the first national entitlement - access to the Scotland-wide free bus travel concession. Work is currently ongoing to roll the card out to all young people, initially in the 16-18 years age group.
National Infrastructure (Data Sharing)
This sub-programme will help ensure that citizens get all of the services that they are entitled to by establishing a secure and sustainable national data-sharing infrastructure, which includes a citizen account and citizen entitlement status, linked to an address gazetteer. The account will only be enabled with the informed consent of the citizen and secure business processes will ensure that only updates from an authenticated (trusted) source are able to alter the status of an account.
How to contact Customer First
You can contact the Customer First Programme Office on 01786 443250 or by e-mail to:
You can also register to receive regular monthly newsletters from the programme management site (Quickplace) at quickplace@stirling.gov.uk.
More information about the Customer First programme is available on the Scottish Executive website at www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Open-scotland/ModernisingGovernmentFund/CustomerFirst and on the Improvement Service website at www.improvementservice.org.uk.
Government Gateway
The Government Gateway was set up by the Cabinet Office e-Delivery Team in 2001 to facilitate the provision of efficient and cost effective online services. It provides a pan-government set of components for authentication, transaction routing, and secure, reliable messaging and it enables citizens, businesses, intermediaries and other government organisations to communicate with government from a single point of entry.
Some examples of using the Government Gateway are: sending a self assessment tax return; claiming Child Tax Credit; sending in a VAT return; checking pension entitlement; or booking a session to give blood. It is not always apparent that the Government Gateway is being used because it allows government organisations to present web pages in their own format and using their own branding.
A brief description of the key components and services offered through the Government Gateway is included below.
Registration and Enrolment
Registration enables users to obtain single logon credentials for use with all participating online government services. There are five registration categories: citizens (general public); organisations (businesses); intermediaries (agents acting on behalf of citizens and businesses); government individual (employee of government); and government organisation (government body).
The registration process supports the use of a Gateway user ID and password (along with a security phrase if supported by the requested service) and a digital certificate.
Enrolment allows the user to link their registration to multiple services across national, regional and local government organisations.
Authentication and Authorisation
Authentication on the Gateway confirms that a user has provided a trusted set of credentials. This can be carried out in two ways, firstly using a 12-character Gateway user ID and password, with an optional security phrase, or alternatively a digital certificate. As forms and messages are sent to the Gateway the use of standard based tokens are adopted as part of the authentication process.
Following authentication the Gateway will authorise the user by establishing what services the user has enrolled in. The requesting portal is sent this information and can therefore present the appropriate services to the user.
Transaction Engine
The Government Gateway provides a reliable, secure two-way messaging and transaction service. It supports citizen-to-government, business-to-government, intermediary-to-government and government-to-government interactions.
It uses two different protocols: the Document Submission Protocol that provides a standard interface for third party applications to use, helping ensure portals and applications can write consistently to a single consistent end point; and the Hub and Spoke Submission Protocol which is predominantly used government-to-government for communications that are within the government ICT infrastructure. All inbound and outbound message based routing uses XML and the authentication and authorisation services to validate messages.
Payment Engine
The Payment Engine is a pan-government facility that enables government departments, local authorities and agencies to connect to the merchant acquirer of their choice for the collection of online payments by debit or credit card and direct debit. It supports multiple currencies if required, although the standard currency is Sterling.
More information about the Government Gateway, including technical data and engagement guidelines, is available on the Cabinet Office website at www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government/responsibilities/edt-documentlibrary.asp.
The Scottish Executive Efficient Government Delivery Division is seeking to co-ordinate Scottish requirements to use the Government Gateway. The aggregation of demand and a collaborative approach will help us to secure the best arrangements for the Scottish public sector. Contact the Scottish Executive Efficient Government Delivery Division at osiaf@scotland.gsi.gov.uk if you intend to use, or you are exploring the use of, the Government Gateway.
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