MULTIMEDIA
Taking Information Services to the Community: Multimedia Initiatives Within the ACT Government
Multimedia Initiatives Within the ACT Government
Peter Jones
Project Manager Information Services
City Services Group, Department of
Urban Services,
ACT Government
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government in Canberra has three shopfronts in the ACT which provide counter services for the collection of payments (e.g. rates) and provision of government and community information. These services are well utilised but have a number of inherent disadvantages including limited hours of operation, long queues and relatively high costs per transaction.
A trial consisting of ten stand--alone multimedia public access kiosks was conducted in Canberra from December 1994 to June 1996. The trial attracted broad community use because of the depth of content and ease of use. The use of multimedia made the material accessible to the broader community but was not the key factor to the success of the trial.
Due to the success of the trial a new networked kiosk system is being installed and should be fully operational by February 1997. The new system will:
However the full features of multimedia, such as video, will not be more fully adopted by the ACT Government until the cost of multimedia development and updates is reduced and more people have access to online services.
Canberra, Australia's capital city, is located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The ACT was established in 1904 and administered by the Federal Government until 1989 when self--government was established in the ACT. The ACT covers an area of 2357 km2 and has a population of just over 300 000. Canberra lies between Sydney (300 km north--east) and Melbourne (650 km south--west).
The ACT Government established three shopfronts to provide an improved service to the citizens of Canberra. The aim of a shopfront was to provide a single location where an individual could complete nearly all their dealings with the ACT Government. The services provided cover the collection of payments to the ACT Government and the provision of information on ACT Government services.
The shopfronts collect payments for a large range of transactions, including:
Some of these transactions require “proof of identity.” For example a person cannot be issued a driver's licence without providing evidence that they are who they claim to be. However, the bulk of the transactions are relatively simple and authentication is not required. In the first instance, these are the types of transactions which will be available electronically.
The shopfronts, at present, do not process complex or technical transactions. However they endeavour to redirect people to the appropriate area. Given that the ACT Government undertakes both State and local functions this can often be a complex task.
There are a number of issues which limit the effectiveness and value of the shopfront services. The most significant issues affecting the customer are:
Another key issue confronting the government is the relatively high cost of providing the service. On a cost per transaction basis electronic services are less expensive provided sufficient transactions can be processed.
The profile of transactions and enquiries at the ACT Government shopfronts is shown in Figure 1.
There are a number of questions the ACT Government has been asking, such as:
One option that the ACT Government has trialed and implemented is the provision of electronic services, both information and revenue collection, using multimedia. These electronic services are collectively referred to as AUSTOUCH and are accessible from the Internet and through public--access touch--screen kiosks.
Multimedia
In providing services which utilise multimedia, the ACT Government required the services to be:
Innovation and creative development played a critical role in developing the services as they exist today. However the ACT Government did not look to adopt leading edge technology due to rapid changes in technology and the uncertainty of what new financial products may be entering the market (e.g. smart cards).
The biggest problems facing governments and the adoption of multimedia are:
The latter in particular has already seen the ACT Government change from DVI to AVI due to issues of cost, support and the introduction of the Pentium PC.
Community requirements
In August 1992 a survey was undertaken to identify the community's information needs. The results showed that:
The ACT Government therefore decided to concentrate on providing a solution to the simple inquiries and transactions. Community consultation followed to address issues such as privacy, access and equity, information content, and presentation standards. This was an extremely valuable exercise as it has ensured that a broad section of the community can effectively use the services.
Public access system trial
A trial consisting of 10 stand--alone public access kiosks was conducted in Canberra from December 1994 to June 1996. Each kiosk contained a touch--sensitive screen, an IBM compatible personal computer running Icon Author on Windows, and speakers.
The kiosks made full use of multimedia, including video, animation, sound, graphics and text. To keep costs to a minimum, video and animation were used sparingly as general introductions to specific topics. Similarly, information which changed frequently was presented using text and graphics only.
The trial attracted broad community use because of the depth of content and ease of use. The use of multimedia made the material accessible to the broader community but was not the key factor to the success of the trial.
One of the key decisions was to take the services to the public rather than the public having to come to the government's shopfronts. In the future people will be able to complete many transactions from home. In the interim, 14 networked touch--screen kiosks are in the process of being installed at locations within Canberra. Ten kiosks will be located in the four shopping malls and at six of the major shopping centres, and a further four kiosks will be installed in bus interchanges. In the ACT, most people will have to travel less than 5 kilometres to a kiosk.
Early feedback from the public access trial showed that two in three people considered the service to be useful — see Figure 2.
How the public accessed the usefulness of the ACT Government kiosk trial
During the trial of the Public Access System, a 590% increase in usage in the 12 months to June 1996 was achieved. This was recorded through:
The major drivers to increased usage were:
Placing a kiosk in a government building or in an area where it is not highly visible will ensure it gets minimal usage.
Online multimedia
Table 1 summarises the advantages and disadvantages of using multimedia to deliver government information and services based on the ACT Government's experience.
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Table 1. The advantages and disadvantages of using mediua to deliver government information |
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Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Comments |
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Video |
Broad community reach |
Very expensive |
Use for attractors and base level information. Can be effective for promoting tourism, cultural activities etc. |
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Animation |
Broad community reach |
Very expensive |
Useful for icons, logos and to attract a person's attention to a particular part of the screen. Should be used sparingly to avoid looking gimmicky. |
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Voice |
Assist people with low literacy skills |
Expensive, speech synthesis may be future possibility |
Presenting material in several languages is very expensive. |
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Graphics |
Easy to prepare |
Not accessible to the sight impaired |
An inexpensive way to make a screen look attractive. Need to make sure information such as text is not lost amongst the graphics. |
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Text |
Easy to prepare, search facilities, easy to change |
Cost in converting the text into format accessible to a broad section of the community |
Presenting material in several languages is very expensive. |
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Online |
Transactions, and immediate update and feedback |
Bandwidth is expensive and therefore video, graphics, sound and animation are stored on each kiosk |
As bandwidth costs decrease other forms of data such as graphics and video can be stored at a remote site, e.g. central server. |
Costs
The major cost to the ACT Government in maintaining a public access system and a presence on the Internet is the management, collection and verification of information. By comparison the technology, including multimedia development, accounts for about 20% of the total cost. If properly implemented and managed, public access systems and the World Wide Web sites have the potential to improve services to the community and reduce costs for governments. Most Canberrans, however, are unlikely to have access to online services in their homes before the year 2000 because the cost of computer equipment, access to the Internet and telephone calls.
Canberra's information future
A new networked kiosk system is being installed by North Communications Australia and should be fully operational by February 1997. The new system will:
The ACT Government home page was established mid--1995 and has been continually modified since then with a focus on ease of access to information. Access and equity issues are being addressed, with attention to screen design for the sight impaired and blind and free Internet access in the ACT Government public libraries.
The content of the ACT Government homepage is more detailed than that found on the public access system, and includes links to other organisations. Within the next three years, most financial transactions with the ACT Government should also be available via the Internet.
The ACT Government is starting to explore promotion of its Web site as a useful source of information for the community. Setting the default home page on all public Internet PCs in the eight ACT Government public libraries to the ACT Government home page has been the first step towards raising the profile of this site. Traditional media cannot be overlooked as an effective way to promote electronic services. The ACT Government has prepared a comprehensive advertising campaign to promote both their home page and kiosks.
Public access and Internet services provide two major benefits:
With this information the ACT Government has been able to tailor the services to meet the needs of the users of the services.
Information services provided by the ACT Government will, in the foreseeable future, be available in several formats, including:
Figure 3 shows the relationship between the types of services and the delivery mechanisms. As technology, particularly bandwidth, improves and becomes less expensive some of these services may merge. In the next three years it is unlikely that counter services will significantly reduce. However we can expect to see the staff providing the counter services using the same electronic s
Figure 4 gives an indication of the geographic coverage of these services throughout Canberra.
Conclusion
For at least the next three years the ACT Government will continue to:
The multimedia services presently provided by the ACT Government will continue to expand due to the positive response from the public. However multimedia will not be more fully adopted until: