Lately there is a growing trend within governments and public authorities to separate citizen-focused online services from institutional communications, similar to e.g. how a telecom provider separates its customers services from its corporate information.

Here are some of the best examples of governmental service websites we know of. Sites are in English except where indicated.

• Austria: help.gov.at
• Belgium: Vlaanderen.be (in Dutch)
• Canada: Seniors’ Info, Service Alberta, Service Ontario
• Denmark: Danmark.dk (in Danish)
• Finland: Suomi.fi
• France: Service-Public (in French)
• Ireland: Citizens Information
• Netherlands: Overheid.nl (in Dutch)
• Norway: Norway.no
• Portugal: Portal do Cidadão
• Singapore: eCitizen | My.eCitizen
• South-Korea: G4C (Government for Citizens)
• Spain: 060 (national, in Spanish), GenCat Serveis (Catalunya)
• Sweden: Sverige.se (in Swedish)
• UK: Directgov
• USA: FirstGov.gov

Engagement and co-production will grow only out of a deeper, richer understanding of how services relate in practice to people’s everyday lives.

Drawing on the principles and practices of the emerging discipline of ‘service design’, this pamphlet by Demos, the UK ‘everyday democracy’ think tank, argues that the common challenge which all service organisations face is how to create more intimate and responsive relationships with their users and customers.

Drawing on over 50 interviews with service innovators from the public, private and voluntary sectors The Journey to the Interface makes the case for a fresh approach to public service reform – an approach that is less about competition and contestability, and more about closing the gap between what people want and need, and what service organisations do.

From cleaning the streets to checkouts, from looking after our elderly parents to selling us holidays, more than 20 million people in the UK work in the service sector. The so-called ‘service economy’ now makes up 72% of our GDP. And while most of us work in service; all of us depend on it for many aspects of our existence. The giving and receiving of service has become an unmistakable part of everyday life. But this expansion of the service sector has not heralded a service revolution. Too often people’s day to day experiences are alienating and frustrating.

The pamphlet argues that service design can offer policy makers and practitioners a vision for the transformation of public services, as well as a route to get there. It outlines an agenda for action which spells out how service design approaches can be applied systemically.

Download pamphlet (pdf, 2.8 mb, 118 pages)

The digital strategy all but ignores older people says David Sinclair from the UK advocacy group Help the Aged and urges the government to correct this through specific targeted programmes for the population over 65 in UK.

Technology offers massive potential for tackling the problems faced by too many older people. It can help deliver better and more focussed services including those which help tackle isolation; poverty; and exclusion; whilst at the same time play a part in helping improve the health of older people.

However, whilst the potential of technology is enormous – it is limited by a large number of factors – imagination; the digital divide; age discrimination; inaccessible services; the lack of support to help older people use technology; the lack of awareness of older people’s issues by service providers and, most fundamentally a lack of involvement by older people in the design of e-services.

As a result, we as a society are missing the real opportunity which technology offers and as a result, older people are becoming more rather than less excluded as a result of the way technology is changing our lives and the public services we rely on. A survey we conducted last year revealed that more than 3 million older people (36 per cent) feel out of touch with the fast pace of modern life.

Only around one in five over 65s have ever used the internet. Most of concern is that the figures for over 65s has not increased over the past 3 years. The most recent figures actually show a fall. This highlights two issues – firstly that the market alone is not and will not deliver internet access for older people and secondly, that we cant just ignore this issue and hope it eventually solve itself. If we look at most other modern media technologies we see a similar pattern of usage – ie it declines with age.

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