Minister of Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government Margaret MacDiarmid congratulated B.C.'s Open Government team today for achieving the number-one ranking in Canada for eGovernment, in a new study released yesterday by the Stratford Institute.

The Province's top overall ranking is the result of the Stratford Institute's first-ever national evaluation of government's online presence. The criteria evaluated included customer service in online services, information-sharing and online-engagement efforts. B.C. earned high marks across all categories to secure the overall number-one ranking.

The institute's study specifically commended the Province's work in the field of Open Government, noting, "British Columbia is leading the way on an Open Government initiative seeking to follow national governments in opening government data bases for new public uses."

This ranking by the Stratford Institute follows on the heels of B.C. earning a silver medal for Open Government from IPAC, The Institute of Public Administration of Canada.

Since unveiling its Open Government plan in 2011, the Province has implemented a number of new policies and programs including the launch of the Open Information and DataBC websites, as well as a major redesign of the government's web presence to make it more citizen-focused and user-friendly. In the coming months, B.C. will introduce a new public engagement website to better communicate and collaborate with British Columbians.

A full copy of the Stratford Institute report "Becoming a Digital Nation; An Evaluation of Provincial and Territorial eGovernment Initiatives" is available at: www.stratfordinstitute.ca

Quote:

Minister of Labour, Citizens' Services and Open Government, Margaret MacDiarmid -

"Since the Premier announced our Open Government policy last year, we've worked hard to find new and meaningful ways to engage with citizens, share even more information and continue to provide outstanding online service. It's great to see these efforts result in a top ranking, and I'm proud B.C. has yet again been recognized as a national leader."

Quick Facts:

• This study was commissioned by the Stratford Institute and prepared by Brainmaven Research.

• Alberta ranked second and Ontario ranked third overall in this study.

• To date, DataBC has made more than 2,900 data sets available at: www.data.gov.bc.ca

• In 2011, B.C. completely revamped its online presence, giving its www.gov.bc.ca website a new service-focused look and feel, in order to better focus on the needs of citizens.

Learn More:

Visit the Ministry of Labour Citizens' Services and Open Government: www.gov.bc.ca/citz/index.html

Contact:

Jason Macnaughton
Manager of Communications
Ministry of Labour
250 387-0172