SERVICE TAXONOMY

A framework for understanding and describing public services consistently across government

Version: / 1.1
Release date: / 21 May 2012

Document Information

Programme / Service Transform
Owner: / Stephen Crombie
Title: / Service Taxonomy: A framework for understanding and describing public services consistently across government
Filename: / Service Taxonomy
Document reference

Revision History

Date / Version / Comments / Author/reviser
4/04/2012 / 1.0 / Emma Martin
21/05/12 / 1.1 / Added definitions for ‘digital environment’ and ‘electronic funds transfer’ / Emma Martin

Document Approval

Prepared by / Signature / Date
Emma Martin
Senior Advisor
Service Transformation Programme
Recommended for authorisation by / Signature / Date
Stephen Crombie
Executive Director
Service Transformation Programme
Department of Internal Affairs

Contents

1Purpose of this document

2What is the Service Taxonomy?

3Why Do We Need the Service Taxonomy?

4Conceptual Model

5Glossary of Terms

6Evolution of the Service Taxonomy

6.1Governance

6.2Process for amending the Service Taxonomy

1Purpose of this document

The document explains what the Service Taxonomy is, the reasons we need it, how it works, and the process for developing and maintaining it.

2What is the Service Taxonomy?

The Service Taxonomy is a framework for understanding and describing public services in a consistent way across government.

The Service Taxonomy has three components:

  • AConceptual Modelwhich shows logical relationships between terms
  • AGlossarywhich provides definitions of terms and examples
  • AGovernance Frameworkwhich details the change control process for making updates to theConceptual ModelandGlossary

3Why Do We Need the Service Taxonomy?

The Service Taxonomy is an essential analytical tool for service transformation. Currently, agencies do not identify and describe their services in a consistent way, and this creates barriers to understanding service delivery from a whole-of-government perspective.

This Service Taxonomyis a prerequisite to:

  • developing and socialising service transformation strategy and plans
  • developing a detailed, comprehensive view of the services that government delivers to its customers, and the channels used to deliver these services;
  • identifying opportunities for standardisation, simplification and integration of services; and
  • measuring service capability and performance over time.

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4Conceptual Model

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5Glossary of Terms

Term / Definition / Examples/allowable values
Account status / Under development / Under development
Apply / A service event in which a customer submits a request for a service / Under development
Assisted service event / A service event in which a customer completes the event with some input from a service delivery representative / Under development
Attitudes / See: customer attitudes / Under development
Authoritative source of information / Under development / Under development
Book / A service event in which a customer submits a request to reserve a service / Under development
Brand / Under development / Under development
Business / An individual person or group of people organized for some profitable or charitable purpose. Allowable value for customer entity / Under development
Cancel / A service event in which a customer stops or halts a request for a service / Under development
Channel / An environment or pathway within which or through which a customer, nominee, service provider or service delivery agent participates in a service event / Allowable values:
  • Contact centre
  • Electronic Funds Transfer
  • Email
  • Fax
  • In-person – counter
  • In-person – one-to-many meeting
  • In-person – one-to-one meeting
  • Web
  • IVR
  • Kiosk
  • Mail
  • Mobile application
  • Online real-time assistance
  • Phone
  • SMS
  • Social media

Circumstance / See:customer circumstance / Under development
Citizen / Under development / Under development
Citizen account / Under development / Under development
Cluster / See: service cluster / Under development
Completion / Under development / Under development
Complexity / See: migration complexity
Complexity / A combination of the level of judgement required for a service to be executed, the level of risk to crown finance or outcomes the service represents, and the level of documentation and validation of information required to completetheservice / Allowable values:
  • Lowcomplexity
  • Medium complexity
  • High complexity

Compliance service / A service which enables a customer to meet their obligations to government / Example:
  • Personal tax (for self-employed people)

Contact centre / A channel in which service events occur by telephone between a customer or nominee and a service delivery representativewhere the service delivery representative is located in a dedicated facility / Under development
Counter / A channel in which service events occur via in-person contact between a customer or nominee and a service delivery representative without an appointment. Includes counters that are permanent and temporary, and both fixed and mobile. / Under development
Customer / Any natural or legal person who accesses a service offered by a service provider. A customer’s needs and expectations of services are influenced by their attitudes and circumstances. Customers can be grouped by customer entity. See also: New Zealander, individual, citizen / Under development
Customer attitudes / Under development / Under development
Customer circumstance / Under development / Under development
Customer entity / The nature of the ‘thing’ that is the customer for a service / Allowable values:
  • Business
  • Individual

Digital channel / A channelin which the transfer of information occurs digitally
Note: Although this definition technically includes voice over IP and mobile phone, for the purposes of Result Area 10, phone and contact centre channels are not included as digital channels, nor as part of the digital environment / Allowable values:
  • Electronic Funds Transfer
  • Email
  • Web
  • IVR
  • Kiosk
  • Mobile application
  • Online real-time assistance
  • SMS
  • Social media

Digital environment / The totality of all the digital channels
Electronic funds transfer (EFT) / A channel in which service events occur via the electronic transfer of money from one account to another through computer-based systems / Under development
Eligibility / Under development / Under development
Email / A channel in which service events occur via sending and/or receiving electronic mail / Under development
Enquire / A service event in which a customer submits a request to find out about a service / Under development
Entitlement service / Under development / Under development
Fax / A channel in which service events occurs via correspondence sent by fax / Under development
File / A service event in which a customer submits or provides information required by a service providerin order to deliver a complianceservice / Under development
Frequency (service event) / The number of times a service event type typically occurs relative over a period of time, relative to the delivery of a particular service / Under development
Good / Under development / Under development
Government / Under development / Under development
High complexity / A servicethat requires a high level of judgement to be executed, contains a high risk to crown finance or outcomes, or requires a high level of documentation and validation of information required to complete the service / Under development
Individual / A natural person (as opposed to a legal person such as a business). Individual is an allowable value for customer entity / Under development
Information / Under development / Under development
Information (service event) / A service event in which a serviceprovider gives information to a customer through a one-way communication, with no change in account status / Under development
Integrated Voice Response (IVR) / A channel in which service events occur via a touch-tone and/or an automated voice response system that does not require a customer to speak to a service delivery representative. This also includes service events that utilise an automated system for the purposes of accepting and processing a payment / Under development
Interaction (service event) / A service event involving two way flow of information between a customer or nominee and a service provider or service delivery agent which does not result in a change in the customer’saccount status / Under development
IVR / See: Integrated Voice Response / Under development
Kiosk / A channel in whichservice eventoccur via a dedicated computer terminal in a public location / Under development
Level of assistance / The amount of input required from a service delivery representative in order to complete a service event within a channel / Allowable values:
  • Assisted
  • Managed
  • Self-managed

Low complexity / A servicethat requires very little judgement or can be accomplished through straight-through processing, contains little or no risk to crown finances, and requires little documentation or validation of information required to complete the service / Under development
Mail / A channel in which service events occurs via correspondence sent by post / Under development
Managed service event / A service event in which a service delivery representative completes the event on a customer’s behalf / Under development
Medium complexity / A servicethat requires only some or little judgement in order to be executed, has only some limited risk to crown finances, or requires only a medium level of documentation and validation of information provided in order to complete the service / Under development
Mobile application / Achannel in whichservice events occur via a specialist application for a mobile device, such as a smart-phone or tablet. Note that this channel excludes service events that are conducted on a laptop PC or accessed through a non-mobile device / Under development
New Zealander / Under development / Under development
Nominee / A legal or natural person who interacts with a service provider or service delivery agent on behalf of a customer, in the context of service delivery. May be either a professional (e.g. a tax agent) or a friend or family member / Under development
One-to-many meeting / A channel in whichservice events between a customer and service provider occur in-person through group seminars and other similar events / Under development
One-to-one meeting / A channel in which service events between an individual customer or nominee and service provider or service delivery agent occur in-person / Under development
Online real-time assistance / Achannel in which service events are conducted live with a service delivery representative via a chat screen or online video-conferencing. / Under development
Organisation type / Under development / Under development
Pay / A service event in which a customer submits payment in order to fulfil a service / Under development
Personal information / Under development / Under development
Phone / A channel in which service events occur by telephone between a customer or nominee and a service delivery representative where the service delivery representative is not located in a dedicated facility
Policy / Under development / Under development
Privacy / Under development / Under development
Provider / See: service provider / Under development
Receive good / A service event in which a customer receives a tangible or intangible good other than a payment from a service provider. (Not that receive payment is a distinct service event) / Under development
Receive notification / A service event in which a customer receives anotification from a service provider, including reminders, account statements and notification of decisions / Under development
Receive payment / A service event in which a customer receives a payment from a service provider / Under development
Renew / A service event in which a customer submits a request for a service that has been previously provided to the customer / Under development
Result area / Under development / Under development
Result Area 10 / Under development / Under development
Result Area 9 / Under development / Under development
Self-managed service event / A service event in which a customer completes the event without input from a service delivery representative / Under development
Self-service / Under development / Under development
Service / An intangible or tangible good delivered by a service provider or a service delivery agent to a customer, either directly or via a nominee. The process of delivering a service involves one or more service events. Services are delivered under a brand. Services relate to a subject. Services vary according to the nature of the good delivered to the customer. Services vary according to complexity. Services vary according to how eligibility is determined. Services can be grouped into citizen-centric clusters. / Under development
Service cluster / Under development / Under development
Service delivery / Under development / Under development
Service delivery agent / An organisation that delivers a service to a customer on behalf of the service provider of the service. Service delivery agents can be grouped according to their organisation type / Under development
Service delivery representative / An representative of a service provider or service delivery agent who has contact with a customer or nominee in the course of delivering a service / Under development
Service design / Under development / Under development
Service event / An activity undertaken by either a service provider, a service delivery agent, or a customer or a nominee in the course of delivering or accessing a service. Service events can be grouped according to service event type. Service events can also be grouped according to service event flow. Service events occur within a channel, and via a touchpoint. Service events occur at a specific time. / Example:
Jane Whittiker applies to renew her driver’s licence at Newtown VTNZ, 8.45am Friday 30th March
Service event flow / The flow or exchange of information that takes place between a customer and service providerin the course of a service event / Allowable values:
  • Information
  • Interaction
  • Transaction

Service event type / The purpose or objective of a service event, described from a customer point of view / Allowable values:
  • Apply
  • Book
  • Cancel
  • Enquire
  • File
  • Pay
  • Receive good
  • Receive notification
  • Receive payment
  • Renew
  • Update

Service provider / An organisation that provides services to customers either directly or via a service delivery agent / Under development
Short Messaging Service (SMS) / A channel in which service events occur via the receipt or delivery of a text message / Under development
SMS / See: Short Messaging Service / Under development
Social Media / A channel in whichservice events occur through internet-based applications that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content / Under development
Subject / Under development / Under development
Touchpoint / The interface of a service with a customer within a channel– e.g. a specific website or service centre / Examples:
  • VTNZ Newtown

Transaction / A service event involving one way or two way contact between a customer or nominee and service provider or service delivery agent which involves the delivery of a good and/or a change in the customer’saccount status / Under development
Update / A service event in which a customer provides information to a service provider or service delivery agent about a change in their personal circumstances / Under development
Verified information / Under development / Under development
Volume / Under development / Under development
Web / A channel in which service events occurs via a website / Under development

6Evolution of the Service Taxonomy

6.1Governance

The custodian of the Service Taxonomy is Emma Martin, Senior Advisor, Service Transformation. The owner of the Service Taxonomy is Stephen Crombie, Executive Director, Service Transformation Programme.

6.2Process for amending the Service Taxonomy

Proposed updates to the Service Taxonomy should be submitted to Emma Martin, .

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