Mr. Speaker, as stated in the red book our challenge is and always will be to do more with what we have. Governments everywhere are striving to maintain and to improve service levels to growing populations and to public demands that we do more and be efficient, more open and responsive in the delivery of services in communication with our citizens.
At the same time governments face equally challenging tasks of making their operations more cost effective, reducing expenditures and easing the financial burden that must be shouldered by the people. This is a universal challenge and one that must be met by this government and by all levels of government in Canada, the United States, Japan, Europe, and indeed the world.
The experience of the past decade indicates that one of the most effective ways of meeting the seemingly conflicting goals of better service at lower cost is through the development and application of advanced technology to the operation of government. The Department of Public Works and Government Services has made considerable progress in applying automated systems in delivery programs and services.
A new and advanced communications technology has helped to become more efficient in all aspects of communication within government, within communications and with the Canadian public. The technologies in this field are evolving rapidly. It is vitally important that the federal government keep pace with change, make maximum use of emerging technologies and make our operations more efficient and more cost effective. For this reason I believe the changes embodied in the creation of the Department of Public Works and Government Services represent that positive step.
I refer specifically to the decision to merge the government telecommunications agency, formerly the department of communications, with those portions of former public works and supply and services that dealt with informatics to a new a stronger unit known as government telecommunications and informatics service, or GTIS for short.
An amalgamation of the units will eliminate some duplication of function and will result in cost savings. More important, it creates a comprehensive centre of knowledge and expertise on all aspects of advanced telecommunications and informatics technology. Further, it recognizes the trend in the industrial sector toward convergence of computing and communications technologies.
By locating the agency within the Department of Public Works and Government Services at the very heart of government, it will be in a stronger and more central position. This will benefit the government chief informatics officer, the scores of federal departments and agencies for which PWGSC provides common administrative services, and its home department.
The new GTIS provides information management and information technology to assist in the automation of government administration and provides the common infrastructure for program delivery. GTIS is committed to constructing an information management and information technology infrastructure to support both central responsibilities such as the Receiver General and common services such as procurement and realty management.
It also is the functional and technical authority within the Department of Public Works and Government Services for information management and information technology architecture, standards, policies, practices and guidelines. Generally GTIS is working to develop open and standards based government-wide information management and information technology architecture and infrastucture.
The importance of applying these new technologies to government operations cannot be underestimated. To take just one example, the electronic procurement and settlement system which is being designed by PWGSC will when it has government-wide application offer annual cost saving methods of several hundred million dollars to government and suppliers.
This system, known as EPS, unites the traditionally separate functions of procurement and finance into a single process. EPS will link client departments, suppliers and central common settlement systems allowing them to do business electronically. It will achieve improved service and reduction in related overhead costs. It will put control of procurement in the hands of users without burdening them with the details of process. By next year it is expected that widespread use of EPS by suppliers and departments throughout government will begin.
EPS is a flexible system and one that is workable. The electronic procurement settlement system is but one example of the many applications designed to streamline the operations of government that are being designed with PWGSC and within the government telecommunications and informatics service. Others include the new public service compensation system, the standard payment system, the common departmental financial system, and the government message handling service.
The amalgamation of government expertise and capabilities in this important field through the creation of the government telecommunications and informatics service, GTIS, makes eminent good sense. It will continue to pay off down the road in the form of more effective service delivery and lower administrative costs throughout government. It is one more reason to support this measure to give legislative force to the Department of Public Works and Government Services.