In 2004 the Quebec Ministry of Culture, Communication and Women's Affairs had just completed the restructuring of its entire portfolio of programs, subsidies and related processes. The Ministry challenged Nurun's eGovernment team to define, design and deploy an innovative global solution for subsidy management: a system that would position the Ministry as a leader in providing efficient online services to the citizens of Quebec. The scope required that Nurun conduct two projects in parallel: the redesign of the website that housed the new transactional services and the development of di@pason, the financial aid management system. Adding to the complexity was an uncomfortably close (and unbreakable) deadline dictated by political considerations. Project di@pason would be closely watched by government and citizen stakeholders who expected a solution that provided a high level of performance, delivered not just on time but on budget, too.

The Nurun Québec team knew that they had the technological expertise required for this ambitious project. What they needed was a strategic roadmap to ensure success. The team adopted an approach that emphasized close collaboration between Nurun and the Ministry staff. In addition, minutely planned steps and best practices for project management were mapped out to keep all the actors and activities in synch. And finally, a series of phased implementations was outlined, so that the team could deploy the di@pason system progressively, as the different modules were ready to go live. Because di@pason represented a radical departure from the Ministry staff's usual work methods, Nurun's change management experts set about identifying ways to help both the Ministry's organization and recipients of aid to adapt to the new system and processes.

Totally Web-based, di@pason represents a pioneering eGovernment initiative. Both eServices and the system's management and decision platforms are 100% accessible via a Web browser from anywhere in the world. Subsidy recipients can access their workspace and can track the progress of their submissions or transactions in real time, in a totally secure environment. di@pason features Web interfaces designed to be both user-friendly and highly efficient. The use of AJAX through Rich Internet Applications delivers a high level of performance, even during traffic peaks when page requests number in the thousands. The solution was developed using the Service Oriented Architecture characteristic of Nurun's SOFI application framework, based on J2EE technology, which ensures that the solution is robust today and ready to evolve tomorrow. With di@pason, subsidy candidates can register online and submit requests for financial aid using interactive forms that automatically adapt to their profile. Ministry staff can process and track subsidy requests, verify eligibility, analyze cases, make decisions and recommendations with supporting documents attached. Administrative entities within the Ministry can follow the budget online in real time and understand how different departments are spending. The system also produces management and performance reports, for improved planning and accountability. In a nutshell: di@pason simplifies forms and programs, reduces red tape, accelerates response times and enhances transparency.

Di@pason has transformed the way the Quebec government grants and manages subsidies. Citizens have enthusiastically embraced the new system: in the first year of use, 76% of Ministry clients made their submissions online - convincing proof of the solution's quality and ease of use. The development of di@pason marks a milestone in the ambitious project envisioned by the government of Quebec to provide secure, transparent and equitable online services for its citizens.