A Government Agency’s Guide to Successful Digital Transformation

Digital Transformation has become the catalyst for success, for the private and public sectors alike. It is no more an option, but a requisite and the way forward!

Traditional paperwork will never completely disappear from government processes, or even from private sector enterprises for that matter. In fact, the whole premise of this rapidly advancing digital revolution revolves around automating processes and making them more efficient and streamlined – regardless of whether or not it includes paperwork. This is why the leading digital solutions have no problem accommodating paper-based tasks in addition to digital tasks.

Since technology is devoid of the categorization of public and private sectors, or diversified industries or the size of organizations or enterprises, the trend is universal and effectively bringing about improvement in quality, production, and efficiency all across the globe.

Although the private sector is perceived to be more inclined towards digitization, the government sector has realized that the toll of technology is inevitable and in order to stay abreast of advancing trends, they need to undergo a digital overhaul. Here is an insight into how digital transformation is making waves and disrupting the operational status-quo in government institutions – at federal and state levels alike.

- Automation 

Automation is one of the most common digital trends in government agencies and is being implemented to minimize the need for manual intervention in core operational and communication processes.

- Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is being embraced to create smart cities and digital urban infrastructure, with all structural components and terminals such as traffic lights, streets lights, traffic cameras, power distribution channels, and electricity grids interconnected.-

- Security and Protection

The government is implementing advanced technology to steer clear of cyber threats, more so because a significant part of their data constitutes sensitive and confidential citizen information. A slight breach in security may lead to a massive crisis.

- Mobility

Public sector institutions are seeking to adopt mobility and allow their employees to offer remote accessibility -- a function that was (and still is) solely attributed to private enterprises.

- Data Collection and Analytics

Big Data has become all the rage in government institutions and is being widely used to improve various facets of government and also in strategy, analysis and policymaking.

- Virtual Governance and Administration

As per a research, a good 65% of leading public sector organizations have an online platform in place to provide a personalized and convenient citizen experience.

As per a survey, around 85% of citizens expect the same or more from government digital service compared to commercial digital services.

In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, where the pace of change is accelerating, governments know that they must re-invent the ways they do business. Whether this is through the partnerships they develop, the leadership techniques they employ or the skilled workforce they seek out, governments are facing the challenge of managing in uncertainty by focusing on becoming more agile in their operations. And for this, operational processes and workflow automation and ultimately, digital transformation has become the way forward.

Here we have sorted a step-by-step approach to successful digital transformation for government agencies.

1.  Evaluate Your Current Level of Digital Maturity

The first step to digital transformation starts with a thorough need and gap analysis, factoring in the internal and external facets and collaborations of your organization. Research, evaluate and identify the extent to which technology penetrates your operational fabric and how it has streamlined and optimized your communications, innovation, training and organizational development, HR and administrative processes, safety, security and internal workflows.

Aside from the internal analysis, you need to assess the digital maturity of your organization in your interactions with external constituents and the level of ease of engagement experiences. Being a government agency, your external constituents by and large include public sector entities such as tax, licenses, legal, healthcare, citizenship, election, statistics, public utilities, and federal and state security departments.

2.  Take Constituents, Affiliates, and Subsidiary Agencies on Board as Strategic Partners

Your constituents know what is a great user experience is about. After all, they deal with Amazon, Apple and Uber every day – the everyday technology that has set the bar really high in terms of user’s feasibility, use, and engagement.

Being a public sector entity, you need to take your external constituents and affiliates on the same page. This is because your digital operational upgrade will directly impact the way you interact, collaborate and communicate. Keeping them in the loop in this strategic endeavor will allow you to reap the optimum benefits of digital transformation. Here are a few key takeaways:

Research

1. Analogous Data - let say a neighboring County or State, Country
2. Peruse case studies of similar government agencies
3. Create teams to study client (citizen) user experience journeys
4. Create affinity managers to help with mapping our users' journey experience

Engage

1. Engage all leadership, and constituent
2. Review the maturity model for government fit
3. Map and prioritize opportunities for digitization
4. Digitize processes from end to end

3.  Start Smaller Agile Iterative Projects

For digital transformation to happen, you need a team of technology enablers, innovators, and the go-getters. Set up agile teams solely dedicated to initiating and managing agile, iterative projects on a small scale. Kickstart from the edges, and gradually transgress through testing, fixing, scaling, and ultimately reaching the core.

The gradual progression makes it convenient to adjust, troubleshoot and optimize a task or operation on the go while executing things in tandem. Not just that, it also allows you to identify the areas where streamlined workflows will deliver the most value through maximum efficiency, and reduced costs, malfunctions, and errors. Formulate a blueprint of your constituents and users’ journey and highlight the areas and issues automation will optimize and resolve.

 Infowise, is a technology partner to public sector agencies in more than 18 countries assiting them in their quest for achieving an agile government. Our flagship product Infowise Ultimate Forms Power Suite contains more than 20 standalone SharePoint applications developed to give you the power to innovate, automate and scale up your processes. Our products have been designed for optimum interoperability and seamless integration within SharePoint.