How to transform public services with digital solutions

Urgent need for digital transformation of the public sector emerged during the Covid-19 outbreak, when paying bills or visiting clinics offline became unattainable. Currently, quite a few initiatives around the world are using progressive technologies to modernize public services.

The online voter registration system in Georgia, USA, is a great example. It has proven effective in increasing participation and improving accessibility, leading to increased voter turnout.

Another example of technology in public services is New York City’s CompStat policing strategy, introduced in 2022. It helps reduce crime rates by analyzing data and predicting crime hotspots. Similarly, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has used data analytics to improve patient care outcomes and operational efficiency in hospitals. By March 2022, greater than 300,000 people waited greater than a yr for routine planned care, compared to just 1,600 in February 2020, before services were significantly affected by Covid-19. By analysing infection rates, hospital admissions and other health data, the NHS was able to allocate resources efficiently, predict demand for hospital capability and discover hotspots requiring immediate attention.

There are also notable examples outside the United States. For example, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 includes public initiatives on health, school, business, etc. As stated in the 2022 National Transformation Program report, the kingdom is a regional leader and ranks high third in the World Bank’s global GovTech Maturity Index 2022.

Singapore and Estonia are also among the leaders, with well-thought-out strategies. The latter has a notable e-health system for digital health records, which goals to improve patient care by digitizing medical information. Currently over 99% a part of this data is digitized, allowing patients to access online healthcare services corresponding to video consultations, e-prescriptions, and automated notifications of important events. This facilitates clear patient-doctor communication and citizen engagement to increase healthcare efficiency.

Business Opportunities

The rise of digital government services creates huge opportunities for businesses to develop products and services tailored to public sector needs. This is typically done through public-private partnerships (PPPs), allowing businesses to work with government agencies to innovate and deliver solutions.

The GOV.UK Pay Government Digital Service platform serves as an example of the financial advantages for IT corporations involved in building government service platforms. In the last yr, it has implemented 163 services and processed 23 million payments, handling £1.3 billion in money.

But getting a contract might be a daunting task. Governments around the world are struggling to fully adopt certain technologies, corresponding to the use of the cloud, for security reasons. According to tests According to KPMG, 69% of presidency respondents say that a lack of information or trust in innovation makes them less confident in investing in digital transformation. After all, public services collect a ton of private and private data about residents, including their financial data, making them a prime goal for hackers. In January 2024 alone, 183 malicious incidents in this sector, including each ransomware attacks and data breaches.

This in turn makes it difficult to create high-quality services. The last data shows that only 60% of the U.S. population is satisfied with digital public initiatives corresponding to Medicaid, which helps cover health care costs for people with limited income and resources, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food advantages to low-income families to complement their grocery budget.

Rules to follow

How can corporations overcome the challenges of securing government contracts for digital transformation projects? Here are some strategies:

1. Demonstrated ability to implement pilot projects: Start by running a small pilot to show you can create a secure and effective tool.

2. Effective development and implementation: Prove you can quickly and cost-effectively develop, test, and deploy recent products—and improve existing ones. This requires building a solid infrastructure. This includes data platforms, authentication systems, and cybersecurity measures. These components should be well-designed to enable easy scaling of services.

3. Leverage Statistics: Use data to support your case. For example, a 2023 Deloitte study found that greater than half of Americans prefer to communicate with their government online, and 23% do so often. This trend underscores the need for mobile app development and can assist prioritize cybersecurity areas.

4. Adopt a zero tolerance policy for cybercrime: Implement security models that emphasize continuous monitoring, third-party risk management, and cloud security. This approach ensures that no single actor or system is mechanically trusted, making multi-factor authentication essential due to the multiple points at which data might be accessed.

5. Offer clear and detailed proposals: Make sure your proposals are clear and provide detailed information on all facets of the project, including timelines, costs and potential risks.

6. Stay compliant: Ensure your solutions comply with all relevant regulations and standards, corresponding to data protection laws and government IT policies. This will exhibit your commitment to protecting citizen data.