How to Transform Public Services with Digital Solutions

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The views expressed by the business participants are their own.

The urgency of digital transformation in the public sector emerged during the Covid-19 outbreak when it became difficult to pay bills or visit clinics offline. Today, many initiatives around the world are using new technologies to modernize public services.

Georgia's online voter registration system in the US serves as a good example. It has proven to be effective, improving participation in elections and improving accessibility, leading to increased voter turnout.

Another example of technology in public works is New York City's “CompStat” police strategy, which will be launched in 2022. It helps reduce the crime rate by analyzing data and predicting crime prone areas. Similarly, the UK's National Health Service (NHS) used data analytics to improve patient care outcomes and efficiency in hospitals. In March 2022, more than 300,000 people were waiting more than a year for planned care, compared to just 1,600 people in February 2020 before services were hit hard by Covid-19. By analyzing infection rates, hospitalizations and other health information, the NHS has been able to allocate resources more efficiently, predict hospital capacity needs, and identify hotspots that need immediate attention.

Related: Transforming Governance for the Digital Age: How Governments Around the World Are Embracing Blockchain and the Web3

Outside the US, there are notable examples, too. For example, Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 includes social initiatives related to health, education, business, etc. As stated in the 2022 report of the National Reform Program, the state is the regional leader and ranked third globally in the World Bank's GovTech Maturity Index 2022.

Singapore and Estonia are also among the leaders, thanks to their well-thought-out strategies. The latter has a remarkable e-health system for digital health records, which aims to improve patient care by digitizing medical information. Currently, more than 99% of this data has been digitized, enabling patients to access online care services such as video consultation, e-prescriptions and automatic life event notifications, facilitating clear patient-doctor communication and citizen involvement for health care successful.

Business opportunities

The expansion of digital government services presents huge opportunities for businesses to develop products and services designed to meet the needs of the public sector. Often, this occurs within the framework of public-private partnerships (PPPs), which enable businesses to collaborate with government agencies to develop and deliver solutions.

The GOV.UK Pay Digital Government Service Platform serves as an example of the financial benefits for IT businesses involved in creating government service platforms. Last year, it entered 163 services and processed 23 million payments, handling £1.3 billion in value.

However, getting a contract can be a challenging task. Governments around the world are struggling to fully embrace other technologies, such as cloud computing, for security reasons. According to a survey conducted by KPMG, 69% of government respondents say that a lack of understanding or trust in innovation makes them less confident about investing in digital transformation. After all, public utilities collect vast amounts of personal and private information from citizens, including their financial information, making them one of the prime targets for hackers. In January 2024 alone, there were 183 malicious incidents in this sector, including both ransomware attacks and data breaches.

This, in turn, makes it difficult to create quality services. Recent data shows that only 60% of the US population is satisfied with digital public programs such as Medicaid, which helps cover medical expenses for people with limited income and resources, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food benefits. for low-income families to supplement their grocery budget.

Related: Government Technology Startup Opportunities and Their Framework

Rules to follow

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

Show potential with pilot projects: Start by launching a small pilot to demonstrate your ability to build a safe and effective device.
Active development and deployment: Prove that you can build, test and deploy new products – and improve existing ones – quickly and cost-effectively. This requires building a strong infrastructure. It includes data platforms, authentication systems and online security mechanisms. These components should be well designed to allow easy scaling of services.
Use math: Use data to support your case. For example, a 2023 survey by Deloitte revealed that more than half of Americans prefer to communicate with their government online, with 23% doing so. This trend highlights the need for mobile app development and can help prioritize areas of cyber security.
Adopt zero tolerance for cybercrime: Implement security models that emphasize continuous monitoring, third-party risk management and cloud security. This method ensures that no actor or program is automatically trusted, which makes multifactor authentication important because of the various points where data access is possible.
Give clear and detailed suggestions: Make sure your proposals are clear and detail all aspects of your project, including timelines, costs and potential risks.
Always comply with the regulations: Ensure that your solutions comply with all relevant laws and standards, such as data protection laws and government IT policies. This will demonstrate your commitment to protecting citizens' data.