Make Sure Your Agency Is Ready for the 21st Century IDEA

This blog is an excerpt from our recent self-paced online course, “How the 21st Century IDEA Will Transform Government” Access the free course here.

The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act, also known as 21st Century IDEA, is elevating the importance of citizen experience (CX) in government. The three main objectives of the act are:

1. The adoption of electronic signatures.
2. Website modernization.
3. Digitizing government services and forms.

Before your agency can successfully address these areas, you must understand the scale at which you want to implement any new technology. Even if you start with a small pilot, you should know who your end users are, what capabilities they need and what your plan is for scaling those features to a wider audience.

In order to digitize and standardize, your agency should clearly understand what non-digital services with the greatest impact could be made available to the public through an online, mobile-friendly, digital service option. This process is a collaborative effort among the chief information officer, chief financial officer, program manager and trusted industry partners to outline estimated costs and modernization schedules. Collaborating with your technology solutions provider early and often can support agile development and a smooth transition.

Customer experience is a team sport that also involves designing around users’ needs with data-driven analysis. This data should influence management and development decisions and be used to determine user goals and behaviors. On a regular basis, your agency should test its websites, web-based forms, applications and digital services to ensure any changes are enhancing the user experience.

Successful CX programs cannot and should not stand on their own, but rather be an integrated part of the way your agency does business. There should be a coordinated effort across your agency to align internal and external customer experience programs and the mission of your agency.

The intent of the 21st Century IDEA isn’t to create more requirements for agencies to follow, but to put solid, standard practices in place that save time, money and headaches in the future — for both employees and the public.

To truly improve CX across an agency, it must be bigger than a website, strategy or an individual’s title. Every employee plays a role, and it must be a central part of their job function and the agency’s overall mission. When that happens, internal and external engagement improve, processes are streamlined, and time and resource savings become a reality.

To take the full course for free and learn more about why customer experience matters in government, head here.