New GovLoop Report Identifies 5 Components of a Digital Government

Announcing GovLoop Latest Report: Crafting a Comprehensive Digital Government Strategy

Excerpt of Executive Summary | View Online Below or Download PDF

Last week GovLoop released the report, Crafting a Comprehensive Digital Government Strategy. This report draws upon a survey of 94 members of the GovLoop community who are currently adopting emerging technology at the state, local and federal level of government. This report also includes insights based on interviews with government leaders and experts from our industry partners. The post below is an excerpt from the report, which you can read below or Download a PDF.

As stated in the Executive Summary, GovLoop’s research defines a digital government as, the tools, applications, resources and methodologies allowing government to leverage new and emerging technology to serve the most mission centric goals of the agency. A digital government is one that builds a foundation that is device agnostic, information based, and customer focused, and highly scalable to meet increasing resource demand. Below GovLoop expands upon our definition and breaks down our definition into five components of a digital government.

1) Accessible – Information Anywhere, Anytime, Any location

Throughout our research, a theme that emerged was the desire for internal and external stakeholders to exchange information anywhere and anytime with citizens. No longer is our workplace defined by a physical location. We work remote, on the go, in coffee shops, on planes in our homes. A truly digital government leverages emerging technology to facilitate this kind of environment. As one survey respondent states:

“A government where people can access the forms and information they need easily at any time day or night, can submit their questions and have them responded to on a timely basis, and who have people on staff that are willing to examine new forms of communication.”

2) Self-Service

Self-service platforms are changing the way government does business. In many cases, self-service is removing the burden of paper felt by many agencies. As one survey respondent states, agencies are moving toward an environment marked by “Less paper, portal for customers to obtain information, single web page for many services (such as name changes).” Through self-service platforms, government can become more efficient and effective in how services are delivered, leaving the monotonous tasks to technology, and allowing managers to adequately manage staff and place employees on the highest value, mission-centric tasks.

3) Data-Driven

With all the different kinds of technology the public sector is adopting, more data has been created. For an agency to truly be “digital,” this means fully unlocking the power of government data. Agencies must continue to explore the value, volume, and variety of data, and leverage information to improve decision-making. Although data is imperative, there are two trends that are essential: real-time data and predictive analytics. Both trends are key ingredients in creating a digital government.

4) Agile and Scalable

The technology that is being implemented today will be antiquated within the next five years. Knowing this reality is critical for government to create a digital government. Agencies must adopt scalable solutions and leverage current investments in new ways. By adopting a more agile approach to technology, agencies can periodically adopt and change data initiatives. This philosophy will be essential to meeting increasing demand.

5) Removing the Burden of Paper

By providing services digitally, consumers are able to efficiently receive information on the platform of their choice. Also, the government employee is freed from the burden of mundane and monotonous tasks such as filing, searching and organizing large volumes of information. Leveraging a digital strategy to relieve the burden of paper allows employees to be placed in the most high value tasks, leaving the burden of monotonous tasks to technology.

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Thank you to our industry partners for sponsoring the GovLoop Report, Crafting a Comprehensive Digital Government Strategy. With any questions about this report, please reach out to Pat Fiorenza, Senior Research Analyst, at [email protected].