In the public sector, an organisation’s digital services must work as effectively as possible.
Technology has played an increasingly crucial role in many aspects of everyday life for decades. Modern economies are totally and utterly dependent on technology and its advances.
ICT and digital services play a vital role in the continued running of the country. It’s also taught in all schools across the UK to ensure the next generation has the skills to keep the digital progression going.
The hardware, software and technology used by the public sector often need to store, compile and transmit large amounts of data. These must also, like any business, be secure, easy to use and navigate, and cost-effective.
In this article, we look at the role of digital services in the public sector and share a few thoughts on how to increase their effectiveness and efficiency.
What role do digital services play in public administration?
The onset and adoption of digital services has raised many expectations about public sector administration. They are widely recognised as powerful tools for change by improving citizen access to services, helping to increase Government accountability and transparency, provide greater value to taxpayer and deliver an enhanced level of service to the public.
Digital technology plays a positive role in effective governance of public services. It can help solve the centralisation/decentralisation problem by making relevant data easily accessible, to facilitate budget analysis and programming, and improve the flow of information.
It can help reduce administrative costs and enable faster responses to requests and queries. It provides better access to departments and services across all levels of Government. It also helps simplify bureaucracy and allow public services to be reoriented to solving the problems of service users, make citizen participation easier and ensure public sector organisations are more accountable.
While much of the public sector is already in the process of digital transformation, many problems persist. Deloitte research on the issue suggested that the Government still has a very long way to go. Check out their research here.
More than three quarters (76%) of those completing the questionnaire thought that digital technologies were transforming the public sector, including 18% that answered ‘[To a] great extent’.
All new technology has the potential to be disruptive, in that it can affect the way staff work, the delivery of services and how citizens can access them.
It’s interesting to note here that the term ‘disruptive technology’ has recently come to mean the introduction of new technology that has brought about positive change, which should be the fundamental aim of any digital transformation project.
The findings also concluded that the UK Government’s ICT advances are primarily driven by budget considerations (56%). In contrast, other countries – such as Canada – prioritise citizen demands (64%).
To enhance the country’s digital transformation, it’s essential to have a well-thought-out digital strategy. This strategy should look to both the short- and long-term futures and should stem from fundamentally transforming an organisation’s processes to increase efficiency.
What lessons can be learned?
By its own admission, the UK Government says that despite countless strategies and attempts to deliver digital change successfully within the public sector, there’s been a “…consistent pattern of underperformance”.
This is often down to programmes “…not being sufficiently thought through before key decisions on technology solutions are made”, creating a gap between what the Government wants to achieve and what’s actually delivered to citizens and service users.
In order to change this in a meaningful way, it’s vital for technology leaders in public sector roles to follow the lead of businesses which have been successful in driving digital change.
Central Government has a vital role to play in continuing to provide clear leadership on the digital agenda, and empowering decision-makers with responsibility for digital transformation programmes to be bolder and more ambitious with their plans.
HM Treasury has a role to play in reviewing the funding and approval processes for digital programmes, as set out in the Government’s recently updated Agile Digital and ICT Projects guidance to help ensure that funding isn’t wasted on activities which aren’t clear on what the final product should look like, and the risks this represents. However, what this might look like in reality remains to be seen.
Senior digital and technology leaders must also have greater influence on all digital change programmes, to provide strategic direction and oversight at key points in the process.
They must also be equipped to defend the need for enhancing digital services – both with defensible and easy to follow arguments but also will the skills to present these when challenged. Most local authorities use challenge panels to verify the robustness of a spend plan.
It’s a big challenge, which is why leveraging digital expertise from the private sector is essential.
How to reduce public sector ICT costs
Budget is often the major driving factor behind digital transformation, and the need to reduce ICT costs will often be a key objective for most organisations.
With budgets tightening across the public sector, there’s a growing focus on achieving more with less. Spending on frontline services in any public sector organisation is usually where the priority lies, which makes justifying spend on digital services in back-office functions more of a challenge.
So, before your organisation can reduce its costs, you need to know what services you need to provide and how much they cost. Without doing this, you cannot know where you might be able to realise any potential cost savings.
Your ICT costs will depend on your organisation’s needs, size and services. Broadly, though, many aspects are consistent across public sector organisations. Most of them will have:
- A CRM system to manage engagement with service users
- An HR system to manage their staff
- A content management system to make content available to citizens
- A marketing automation platform to manage in communicating with citizens
- An ERP system or resource management tool
- A communications platform, including email, messaging and telephony
- Some form of productivity/creativity platform like Windows 365, Adobe Creative Cloud or Google G-Suite
- A line of business-specific platforms relating to what the organisation does
Some of these costs are unavoidable but can be managed and brought as low as logistically possible. For example, if your organisation needs laptops, it’s often not the best idea to buy second-hand, cheap models. Equally, you probably don’t need to fork out for a state-of-the-art, top-of-the-range ones. Instead, it’s best to sit down and work out what your users need (a professional consultant will be able to help you with this) and then purchase accordingly.
Once your organisation knows how much each element/application of its overall service costs to deliver in-house and what portion of those costs are support vs spend on licencing, software, hardware etc, it’s easier to find targets for a change in delivery model, whether that’s through replacing a expensive solution with a new solution, outsourcing, moving to cloud or something else.
Consider instructing a trusted company to look after specific aspects of the ICT system.
Overall, it’s worth developing a detailed cost model. Knowing your budgets, what needs to be spent and when will help you minimise the costs associated with digital transformation within your public sector organisation.
How can AMDH help?
If your organisation is beginning its digital transformation, AMDH Solutions can help. We have a vast array of experience producing digital strategies and cost models in the public sector. We’ll sit down with you to chat through your aims, priorities and responsibilities, building a roadmap to take you in the direction you want to go.
We also offer bespoke cloud systems and ICT security services, along with designing your ICT infrastructure and deploying Microsoft 365.
If you’d like to get in touch with us for a friendly no-obligation discussion, head on over to the Contact page and fill out the form. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
Alternatively, you could drop us an email at info@amdhservicesltd.com or phone our office on 01332 322 588.
