[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/09\/22\/governments-customer-engagement\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/09\/22\/governments-customer-engagement\/","headline":"Government customer engagement: 3 ways governments can reach citizens","name":"Government customer engagement: 3 ways governments can reach citizens","description":"Governments need to drive customer engagement, and are still behind the curve when it comes to starting. Here's how to get started.","datePublished":"2016-09-22","dateModified":"2024-04-12","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/kathleen-obrien\/#Person","name":"Kathleen O'Brien","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/kathleen-obrien\/","identifier":186,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72f7fa9cf9e1d1b295291ef942468ef6be3c09be53c3f854d30750e4844ebb28?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72f7fa9cf9e1d1b295291ef942468ef6be3c09be53c3f854d30750e4844ebb28?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/thumbnail-c2181f4a70f58b57ad876c575ade04d4-1.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/thumbnail-c2181f4a70f58b57ad876c575ade04d4-1.jpeg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/09\/22\/governments-customer-engagement\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/","name":"Customer Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Customer_experience","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q984142"]},"Government + Public Sector",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/commerce\/industries\/","name":"Industries","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Industry","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q2976602"]},{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/customer-experience\/public-sector\/","name":"Public Sector","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Public_sector","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q294217"]}],"wordCount":1172,"keywords":["Customer Engagement","Digital Transformation","Government","Public Sector"],"articleBody":"I spend a lot of time following how the digital transformation wave is affecting the public sector as it\u2019s my job, and one of the things I’m thinking about is government customer engagement.I\u2019m also an average citizen.Every person is a citizen of somewhere, yet somehow retailers know us better and respond to us in almost any way we choose. Governments are still behind the curve, failing to let us \u2018hack\u2019 their processes to make them easier and faster.As a U.S. citizen, I enjoyed a quick, seamless process to apply online for an Australian business tourist visa. It took a few minutes with no paper involved. The visa was attached to my passport number in the system. I arrived in Sydney and could simply go through the automatic passport lane where my passport was scanned and my photo taken and literally, in one minute, I was on the other side.Conversely, when my family and I moved to Australia last year I had to apply for my children to get a government-issued card.I had to download the forms, print them out and fill them in by hand. I then had to physically bring the children, their passports and forms into a service centre to be seen and the passports photocopied. I lost more than half a day because of a few hitches in doing this, including the service centre having been moved across town.Then there is the internal side of the process, where agency workers have to deal with the plethora of paper, photocopying the documents (unnecessarily using paper, electricity, toner), which they no doubt also scan into an electronic file. Followed by someone having to file all this paper somewhere. It\u2019s not much of a win-win for anyone and not very environmentally friendly either.      Government CX: Focus on digital citizen engagement is required                Citizen engagement is crucial to ensure the expectations, trust, and needs of citizens are met, catapulting government CX to the top of global agendas.      Government customer engagement: 3 ways to transform citizen input and connectionThere are three primary ways governments can drive engagement:Agile digital transformationChanges in processesApplying learnings from other governmentsApply an agile approach to transformationIt\u2019s not only government organizations that say, \u201cThat\u2019s how we\u2019ve always done it.\u201d I\u2019ve worked with many of the world\u2019s top retailers where business teams all would inevitably say the same thing and believe their problems and processes were unique. There was also a distinct \u2018us and them\u2019 feeling between store teams and online teams.The organizational battles, the business silos, everything conspiring to undermine the success of true customer engagement.A strategy is essential, but if those expected to implement it don\u2019t believe in it, or think they will lose their power if they do, then you have a problem. It\u2019s definitely bad enough for a retailer, but magnified in government.Applying an agile approach to transformation is lower risk and more effective because you don\u2019t spend years planning and spending before the years spent implementing. It happens in small releases, which can be continually updated in the public domain, and means the key challenge of change management, both internally and externally, can be managed more effectively.New technology is not enough \u2014 processes need to changeHaving the old processes being \u2018supported\u2019 by shiny new technology will inevitably go to waste because the technology isn\u2019t allowed to do what it was intended to do. It\u2019s like buying a Ferrari and then only driving it to pick up your groceries.True innovation will come when we drop the \u2018but we\u2019ve always done it this way\u2019 and instead say, \u201cif I could completely reinvent this from ground up, what would I do? What makes sense here?\u201dChanging something foundational, which underpins most processes, such as identity will reap the largest rewards and quickly gain high citizen satisfaction levels across every process that is reformed, ranging from passports to Medicare to licenses, business and visa services. A UK survey by GOSS Interactive found \u201cthe availability of public sector services through digital self-service systems is expected to grow by 310% and save an average of \u00a38.74 million by 2018.”There are huge savings to consider.      Government CX: Focus on digital citizen engagement is required                Citizen engagement is crucial to ensure the expectations, trust, and needs of citizens are met, catapulting government CX to the top of global agendas.      Learn from overseasWe all have our own stories of painfully trying to get things done, but there is momentum in government to be acknowledged. Australia has joined the United Kingdom and United States governments in understanding the importance of putting the user (citizen) at the centre of their transformation programs, and applying agile development methodologies to create an environment of continual improvement.The UK\u2019s GDS Digital by Default is a constant reminder to everyone where the focus is: \u201cUnderstand user needs. Research to develop a deep knowledge of who the service users are and what that means for the design of the service.\u201d Gov. UK has more than 300 agencies linked to it which helps provide a one-stop-shop for government services. And, having personally used it myself over the last few years, it\u2019s pretty good.Similarly, in Estonia, once you have established your identity with the government, you can use the e-Services portal for a whole host services, including applying for your children\u2019s European Health Cards, which are linked to the Estonian Health Insurance scheme. Granted, Estonia is well known for their exemplary use of online identity services and cyber security, so it makes sense that a process like this becomes very simple.While not every process in Estonia is perfect, they are a great example of electronic identity services, which is a key factor in every interaction with government.As Paul Shetler, CEO at Australia\u2019s Digital Transformation Office said in a recent DTO blog \u201cthe average person shouldn\u2019t know how government works.\u201d It should be obvious to me as a citizen, that any process is straightforward, transparent and efficient as possible. It\u2019s often mentioned in the digital discussion, that this trend toward self-service will leave lower-income, lesser-educated folks behind. I disagree. It seems clear that a mobile-first approach to self-service is an important choice in how people engage with government, especially given that 21% of the Australian population is mobile-internet only and according to the ACMA survey of 2014, is up by 10% from the previous year.Governments will change for the better, they will save taxpayer\u2019s money, and staff will have new challenges, even if it\u2019s one process at a time. Over the next five years the transformation in how governments deliver services and leverage the proliferation of smartphones in the population will be a win for citizens desperate for an easier and faster way to engage.  Ready to become an intelligent enterprise?Get started\u00a0HERE.This post originally appeared in The Australian and is republished here with permission.\u00a0"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2016","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"09","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/\/09\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"22","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/\/09\/\/22\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Government customer engagement: 3 ways governments can reach citizens","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2016\/09\/22\/governments-customer-engagement\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]