Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker repeatedly has pointed out that scientific, technological and other innovation is responsible for driving between one-third to almost half of all U.S. economic growth. At the federal government level, the pursuit of innovation not only contributes to a growing economy, but also creates enterprise efficiencies and enables streamlined, more citizen-focused service delivery.
It’s a key reason federal agencies are working to seize the opportunities that come with digital government.
The good news is that the federal government can kick start its shift toward technological innovation and new citizen- and business-centric digital solutions by adopting best practices that already are working well in many U.S. states.
For new technology output, these include:
1. Mobile mindset
Mobile access now represents 65 percent of users’ digital media time, and comScore predicts more people will own smartphones than own PCs by early 2017, if not sooner. In other words, mobile is critical to every federal digital strategy. Maryland exemplifies how a “mobile first” approach works to reach constituents where they already are: The Department of Natural Resources released a mobile app that lets outdoor enthusiasts acquire or renew licenses on the spot, get directions to recreational facilities, reserve campsites at state parks and more.
2. Digital personal assistants for government interactions
Every citizen has certain civic responsibilities – renewing licenses or paying taxes, for example. Through digital personal assistants, government can be citizens’ ally in fulfilling those duties. Arkansas is the country’s leader in developing a digital personal assistant for interacting with government. Users tell the state’s Gov2Go application what vehicles they drive and which county they live in. The app builds a personalized calendar of each citizen’s government interactions throughout the year, then sends deadline reminders.
3. Going screenless
Conversational user interface – technology that mimics chatting with another human – is exploding in the private sector. There also are innovative uses for this technology in the federal government. Two states already are using the Amazon Echo device to deliver constituent services. Earlier this year, Utah launched a voice-controlled practice driver’s license quiz and Mississippi debuted a service that lets citizens ask government-related questions, such as state facts or the expiration dates of various licenses. In the not-too-distant future, conversational user interface will be a common channel for citizen interaction with government.
From a government infrastructure standpoint, these include:
1. Citizen-centric thinking
The federal government can build trust by focusing on and offering solutions to constituent needs. For example, when research showed that Utah residents and businesses wanted to interact online with government, but wanted to quickly complete their transactions and move on, Utah responded by redesigning its website. The new site offered integrated city, county and state services, delivered localized information and scaled the information responsively according to the type of the device the citizen was using to access the government portal. By approaching the research results from a citizen-centric viewpoint, Utah significantly boosted use of its online services.
2. Leadership support
When government leaders push for innovative technology and service delivery, employees are empowered to take ownership and share ideas that can improve agencies’ digital performance. Sonny Bhagowalia, formerly Hawaii’s CIO and now CIO of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, led Hawaii in a technology transformation plan that increased transparency and accountability for 36 lines of business and 230 business functions. He called it “transforming government at the speed of life.” Among other wins, Hawaii ratcheted up adoption of its online services by as much as 20 percent in just five months.
3. Multi-agency collaboration
Within the federal government, agencies tend to be largely self-sufficient. But better results can come from multiple agencies or teams jointly tackling digital challenges. This approach breaks down traditional silos and typically results in reimagined solutions that are more innovative than those that come from a single agency. In Oregon, for example, a one-stop online location for businesses, Business Xpress, combined nine agencies’ services, allowing entrepreneurs to apply for business licenses, establish tax accounts and complete all other business startup tasks from one online point. Businesses now can be less concerned about which agencies they need to contact and simply interact with “government” in a single online location.
4. New funding models
Public-private partnerships and flexible funding models are helping states to accelerate innovation and deliver technology solutions at no cost to government, without the use of appropriated taxpayer dollars. In some models, for example, attaching a small efficiency fee to a select number of high-volume citizen or business transactions not only funds the cost of new digital technology implementation, but over the longer term creates a sustainable funding stream that supports the ongoing maintenance and security of the service, as well as the expansion of the entire digital government program in general.
Innovation in digital solution delivery within the federal government is essential and timely. By looking to the states’ strategies for success, the federal government can more effectively meet the needs of its constituent base, now and in the future.
Angela Fultz Nordstrom is a vice president with NIC Inc. (NASDAQ: EGOV), a provider of innovative digital government solutions and secure payment processing services for more than 4,300 local, state and federal agencies across the United States. The company has partnered with government and deployed innovative digital government solutions for 24 years, and worked with the states of Maryland, Arkansas, Utah, Hawaii and Oregon to build and manage the solutions mentioned in this article. You may reach Nordstrom at angela@egov.com. More information about NIC is available at www.egov.com.
7 lessons feds can learn from states
