Digital services promise to reduces the administrative burden on the state and allow agencies to focus their resources more effectively; bringing a significantly enhanced, and efficient, experience to the citizen.
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The public sector is a significant part of any economy. Consequently, it is not surprising that the government is the biggest service provider in most countries, with clients and transactions in hundreds or thousands every day. Yet, the dissatisfaction and inefficiency vocalized by these clients are deep and wide.
The most crucial clients of the public sector are the citizens, or the constituents. Broadly speaking, the service demands of citizen service fall into five categories: answering questions, filling out and searching for documents, routing requests, translations and drafting documents. Despite being the biggest employer in the country, such services provided by the public sector is clouded by the echoes of inefficiency, problems and complaints by those receiving the said services. From lodging an application to clearing a question, or to finding information on websites, the hassle is painfully real.
Maldives is no exception to this bitter reality. In fact, even the most developed countries are also fighting this battle. A recent Gallup poll showed that Americans continue to name dissatisfaction with government service as the nation’s second most important problem, after the economy.
Therefore, governments are aware of this reality. Public Officers have voiced concerns with their institutional and human capacity to improve the service. While there is no blueprint for enhancing public sector efficiency, digitalization of the state is a good place to start and is proving to be a viable solution.
One major area of concern is the challenges surrounding the retrieval of information. Websites of public sector organizations are many times difficult to navigate and information is unavailable. This then leads to citizens having to physically attend offices to get the information or doubts cleared. The other option taken is to either give a call or write an email. Calling is time consuming and expensive; to be on hold or to be passed from one contact point to the other. Often, emails take time to be replied, and hence, has to be supplemented by additional phone calls.
Digitalization of the state is one key solution. Digital state government is one which has fully embraced the digital options at its disposal for interacting with its constituents. This can be through its dot-gov web portals, through apps, or it can just be through text or social media. That is really the digital state – where citizens get things done online, not in line.
Unfortunately, most states are crippled in achieving this, largely because of the ways in which digital technology is organized and governed; with databases that cannot communicate with one another, limited information sharing, and overly complex rules and protocols. Sometimes the technological infrastructure or the human capacity becomes the barrier, while other times, sheer willingness becomes the barrier.
With the interactive experiences people have with private sector companies both locally and internationally, the expectation by people to have similar efficient experiences with public sector institutions are inevitably going to keep rising.
Although there are websites for all government institutions in Maldives, there are immediate actions that can be taken to ensure that the websites are useful and convenient. Government Technology Agency or GovTech under the Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information recommends the following;
Singapore is at the forefront of raising the overall usability of government websites. Since February 2017, a team of 10 officers at GovTech has been mystery-shopping government websites. They have already inspected about 700 websites, testing to see if they are easy to use and understandable for citizens. The team also works with public agencies to fix any website issues.
Another rising trend in state digitalization is the use of digital assistants. Conversational AI platforms such as chatbots, virtual assistants and messaging-based applications are opening service delivery channels in multiple countries. These platforms support an interactive and intuitive style of communication. Citizens benefit from real time information 24/7, with the opportunity to be routed to human agents where additional support is required.
While some countries have already implemented digital assistants, as in the case of Emma, used by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to help website visitors get answers and find information in English or Spanish, other countries are already pilot testing. The Estonian government is working on a project called #KrattAI with the aim to allow people to undertake tasks such as applying for a new passport or registering a birth simply by making a voice request through a digital personal assistant.
Despite how clearly a website is organized, there still might be questions users have. In this scenario, users need to browse through a few pages looking for the right answer which can be frustrating and time consuming. Afterall, the user simply wants a quick answer to their question. Thus, by compiling answers to common questions on possible topics related to the work of the institution, a FAQ page gives visitors a central place to find the answers they need. This reduces the cumbersome work of having citizens to call for answers and for employees in the organization having to answer the same questions repeatedly.
Citizens are relying on their mobile devices for news, information, communication, engagement, and resources more than ever before. In these devices, applications or apps often provide a streamlined and mobile optimized interface and engagement experience. Therefore, in this era, citizens should also be able to request public services through an app.
According to the Telecom Statistics published by Communications Authority of Maldives for January 2021, there is a total of 716,923 mobile subscriptions, 251,322 mobile broadband subscriptions, of which 166,052 are for data with voice. In January 2020, the number of mobile connections in the Maldives was equivalent to 166% of the total population. One can only imagine the scope for opportunity here.
There are reports which estimate that delivering services via mobile apps can allow public sector bodies to reach more than 90% of their citizens, compared to around 30 or 40% for web-based applications. Furthermore, mobile apps allow citizen services to be delivered almost anywhere, anytime, rather than when a user happens to be seated in front of a computer.
Imagine if an app uses accelerometer and GPS data from mobile phones to record every pot hole driver hit while they are in their vehicles and then get the authorities to fix it. This sounds like science fiction, but is exactly what the citizens of Boston, Massachusetts can do via the Street Bump app. While this is not an app related to communication, this goes on to show that the possibilities are endless. At this point, let us also celebrate the ease of services we experience due to the app by MIRA in the Maldives.
While acknowledging the risks of going digital, the biggest concern would arguably be the inherent risk of security and privacy with the use of personal data. While saving this for another discussion, the focus here is on the benefits which can reaped with diligent planning and implementation.
When citizens use digital services, it reduces the administrative burden on the state and this allows the agencies to focus their resources more effectively. Digitalization can boost the overall quality of any citizen’s experience with a government agency, as well as deliver operational outcomes like increased efficiency and reduced costs.
There is a pressing need for a fundamental shift in the way the public sector delivers services. There is a need to embed effectiveness, efficiency, and innovation as a priority, and developing an expectation that enhancing ‘customer experience’ is just as important for the public sector as for the business sector. Imagine, living in a time in the Maldives where we can procure answers or lodge an application, with just one click of a button.
