Digital business platforms present a quick win solution for new local governments seeking to bring about measurable public service delivery improvements, says Software AG.
The recent municipal elections brought home a clear message that citizens want to see improved public sector service delivery. By using advanced digital business platforms, local municipalities, metros, public service organisations and regional and national government can make great strides in improving service delivery, says Patrick Shields, Chief Technology Officer at Software AG South Africa.
Shields says research has shown that citizens understand that things do go wrong in public service delivery, but that they want the public sector to be transparent about these challenges and communicate with citizens on the progress made to remedy the situation. This means that simply improving communications with citizens can also markedly improve the citizen experience.
For a quick-win citizen experience improvement, Shields says "begin by understanding citizen touchpoints and drafting a good picture of what interactions take place with citizens, through which channels, and what the expected outcomes are".
These interactions might include account queries and fault reporting via channels such as postal mail, e-mail, voice calls, SMS, online and social media. "Once a government agency understands these touchpoints, it can assess which are the preferred channels for which purposes and which channels allow for the fastest, most efficient engagements. It can then strategically consolidate these touchpoints on a digital business platform, which allows it to automate many of the communications, become more transparent and proactive, and deliver a richer, more interactive service to citizens."
"This is a relatively quick solution, and this is where Software AG's Digital Business Platform comes in. As the first such platform to market, it enables both public and private sector organisations to quickly respond to change and implement solutions that support effective automation, consolidation and innovation."
Shields notes: "In today's connected world there is loads of information out there and readily available; the digital business platform can help organisations analyse this information and plan interactions with citizens based on that information. For example, they could monitor social media for things that are trending, respond and take action if necessary."
A digital business platform also positions public sector organisations to quickly implement useful tools to support service delivery, for example, an app allowing members of the public to report potholes or water mains leaks. It also allows public sector organisations to reduce manual processes, paperwork and queuing. "This saves citizens time, travel and frustration, and allows the public sector organisation to become more efficient and cost-effective," he notes.
Thanks to cloud-based pay-per-use models, advanced digital business platforms are no longer available only to wealthier metros. Even smaller municipalities can now benefit from digital government solutions, says Shields.
At the upcoming Software AG Digital Business Day, Shields and a number of subject matter experts will outline how both public and private sector organisations can join the dots to strategically plan their digital journey.
The Software AG Digital Business Day will be staged at The Park on 7 in Hyde Park, Johannesburg, on 15 September. More information is available here.
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