In the previous blog post, I captured the current state of play with regard to digital transformation of public authorities and introduced our Capgemini & MIT Framework for Digital Transformation. This blog post zooms into the first (of three) digital building blocks: user insights.
Making choices is not always easy. Information helps. If you’re at the foot of a mountain, most of the times you can’t see the summit. So, unless, there is a sign that clearly informs you how long the trip will take, which route you’ll have to follow and how many meters you’ll have to climb – it is difficult to make a balanced choice. You could end up halfway, exhausted and disorientated, or perhaps, you don’t even make an attempt and retreat to the nearest tourist office. Attracting users to eGovernment services works in similar fashion. It helps if duration, process steps, response times are transparent for the user. It helps if this information is easily accessible, for instance, on your mobile device when on the train heading for an office day. It would be even better if that particular service can be completed online, saving you the time to travel to the local authorities or post office. Unfortunately for many Europeans, this is a reality only when shopping online, but not for eGovernment services. Our latest eGovernment Benchmark finds that:
- Information about the service process is provided in 47% of online services; only 3 countries achieve a score above 75%.
- Only 1 in 3 public websites is mobile friendly; while nearly 278 million Europeans access the internet through a mobile device.
- 60% of public services in Europe are fully available online (or are automated). There are still gaps in each user journey undertaken in the life events under assessment;
Users choosing eGovernment services return the investment for governments. Successfully attracting more citizens and businesses to the online channel for public services will contribute to user empowerment and to the digital business case. The digital building block of user insight offers three conditions that contribute to this goal.