Addressing digital transformation needs in the public sector [Q&A]

Many organizations are embracing the benefits of digital transformation to improve efficiency and customer experience.

Historically the public sector has often lagged behind when it comes to new technology, but digital transformation can have a significant effect in delivering better value and services. We spoke to Praveen Karadiguddi, CEO at Scrumconnect Consulting, to find out more about how transformation projects can work in the public sector.

BN: What are the key areas for the public sector to address when it comes to digital transformation?

PK: Today, the biggest challenge facing the public sector when it comes to digital transformation is the foundations of legacy IT. The real challenge here isn't about the technology and what it has proven -- it's more that it was designed and built in a different time. Traditionally, public sector bodies defined what product they needed and then kept it relatively unchanged, outside of a few tweaks here and there. But the way products have been constructed hasn’t allowed for them to be developed on an ongoing basis -- so in effect, services have been in 'permanent beta.'

In addition to this, maintaining custom and legacy platforms is costly, especially from a skills perspective. Legacy skills are in short supply as there is a diminishing pool of specialists who either have retired or whose expertise cost a premium.

In order to overcome these skills challenges and to future proof services, public sector organizations need to focus on developing modular platforms that they can reuse. This approach enables them to re imagine their various data sources and applications as a network of reusable capabilities that can be made available to anyone in the organization. By placing an API in front of the systems and data sources, public sector organizations can grant access to systems and data to anyone who needs it, without having to write lines of rigid custom code each time.

BN: Why is change management so vital in public sector transformation projects?

PK: There continues to be a lot of fear that 'going digital' will result in job losses. This simply isn't true. Digital transformation will enhance existing working practices, enabling public sector workers to do an even better job meaning they can deliver a better service to citizens.

The success of any IT project is heavily reliant on user adoption, meaning that change management should be embedded into digital transformation programs from the start. Where the public sector has failed in the past is its inability to take all employees on an end-to-end digital transformation journey. Getting change right, through clear and open stakeholder engagement, high-quality training and change management, will be key drivers for success. By doing this, public sector organisations can ensure employee buy-in and embed internal change.

We're starting to see this instilled in the procurement process, with initiatives like the UK's Crown Commercial Service's Cloud Compute 2 framework putting a heavy emphasis on change management, and the upskilling of public sector staff.

BN: AI is a big talking point in all industries at the moment. What do public sector organizations need consider when looking at implementing AI?

PK: Ever since the emergence of ChatGPT, AI and its impact on business operations has been at the forefront of technology discussions. For the public sector, which is under huge pressure to deliver efficiencies and better citizen services, AI is seen as a potential silver bullet.

But when it comes to applying AI effectively, public sector organizations need to be able to walk before they can run. At its heart, this starts with their data and supporting IT infrastructure, and getting the basics right. Without these foundations in place, the public sector risks wasting a lot of time and effort on future AI initiatives that won’t fully deliver. If AI is to deliver greater cost savings across the public sector there, needs to be sufficient investment in making existing platforms and infrastructure fit for purpose.

Once this foundation is established, the rollout of AI in the public sector will also require a lot of thought, as it’s a nuanced and complex technology. Currently a lot of the focus seems to be more on the operational help that AI engines can provide, as opposed to innovative use cases that will benefit citizens’ lives. But once the public sector does take the step into utilizing AI in citizen-facing services, the last thing it wants is to deploy technology that has an inherent bias against any cohort of people. AI must be fair and ethical, and the public sector needs to ensure it doesn’t discriminate one way or another.

BN: Why does user experience need to be prioritized as part of public sector digitalization projects?

PK: Despite talking the talk, public sector digitization programs often fail to take a user-centric approach. As a result, many digital services can end up being poorly utilized and/or don’t deliver the envisaged benefits. For the taxpayer, this means there is a risk such projects either become ‘white elephants’ or require additional development expenditure to make them fit for purpose.

Too often digital projects are approached with a pre-conceived idea of what the user experience should be rather than taking the time to fully understand the digital journey end-to-end for every citizen or public sector worker. No user can be left behind in the public sector, whereas in the private sector, you might accept that some people are just too difficult to serve.

Taking an outcome-based approach ensures that digital systems and processes are designed with real users in mind. Rather than thinking about how IT works and assuming they knows how a service will be used, public sector organizations should prioritize research and discovery from the outset. This will give digital services the best chance of right first time.

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