May 03, 2023
Digital transformation makes it easier to engage with UK public sector organizations and more efficient to complete transactions. There is much potential to unlock additional waves of effectiveness and efficiency, but doing so will depend on connecting these digital services.
Making public sector digital services more joined-up is a step-change that will save citizens’ time and provide them with better, more integrated experiences. It will also help the government operate more efficiently, reducing the time administrators spend gathering or validating information held in other departments or organizations.
The beginnings of joined-up government digital services
It’s already happening in some areas, of course. Instead of needing to take a photo and submit it to each department, the UK's Passport Office and Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) work together to use citizens' existing passport photo when they apply for a driving license. It’s likely that citizens’ expectations of what government digital services should deliver will only increase, driven by their experiences with digital services of all kinds.
Better understanding and seamless services
Increased digital take-up and digitization of transactions are valuable. However, joining-up services will give government a better chance of anticipating needs and removing blockers, saving citizens time and stress. Such an integrated picture also delivers richer analytics and insights that can provide feedback into policy and decision-making.
Increased joining-up can eliminate overlap between services. An effective discovery project will identify opportunities. By mapping the service journey from end to end, you can highlight where another organization, or another part of government, is already handling part of the journey. This was the case when Valtech worked on the Blue Badge application process. Mindful of the whole user experience, we thought about how users could find somewhere to park and their use of the badge. We discovered that the National Parking Platform (NPP) was working on transforming the future of parking. A relatively direct connection can be made between the NPP and the Blue Badge process. Joining up these related programmes has the potential to make efficiency savings while improving the user experience.
How do you do it?
At Valtech, we advocate that clients should "Transform by Doing." Rather than trying to reimagine everything, it’s a technique for qualifying and delivering opportunities to demonstrate the value of change. Whether it’s learn quickly or fail fast, the point is to plot your way through different potential routes forward and identify which ones work.
What are your opportunities for joining up?
Modelling the user journey from end to end helps identify joining-up opportunities. It helps to explore and understand all the steps in the process from a user perspective and look at validation, approval, processing and fulfilment. That will give you a clear picture of the whole process and help determine the opportunities to join up and improve.
For more details and our five questions to help you explore and assess your opportunities for more joined-up government and digital services, download the Valtech Whitepaper now.
