Enhancing Public Trust and Engagement with Digital Citizen Services

"Open government data has the potential to unlock approximately $4 trillion AUD per annum globally."

This astounding figure highlights the immense potential of digital citizen services. In an era where digital transformation is reshaping every facet of our lives, governments worldwide are under a lot of pressure to modernise their services to meet the rising expectations of their citizens.

The need for a Citizen Services Hub, a platform on ServiceNow that seamlessly integrates digital services to engage, empower, and energise citizens, has never been more critical. In this blog, we'll understand how innovative digital solutions can enhance citizen experiences, streamline processes, and leverage AI to create a more efficient and effective public sector.

Enhancing Citizen Experiences

At the heart of digital citizen services is the goal of building trust and satisfaction. McKinsey reveals that public customers are nine times more likely to trust a government organisation if they are satisfied with its service. To achieve this, agencies must proactively gather and analyse information to design superior customer journeys. Omni-channel support, which allows governments to serve citizens across various communication channels like web, phone, chat, email, and social media, is crucial for providing a seamless and accessible service experience.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a digital-first mindset, with citizens now expecting public services to be as efficient and user-friendly as their private sector counterparts. The Government Services Portal, a comprehensive platform enabling citizens to request services, access information, and track request statuses in real-time, is a prime example of adapting to this digital-first paradigm.

Overcoming Systemic Frustrations

One of the biggest challenges facing government services is the prevalence of outdated systems, manual processes, and a lack of transparency. Gartner reports that self-service technology on government websites fails to deliver about 90% of the time, leading to widespread frustration. To alleviate these issues, governments must modernise their engagement strategies, ensuring greater transparency and efficiency.

Modernising Engagement Strategies

Governments can significantly enhance their service delivery by adopting citizen-compliant pre-configured workflows. These workflows streamline processes and ensure compliance, reducing the time and effort required to complete tasks. This approach not only enhances efficiency but also improves transparency, making it easier for citizens to understand and navigate government services.

AI-Powered Automation

AI-powered automation plays a crucial role in modernising government services. By automating routine tasks, governments can reduce errors and ensure first-time correctness, allowing employees to focus on more complex and value-added activities. This shift towards automation addresses one of the critical issues identified by government agents. 65% of government agents reported not having access to the right knowledge to respond to customers quickly and consistently, highlighting the need for AI-driven solutions.

AI driven solutions can also enhance knowledge management within government agencies. By leveraging AI to summarise chats, generate resolution notes, and provide quick access to information, government agents can respond to citizen inquiries more efficiently and accurately. This capability ensures that citizens receive timely and accurate responses, further reducing frustration and improving overall satisfaction.

Streamlining Permit Applications with Connected Workflows

Permit applications are often a major pain point for both citizens and government agencies. They can be time-consuming, complex, and prone to errors, leading to frustration and delays. Streamlining this process is crucial because it:

• Reduces bureaucratic burden on citizens and businesses
• Improves government efficiency and reduces processing costs
• Enhances transparency and reduces opportunities for corruption
• Accelerates economic activity by reducing delays in project approvals
• Improves citizen satisfaction with government services

Features and Capabilities:

Managing the various citizen-to-government (C2G), business-to-government (B2G), and government-to-government (G2G) relationships requires robust data models and workflows. Industry-specific data models tailored to these interactions can greatly enhance efficiency and unlock the trillion-dollar potential of open government data.

Citizen Services Hub on the ServiceNow platform empowers citizens by providing them with the tools they need to access services independently. Dynamic smart forms ensure the correctness and completeness of submitted information.

End-to-end automation for task routing, assignment, and tracking is crucial for efficient field services, with mobile app integration enabling real-time updates and compliance documentation. Task assignment automation routes work automatically based on predefined criteria, improving task management and efficiency.

Organising and Managing In-Person Events

In-person events, whether they're town halls, public hearings, or community festivals, play a vital role in civic engagement and government operations. Efficient management of these events is critical because it:

• Enhances public participation in democratic processes
• Improves community cohesion and citizen engagement
• Ensures public safety and compliance with regulations
• Optimises resource allocation for government agencies
• Provides valuable data for future planning and policy-making

The Citizen Services Hub on the ServiceNow platform can significantly enhance the management and impact of in-person events through its integrated digital solutions. Government Service Portals, essential for reporting issues, requesting services, accessing information, and facilitating business registration and compliance validation, become even more powerful when tied together within a unified hub.

Mobile apps for field service agents and businesses streamline issue reporting and resolution, while comprehensive case management systems ensure that government agents can handle cases effectively. With 94% of federal employees over the age of 30 and one-third expected to retire in the next five years, there is a risk of losing valuable institutional knowledge. Empowering agents to focus on high-value tasks by automating on-demand responses to common requests improves case management efficiency.

Dashboards providing a 360-degree view of cases, field agents, and registered businesses are essential for effective management and decision-making. Performance analytics unlock insights that help anticipate trends, prioritise tasks, and drive service improvements.

Leveraging AI for Citizen and Government Services

AI is a game-changer for digital citizen services. AI-powered automation can assist citizens in submitting complete and compliant applications, reducing errors and ensuring first-time correctness. This reduces the need for rework and accelerates service delivery.

AI tools like Now Assist can help customer service agents find answers quickly, summarise chats, and generate case resolution notes, improving response times and service quality. Gen AI integration with private data sources provides agents with secure access to confidential data, enabling them to support citizens effectively while maintaining data security.

Government Entity in Auckland, New Zealand

While many governments are making strides in digital transformation, one standout example is a government entity in Auckland that faced significant challenges with paper forms and manual processes, causing headaches for both customers and employees. To address this, they teamed up with Fujitsu to use ServiceNow, streamlining their processes for citizens applying for driveway entrances and footpath vehicle crossings. By going digital, they eliminated manual data entry, reduced errors, and designed a user-friendly self-service portal for citizens to easily submit requests, book appointments, and track their application status in real-time.

They also empowered compliance auditors with mobile capabilities, enabling them to receive assignments and record their fieldwork digitally, making their jobs more efficient. Additionally, they automated the creation of customer letters and compliance certificates, saving significant time and effort.

The results of this digital transformation speak for themselves:

• Improved visibility into workloads, volumes, and service levels with a 20% reduction in application processing costs.
• Over 6,500 customer letters automatically generated, freeing up staff for higher-value tasks.
• A rapid implementation timeline of just 12 weeks from planning to go-live.

The Future of Digital Citizen Services

The transformation of citizen services through digital innovation is not just a necessity but an imperative for modern governance. By enhancing citizen experiences, addressing the challenges of manual processes, streamlining permit applications, efficiently managing in-person events, and leveraging AI, governments can create a more engaged, empowered, and energised citizenry.

As we look to the future, the continuous evolution of digital services promises to further revolutionise public sector interactions, paving the way for a more efficient, transparent, and citizen-centric approach to governance.

The question remains: how will your government adapt to these changes and ensure that it remains at the forefront of digital innovation? The potential is vast, and the time to act is now.

Do you want to see how you can transform your citizen services? Book a demo today to see how our Citizen Services Hub can revolutionise your public sector operations.