In a post-digital era, governments should continue investing in tech: Gartner

Governments have continued their transition to being digitally-led and now are entering a post-digital era, but Dean Lacheca, VP analyst at Gartner said they still need to continue investing in technology.

At the Gartner IT Symposium, Lacheca said this is where the business case for further investment has to offer more than the diminishing returns from further efforts to improve citizen experience or deliver administrative efficiencies.

“Business cases must be able to offer benefits that are directly linked to the mission or public purposes of the department or agency,” according to Lacheca.

“Post-digital government requires organisations to reset their ambitions and focus on their public purpose.”

A Gartner report predicts by 2026, over 75 percent of governments will gauge digital transformation success by measuring the enduring mission impact, rather than only looking at hours saved, efficiencies or citizen satisfaction.

“Setting a more ambitious target, even in times of austerity and growing technical debt, forces governments to look differently at the capabilities and approaches they are using today,” he explained.

“Delivering enduring mission outcomes requires them to find the moments that matter, which means building cognitive empathy for the needs of citizens and stakeholders.”

Lacheca added, “Governments must leverage data insights to both anticipate optimal engagement and effectively react to the unexpected. They must also look to develop an orchestrated ecosystem of partners centred around shared outcomes.”

Going beyond a traditional digital service

CIOs who want to go beyond delivering a simple digital service or transactional engagement, Lacheca said they need to develop “cognitive empathy capabilities”.

“Building a more complete and accurate understanding of stakeholders as people. Also, the critical moments that are going to make a difference and how governments have an impact on them,” he explained.

To achieve this, Lacheca said governments must identify direct and indirect stakeholders and understand the journey they’re going through during a particular transaction or engagement.

“This is not about understanding a transactional flow. It will help them chart how stakeholder needs change at different points, and what creates frustration, distrust, discomfort or engagement,” he said.

“A need-driven approach must be taken for all stakeholders involved and address those needs as effectively as possible. This approach allows critical moments to be identified, stakeholder engagement to be optimised, and knowledge on when to be reactive or proactive.”

Human-centred design (HCD) is an approach that encapsulates this, Lacheca said.

“It involves problem-solving with empathy as a cornerstone, putting the citizen at the heart of the solution,” he explained.

“For example, HCD has been recommended for Australian Public Service (APS) professionals and their organisations; the Queensland Government offers a toolkit for the use of HCD in service design; and the Victorian Government offers an HCD handbook.”

Digital Nation went to the Gartner IT Symposium as a guest of Gartner.