The public sector has often been viewed as slow to adopt innovative technology – but this perception couldn’t be further from reality. With a drive and determination to harness the power of emerging technology, what has been lacking is the private sector’s response to provide a tailored solution that utilises technology, collaboration and customer experience.
This is set to change because of new collaborative ways of working and a growing emphasis on what shared services can and should bring to the table.
We are now seeing a marked change in attitudes to digitalisation and an openness and need for more efficient, convenient ways to deliver services. This has also been accelerated by the current pandemic emphasising the need to be agile with an ability to quickly react to changing circumstances. In tandem, new strategies such as the UK’s Government Technology Innovation Strategy lays out several steps that departments need to embrace to harness emerging powers, focusing on people, process and data.
Data-led solutions and data visualisation are key components of providing the foundation of these new technologies; the value and importance of data needs to be utilised to improve service, predict behaviour and solve complex business challenges that may have seemed out of reach just years ago.
The demand for artificial intelligence and data-led solutions is growing quickly. Government departments are no different and see the need to free up front line workers from repetitive administration tasks, instead allowing them to focus on what matters most – the service they are providing.
Innovative solutions like these are being developed, adopted and implemented across government departments at a rapid rate with a focus to use new technologies to transform day-to-day working and for the delivery of services that in turn impact on the lives of the public.
At SSCL, we understand how data can unlock and transform business for public sector bodies. Collaboration is key and a vital component in being able to harness the data. We utilise data gathered from how our customers interact with us, known as their user journey, and from this insight we develop innovative solutions that we know will have the biggest impact and overall savings to our clients.
All of these have delivered savings in terms of the time it would take our customers to have accessed this information or these services previously. We’re not resting on our laurels either as we will be rolling out further initiatives over the next few months.
The benefits of these changes are clear – the effective use of data and data visualisation can open a wealth of opportunity for the sector. By improving transparency, decision makers can predict issues before they arise, allowing them to find resolve before they become paramount issues.
Incisive data analysis and business intelligence is but one catalyst in delivering groundbreaking public service transformation – it is crucial that organisations are constantly looking at ways to innovate.
Customers’ expectations are constantly evolving and so, in order to keep up with their expectations, it is hugely important to look to the future, anticipate their needs and implement the best solutions to meet these.
The fact remains however, that transformation remains staggered and sometimes the shift has been uneven within the sector. Enhancing that visualisation, user experience and recreating the data sets will help.
The recent pandemic and subsequent lockdown has really illustrated this change in public adoption and expectations. It has become clear that we will not be returning to what was once seen as business-as-usual.
The changes seen over recent months have become the new normal and the need for agility and innovation is set to grow.
Matt Hurley
Director of Service Strategy & Innovation, SSCL
