There’s no doubt that the digital revolution is taking centre stage in fuelling the country’s economic recovery. As such, it has never been more important for the government to join and champion this movement.
Its ambition to take a ‘digital by default’ position and move the 25 most used public services online is certainly a step in the right direction and one that could result in annual savings of £1.7m.
It must be acknowledged that the government is responding by taking positive steps to optimise its online services, whether this is allowing people to change the date of their driving test on their smartphone or pay their VAT on their tablet. But if there is one major hurdle which threatens to hinder this progress, it is the lack of citizen engagement in the digitisation of local public services.
Research we recently commissioned, reveals that only eight percent of people in the UK are aware of the government’s digital services in their local area. This figure is simply too low and is indicative of how far the government still needs to go to achieve its digital ambition and improve the lives of citizens.
To do this, local authorities must go beyond site optimisation and accelerate the creation of public service apps, which are much easier and quicker for citizens to access, on the move. If the ‘digital by default’ strategy does not embrace this, I fear that the overarching objective of making public services more efficient at a grass roots level will be missed and citizens will remain disengaged.
Digitising public services at a local level will also increase the productivity of the workforce and this will positively impact the service citizens receive, encouraging engagement. Research that O2 conducted with the CEBR earlier this year revealed that improving connectivity, and thus productivity, in the UK’s largest public sector organisations could generate £7.2bn per year in savings. Inevitably, this has a direct impact on citizens being served better on a local and national level.
Mobile technology is also helping the public sector to drive positive change in the community in new ways. Last year, we launched the Local Government Digital Fund, giving UK local authorities the opportunity to submit technology solutions that do just this. One of the winners, Reading Borough Council, is using the Fund to create a portal that helps young people not in employment, education or training find work in their local area – a great way of engaging young people in digital public services.
It’s clear that the payoffs of new technology are very real and can have a powerful, life-changing impact on citizens. But at present, the digitisation of public services is taking too long and needs to be accelerated to meet citizen needs.
In order to keep up with ever evolving consumer habits and make the most of the opportunities that today’s technology offers, government must listen to the councils, communities and citizens that are the intended beneficiaries of the ‘digital by default’ strategy. This will allow government to focus on building a digital strategy that will engage citizens and ultimately, improve their lives.
Billy D’Arcy is managing director of public sector at O2
