Blog 1105 Instant gratification from the government

Yesterday I had to deliver the keynote speech at the Bahrain International eGovernment Forum. The organization had selected two key-not speakers from Europe, Mr Andrew Pinter and myself. And I thought that wisdom came from the East!

Happily enough we did not bite each other. I had set up my presentation around the eGovernment annual report of Cap Gemini. Of course there are more annual reports such as the ones from the UN, the Economist and others. But I liked best the idea that eGovernment will have to work on personalization. So far it has mainly been busy with getting the transactions right, not only of money transfers such as in the case of taxes, but also in the completion of end-to-end transactions such as registration of births. Funny enough the income generating transaction services of the government account are very high. In other words the government takes care of itself well, but not per se of the citizens and that is very dangerous for eGovernment. It might loose the citizens if the governments do not facilitate in easy to use services.

The 2007 measurement of Cap Gemini is based upon a method that has been modernised, to take into account new technological possibilities and insights. The existing framework has therefore been extended to include a fifth level of sophistication built around pro-activity and personalisation The measurement also recognises the significant advancement that has been made by countries over the years. The measurements have been extended to assess on the one hand to what extent the services are built around the needs of the “customer” (being citizens and businesses) and on the other hand how easy it is to access these services through the national portal.

Today’s challenge is to close that gap – delivering an experience that attracts and fulfils citizen needs, efficiently, consistently, and economically – the “Gov 2.0” experience. An experience that reaffirms trust in public services, and delivers the user-participation required to support a customer-centric, economically viable, and productive Europe.

I used of course The Netherlands as an example. Not that all the eServices of the government are great. But they are busy with the digital ID, the eForm project, the multi-channel project. I really hope that I will receive in 2009 an electronic message telling me that I am about to receive a state pension. The message should have all the details from the central administration system, the tax system and the social services system. It should note my expat status for my stay in the US and UK. And of course it should tell me the amount receivable. Instant gratification from the government!

Blog Posting Number: 1105

Tags: eGovernment