There is seldom anything as constant as the need to change, and there has been plenty of copy written on the growing pace of change in the modern world.  Throughout the world there is a growing risk of a two-tier society developing, whereby the kind of improvements to customer experience seen in the private sector are not matched in the public sector.

This has been reflected in a recent report from Forrester.  The report highlights how 7 of the 10 worst performers in their customer experience index were government agencies.  What’s more, just 30% of Americans believe their expectations are being met by the state in terms of customer service.

Keeping pace with public expectations

The medicine proposed by Forrester is interesting, yet not particularly revolutionary.  They advocate better involvement with mobile as a platform for delivering services based upon big data style insights and a general acceleration towards more digital government.

They make three core recommendations around this theme:

1. A shift towards mobile first – mobile should be considered the primary means of connecting citizens with government, with agencies exploring the mobile methods that work best for citizens and ensuring they are delivered as such.  This involves going beyond mere transactional approaches to having two way dialogues with citizens over everything from pothole reporting to budgeting input.
2. Better integration of big data analytics – with greater integration with citizens will come a huge spike in citizen driven data.  This needs to be well integrated with existing data to ensure high response levels and better short and long-term decision making.  This data can also be opened up to third parties for research and innovation.
3. The ripple effect of good customer experience – the report suggests that when customer experiences are improved it will have a ripple effect on areas such as legislation, compliance, engagement and effectiveness of government services.  What’s more, the easier it is for citizens to engage with the government, the more likely they are to make use of available services.

Of course, none of this should really be news for anyone keeping even a cursory finger on the pulse of technological and process based change, but it is a further reminder of the need for governments to ensure the services they offer to citizens reflect the kind of services citizens receive in other aspects of their life.