Digital Government in 2022: Predictions!
Mohammad J Sear
Digital Gov. & Public Sector Consulting Leader, Middle East and Africa (MENA) at EY
The past decade has brought both incredible advances, and also unbelievable challenges.
We have seen the explosion of social media, the rise of e-commerce, and the development of a global commerce network, unlike anything we have seen before, while for the last two years or so we have been struggling with Covid-19.
Trying to predict what will happen in the next ten years is a fool's errand (if nothing else because technology moves so fast), but despite this difficulty, I am going to have a go in making some predictions about digital government in 2022 based on some significant trends that are already changing how we interact with our governments.
If you talk to anyone currently working in digital government and ask them about their predictions for the future, you'll find some consistencies among them. One thing is for certain, spendings on digital transformation will only continue to grow.
This article will discuss these predictions and how they can affect the public administration, citizens, and businesses alike.
What is digital government?
Although few people can articulate what digital government means, we have all experienced it. Over the past 15 years, citizens have expected that public services will be available online, 24/7.
In other words, when government information and services are offered digitally through the always-on online world, citizens expect them to be accessible whenever they want and from wherever they happen to be.
At first glance, the digital government might seem like a recent phenomenon, but today's ubiquity of technology simply makes what has always been true more visible and real.
Having said that, we must keep in mind that digital government is as much if not more about embracing new digital era business and operating models than it is about technology.
How different roles can benefit from digital transformation
Digital transformation will benefit different roles differently. For employees, it's a way to stay relevant at work and get ahead by offering your knowledge and skills to complete tasks online.
Management will be able to communicate with employees more effectively across different time zones, allowing for work to be done around the clock instead of just during regular business hours.
Finally, taxpayers can benefit from digital transformation through new technological solutions that are easier for both citizens and tax collectors to use.
In many ways, digital transformation is about more than reducing paperwork—it's about making things more efficient so we can better serve our constituents as a government agency.
Technology predictions we should expect in 2022
Governments are quickly making changes, but there's a lot more they could be doing—and should be doing—to use technology and new digital era business models as effectively as possible.
We will see some trends in digital government over the next few months and beyond.
1. Robotic process automation
With recent technological advances, many public administrative tasks will be automated.
The economic consequences of automation are difficult to predict. Still, there are reasons to believe that market forces alone might not bring about a more efficient allocation of resources in government.
Automation will most likely lead to a structural change in public employment, with implications for long-term unemployment as well as on mobility within a country's labour market.
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2. Using data to offer better service
Simply put, digital government is about using technology to improve service. To do that, governments must collect more data about what's going on with constituents and provide services through online channels.
Digital engagement can benefit governments and citizens alike, from improved customer service to better policymaking.
For example, when cities use open data to engage with their residents around city planning decisions (through an app or other tools), they can provide better services while fostering greater trust between residents and local leaders.
In the end, more high-quality data also leads to better policy decisions.
3. More importance in cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is a complex and ever-evolving field, with new attacks appearing constantly.
With these risks, government organizations need to safeguard their data and networks. Doing so requires continual investment and oversight.
Some even say that cybersecurity deserves its own cabinet-level department, like transportation or energy. However, in 2022 governments will need to implement the Zero Trust strategy to revive their citizens' trust.
4. Using technology to promote the wellbeing of the citizens
Governments across the world invest heavily in technology to improve service delivery.
New technologies make it easier for governments to provide services and become an intrinsic part of policy development itself, changing how public services are delivered and even affecting how citizens live their lives.
This can be accomplished through smartphones, wearables, and Internet-of-Things technology combined with data analytics solutions.
They can enable decision-makers at all levels to leverage digital governance.
5. Moving into the cloud
Cloud computing is growing at a rapid pace and with good reason.
Cloud-based services offer a number of benefits to organizations, including on-demand access to any device, improved security and privacy, reduced costs due to automation, and more efficient IT management.
With the growing demand for digital government services worldwide, other countries will develop large public cloud systems. Even smaller governments may partner with private cloud systems. Either way, it will mean quicker innovation of new digital government services and a better way for citizens to access them.
I would like to end with a final prediction that perhaps will play out beyond 2022 but may start to appear in discussion and thinking amongst senior leaders in governments at least during this year. And this prediction is about a shift from taking a “digital government transformation” approach where in most cases technology is applied to existing processes, business and operating models to an approach where we “re-imagine government for the digital era” which gets to the core of answering the fundamental questions of “why”, “what” and “how” of governance.
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