PRESENTED BY WIRED with Deloitte Digital
Condé Nast and Deloitte Digital have teamed up with leading specialists on Digital Transformation to present Connecting in the Digital Age, a series that will provide an insider’s look at a framework for Digital Transformation, and how it’s been applied across industries and around the world. See how no two transformations are alike, but each shares a common denominator: the power of connection. Here, how elevating the human experience in business is key to successful transformation.
NEARLY ALL OF US have experienced the tedium of waiting to get a license at the DMV, or a particular document at a different government office. But what if there was a future that left the (necessary) functions of government intact, but removed the stuffy air, long lines and red tape? In Texas, that future isn’t far away.
In the fall of 2018, the State of Texas embarked on a digital transformation effort, starting with My Government My Way (MGMW), an ongoing project that represents a modern, cohesive destination for Texans interacting with government agencies. As a digital government assistant, the platform creates a more personalized, accessible version of Texas.gov for Texans. Each user has their own log-in and dashboard with a prioritized to-do list, transaction history and even wallet functionality to store government documents like a driver’s license, or pay for things like parking tickets. The ultimate goal of the initiative: Connect citizens with their government in a seamless, safe and effective way.
Texas isn’t alone in its push towards digitization in the public sector: Louisiana has already implemented a digital driver’s license program, and California has announced a plan to establish an Office of Digital Innovation to improve the technology used for the state’s business processes. But despite these advances, digital transformations remain difficult. According to research from Deloitte, 70% of government agencies believe they lag behind their private sector peers when it comes to digital transformation. Yet, as with the private sector, governments must digitize to stay relevant. Doing so can also help states better understand their constituents, and provide them more efficient, customized services.
“In Texas, the population is constantly growing, and the burden of overcrowded or inefficient state offices and operations is becoming a greater concern,” explains Christopher Keel, a principal at Deloitte Digital, which is guiding Texas through its transformation efforts. “These are immediate problems that a state can use a digital transformation to solve.”
A Personalized View of Government—Online
MGMW isn’t Texas’ first digital rodeo: the Texas.gov website launched in 2000, and the site has since managed more than 260 million online transactions across 30 state agencies, linked by five different portals. But today, citizens expect a more personalized experience—one that eliminates the need to navigate multiple state agencies and instead provides a simple, up-to-date, guided experience tailored to the constituent. So Texas decided to create a better, more streamlined service tackling the specific needs of the state. To do this, Texas CIO Todd Kimbriel believed the state would have to take a more holistic approach than simply updating its website.
“We knew that we were going to have to rethink the paradigm in terms of how the citizens consume the services, not how an agency or series of agencies deliver them,” Kimbriel said in an interview.
So was born the MGMW project with Deloitte Digital, which connects all disparate digital channels into one comprehensive platform. Kimbriel and team continue to work on the platform with Deloitte Digital to craft a successful transformation that will serve the needs of both Texas’ government agencies and its citizens.
Across public sector and commercial clients, Deloitte Digital’s experience has shown that effective digital transformation starts with understanding a client’s ambition for that transformation, and how that ambition best serves human needs. So Deloitte Digital has helped the state conduct qualitative and quantitative research of Texas’ user demographics (who’s being served?), and their desired experiences (what do they need?). Leading with research helps in prioritizing digital investments, and measuring the effectiveness of those investments – even those that aren’t immediately intuitive.
“One of our key differentiators in working on digital transformations is our ability to push clients beyond their comfort zones,” says Rob Frazzini, principal at Deloitte Digital. “We work with them to discover new market opportunities or ways of doing business that ultimately create more value, and an outsized return on their investment and efforts.”
Say Goodbye to Those Dreaded Wait Times
The returns on investment and effort are starting to be felt: following the release of an enhanced driver license replacement app as part of the MGMW platform, Texas saw a 6% increase for certain online driver license transactions and a corresponding reduction for those transaction in state offices. Translation: fewer people in line and a better customer experience.
“Texas is a growing state, but the budget and staffing for state offices remain stretched,” Keel says. “So making the best possible use of technology to relieve that burden is very important.”
MGMW inches us all toward a more efficient, user-friendly future where we don’t need to visit multiple government offices to take care of administrative tasks. It’s a future where our license, vehicle registration, and birth certificate can be found on our computer or phone screens. A future where our government is working for us to save us time. A future where government agencies can work together more seamlessly, saving state workers time and frustration and allowing them to better serve their community.
Connecting in the Digital Age continues with stories that expand on the power of connection. From elevating the human experience, to forming strategic alliances and creating ecosystems for innovation, to determining value on your own terms, this series will continue to explore the elements of executing a successful Digital Transformation.
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