Let’s be honest. No one has ever expressed excitement about having to renew their license, pay their taxes, or complete any sort of bureaucratic process, but many state and local governments are building towards a world where constituents feel differently. On this episode of Catalyst, Clinton chats with William Chumley, the Chief Customer Officer for the Governor's Office of Information Technology for the State of Colorado and Cathy LoDuca, the VP for Growth for Public Sector at NTT DATA to discuss what states like Colorado are doing to elevate interactions with their citizens.

The digital government goal state

We could talk forever about the technicalities of how information technology supports and enables the business of government, and how nationwide, teams like William’s are hard at work eliminating defunct or inadequate technology, replacing dead and old systems, and modernizing the way constituents interact with their governments. But the role of digital in government goes far beyond the tech stack itself into more abstract territory. In states like Colorado, there is a growing focus on experience and designing around constituents’ needs throughout different life events. Digital tools such as the myColorado app are reshaping the way citizens interact with their government and easing access to crucial information and services.

But what about data?

In an ideal world, this would happen automatically with government agencies leveraging constituents’ data to opt them into beneficial programs and tailor experiences to their circumstances. However, about seven-in-ten U.S. adults (71%) say they are very or somewhat concerned about how the government uses the data it collects about them, making this a big challenge. The key to changing these opinions is to offer value. Think of the data we already provide to companies like Amazon or Netflix in exchange for personalized offers and content recommendations. It needs to be a fair exchange. If the government is going to collect and use constituent data, they need to provide enough value for it to feel worthwhile. 

Measuring success

But how can you measure if you’ve been successful? There are plenty of metrics that digital teams can look at including traffic, visits, and so on, but an even more valuable resource is feedback from the everyday users themselves. How satisfied are constituents with digital services, and how many are they using? Did they find what they needed? And so again, it's about some feedback from constituents as they work on that. We've also we check on how many folks are using the digital services and using the pathways and then repeats, and more like looking at active so that we're trying not to see that it was one time as a way for us to get a little closer to are we there when you needed us to be there.

What’s ahead?

Bill Gates once said, "Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” In government, it’s hard to predict the future, especially when leadership can change every few years. But looking ahead, William feels confident that in 10 years AI will have evolved even further and revolutionized government services such as call centers, directing citizens to the right resources, and anticipating constituents’ needs better than ever before.  

Getting started

Introducing better experiences doesn't have to cost outrageous amounts of money. In government, a good starting point is to remember that you need a safety net, or something for everyone so that no one falls through. Don't be afraid of the big problems, but instead get creative and take small steps towards solving them. Just start, and see how far you go. Perfection is the enemy of anything getting done.

As always, don’t forget to subscribe to Catalyst wherever you get your podcasts. We release a new episode every Tuesday, jam-packed with expert advice and actionable insights for creating digital experiences that move millions.