Introducing digitally-enabled public service models

The challenge

Digitally-enabled public service models are critical to meet the increasing needs of our populations

Internationally, digitally-enabled models of public service are emerging that:

• Use consumer-reported metrics to improve the monitoring and management of outcomes
• Improve accessibility and increase service bandwidth by empowering specialists to delivery their services efficiently
• Connect service capacity to service need
• Establish the interoperability platform needed to support electronic public service records and integrated services delivery.

However digital public services investments often disappoint

The opportunities and potential benefits of digital technologies in public services are well understood. Still, their adoption remains at the margin and it can be hard to move from pilot to broad, systemic adoption.

In many cases, the return on investment is disappointing and protracted.​

There are many reasons for this:

• The focus of the project becomes the technology. Public service leaders need to sponsor and own the introduction of digitally-enabled public services and engage consumers in the co-design process
• There is not enough attention on communicating and managing the transition, meaning the behaviour changes often don’t ‘stick’
• When new digitally-enabled public service systems are introduced, legacy pathways are often not decommissioned well
• The existing ‘digital divide’ can be exacerbated through a lack of consideration of how to provide channels that work for all members in the community
• The business case is not thorough enough to ensure that the right solutions are targeted at defined population challenges and inequities. There are unrealistic expectations of the cost of change, the pay-back period and how change can be sequenced to secure early cost reduction
• The new public service systems are introduced as an ‘island’ of innovation and not embraced within the wider blueprint for a balanced public service system that is affordable and reflective of the population’s needs

The long-term success of digitally-enabled public services requires change programs designed and led by providers and consumers that deliver easy-to-use technology that addresses the diverse needs of populations ​

What we do

We facilitate the development of digital public service strategies that align with the system blueprint and population outcomes

• We develop pragmatic digital public service strategies that leverage many years of experience in delivery and are driven by population needs, not by technology
• We understand change and use our knowledge of communications, public service workflows, incentivisation models and digital literacy to design strategies and implementation roadmaps that can be successfully delivered
• We test the feasibility of potential digitally-enabled public services and assess how well they address recognised population needs, inequalities and inequities.
• We develop rigorous business cases that are owned by clinical leaders and fully examine the expected cost, return on investment and pay-back period of digital investments.
• We construct co-designed, digitally-enabled public services with sustained consumer and professional engagement.
• We deploy fit-for-purpose project and program management techniques to manage service improvement to time and budget.
• We use formative evaluation techniques alongside agile improvement cycles to maximise benefits as change progresses.

Get in touch to discuss how we can support you to introduce digitally-enabled services in your public services system

Tim Blake

Email Tim
+61 448 435 477

Read more about where we have helped clients introduce digitally-enabled services