Kirsten Tisdale is EY Canada’s government and public-sector managing partner
In the lead-up to the federal election this fall, we’re starting to turn our attention to visions for the future from current and prospective government hopefuls. With the federal budget also approaching, one important thing we ought to see is plans for modern transformation in government – that is, thoughtful investment in digitally enabled, efficient and smart solutions across government functions. Delivering the best to Canadians depends on it.
Taxpayers and citizens are demanding more accountability, efficiency and transparency in terms of how our governments spend our money. Cutting costs and driving increased efficiencies is important, but it isn’t enough. It’s also about making tough choices about how to optimize outcomes for Canadians. It’s about being courageous in deciding what not to do, in some cases, because the outcomes attached to those options are simply not being achieved.
How public money is spent is important, but what we need to look at more carefully is the impact of that spending. We need to ask better questions and implement systems that easily measure what government services are achieving. It’s not a futuristic idea – governments around the world are awash in data and beginning to increase their focus on analytics and the pursuit of evidence-based decision-making. These solutions are driving reforms in areas such as health care, at-risk populations, social housing, poverty reduction and operational efficiencies across the board – to name a few.
Consider the protection of at-risk children. With increasing caseloads, and limited budgets and resources, there is the potential for children to fall through the cracks in the system, which can result in tragic consequences. Predictive and integrated data analytics are creating new insights into at-risk children and youth, unlocking the potential to make more timely decisions, while increasing the potential for pre-emptive interventions before tragic events occur. Integrating the vast data assets available to government – and combining that with advanced analytics based on network detection and alerting – can help decrease rates of child neglect and harm, while increasing case worker productivity.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. When we look at things such as smart automation (also known as robotic process automation or RPA) to improve process efficiency, and blockchain and cybertechnology to foster stakeholder trust, governments around the world are enhancing accountability, bolstering productivity and, quite literally, improving lives and economies.
By applying intelligent automation to everything from payroll processing, social-security benefits, passport applications and immigration processing to tax administration and business registrations, governments will be better equipped to make sure their digital services deliver meaningful value across the board, while freeing up employees’ time for higher value-added, human-centred services such as strategy development or building more purposeful customer relationships.
Meanwhile, we’re starting to find ways for technologies such as blockchain to increase confidence and accountability with respect to how every dollar of public funding is allocated and spent. Think of blockchain as a highly secure, record-keeping public database that tracks each transaction on a decentralized ledger. It has huge potential to help governments better manage finances, prioritize investments and budget allocations, and strengthen the overall performance and impact of spending. Having a transparent tool to show where and how public dollars are spent can build efficiencies, of course, but also enhance trust within government and the public.
Blockchain could be applied beyond spending, too. Imagine, for instance, the impact of being able to accurately track specific blood donations. Donors could see the direct impact of their donations – in this case, they could know how their specific blood donation saved a life. In short, blockchain has the potential to infinitely increase transparency.
Another rapidly emerging area needing urgent attention and an extremely thoughtful policy framework is the application of artificial intelligence (AI). It’s an incredibly powerful capability that presents unprecedented opportunities for enhanced decision-making and efficiencies, but it also will have a massive impact on how we work, and the interface and role definition between humans and machines that we need to get out in front of.
In summary, modernizing government’s operations and service-delivery models through a digital-first approach will improve the services delivered to Canadians, drive efficiencies and open up new avenues for innovation and simplification of processes. Simply put, by delivering better outcomes across the board, modernizing our governments will create a more sustainable and competitive economy for Canadians nowand for generations to come.