Work Foundation Report - Why ICT?
The Work Foundation have published a new report on e-government: Why ICT? The role of ICT in public services (Also: BBC News Report).
The headline finding is around preferences for e-government services:
we asked the public how they would like to access services, and what they think are the advantages and disadvantages of three of the main service delivery channels.We found that there was an equal split, with a third each preferring: one-stop shop, face-toface services; telephone hotlines; and interactive websites.
In addition, they found that:
- 78% felt there is enough choice in terms of different service delivery channels;
- 48% wanted more government services online [a bit of contradiction with the above?];
- 63% thought the web had made it easier to find out about government services;
- More than three quarters wanted access to services outside of normal working hour.
And, in terms of usage, they found:
take-up of electronic services is increasing: just one in ten members of the public had used a public service online in 2002 but we found that a third now prefer online services over more traditional methods. With almost half of our respondents wanting to access more services online, it is clear that attitudes are changing.
Beneath the headline figures they found a more complex picture of citizen preferences:
We found that one-stop shops and interactive websites came top for different aspects of customer service. [...] It is clear from our survey that the public want the method of service delivery to suit the service being delivered. For example, there is widespread satisfaction at using the web to send back tax returns as people do not want to have to go to an office to file them. However, when it comes to making a complaint, 95 per cent would prefer to do this in person.
What is significant from an e-government perspective here, they argue, is that:
ICT and people have a role in all three modes of service delivery we asked about. In a Job Centre Plus Office, staff should use ICT to quickly pull up the individual’s details, rather than having to wade through boxes of paper files to find the right information. Similarly, online services can only be effective if there is a person in the back office handling any mistakes. Those delivering
frontline public services will need both ICT and interpersonal skills to deliver a high-quality service, regardless of whether this is face-to-face, on the phone or using the internet.
The report also explored issues surrounding efficiency and ICTs. One of the more probing questions it asked (and one that is largely unanswered in the report) was ‘Where is the ‘business case’ for ICT?’. As they put it:
[there has been a] failure to say exactly what contribution ICT can make. The National Audit Office assessment of IT-enabled projects found a tendency to skip over the ‘business case’, diving straight into a detailed specification of what technology was required, without clarity about objectives or success criteria. By missing out fundamental questions about what ICT can be used for - and what it can’t be used for - those trying to use ICT to improve public services are left with technology just being one more initiative to add to myriad others: efficiency, choice, personalisation, PSA targets.
In light of the recent Gershon Review such questions have a greater significance because ‘Gershon’s targets are heavily predicated on the use of technology to transform ways of working. Yet previous ICT projects have failed to demonstrate clear efficiency benefits. How is Gershon going to ensure that ICT is used more effectively?’ The challenge, they argue, is to forge a bold path of reform, with clear leadership from the top:
Joined-up government is not the most popular phrase in public services, but the principles behind it of working across silos and joining up information have never been more important. One of the main challenges that the Gershon Review faces, particularly around ICT, is the need to make sure that the different agencies of government are joined up behind the seamless online systems, such as www.direct.gov.uk. The e-Government Unit’s task of ensuring that the different departmental IT roadmaps are all linked is no easy feat. Achievement of any of Gershon’s objectives rely heavily on ensuring that the changes are not piecemeal but organisational. Reforming transactional services, changing the way the back office works, re-assessing procurement processes are all issues that, to be successful, require change at an organisational level. All private sector studies of ICT demonstrate that gains are over time and have to be linked with wider organisational change.
They sound a warning note with regard to the Gershon agenda in this regard, fearing that short-term considerations may triumph:
Gershon’s targets are for 2008, but there are a range of interim targets and a need to make year-on-year efficiency improvements of 2.5 per cent. This requires immediate results, despite the fact that there is a time lag before the impact of technology investment is visible.42 While quick wins are important to demonstrate progress and to communicate progress to the public, there could be a danger of eschewing longer term progress for short-term wins, perhaps through not investing in that extra piece of ICT kit because returns won’t be visible for another three years, which is too late for the next spending review.
The report concludes with the following recommendations:
- Make the case: There needs to be greater clarity about how ICT can contribute to quality, customer focus and efficiency.
- Consider ICT early: ICT needs to be considered at a sufficiently early stage for it to be a core part of choice and efficiency. This requires leaders to buy
- into the agenda.
- Manage demand: ICT needs to respond to the customer but demand needs to be managed if the efficiency benefits of ICT are to be realised: this means considering where incentives can be offered to use more costeffective services
- Communicate: Better communication of what public services are doing
- Inform: ‘Choice’ and ‘voice’ require good information, available to all. It should be considered how ICT can be used to disseminate information
- Consider intermediaries: ICT could facilitate use of trusted intermediaries
- Improve procurement and project management skills
- Build capacity: Staff and managers do not always know how to unlock benefits the of technology. More training is required for staff in frontline offices, call centres and in online support services.
- Engage with staff: There needs to be far more effective engagement with staff
