Can Governments Get Smarter?

Can Governments Get Smarter?. Around the world corporations and individuals have embraced technology to make their lives easier and their businesses more competitive. But what about governments?

The challenges facing the government sector are immense, expensive and complicated. Yet there is room for innovation and effective solutions. Consider this: renewing a driver's license in person cost about $8. The cost to renew it online? One dollar.

In everything from health care wait times to public safety issues, to repairing potholes, governments around the world are implementing solutions that make their citizen's lives easier. Here's a few example of innovations from around the world.

Networks and Social Networks

Sometimes it's as simple as using social networking applications like Twitter to report problems with government services. For instance the city of San Franscisco is using Twitter for service complaints (street cleaning, graffiti, potholes etc.) and trying to resolve the complaints within 3 days. Governments could expand to government collaborating with citizens using online brainstorming sessions and real time voting.

In Ontario, data that can be used multiple times on a citizen's behalf--such as in registering a newborn or applying for social system benefits--need be entered only once, eliminating the need for users to input data multiple times when interacting with government online.

Smarter government also means putting the citizen at the centre of government services. For instance, in Australia, the Centrelink service is groups disparate government departments around citizen's life events, like marriage, births or the need for elder care, instead of forcing citizens to visit multiple different departments.

Thinking About Analytics

Government agencies have used statistical analysis for a long time, for instance to measure tax compliance, what's new is that now governments are turning to analytics as a basis for decision making.

Government analytics involves statistical analysis to help detect patterns and trends in raw data and use it to make better decisions.

The U.S. Postal Service is using to analytics to make mail delivery faster. They've improved on-time delivery rates from around 80 per cent during the 1980s to 94 percent for first class mail today.

To do this, the service puts test pieces of mail into the system every day and tracks how long it takes the test letters, postcards and boxes to be delivered. This system is used to identify bottlenecks and correct problems.

Open up the Data Vault

Allowing citizens access to the government's vast data sets enables a better understanding--and, ultimately, a better stewardship--of government and its resources.

Increasing access to government data, by putting more data online in accessible format that citizens can use leads to new applications and innovations.

For example the Toronto Open Data initiative launched in early November to make that city's government data sets more "open, accessible and transparent." The data includes catalogues of events such as festivals, lists of licensed child care centres, priority investment neighbourhoods, and in the future data on crimes, homelessness, city budgets and expenses and expected to be released. Making this data accessible empowers citizens to innovate with it.

As one citizen said, one of the roles of government is to unleash the potential of its citizens.( cbc.ca )