Optimizing Government with Data-Driven Citizen Engagement

Sponsored by:Written by Alan Webber

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Executive Summary

The bar has been raised and citizens are expecting better

experiences and higher levels of engagement from

government agencies. After all, if Amazon, Blue Cross/Blue

Shield, eBay, Wells Fargo and other private sector firms can

do it, why can’t government? Just like the private sector,

government needs to make sure it is delivering the right

services, manage and reduce the cost of delivering services,

and increase citizen satisfaction.

The good news for government agencies is that there are

technologies and platforms able to provide more insight

about citizens, services, and processes that can make

government not only more effective in delivering what

citizens want, but also making sure that they get what

they need through more cost effective delivery channels.

For example, the State Courts in Nebraska were facing an

increased number of filings with the resulting attached

workload while at the same time facing significant budget

constraints. As a result, an application that allowed for online

filing of motions and other actions in front of the courts

was developed and implemented. The result was that an

estimated 15,000 hours of court employee time was saved,

expenses of the courts and attorneys was reduced, and there

was a higher level of standardization1. As long as the will is

there, the technologies and platforms exist for government

to operate on par with the best private sector examples.

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Citizen Engagement Should Be A PriorityIn his Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln referred to a govern-ment that was “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Now, over 150 years later, technology is able to provide the ability to create the level of engagement and interaction between government and its citizens that Lincoln and others envisioned, commonly referred to as citizen engagement. But ask most citizens their opinion and govern-ment still is not there.

Fundamental to improving citizen engagement is understanding what citizen engagement is and what it is not – according to the citizen, rather than government or a consultant. Citizen engagement is not just a nice Web site, or a quick phone tree, or a new channel on Twitter. Citizen engagement is more, though all of those contribute to citizen engagement. Citizen engagement is a set of technologies and processes such as public participation, collaborative governance, digi-tal democracy, eGovernment and others that contribute to a nucleus of citizens being able to better engage with, dialogue with, participate in, and be served by the established model of governance.

Though often supported and developed through various underly-ing technology platforms, citizen engagement is platform agnostic and can happen in-person, on the phone, via email, through a Web site, other platforms, or across all of them. The primary promises of citizen engagement are to engage citizens and business with govern-ment, to improve the efficiency of how government operates, and to improve the effectiveness of government programs.

Citizen Satisfaction Highs And LowsThrough traditional brick-and-mortar service centers, a significant increase in government’s Web presence, and even pushing into new channels on social media, the foundation of citizen engagement has been successfully established. Citizen engagement is shifting to more online interactions and, in general, citizens seem to be pleased with eGovernment efforts up to this point.

Current citizen satisfaction with U.S. digital government is solid and government websites as a channel for engagement are well established. According to the most recent ACSI E-Government Satisfaction Index, the 105 Federal websites that were examined

scored an average of 74.9 on a 100-point scale (down from a high of 76 in 2009) with a score of 80 being considered excellent2. This channel seems to work well for those Americans who have access to the internet, know which agency to contact to get help with their problem or information request, or have a problem that is actually solvable by government.

But, as it has been pointed out, citizen engagement is more then just having a great Web site to disseminate static information, or using Survey Monkey to gain a basic insight into citizen preferences, or having a presence on Facebook or Twitter like @SF311 to respond to citizen requests. For example, not everyone has consistent, reliable access to the Internet and the knowledge to be able to use it to get their question answered, or respond to a survey, or initiate action on a problem they have. Or technology may not have the solution yet, because some agencies still require face-to-face interactions such as most Departments of Motor Vehicles offices. Or government may feel overwhelming for citizens, with some being confused by which of the over 450 different Federal agencies they should call for their particu-lar issue3. Even some of the best planned and promoted efforts with significant resources behind them, like the launch of Healthcare.gov, fall flat or fail to meet citizen expectations.

Current citizen engagement efforts are great starts, but more needs to be done to get from dissemination to engagement to collaboration for true citizen engagement. Given that government is further bound by other limitations such as constrained budgets, shrinking staffs and larger workloads, data management issues, privacy, and other problems, citizen engagement still has a long ways to go.

“We have not solved the citizen engagement

problem. What we have done so far is establish

a small foundation for digital engagement

between citizens and government.”

– Web Manager, Federal government agency

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Four Stages Of Citizen EngagementTo understand where citizen engagement should be evolving, government agencies need to understand the maturity curve for citizen engagement. This maturity curve for citizen engagement stretches from the lowest level of informing the citizen to the highest level of collaboration between citizen and government that produces outcomes greater than either could have produced indi-vidually (see Figure 1).

The benefits to government agencies of moving beyond informing up the stages of engagement and collaboration are numerous. For exam-ple, with revenue agencies’ improved citizen engagement, studies have shown increased tax compliance and decreased delinquencies. In other cases, improved citizen engagement leads to increased government efficiency, such as through reductions in paperwork and faster processing through digital systems. But agencies need to move beyond just informing citizens. To match what citizens expect and the experience that the best in class private sector firms are providing along with realizing the returns on efficiency and effectiveness that improved citizen engagement provides, government agencies need to move from just informing citizens to engaging and collaborating with them.

Stage 1: InformThe lowest level of engagement involves primarily one-directional communication and outreach from government entities to citizens with limited feedback and input channels from citizens, usually via public hearings and other feedback methods. The primary purpose of this level is to inform the public.

Stage 2: DialogueThe next level of engagement involves different forms of facilitated dialogue between citizens and government agencies. At this level, information is gathered from citizens, either actively such as input

into a form or passively such as through web measurement technolo-gies. In this stage, there is a lack of back-end processes and systems to drive value from the data and other data sources back to both the government and the citizen. Citizens are enabled to interact and par-ticipate but still on a limited basis. There is often not a feedback loop back to the citizen on how the information was used and the result.

Stage 3: EngagementThe third stage of citizen engagement is that of a fully mature citizen-to-government relationship. At this point, both government and citizen engage in a relationship that is useful to both, but does not generate extraneous value. Government more openly com- municates the value of the products and services it provides to citizens, based upon learned or expressed preferences, with more focus on the establishment of a long-term relationship. These services are often personalized based upon these preferences and managed throughout the lifecycle of engagement. The citizen is able to choose, on their own, to more actively engage as a part of the process and provide immediate or near-immediate feedback on the use of the information.

Stage 4: CollaborateThe final stage of citizen engagement is beyond what most govern-ment agencies will be able to attain, but represents those unique programs and agencies that can truly and fully partner with citizens. At this level, there is not a prescribed set of solutions but unique per-sonalized solutions are developed within the context of the program and then a preferred solution is identified that meets both govern-ment and citizen needs.

Though much great work has been done, citizen engagement is near-ing a plateau with most government agencies stagnating at either the Inform stage or the Dialogue stage.

Figure 1. Four Stages of Citizen Engagement. Adapted from IAP2

STAGE 1Inform

STAGE 2Dialogue

STAGE 3Engagement

STAGE 4Collaboration

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Data Drives The Next Phase Of EngagementCitizens have become accustomed to outstanding experiences from consumer companies like Amazon, Starbucks, Apple, Netflix, and others. In order to continue to improve citizen engagement, agencies need to adopt government-specific models of engagement similar to top consumer firms. This evolution starts by shifting to data-driven citizen engagement.

Data-driven citizen engagement is a continuous set of interactions that are a loop between learning about what the citizen wants and then using that information to drive better engagement and service delivery (see Figure 2). Government has different constraints on its ability to collect data about citizens and interactions with citizens, primarily driven by privacy concerns. It is likely that this tension between privacy and improved services will not go away soon. But in order to provide the experiences and services citizens say they want and need, and that agencies are more and more being asked to pro-vide, government needs to be able to collect appropriate information

about citizens, successfully engage through third-party platforms and use the data available through these channels.

Teradata broke down data-driven citizen engagement into four areas:

Integrate and understand what the citizen wants. Government agencies have the potential to tap into a number of different streams of information about the citizens they serve. This data comes from experience and previous delivery of the same or similar services, analytics about who is using which channel (including Web sites, mobile platforms, social media, email, brick-and-mortar), and data provided by the citizens themselves.

Analyze and learn about citizen preferences and behavior.Once the agency has begun to gather these different streams of data, the data needs to be analyzed for what citizens like and do not like, what the normal and optimal interaction paths look like,

Figure 2. Data-Driven Citizen Engagement. Adapted from Teradata

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what general behavior patterns citizens have around the issue or program, what affects citizen behavior, and what insights can be developed from this to assist in better service delivery.

Act to optimize communications. Based upon the data gathered and the insights from that data, agencies need to act to optimize the communications channels employed, the messaging sent based upon citizen segmentation models, and the processes for engaging with citizens with the goal of optimizing citizen understanding of the agency, program, and service delivery model.

Execute and deliver.Once agencies have the necessary information based upon the data and derived insight, it is now time to deliver the requested and neces-sary communications and services in a consistent manner through multiple channels that are targeted towards specific citizen group attributes and personalized when possible, thus increasing the value delivered to the citizen.

“The next phase of eGovernment is employing

data and analytics to provide targeted and

personalized solutions for citizens and

communities.”

– Digital Engagement Manager, Large metropolitan city

Using Social Channels For GoodIf you find a pothole on the street in front of your house or that there is a street light out down the block, and if you happen to live in San Francisco, all it takes to let the city know and move towards resolution is twitter. The City of San Francisco launched SF311 as a way for citizens to engage with city government and track the engagement other than by standing in line or calling a phone number and then waiting on hold. SF311 is San Francisco’s primary platform for citizen engagement, providing information and access to some city services via digital platforms including a web site, a mobile app, and via common social media channels. One of the most forward thinking parts of the SF311 effort was to develop a process for engaging and handling citizen requests via twitter in 2009. Since that initial launch, the city has continued to develop and deploy new methods and platforms for engaging with citizens including the recent launch of SF311 mobile apps for iOS and Android platforms that functions on the same database the city customer service representatives use. Today in San Francisco you can initiate a service request, track that request, and see the resolution across a multitude of platforms and devices.

IRS Rethinks Citizen Engagement“There are only two sure things in life – death and taxes” or so the old truism from Benjamin Franklin goes. And though taxes are not going to go away, at least the IRS is working to make the experience for the citizen less painful. For example, the IRS has developed and deployed an app called “IRS2go” that allows citizens to fulfill their four most frequent online requests via a mobile app. The four types of engagement that the app provides include checking on the status of a refund, receiving tax law updates via twitter, order a copy of your tax record, and find contact information for relevant agency personnel, all via mobile app. This app matches the functionality of some of the more commonly used citizen engagement aspects on the agency web site and taps into the agency’s rich set of data. Though it won’t reduce your tax bill, it does make interacting with the IRS a bit easier.

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Next Steps: Four Steps To Data-Driven Citizen Engagement

3. Learning and leveraging best practices. Moving beyond the simple high ROI changes to the next stage of citizen engagement requires a significant amount of time and energy on the part of an agency. The best way to get there is to learn from and leverage mistakes and successes of other government agencies and programs. Government leaders need to start by being clear in their understanding of what the intended outcome is based upon what the government agency wants and needs from the interaction, as well as what the citizen wants and needs. Too often, what works as an engagement strategy and process in one agency will not necessar-ily work in another. Officials can then learn from other government agencies and public companies that have gone before them about what works, what does not, and why. Then, they actually need to apply these lessons to the program they are leading.

4. Keeping it simple.As almost anyone who has served in government knows, it is easy for any government program or effort to grow in complexity quickly. The same can be said for citizen engagement efforts – as new channels are added, new metrics are developed and included, changes are made to interaction patterns all in the name of “improv-ing engagement” but too often just complicating the process and generating no additional value. Everything that can be done by agency leaders to reduce complexity and keep engagement efforts simple should be done. Agency leaders should evaluate every new effort, process, channel, and technology that is introduced to understand the impact and ensure that the tradeoff in complexity is matched with an equal or greater value to government.

Government agencies have reached a new milestone with the ability to adopt the best-in-class technologies, platforms, and practices of both the private sector and the best government programs. Government agencies can now use data and platforms that engage with citizens and provide service experiences that are best-in-class by understanding what the citizen wants, optimize communications and services against that understanding, and then deliver services within an experience that is as good as they could receive in the private sector.

Citizen expectations about how government engages with citizens and the experience these activities provide will continue to increase, driven by the experiences and interactions they receive from the private sector. At the same time, the constraints against govern-ment adopting best-in-class data-driven examples from both other government agencies and the private sector are falling away. The only constraint is acting, and to get to data-driven citizen engagement government leaders need to start by:

1. Adopting an integrated citizen view. There is the potential for any government agency or program to quickly generate and collect enough data that the engagement channels, data, processes, and even the insights become overly complex and unwieldy. Instead of falling into that trap, agency leaders need to leverage technology. The primary approach to converting all of this data and insights into usable information is through the use of integrated engagement management suites and similar tools to integrate the data and deliver the necessary insights.

2. Evaluating internal and external processes to identify targets. Agency leaders must constantly and consistently analyze and evaluate internal and external engagement processes to understand what is working, evaluate what is not working, and fix what is broken against the integrated citizen view. As agency managers evaluate processes, there will be areas that are identified as having a high level of citizen interest. When mapped against available technologies in the market, specific features and efforts can be identified with a relatively high level of return against investment. These high ROI efforts maybe as simple as putting certain government forms and processes online, creating mobile apps that meet specific citizen needs, or opening government data sets to citizen and private sector use. With a continuous cycle of evaluation and improvement, government managers are able to ensure that all engagement efforts remain both useful and usable for the citizen and the agency while improving agency efficiency and effectiveness.

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End Notes

1. See the NASCIO case study of the Nebraska Court’s efforts at http://www.nascio.org/publications/documents/eFiling-for-District-and-County-Courts-in-Nebraska.pdf

2. The ACSI ForeSee E-Government Customer Satisfaction Index for Q3 2013 lays out the scores for different Federal government agency Web sites as a measure for eGovernment. Citizen satisfaction with Federal government Web sites has dropped since 2009 but has remained relatively steady for the last two years. http://www.foresee.com/research-white-papers/_downloads/ e-gov-q3-2013-foresee.pdf.

3. The most current list of U.S. Federal agencies can be found on the USA.gov Web site at http://www.usa.gov/directory/federal/index.shtml.

4. There were early indications of issues with the launch of the Healthcare.gov platform and the experience it would provide to citizens. Failure to heed those warnings because of political sensitivity resulted in an almost catastrophic failure of the program at launch. See http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/us/politics/from-the-start-signs-of-trouble-at-health-portal.html.

5. The citizen engagement stages are adapted from a presentation by Alan Webber of Forrester Research title From eGov to iGov available at http://www.adobe.com/engagement/pdfs/forrester_from_egovt_to_igovt.pdf and the Public Participation Spectrum framework constructed and published by the International Association for Public Participation at http://www.iap2.org.

6. See two articles on how citizen engagement has effected tax collection in Europe - Feld, L. and Torgler, B. (2007) “Tax Morale After the Reunification of Germany: Results from a Quasi-Natural Experiment.” CESifo Working Paper No. 1921. And Feld, L.P., and B.S. Frey (2007) “Tax Compliance as the Result of a Psychological Tax Contract: The Role of Incentives and Responsive Regulation”, Law and Policy 29: 102–20.

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Biography

Alan Webber is the Principal Analyst at Asymmetric Insights. Alan is a public sector professional with more than 20 years of analyst, management, and technology experience working with government vendors and government clients. Alan advises clients around the globe on issues pertaining to digital government, eGovernment, and technology adoption/disruption as well as digital risk and privacy.

During his career Alan has been a Partner and analyst at the Altim-eter Group covering digital risk, a Principal Analyst covering public sector at Forrester Research, and has led various strategic planning, performance management, eGovernment, and Web initiatives for the US government at the Department of the Interior and the National Science Foundation. Alan has also been a technology, management and performance consultant in the government market. He has also implemented enterprise-wide ERP and business systems and man-aged the accounting department for a Fortune 500 subsidiary.

Alan has been quoted in numerous business and technology publica-tions including B2B Magazine, Business Week, The Washington Post, Government Computer News, Congressional Quarterly, CIO Magazine, CIO Today, Government Technology, and French CIO Magazine among others.