Will Governments Return to the Past Or Nurture a Digital Future? Contents Executive Summary

Will Governments return to the past or nurture a digital future? Contents Executive summary The response by many governments to the Embedding these new technologies, operating have the digital skills and mindset to adapt to COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated a models, behaviors and mindsets as standard new working practices and embrace a more previously untapped ability to innovate and practice will lead to a step change in digital experimental culture. deliver at speed when the urgency and maturity and better outcomes for citizens in political support is present. future. But securing long-term benefits will The knowledge and resources of the wider require concerted action from three different ecosystem, including start-ups, small Public sector organizations, which for years had groups: the center of government; individual and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), lagged behind the private sector in exploiting agencies, departments and local government; entrepreneurs, academia, civil society and new technologies, had an abrupt awakening as and the wider societal ecosystem. citizens themselves, must be harnessed in they found themselves having to control the order to find innovative digital solutions to spread of COVID-19, shift their employees to The center of government must create the public policy challenges. Since budgets will be remote working, find alternative ways to deliver enabling environment for a thriving digital even more constrained post-pandemic, these services, and administer large-scale financial economy: for example, by building high-speed, partnerships will be essential to help finance a support to keep citizens and businesses afloat. reliable and robust infrastructure, and by government’s capacity for service improvement. enacting new legislation that will safeguard Many organizations rose to the challenge, citizens’ rights and protect against risks. We cannot take it for granted that new ways of drawing on a wide range of technologies, working will naturally continue after the crisis from mobile apps to drones and artificial Individual agencies, departments and local has passed; rather, they will need deliberate intelligence (AI), to serve their societies. governments must become more agile and nurturing and investment. Governments must The vital importance of digital transformation user-centric by focusing on designing better find the energy and determination to sustain has been writ large, as has the pivotal role citizen experiences and building flexible IT change beyond the extraordinary circumstances of an effective, inclusive and accountable architecture to facilitate data sharing and that the pandemic has created and ensure their government. analytics. And they must ensure their staff hard-won progress doesn’t go to waste. Will Governments return to the past or nurture a digital future? 3 Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be the The COVID-19 crisis served as a wake-up call to technology, and to adopt new operating • New operating models are emerging, many biggest global disruptor to people’s lives since governments that had placed too much focus models. They seized the opportunity to stress of which harness the power of digital tools to the end of World War II. In the space of just a on daily operational needs at the expense of test new digital solutions, many of which draw enable remote working, increase efficiency few months, the crisis altered our expectations digital transformation. With populations relying on “human augmentation” technologies such as and improve the citizen experience. and behaviors, catalyzing changes in the way heavily on public services, those governments AI, machine learning, robotics, blockchain, we work, play, shop and interact. suddenly had to play a far more pervasive role virtual reality and the internet of things (IoT). • Governments have a more experimental in everyday life — both to protect health and “can-do” attitude and are able to make rapid, The impact on governments has been profound. to support individuals and businesses facing This sudden acceleration has led to many evidence-based policy decisions through Very few were well prepared to deal with financial difficulties. Technology has been long-term benefits for governments and better use of data and analytics. the challenges created by this kind of an central to their responses. Many governments citizens, beyond the immediate crisis response: • Collaborations are springing up between the emergency. During a decade of austerity, developed and implemented new digital • Government leaders have gained a private, public and voluntary sectors, and most governments failed to invest in preparing solutions and service delivery models that deeper understanding of the role digital with citizens, to tackle deep-seated problems for global shocks, which they regarded as were previously seen as too challenging, technologies can play in improving service and develop imaginative solutions. low-probability, high-impact occurrences. And sometimes in a matter of days. many were slow to embrace the kind of data delivery and ways of working. The political Not all agencies have taken the chance to and technology that is ubiquitous in the private The result was a dramatic acceleration in digital will is now there to push forward rapid change and, for most, challenges undeniably sector, despite the fact that these technologies service delivery and interactions with citizens organizational transformation. remain. Many agencies are still late in had enormous potential to transform a across many areas of government, from health • Organizational silos are being broken down, transforming their operating model to focus government’s ways of working, the services care and social services to education, justice, and some services fundamentally reformed, on citizen value and exploit new digital it delivers to citizens, and its ability to predict taxation and political decision-making. Under now that the interdependency of needs and technologies. And for those who have moved and manage crises. Some commentators were extreme pressure, many public departments or services has become apparent. forward, inclusive digital transformation may even beginning to question the relevance of the agencies demonstrated an extraordinary ability still be an issue: for example, for some of the public sector in the 21st century. to innovate, to be flexible and agile in deploying Will Governments return to the past or nurture a digital future? 4 most vulnerable groups in society and those Figure 1. Percentage of citizens who think the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to greater use of technology in their daily lives in the future living in remote areas may still have limited than if the pandemic had never happened access to technologies. But governments and societies now seem to be on an unstoppable path toward even greater digital adoption. The EY Connected Citizen survey1 reveals that the % % % % majority of people anticipate making more use 75 73 71 69 of technology in their daily lives than if the pandemic had not happened (Figure 1). South Africa Malaysia India Mexico 67% 67% 64% 60% UK US Australia Brazil % 55 49% 42% Japan Germany France 71–80% 61–70% 51–60% 41–50% 1 Ipsos MORI conducted online interviews with 12,100 participants across 12 countries globally between July and September 2020. Quotas were set by age, gender, region and working status in order to achieve a representative sample in each country. Data has been weighted to account for any shortfall in quotas. Additional weights by education have also been applied. Source: EY Connected Citizen Survey 2020, EYGM Limited 2020. Will Governments return to the past or nurture a digital future? 5 And they expect this technology to improve Figure 2. Percentage of citizens who think technology will change, for the better, the way they conduct different tasks many aspects of their lives (Figure 2). These citizens will become ever more demanding of digital public services, which currently lag behind other sectors, such as online banking and retail, 70% 67% 65% % in improving the customer experience. 64 The way I bank The way I shop The way I work/study The health care How health and human service services I use from organizations have harnessed doctors or hospitals digital technology in their crisis response In September 2020, the UK market 62% 59% 58% 57% research firm YouGov conducted a survey of health and human service providers in six countries on behalf of Imperial The way I The way that children The way I travel The services I use from College London and the EY organization. entertain myself are educated government or other public services The survey revealed that almost two- thirds of respondents have increased their use of digital and data solutions in response to COVID-19, with a doubling in 51% % % the deployment of specific tools such as 43 41 video consultations and patient portals. The way I socialize The way I exercise The way I maintain my The majority of respondents reported with friends and family mental well-being that these solutions have increased the productivity of staff, improved access to care, and delivered better outcomes for 61–70% 51–60% 41–50% patients and service users. Source: EY Connected Citizen Survey 2020, EYGM Limited 2020. Will Governments return to the past or nurture a digital future? 6 The recent crisis will not see whole Figure 3. How effective or ineffective do you think the government and public services have been in using digital technology to respond to the governments leap to higher levels of digital COVID-19 pandemic? maturity overnight. Indeed, public perceptions % % 6 % of their government’s effectiveness in using 8 11 14% 27% digital technology during the pandemic varies 44% 39% from country to country (Figure 3). But the % 53% 50% 36 crisis has at least demonstrated what is 47% possible when the will is there. It is vital that 65% governments do not slip back into their old Australia Brazil France Germany ways once the immediate crisis has passed and, instead, concentrate on embedding new 2% % % % % practices and ensuring that all their citizens 18% 11 3 9 5 have equal access to services.

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