Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Reference architecture is the blueprint used to put the pieces of the organizational & systems puzzle together. Digital teams use reference architecture to promote the reuse of common assets and identify capability gaps. It:
Defines a common language for consistent communication within the organization
Outlines all capabilities needed to achieve the best outcome
Provides the ability of systems or software to exchange and make use of information
Establishes standard systems, and a common way to exchange information
Develop the systems/software/platform catalog to identify reusable software components/Building Blocks that can support the digitization of services.
Identify additional Building Blocks/ reusable software components that are critical in building a national stack that can facilitate the development of prioritized citizen-centric digital services.
Define the approach to adding new/updated Building Blocks within the national stack, either through tendering, developing indigenously, or re-using existing Building Blocks. GovExchange provides a catalog of digital public goods that can be used as a reference.
Examples of Reference Architectures:
In Australia, their reference architecture document provides digital teams the guidance they need to align current and emerging tech into a sound orchestration of solutions to enable digital government service design and delivery
Who does what:
Chief government architects - Coordinate the work around the reference architecture
Solutions architects from government entities - Actively participate in the co-design of the document, the reference architecture working group, and the training program
Government Enterprise Architecture
Implementation guidelines
e-learning courses for stakeholders (public servants and ICT service providers)
- Actively participate in co-design sessions, the reference architecture working groups, and the training program
A government digital service catalog is an online platform or database that provides information about various digital services and resources offered by a government to its citizens, businesses, and other stakeholders. The service catalog can be made available to users with a consistent/unified user experience.
No service lives in a vacuum, thus it is important to understand how they fit together to impact the overall user experience. This interplay of services based on the life events that trigger their need can be mapped using the User/Business Life event map. Once the services are mapped, they can be further analyzed to understand the level of their digital maturity and potential for simplification.
Define the structure of the catalog of services. RFI-II provides a template to assist in Cataloguing the services.
Classify services based on their digital maturity. The level of maturity of services facilitates calculating the financial and technical effort that will be required to digitize/digitalize a citizen-centric government service. An example of classification is as follows:
Level 1- Informative: Information on the service is made available online yet the actual transaction happens in person.
Level 2- Downloadable forms: The users can download and complete the forms while having to submit the same forms in-person or upload the documents.
Level 3- Submission of webform: Users can validate data showcased on the web form, upload the required documents, fill out forms, and submit them remotely.
Level 4: 100% online
Understand how services are related to one another. User/Business Life event map can enable visual mapping of services to life events, their clustering, and identification of relations and dependencies.
Abu Dhabi has developed a catalog that clusters services based on user/business life events.
The following image shows the front end of the one-stop-shop for services offered by Abu Dhabi government
The following images show the services within each cluster within the user/business life events
Who does what:
Head of Service Design - Lead the integration of the service catalog.
Service Design and Delivery Focal point - Complement and update the service catalog with services from their organizations. They follow up and coordinate the actions within their organization to digitize services according to the approved digitization roadmap
Service catalog, with services mapped to citizen/business life events.
Information about government services is often complicated to access and understand for citizens. Lack of homogeneity in terms of location, format, language, and level of detail results in a lack of understanding of actions and procedures users must undertake to obtain services.
A citizen/business one-stop shop facilitates access to information on government services (Service Catalog), entities, and citizen participation mechanisms, among other resources (open data), in one place in a user-centric way.
Standardise information presentation to citizens/businesses:
Develop a Service Information Sheet Standard (SISS). This sheet would contain standardized fields such as: service name; requirements; cost for the user; the location where the service can be obtained; concrete actions required from the user; and outcome of the service.
Government Entity Information Standard (GEIS): This sheet would contain standardized fields such as the mandate of the entity, the programs it manages, and the services it provides.
Citizen Feedback/Participation Standard (CFPS): A standard for the government to seek input from citizens through surveys, discussion forums, and comments on laws.
The following is applicable in cases of countries following a centralized CMS-based approach.
Set up a Content Management System (CMS) to create, populate, update, and maintain the service catalog.
Designate a focal point in each Government entity to comprehensively capture the information of services corresponding to the agency according to SISS.
Establish a ticketing system to allow the incorporation of citizens' feedback on the service information sheets.
Continuously train focal points on UX writing to ensure that service information sheets are easily understandable by their users.
Structure services within the service catalog according to business and life events, enabling end-users to find what they need by simply identifying the event that triggered the search for service.
Maintain and improve the service catalog.
The following are a few examples of Service Catalogs:
Landing page of Gob.pe that presents the most demanded services.
Each service has its own dedicated service information sheet that presents requirements, citizen feedback on the quality of information on the service sheet, and the date on which the service sheet was last updated.
Tina is a transactional chatbot that retrieves information from Argentina's digital service catalog and presents it over chat to its users. This demonstrates the possibility to share the machine-readable content of services with users via multiple channels.
Shared service team: Develop and maintain the CMS
Digital communications team: Develop UX guidelines and training focal points and perform random auditing on quality of service sheets to ensure they meet the service sheet standards.
Focal point designates: Create service sheets, update them according to citizens' feedback, and implement regulation changes regarding services.
Content Management System (CMS)
Service catalog on CMS
Service Information Sheet Standard
Ticketing system
Training material on UX writing
A maturity assessment provides stakeholders with a good understanding of the current digitalization landscape providing clarity to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. Based on that assessment, governments are better positioned to establish policy priorities to reach higher maturity levels.
This section provides references to different maturity assessment approaches stemming from the public sector, the private sector and academia.
The Digital Maturity Assessment is designed to help governments worldwide assess their readiness to undertake digital transformation. It defines five maturity levels:
Digitally Nascent
Digitally Emerging
Digitally Agile and Integrated
Digitally transformed
Digitally Innovative
The UNDP Digital Maturity Assessment can be used to evaluate the current potential for digital government across six key pillars that include: Technology and Solutions, Policy and Regulations, Skills and Capacity Building, User Centricity, Service Definition and Delivery, Institutional Framework, and Collaboration.
As in the case of Lao PDR, it was used to evaluate how ICT solutions in government can continue to improve operational efficiency and user satisfaction.
The GovTech Maturity Index (GTMI) (Dener et al. 2021) measures the key aspects of four GovTech focus areas: supporting core government systems, enhancing service delivery, mainstreaming citizen engagement, and fostering GovTech enablers. It assists advisers and practitioners in the design of new digital transformation projects, putting an emphasis on the whole-of-government approach and citizen centricity.
Encompassing consistent data sources across 198 countries, the GTMI complements the existing tools and diagnostics by providing a baseline and a benchmark for GovTech maturity and by offering insights to those areas that have room for improvement.
The Digital Government Index (DGI) is an assessment and benchmarking tool that can be employed to gauge the maturity of digital government policies and their implementation under a coherent and whole-of-government approach. The DGI can help governments gain a more solid understanding of their ability to operate in an increasingly digital and globalized context.
The Digital Maturity Self-Assessment adopts a sectoral approach to measure how well secondary providers in England are using digital technologies to achieve a paper-free healthcare system. The Digital Maturity Self-Assessment helps individual organizations identify key strengths and service delivery gaps. Taken together, these individual self-assessments provide an overview of digital maturity progress across the country.
The Digital Transformation Maturity Model contained in this report covers the Tax Administration 3.0 building block paths of growth and transformation. The aim of the Digital Transformation Maturity Model is to:
Allow tax administrations to self-assess through internal discussions as to how they see their currently level of digital maturity. There is not a prescribed optimal level of maturity for tax administrations. The level of maturity will depend on each organisation’s circumstances, broader objectives, and priorities.
Provide staff and senior leadership of the tax administration with a good overview of the level of maturity based on input from stakeholders across the organisation. This can help in deciding strategy and identifying areas for further improvement, including areas that require support from other parts of the tax administration or external stakeholders, including other parts of government. A number of administrations have reported that cross-organisational conversations when self-assessing can be useful in joining-up different business areas, helping people see the scope for synergies and identify areas for mutual support.
Allow tax administrations to compare their level of digital maturity with their peer organisations. An administration will know its own level and will be able to compare itself to other tax administrations. It is also possible for tax administrations to reach out, through the Secretariat, to other tax administrations at different levels of maturity for peer-to-peer discussion and learning purposes.
IMAPS is an online survey that helps public officials evaluate and improve all key interoperability aspects of their digital public service (legal, semantic, organisational, or technical). IMAPS also allows public officials to monitor service’s compliance with the New European Interoperability Framework (EIF).
IMAPS is a versatile tool that can be used to assess the interoperability of any public service – from open data portals, and e-voting platforms, to public procurement services, and much more – and applied at all levels of government (international, national, regional and local).
Gartner (2017) assesses digital government maturity by examining the extent to which organizations use data effectively to redesign services and deliver new ones, as well as to transform and manage operations.
Gartner’s 5 level maturity model includes:
Comparison of mainstream frameworks used in IT
The CMMI and ITIL frameworks use a 5-point maturity scale, and COBIT adds another step to the scale, also describing the 0-level in the model. A summary of the maturity scale of the frameworks examined and the keywords corresponding to the maturity levels is given in the Table below:
For maturity models fod ITSM see also: https://www.bmc.com/blogs/maturity-model-itsm/ (based on ITIL)
Comparing and Contrasting e-Government Maturity Models: A Qualitative-Meta Synthesis (Almuftah, Weerakkody, and Sivarajah 2016) article compares 17 different e-government models. It emphasizes that most models have three main stages that capture the following dimensions: presence, communication, and integration. The table below shows the mapping of each model’s stage to the three proposed main stages (presence, communication, and integration).
The article titled “E-Government Maturity Model for Sustainable E-Government Services from the Perspective of Developing Countries 2018” (Joshi and Islam 2018) discusses main hurdles in the effective implementation of e-Government services.
The authors propose a new e-government maturity model that addresses the limitations of existing e-government maturity models and supports governments in developing countries to achieve sustainable e-government services. They have considered five determinants — a detailed process, streamlined services, agile accessibility, use of state-of-the-art technology, and trust and awareness. The proposed model was validated by employing an empirical investigation through case study and survey methods. The study finds that both the implementers (government) and adopters (users) of the e-government services benefited from the proposed model, resulting in increased sustainability of e-government services.
This model considered four implementation stages and emphasized the integration of e-government systems before invoking the transaction stage. The stages and the tasks under those stages were identified and are discussed below to provide a detailed plan for e-government implementation.
The initial stage proposed by the maturity model was to introduce basic e-government services. Unlike existing e-government maturity models, the proposed model emphasized using social media and establishing a web presence to communicate with stakeholders. The use of social media (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc.) is great to reach out to masses of people. This stage explained how governments could gain citizens' trust by addressing their queries through a web presence. Furthermore, this stage supported governments in developing awareness among stakeholders in relation to e-government services. The activities needed to be performed to achieve this stage were identified by the maturity model and are listed below.
The maturity model emphasized streamlining e-government services for their sustainability. Streamlined services were defined as complete and integrated services, where stakeholders could acquire specific government services without having to visit relevant government offices. This would require the integration of e-government systems into various government departments. Integration is to be done along with the establishment of the electronic government infrastructure in order to save government resources, and to avoid the risk of data duplication, as shown in the figure. Without horizontal integration, governments could end up with several individual fragmented electronic government applications and data repositories. Horizontal integration would interconnect government departments that shared similar interests in order to avoid data duplication and to enhance service delivery. Furthermore, streamlined government services would eliminate the manual data processing layers from various government departments. This has high implications in the context of developing countries, where citizens have poor access to ICT tools, integrated databases, and authentication systems which would allow local government officials to better serve them. Therefore, we emphasized the integration of disparate and individual databases and applications before moving to the transaction stage.
The tasks required to achieve streamlined e-government services were identified by the maturity model and are listed below.
While most e-government maturity models place transactional services at the second stage, our proposed framework puts it at the third stage, right after the integration phase. Our choice is based on the understanding that, without achieving integration, transactional services cannot be delivered efficiently. The tasks required to achieve the transactional stage were identified and are listed below.
Automation is at the apex of e-government maturity. At this level, users are proactively involved in government activities. Government services are transformed from a push to a pull (demand-driven) format. E-government services also become smarter, synchronize with user accounts, and provide automated services, such as text reminders regarding unpaid bills, license and ID renewals. The tasks required to achieve this stage are described below.
The GovStack implementation framework considers incorporating a BB approach at the level of digital institutional governance, ICT policy & citizen-centric co-design & delivery of government digital services.
GovStack gathers best practices from leading digital teams across the world. Below is a suggested journey that covers the most important aspects of digitizing government services at scale:
It starts with understanding the country's context and needs
Identifying current tech stack
Cataloging services based on life events
Identifying priority services to digitize according to feasibility and impact (demand)
Design and delivery of citizen-centric digital services using reusable software components
Development of a scaling strategy that leverages the reusable technology stack
The aim of the GovStack is to facilitate digital teams around the world to build their own digital service design standard and government technology stack organically. Starting with one or two priority services that use a small set of reusable software components (BBs).
The digitization of priority services will allow digital teams to gain valuable hands-on experience in:
Applying UX/UI guidelines, deploying containerized Building Block applications, API integration, regulatory compliance on data protection, integration testing, and more.
Designing of citizen-centric digital services
Re-using software components/building blocks integrated into the national stack across all government services
Tailoring of scaling strategy that leverages the national stack to digitize services rapidly, efficiently, and in a standardized fashion.
GovStack design principles guide our design and delivery work. They are based on the and offer specific best practices to make our digital work better. As you engage in implementing a GovStack approach to citizen-centric digitization of government services you will see these principles embedded in our iteration processes, tools and methods. We invite you to embrace them and make this your way of work at your organization and digital team.
Sources:
This section provides an example approach to digitizing government services based on , , and utilizing reusable software components/Building Blocks.
The following image represents the design process using to create a unified digital experience across all government services.
The above guidelines are usually captured in a transversal regulatory mandate defined as a "digital service design standard" or a "design system", which is applicable to all government services and easily implemented through the use of style guides, components, and patterns. GovStack provides to kick-start the design and development of UI/UX components layer for using the GovStack applications and building blocks.
GovStack provides a sandbox that allows its users to see the UX/UI guidelines and Building blocks in action.
A real-world example of service design and delivery roadmap is found in the framework put in place by the Government of Ukraine and presented below.
Make wireframes and/or voice command flow
Within this stage we create a testable design based on a thorough understadning of users’ expectations and ''to-be'' user journey. Sketching, wireframes and/or voice command flow will help you ensure your service reflects your users’ needs. It is a reprsentation of a realistic form and functional service.
Wireframes and/or voice command flow enable direct examination of a design concept’s viability with users. It is helpful for gaining feedback on users’ intentions and various design elements and observing users' interaction with the product.
The following are the wireframes developed for the Extended Producer Responsibility service in Rwan
Steering clear of font choices, color, or other elements that would distract both the researcher and the reviewer. Lightweight designs are conceptually easier to reconfigure. Use this opportunity to start listing what UX/UI patterns you will need.
Ask clarifying questions about why they do what they do. Let the user’s behavior guide the questions you ask. It can be helpful to have them narrate their thought process as they go along.
Iterate! Wireframes and/or voice command flow should be quick and painless to create, and even more quick and painless to discard.
Get service owner approval to proceed with the functional prototype
Who does what:
Service Blueprints are a continuum of “to-be” journeys which are a series of diagrams that visualize the relationship between different components such as user action/goals, Building Blocks, and Data Input/output.
A service blueprint is a diagram that visualizes the relationships between different service components - people, properties (physical or digital evidence), and processes - that are directly tied to touchpoints in a specific customer journey.
Study the user journeys of the service
Chart all the steps covered in the user journeys on the Service Blueprint template.
For each step on the service blueprint:
Map the goals and actions performed by each service user, provider, and stakeholders
Data Input: Data required from the service users, providers, and stakeholders
Data output: Data presented to the service users, providers, and stakeholders at the completion of the step.
Identify and list the generic workflows that can facilitate the step
Based on the generic workflows and the GovStack technical specifications, list the potential set of Building Blocks that are required for the step.
Upon completion of the service blueprint, map the generic design patterns to the steps on the blueprint.
Who does what:
Completed Service Blueprint with:
Goals and actions of each service user, provider, and stakeholder for each step
Generic workflows and Building Blocks required to facilitate the service
Set of Design patterns required to develop the wireframes
Understanding who we are solving a problem for is important for creating user-centric digital services. An 'As-Is' user journey can help identify touchpoints, inefficiencies, pain points, opportunities for improvement and can inform the design of a 'To-Be' user journey that represents the desired state of the user experience after changes have been made.
Abu Dhabi Digital Authority aligned its digitization strategy around 80 user journeys available through TAMM, a one-stop shop for all digital government services.
The 'To-Be' user journey is created in the context of a redesign or improvement of service. Its aim is to create a better user experience by identifying and implementing changes that will improve the user's journey and ultimately lead to greater satisfaction for its users. Redesign of the service can be based on the following simplification principles:
'Public Service Reengineering Methodology' from Moldova, the winner of WSIS Special Prize 2023 is a good example of service re-design guidelines used to train digital service teams across Moldova's Government entities.
Find below a translated version of the aforementioned methodology.
Ask the service owner if there have been any previous efforts in digitizing the service, and seek out any resulting reports, findings, or raw data.
Depending on the complexity of the service, you can request alignment from business leads on initial prioritization to focus on additional research activities.
Present research findings, service design process, user journeys, opportunities for improvement, current & future Building Blocks/DPGs, service architecture, user personas, and service digitization roadmap in a 'Service Design Proposal'. An example of EPR Service Design proposal can be found below:
Who does what:
Legal advisors – Clarify regulations that apply to the service
Service design Proposal:
Service owners and stakeholders
As-Is and To-be user journeys, in which are mapped:
Actions are taken by the user to obtain a service
Legal justification
Touchpoints
Pain points
Opportunity for improvement
Current and future stack
Simplification opportunities
Defining which services should be digitized first varies from country to country. Prioritization criteria are usually based on selecting high-impact use cases for citizens and businesses and the feasibility of digitalizing them using current and future reusable software components/building blocks - the Country´s technology stack.
The experience gained from deploying and integrating different software components/building blocks and designing the underlying systems needed to enable the priority use cases allows digital teams to gain the necessary experience to work with a building block approach. As more services are developed with reusable software components/BBs, the faster each design and delivery cycle becomes reaching scalability in a more sustainable and cost-efficient manner.
Rank the catalog of services based on your country´s criteria for impact and feasibility.
The below criteria are a reference. Each digital team can calibrate current criterion according to information availability, context & needs:
Continuously recalibrate the ranking based on:
Learnings of the different design and delivery cycles and as re-usability of BBs become common practice across digital teams.
Re-designing user journeys based on live events and proactively delivering them using event-driven architectures. Refer below examples from Estonia's vision documents on proactive services and event-driven architecture:
Who does what:
Head of Service Design - Lead the integration of the service catalog.
Service Design and Delivery Focal point - Complement and update the service catalog with services from their organizations. They follow up and coordinate the actions within their organization to digitize services according to the approved digitization roadmap
Service prioritization criteria
Ranked priority services
GovStack has also developed for reusable software components/Building Blocks (BB) that enable the digitization of many government services across sectors, ministries, and departments.
Create a preliminary version of the service using . A good wireframe and/or voice command flow requires:
Using build preliminary Lo-Fi that show structure, placement, and hierarchy for your service.
Reviewing according to the specific 'To-be' user journey to ensure users accomplish their goals and their needs are met.
Using the to get the team’s feedback on feasibility and structure.
Using as a way of safely trying out more radical ideas.
Refer to and prepared by GovStack.
Give the to the user (Citizen/public servant/business) and public official user to observe their interactions without instruction. Ask users to perform a specific task.
/ Design lead – Lead the activities within the 'Activities' Tab.
– Prepare & apply user interviews, and facilitate wireframe validation workshops with focus groups.
– Clarify regulations that apply to the service.
- Prepare the wireframes and iterate them as per user feedback.
- Participate in the iteration session with users to see the reaction to the wireframes.
Apply the country's . These include standards for:
Source:
- Lead the co-design of the service blueprint
- Oversee the development of the service blueprint, provide input when required, and review the final blueprint.
– provide the service users' perspective when developing the service blueprint.
- assists in the identification and mapping of generic workflows and Building Blocks
-assist in identifying the design patterns for each step in the service blueprint to later use in the development of wireframes.
Identify service owners, users, and stakeholders using the as well as the
Conduct user research using , , , with . (Source: 18F and TTS)
Use GovStack to map 'As-Is' and 'To-Be' user journeys. Example of 'Initial To-Be' and 'To-Be' user journeys for .
: Methods provide instructions on several different ways to tell users’ stories, including,,. (Source: 18F)
/ – Creates a research plan (What are the research objectives, what methods to use, and participants) and guides the creation of user journeys.
– Prepare & conduct user interviews, focus groups, facilitate user journey workshops
Opportunity for improvement: These are possible simplifications that can improve the user experience. Please refer to the .
More information on how to deploy and integrate building blocks to enable digital government services is available in the .
Set one or two exemplar services from quadrant A to work with implementing the GovStack approach to
Simplification measures applied to the service catalog. For example, eliminating services associated with getting documents that another government entity requires by automatic consultations to different registries in government entities using .
Strategic importance | Users demand |
|
Impact | Complexity to access the service |
|
| Government Impact |
|
| Business impact |
|
| Technical impact |
|
Technical feasibility | Technical capacity |
|
| Financial resources |
|
| Reliance on other technologies |
|
Political feasibility | Political acceptability |
|
| Regional harmonization |
|
| Stakeholder consensus |
|
Once the wireframe and/or voice command flow is approved, we are ready to start developing and orchestrating a functional prototype of the service. The prototype is iteratively developed. Each successive iteration adds new functionalities and refines the prototype based on user feedback. This results in a service that meets the desired level of functionality and usability.
Develop Product and Technical specifications for the service.
Develop the front end and back end of the service according to the Product and Technical specifications and approved wireframes and/or voice command flow.
Develop a test script considering all the branches of "To-Be" user journey.
Prepare
test scripts
security and quality assurance checklist
digital service release plan
stabilization and maintenance routine
Refer GovStack sandbox documentation and prototype service using rapid prototyping tools. Learn more about the use of prototyping tools by reading the Do It Yourself (DIY) Full Stack Sction of GovStack Sandbox documentation.
Launch α, β versions to a limited set of citizens/business users, admins, and public officials.
Collect their feedback on the functional prototype and identify concrete steps to improve it.
Iteratively developed and deliver the launch version that meets the requirements and needs of citizens/business users, admins, and public officials.
Prepare the plan for migration of the prototype to the production environment.
Prepare the launch of the service.
Who does what
Service designer – Lead the service co-design journey
Product Owner – Lead software product development according to the service blueprint
Front-end developer – Develops front-end applications following UX/UI style guide
Solution architect – Architects the service according to the BB integration plan
Back-end developer – Adjust BB, connects legacy systems, and test the application
Digital security manager - validates compliance with digital security policy
Cloud architect - Designs cloud strategy and microservices architecture that supports the digitalization of government services
Deliver a functional prototype of the service which:
Complies with the approved 'To-be user journey' and wireframe and/or voice command flow
Complies to Country digital service design standards. This includes standards for:
Complies with Country enterprise architecture, including digital security protocols approved by the country technical team
Design with the user: User-centered design starts with getting to know the people you are designing for through conversation, observation, and co-creation. |
Understand the existing ecosystem: Well-designed initiatives and digital tools consider the particular structures and needs that exist in each country, region, and community. |
Design for scale: Achieving scale requires adoption beyond an initiative's pilot population and often necessitates securing funding or partners that take the initiative to new communities or regions. |
Build for Sustainability: Building sustainable programs, platforms and digital tools is essential to maintain user and stakeholder support, as well as to maximize long-term impact. |
Be Data Driven: When an initiative is data-driven, quality information is available to the right people when they need it, and they are using it to take action. |
Use Open Standards, open Data, Open Source, and Open Innovation: An open approach to digital development can help to increase collaboration in the digital development community and avoid duplicating work that has already been done. |
Reuse and Improve: Reusing and improving is about taking the work of the global development community further than any organization or program can do alone |
Address Privacy and Security: Addressing privacy and security in digital development involves careful consideration of which data are collected and how data are acquired, used, stored and shared. |
Be collaborative: Being collaborative means sharing information, insights, strategies and resources across projects, organizations and sectors, leading to increased efficiency and impact. |
Iterate then Iterate again: The best way to build good digital government services is to start small and iterate wildly. Release minimum viable products early, test them with actual users, move from version to version adding features based on feedback. Iteration reduces risk. |
Maintain trace: We should share what we’re doing whenever we can. With colleagues, with users, and with the world. Share code, share designs, share ideas, share intentions, share failures. The more eyes there are on a service, the better it gets, and the bar is raised. |
Build Digital Services, not websites: A service is something that helps people to do something. Our job is to uncover user needs and build the service that meets those needs. Of course, much of that will be pages on the web, but we’re not here to build websites. |
Design for everyone: Accessible design is good design. Services should be as inclusive, legible and readable as possible. Services should be built for needs and designed for the whole country, not just the ones who are used to using the web. |
Do the hard work to make it simple: Making something look simple is easy. Making something simple to use is much harder. Don’t take “It’s always been that way” for an answer. It’s usually more and harder work to make things simple, but it’s the right thing to do. |
GovExchange is a gateway to the world of digital solutions for e-government. No matter which sector or Sustainable Development Goal you are focused on, the Exchange can help you build better services for people and communities through:
Use cases: A library of use cases from health and agriculture to gender and education and see how they meet the needs of people and communities. Use cases describe the sequence of steps and interactions between users and systems that are required to provide a service to the public.
Building Blocks: Enterprise-ready, reusable software components that perform key functions. Each block listed on the Exchange documents the technical specifications required to implement use cases.
Products: The repository contains over 500 solutions already used to address real-world development problems. Access information on digital public goods, commercial software and apps, and digital public infrastructure.
The exchange provides a marketplace to connect organizations to opportunities through features such as the RFP (request for proposals) Opportunities Radar, a comprehensive digital product comparison tool, and online storefronts for vendors:
RFP Radar: Aggregates requests from organizations, allowing vendors to explore a wide range of opportunities in one convenient location. RFP Radar provides unprecedented visibility into the digital landscape and links vendors with opportunities that fit their expertise.
Storefronts: The online storefronts provide vendors with a dedicated marketing space to highlight their products and services. It enables them to engage with potential customers, establish credibility, and expand their reach.
Comparison tool for platforms/software/solutions: Allows organizations to make informed product decisions. This powerful product comparison tool enables the evaluation of multiple solutions side by side by Comparing their features, functionalities, and maturity scores to find the perfect match for requirements.
GovExchange is continuously updated with new use cases, specifications, and products.
Browse the library of use cases from multiple sectors ranging from agriculture to education on GovExchange. Identify use cases that are most relevant to your service and get inspired by their sequence of steps, generic workflows, and Building Blocks utilized.
Search the library of digital products/Digital Public Goods that meet the requirements of your use case/services.
Showcase your products on the storefront.
Publish/share tenders to:
Identify Digital Public Goods/Digital Products to integrate into the tech stack of your organization
implement services using the tech stack
Who does what:
Procurement Manager - Publish/share RFPs/ToRs to:
Identify Digital Public Goods/Digital Products to integrate into the tech stack of your organization
implement services using the tech stack
Product owners - Review and make decisions on vendors that match the requirements as mentioned in RFPs/ToRs
Vendors/implementors of digital products/Digital Public Goods can:
review RFQs/ToRs for projects that are relevant to your domain
showcase your products on the storefront
Service designer - Find the reference use cases that are most relevant to your service (ease your search by filtering the use cases based on the SDG they target and the sector they belong to) and refer to the steps, generic workflows, and Building Blocks involved in it
Digital teams using the exchange can refer:
Use cases
Building Block specifications
Products
RFPs
The service is ready to be launched in a production environment once the functional prototype is tested and QA steps are followed. Migration process is dependent on the sandbox used to develop, test and iterate the service.
Release the newly digitized service on the country's production environment.
Plan and identify material to be added to the assisted digital strategy and implementation plan for training users and public servants in the use of service. Consider the example of UK Government approach to assisted digital service
Prepare strategy and carry out awareness-building activities on the use of the digital service and its functionalities to enable users and public servants best utilize it. Following are examples of awareness-building activities:
Train public servants on the use of service and on regulations that frame the newly launched service.
Prepare a cutover plan that includes a minute-by-minute launch, stabilization, and monitoring plan. Consider the example of Uk Cutover, Go Live, Adoption, Early Live Support, Floorwalking, and at the elbow support
Prepare service performance dashboard. Consider the example of Gov.uk measuring success.
Set up a robust support infrastructure to assist users and public servants adapt to the new service. For example, setting up user support hotlines, forums, newsletters, FAQ pages, and more.
Iterate and improve the service based on user feedback and service performance. For example: Increase infrastructure if the service has a higher demand than expected, adjust infographics and information sheets to better clarify user questions, and guide them in using the service to its best potential.
Who does what:
Service Owner - Lead the successful operation and continuous improvement of the service
Service designers/ Design lead – Incorporate user feedback where applicable
Communications manager - develops communications strategy for the launch of the service
IT operation - Manage the launch and maintain the service
Cutover plan
Launch of functional service in the production environment
Awareness campaign
Service Dashboard
Over the past years, digital transformation has become a policy priority along with traditional areas such as health policy, economic policy, labor and social protection policies. National Digital Strategies or National Digital Agendas have become guiding policy documents to establish the priorities and focus areas that respond to the country´s context and needs.
In most countries with a Digital Agenda/Strategy in place, digitalization of government services at scale is a pressing issue. Many leading e-government initiatives prioritize the creation of common reusable software components like identity, payments, digital signature, and forms builders, among others, to deliver various government services digitally.
A "Whole-of-Government" approach frequently entails the development of a central digital platform where government agencies across different sectors can build new e-government services without the need to redesign, test, and operate the underlying systems and infrastructure themselves from scratch.
A comprehensive National Digital Agenda/Strategy:
Define activities/action lines, objectives, and goals (KPIs) according to the country's context and needs in an open and collaborative process with all stakeholders of the digital ecosystem in the Country
Define the governance mechanism to coordinate implementation and responsible entities for each action line
Define progress reporting and monitoring of KPIs
Set a digitisation roadmap with time frames for the execution of each action line
Align the Strategy to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Set a public dashboard to share progress in the implementation of the Agenda and its KPIs
Launch the digital agenda with the highest political support - Coordinate a presidential event to launch the agenda where all stakeholders that participated in the co-design are recognized and encouraged to follow with its implementation
Start the implementation mechanism right after the launch to keep the momentum
Make implementation open and collaborative
Promote the agenda permanently
Examples of Digital Strategies/Agendas:
Who does what:
Head of the Digital Authority – Leads the Digital Agenda Co-Design process, coordinates the implementation and reporting mechanisms, and enables delivery of the action lines
The leadership team (chief data officer, cybersecurity officer, chief architect, lead service designer, etc) – Coordinate stakeholder community to participate in the co-design and implementation of the digital agenda
Digital teams in each government entity - Implement, monitor, and continuously iterate the digital services under their jurisdiction in the user journeys
Stakeholder community - Private sector, academia, civil society, and international organizations.
National Digital Strategy/Agenda
Digitisation Roadmap
Public dashboard to share progress in the implementation of the Agenda and its KPIs
Governance mechanism to report progress made on the implementation of the National Digital Strategy/Agenda (This includes a high level advisory board)
In Australia, the sets 2025 as the target to have all government services available digitally.
In Estonia, the leverages all digital capabilities of the Country to support other countries in their digital transformation journeys.
In Ireland, the sets life events as the guiding principle for their service design and delivery.
In Mexico, the recognized the Internet as a Constitutional Right and made an obligation of the State to have a National Universal Digital Inclusion Policy(Please use Google translate to read in your preferred language).
– Prepare a regulatory plan to adapt/update Country legal framework according to the Digital Agenda action lines
