How to make the state more trustworthy

News channels may make us feel otherwise, but there has never been a better time for mankind in history than now. The world today is more peaceful, better fed and safer than ever before. Yet, it has been observed that trust in governments — even democratically elected ones — is dropping.

Trust is the basis of all governance. It underpins the success of public schemes, the volume of public sector investment, and even institutional level compliance.

Building trust has no single silver bullet, yet one of the most effective measures a government can undertake is improving how its services reach and are perceived by citizens.

Younger populations, rising smartphone access, and the private sector’s consumerisation of services are changing how people interface with government services. Digital is fast becoming the de-facto citizen-government interface, and the digital service delivery quality is therefore pivotal to overall perceptions of governance. Better designed online services improve efficiencies, reduce costs, and create more accessibility. Towards this goal, private sector brands present many relevant insights.

Best practices

The private sector has always excelled in forging a deeper connection with the masses. Brands have striven to build the best user experience. Today, brands have transcended broadcasting messages; now, they listen to and analyse conversations to change their experiential offer.

The National Portal of India (India.gov.in) is a notable example of a government initiative striving to meet online sensibilities. From fishery licences to tax filing, it has everything that citizens could require. Consolidating the universe of citizen-government relations, it’s also easily navigable. However, considering that India’s next digital billion will have preferences shaped by sophisticated online experience, the government needs to quickly develop a change management and capacity building culture to ensure its assets are future-proof.

A government ‘competes’ with no one. Yet, trust is the difference between building new schools and hospitals or freezing public sector payments and increasing taxes. Moreover, there is now healthy competition between States to attract new investment and talent through enhancements in Ease of Doing Business, and quality of life.

The digital journey

More than just serving as paperwork details, citizen data should provide context to engage with government offerings. For example, geolocation can enable event recommendations, or alert people of service touchpoints. In emergencies, we can immediately be alerted of relief shelters and aid sites. For such services to develop a following, local language support can bring more citizens into the digital fold. Similarly, with greater mobile penetration, the government should use a mobile-first approach to communicate, measure, and optimise services and information dissemination.

This journey of deep digitisation will be complex. But we must keep in mind that not all services have the same impact on citizens and have different time periods needed for the services and their digital iterations to mature. Some quick-wins can catalyze public mindsets to believe in government success.

There’s the final piece of the trust puzzle – transparency – which almost every major government globally has struggled with. For India, enabling citizens to benefit from government commitments is one of the simplest ways of showcasing commitment. To make development a dialogue, citizens should be able to provide feedback on service quality, and be apprised of corresponding changes, increasing belief in transparency.

Once these deep engagements help connect with citizens, they will proactively begin to seek out how to further their engagement with government services, creating a bond of trust. To realise this, governments should have a clear imperative: match technology’s march, and its ability to increase the range and quality of digital services; capture the next digital opportunities; and anticipate citizen needs and design services, moving away from traditional reactive approaches.

The governments today need to build deeper, more personalised relationship by enriching the online experience. Citizens expect a digital interface that is incredibly fluid and easily navigable. Government services online must aspire to become effortless, seamless, and easy on every device.

Only by introspecting on the parameters that define a good online experience can governments clearly identify their next digital moves. What’s at stake is not only potential savings from better outcomes, but a standard of engagement that drives public participation voluntarily. This is not the era for minor corrections. Nothing less than proactive investment into every piece of the citizen experience will do.

The writer is Managing Director, South Asia, Adobe South Asia.

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