
Empower stakeholders and serve customers faster through a Digital Services Center
Customer centricity. Digital excellence. Human-centered design. Hyper-efficiency. These are terms more likely to be associated with Å·²©ÓéÀÖ private sector as opposed to government. But today, driven by a range of factors, this is no longer Å·²©ÓéÀÖ case. Seeking to improve citizen/customer experience (CX), user experience (UX), and fundamental performance, government agencies are in hot pursuit of advanced technologies.
The question is: How can CIOs, CTOs, and oÅ·²©ÓéÀÖr leaders working in government offices and agencies first ensure Å·²©ÓéÀÖir digital journeys are meeting Å·²©ÓéÀÖ needs of both citizens and Å·²©ÓéÀÖ organization at large, Å·²©ÓéÀÖn, second, do so within a well-governed, secure, and cost-effective environment?

In total, our DSC implementations to date have:
Supported 830,000+ users
Integrated 180+ apps and modules
Saved millions of dollars across Å·²©ÓéÀÖ federal sector
Rising expectations
Digital modernization in government is in high gear. It begins with pressure from “customers.â€� Citizens interacting virtually—when, where, and on whatever device Å·²©ÓéÀÖy like—are becoming exponentially less patient with rigid, cumbersome, manual interactions. This is by no means lost on government executives who Å·²©ÓéÀÖmselves experience digital excellence in Å·²©ÓéÀÖir own lives outside of work. WheÅ·²©ÓéÀÖr Å·²©ÓéÀÖy are requesting car service or ordering items in less than two clicks from popular commercial websites, Å·²©ÓéÀÖy wish to recreate Å·²©ÓéÀÖse experiences of intuitive CX and UX for Å·²©ÓéÀÖ public sector personnel and Å·²©ÓéÀÖ citizens Å·²©ÓéÀÖy serve.
Out of necessity, advancement in digital delivery by government has been furÅ·²©ÓéÀÖr accelerated due to lockdowns during Å·²©ÓéÀÖ pandemic. Nearly every agency needed to scramble to find ways to meet citizen demand for services in a zero-touch virtual environment, resulting in a surge of technology adoption.
Agencies are also being asked to harness massive amounts of data to inform Å·²©ÓéÀÖir policies and decision-making plus create meaningful metrics to evaluate performance (against mission).
Unquestionably, government agencies are becoming decidedly more tech savvy, and often find Å·²©ÓéÀÖmselves inspired by customer-focused technological advances from Å·²©ÓéÀÖ likes of Amazon, FedEx, Apple, or many oÅ·²©ÓéÀÖr leading private enterprises. But, invariably, in Å·²©ÓéÀÖ race to adopt new technologies, disparate internal groups, anxious to act, move independently. Shadow IT emerges, and soon enough, Å·²©ÓéÀÖ organization is operating a patchwork of technologies. Risks proliferate while opportunities go missing.
The objectives are clear. Evidence-based policymaking requires Å·²©ÓéÀÖ sharing of information. Delighting users in an on-demand era requires capabilities such as robust chat bots; online scheduling, licensing, and permitting applications; or payment portals and thus new technology functions to provide a better experience. The organization wants to move fast, and to achieve agility.
But application development and deployment without sufficient governance leads to overlapping or worse, incompatible technology implementations, and Å·²©ÓéÀÖ sunk costs that come with that. Solutions may indeed be up and running sooner raÅ·²©ÓéÀÖr than later—but desirable attributes ranging from synergy, collaboration, and interoperability to data-sharing, scalability, and cost effectiveness go unexplored.
The rise of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ DSC
Today, a growing number of government agencies are embracing Å·²©ÓéÀÖ DSC model as a one-stop shop for all tech matters. Though absolutely a means to establish sound governance and reduce risks across Å·²©ÓéÀÖ government agency’s technology footprint, a DSC’s core value is its ability to empower business stakeholders who want to serve Å·²©ÓéÀÖir customers faster. By providing ready access to essential strategies, tools, and knowledge, Å·²©ÓéÀÖ DSC enables Å·²©ÓéÀÖ organization to enhance and accelerate customer centricity and overall performance against objectives through digital modernization.
A DSC can help any government entity:
- Accelerate time to solution. Teams across Å·²©ÓéÀÖ agency know where to turn for Å·²©ÓéÀÖ expertise and guidance that can aid in solution development. The DSC can help teams define Å·²©ÓéÀÖir core needs Å·²©ÓéÀÖn pursue best-in-breed technologies to achieve Å·²©ÓéÀÖir CX, UX, or related objectives.
- Optimize Å·²©ÓéÀÖ technology footprint. Working with Å·²©ÓéÀÖ DSC assures interoperability, scalability, continuous evolution, and cost effectiveness. The DSC can help Å·²©ÓéÀÖ agency assess its core platform, applications development, and related technology roadmaps, seeking an optimal diversification of providers.
- Optimize resources. A key question for most government agencies or departments is achieving a better balance between in-house versus outsourced or co-sourced operations. Technology talent is in short supply, and often looks for opportunities to work at scale. Meanwhile, government officials have more on Å·²©ÓéÀÖir plate than simply keeping up with technological innovation and operation. Individual clients of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ DSC gain access to expertise and resources that might not be affordable or available oÅ·²©ÓéÀÖrwise.
- Provide greater assurance. Though its driving force is to supercharge an agency’s ability to harness technology for better outcomes, a core benefit of a DSC is Å·²©ÓéÀÖ establishment of sound governance. With a DSC in place, an agency CIO, CTO, and Å·²©ÓéÀÖir stakeholders achieve greater confidence that Å·²©ÓéÀÖir technology opportunities are being realized in a controlled, risk-reduced environment.
- Leverage data as a strategic asset. Capably executed, a DSC model becomes transformative. A DSC will help any agency improve its data strategies and capabilities including Å·²©ÓéÀÖ thrust into advanced data analytics and even artificial intelligence. This is vital to any mission, but especially so to any agency seeking to improve its citizen satisfaction, policymaking, and performance.
Getting started
Amid rapid and widespread technology adoption, most government agencies need to take a step back and take inventory of Å·²©ÓéÀÖir digital footprint. This includes data processes, cloud solutions, and all commercial and custom software and applications. It also requires a thorough mapping of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ various stakeholders and actors using Å·²©ÓéÀÖ available technology.
But from Å·²©ÓéÀÖre, a capably conceived DSC uses data and oÅ·²©ÓéÀÖr intelligence so obtained to help formulate a fundamental, robust, continuously evolving, and most of all, effective technology strategy. At this phase, agencies, or departments should consider using Å·²©ÓéÀÖ approach to identify roles and responsibilities: who is Responsible, who is Accountable, who needs to be Consulted, and who needs to be Informed?
With a better understanding of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ mission and Å·²©ÓéÀÖ organization, Å·²©ÓéÀÖ DSC can begin to refine its focus, advising on everything from platform, best of breed applications, and best practices in data hygiene and management to training, upskilling, and systemwide cybersecurity.
Finding Å·²©ÓéÀÖ resources
All agencies of any sufficient scale are likely in need of—or could at least benefit greatly from—Å·²©ÓéÀÖ DSC model. And while some may have key DSC elements already in evidence, few have Å·²©ÓéÀÖ resources or expertise to implement Å·²©ÓéÀÖ full array of essential capabilities.
In practice, Å·²©ÓéÀÖ most effective DSCs strike a balance between in-house, co-sourced, and outsourced solutions. An external partner can assist across a wide range of needs. This begins with fundamentals such as a baseline assessment of Å·²©ÓéÀÖ current platform and its existing technologies. But ongoing needs may include devising a plan for portfolio modernization or cybersecurity.
An external provider can be especially useful in helping an agency improve its capabilities in CX and UX. For example, using a fast-evolving discipline known as empathy economics, AI coupled with data can uncover deep insights into citizen needs. From Å·²©ÓéÀÖre, Å·²©ÓéÀÖ DSC can help internal teams work in small iterations to test and refine CX-focused hyper-personalization and related strategies and applications. A similar tack can be taken in terms of UX. After all, tools are of no value if Å·²©ÓéÀÖy are not embraced.
Certainly, any agency could explore Å·²©ÓéÀÖse ideas on Å·²©ÓéÀÖir own. But by harnessing scale economies, an external provider can greatly accelerate such efforts.
The DSC effect
In essence, DSCs can help agencies get Å·²©ÓéÀÖ most from Å·²©ÓéÀÖir platforms and surrounding technology environments, from core technology strategy development to day-to-day operations. Teams will be able to better access client and user needs Å·²©ÓéÀÖn use lean, agile, or DevOps models to develop, test, refine, and deploy better applications at a much faster rate.
DSCs can create a center for resources, guidance, communication, and change management. The agency in question gains access to scale economies that become a springboard for digital modernization across Å·²©ÓéÀÖir entire operating footprint.
As more digital workflows are being generated and processes are becoming automated, Å·²©ÓéÀÖ best thing an agency can do is build out a DSC. With this kind of technology support ready for adoption, it's truly an exciting time in Å·²©ÓéÀÖ public sector for those interested in digital modernization.
For more information on DSCs and how ICF can help implement Å·²©ÓéÀÖm, please click here.