INNOVATING SOCIAL

SERVICES THROUGH EMERGING

TECHNOLOGIES AND

HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN

Accenture Public Service Emerging

Technologies Research 2016

CITIZEN-FIRST THINKING

Agencies are creating more

agile, responsive operating

models that focus on the

citizen.

CITIZEN-FIRST THINKING

in Italy plans to evolve its model based

on user-centricity, digitalization and

multi-channel service delivery.

THE NATIONAL

SOCIAL SECURITY

INSTITUTE (INPS)

Source reference–www.inps.it [Italian]

CITIZEN-FIRST THINKING

is funding a self-management

and digital value services

(ODA) project—one of the

government’s six user-driven

reform and digitalization initiatives.

THE FINNISH

MINISTRY OF

SOCIAL AFFAIRS

AND HEALTH

Source reference–http://stm.fi [Finnish]

There is a need to shift from a rules/policy-driven culture to one focused on the user and the outcome. In public service it has almost been a question of honor to obey the rules of the bureaucracy to ensure equal rights and opportunities for the citizens. But in a digital age personification is a key concept.

Torbjørn Larsen, CIO at the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV)

CITIZEN-FIRST

IMPROVE DELIVERY AND EXPERIENCE

In making this transition,

agencies are reassessing how

best to deploy their people, what

processes to change and where

to invest in technology.

Growing numbers are recognizing that

emerging technologies, such as

predictive modeling and intelligent

automation, can free up their

workforces to provide more

personalized experiences.

of those social services agencies

currently engaged with at least one

emerging technology agree that

implementation will free up the

workforce to provide a more

personalized experience for the citizen.

55%

The outcomes are what we’re all here for. And we expect to achieve better outcomes as we start to have the data and automate some of our processes where it’s safe to do so. I think citizens are rightly demanding that we operate the business more efficiently and effectively.

Andrew Besford, formerly Head of Business Design,

Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), U.K.

DELIVERY AND

EXPERIENCE

72%

LEAVING DRUDGE WORK BEHIND

When implementing emerging

technologies, agencies' primary

objective is to improve the

experience of both their citizens

and their staff. Automating certain

mechanical tasks frees up

employees to focus on more critical

and rewarding work that is geared

toward citizens' needs.

Our research suggests that, in the

foreseeable future, emerging technologies

will augment existing roles rather than

replace them.

of social services agencies believe

that implementing emerging

technologies “will improve the job

satisfaction of current employees.”

LEAVING DRUDGE WORK BEHIND

Agencies need to make a concerted effort to address the talent and skills necessary to drive emerging technologies programs.

One priority, unsurprisingly,

is to bring in more

programming and data

analytics expertise.

Even more pressing is the

need to retrain existing

employees.

Respondents in the survey say that

their biggest obstacles to

implementing these technologies are:

• lack of internal skills and ability to

hire

• legacy systems

• lack of leadership support

We’d like the operation to work in quite a different way—being able to spend more of their time doing the high-value work. That’s the answer that touches the biggest section of our population, but in addition there are smaller bits of the business, like data scientists, where we need to be investing much more heavily.

Andrew Besford, formerly Head of Business Design,

Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), U.K.

DRUDGE

WORK BEHIND

LEAVING DRUDGE WORK BEHIND

of leaders in social services

admit to making structural

changes to the workforce to

implement new technologies.

43%

of leaders in social services say

that the introduction of emerging

technologies will result in

significant investment in reskilling.

53%

DECISIVE ACTION

Many social services

agencies are moving from

awareness to adoption of

emerging technologies:

66 percent of those that are aware of advanced analytics

are using it—in areas ranging from fraud prevention

(Michigan Department of Health and Human Services

in the U.S., for example) to decision support.

Source reference–https://www.michigan.gov

DECISIVE ACTION

is using voice identification to

ensure that social services

benefits are swiftly and securely

paid to the right people.

THE SOUTH

AFRICA SOCIAL

SECURITY

AGENCY

Source reference–http://www.agnitio-corp.com

31%

DECISIVE ACTION

But emerging technologies’

potential goes far beyond analytics.

Agencies are also using different

emerging technologies

in tandem.

of social services agencies that

are aware of biometric

technology are piloting or

implementing it.

Advanced analytics can deliver the insight and decision support needed to provide more individualized and relevant services to each and every one of us.

User insight can be leveraged across the whole value chain. You are then able to differentiate at the micro segment—to come up with prescriptive messages for different users in different situations.

Torbjørn Larsen, CIO at the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV)

DECISIVE

THE CONNECTED WORKPLACE

Although relatively few agencies are

piloting more advanced emerging

technologies, the use of artificial

intelligence and the internet of things

(IoT) is not science fiction.

Nearly a fifth of the 71 percent of agencies that are aware

of the IoT are piloting or implementing this technology.

THE CONNECTED WORKPLACE

Agencies that rely on connected

databases and devices to transmit

information securely can drastically

improve service impact and

productivity.

Improving the impact of interventions

is one of the reasons why we are

trialing a digital social support and

risk solution intended to

help agencies allocate

resources more effectively.

Across our 17 operational areas, we want to get a better sense of the mix of staff, the different operational models in place and the different kids who are being referred. Then we want to understand what is causing the supply of services and resources to be different across the different areas.

Pat Smyth, Director of Finance at Tusla, Ireland’s child and family agency

THE

WORKPLACE

CITIZENS AND SELF-HELP

Greater intelligence will give

agencies a much better chance of

moving from a traditional reactive

model to one that is able to

provide a much more insightful,

individualized response.

Integration of personal data across

the agency can help citizens to

digitally self-manage.

CITIZENS AND SELF-HELP

integrates individuals’ personal data

into a “my account” function that will

eventually incorporate all of the

agency’s digital services.

SPAIN’S NATIONAL

SOCIAL SECURITY

INSTITUTE (INSS)

Source reference–https://sede-tu.seg-social.gob.es

CITIZENS AND SELF-HELP

is Illinois' largest social services organization. It is developing a digital-only check-in system for social services agencies.

Once a citizen has a digital profile, they use a digital check-in card to sign in for appointments, and agency workers have instant access to their detailed files.

LUTHERAN

SOCIAL SERVICES

OF ILLINOIS

Source reference–https://www.fjordnet.com

JOINED UP—NOT DISJOINTED

To provide an insight-driven service,

increase adoption of self-service channels,

and enhance risk profiling (the ability

to identify which interactions will

lead to long-term savings), agencies

will need to overcome a number

of interlinked challenges.

JOINED UP—NOT DISJOINTED

However, such integration will not be easy—even if the

case for it is absolutely clear. Interdependencies with

other government agencies or within a broader change

program were ranked by respondents as the fourth and

fifth biggest barriers to implementation of emerging

technologies.

Greater detail on family background, education

and health could be captured in a cross-agency

“digital social service record” that ensures an

integrated service across a range of providers

and the rapid delivery of personalized

interventions.

JOINED UP—NOT DISJOINTED

A barrier to implementation is securing the buy-in of senior

decision-makers: convincing them to commit to these

technologies as cost pressures persist.

Those agencies which can identify a specific challenge and

quickly build and prove the business case are likely to see

the rewards.

Those at earlier stages of adoption must

increase the pace at which they experiment

with and adopt emerging technologies.

CITIZENS AND SELF-HELP

is testing natural language processing software

to automate the interpretation of citizens’

feedback about its services. The project team

has predicted that using these capabilities

over the course of a year will lead to a saving

of more than 300,000 employee hours.

THE U.S.

DEPARTMENT OF

HEALTH & HUMAN

SERVICES

Source reference–http://www.digitalgov.gov

CITIZENS AND SELF-HELP

has introduced new public service identification

cards that employ facial recognition technology.

Since introducing the cards, the agency has

caught more than 60 people who had illegally

received over €1 million ($1.1 million) using

false identities.

IRELAND’S DEPARTMENT

OF SOCIAL PROTECTION

Source reference–http://www.independent.ie

TOWARDS A NEW MODEL

These sorts of statistics are powerful. Social services agencies that can quickly quantify the benefits of emerging technologies can drive speedier adoption. In our survey, nearly half (47 percent) of respondents who are piloting or implementing emerging technologies say they are helping them to reduce costs.

However, in their efforts to measure this only 6 percent of this group have developed a balanced scorecard of soft metrics, such as customer or employee satisfaction levels, and hard metrics, such as financial impact.

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

RAINER BINDERManaging Director and

Global Employment and

Social Services Lead

https://twitter.com/Binderra

https://twitter.com/AccenturePubSvc

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rainer-binder

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ABOUT THE RESEARCH

The Accenture Public Service Emerging Technologies research

surveyed 774 IT leaders from public service organizations in nine

countries (Australia, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Norway,

Singapore, the U.K., and the U.S.). The telephone survey (CATI)

was conducted by Longitude Research between April and May

2016. The survey was supplemented by in-depth qualitative

interviews with experts across these countries.

For more information about the research, visit us:

accenture.com/public-service-technologies-research

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