Citizens are keen to digitally engage with government, finds survey

• Survey finds government innovation and personalized government services are in demand
• Accenture finds citizens are prepared to offer up personal information to see services  improve
• Heartening to see next gen digital use cases that might really enhance lives

One of the companion sets of applications to the ‘smart city’ push is what Accenture calls ‘government innovation and personalized services’. In fact if you’re going to build a ‘smart city’ it would be missing a trick if you didn’t use the heightened digital capabilities of the resulting infrastructure to improve government service delivery: helping citizens to access benefits, interact with the democratic process, apply for passports and so on: as well as engage digitally with health and welfare services.

Government or health administration benefits by reducing the costs of engagement, citizens benefit because their entitlements are easier to access.

Accenture recently surveyed 6,000 citizens  in Australia, France, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States on a variety of public service issues and topics and the good news is that, overall, citizens are more than willing to offer up their data in return for better digital service -  in fact they already have increased expectations for government innovation in this area, and many view it as a top priority.

Accenture found that its respondents were willing to provide personal information if it meant their being able to access digital benefits and receive more personalized treatment.

• About four in 10 citizens (42 percent) would willingly use “internet of things” devices to share personal data with government to receive discounts or improved services;
• Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of citizens would provide biometric data such as fingerprints, retinal scans and voice ID to government in exchange for more-personalized services; and
• More than half (54 percent) of citizens would be willing to share their fingerprints in return for more-personalized government services.

Healthcare

Accenture has also enhanced its own ‘Intelligent Patient Platform’ with two interactive virtual-assistant bots which, it claims, use artificial intelligence to constantly learn and make intelligent recommendations about what health professionals could’ do next’ when it comes to individual patient care.  

Ella is a virtual care assistant for patients that provides medication reminders, vitals tracking and appointment scheduling.

Ethan is a virtual service assistant for healthcare providers that can help healthcare professionals more easily engage with patients, better monitor their health activity, and coordinate with other care team members to provide critical services in a more holistic manner.

In addition to the introduction of the two bots, accenture says AI and process capabilities have been embedded throughout the Patient Engagement solution to improve the user experience, including:

• Onboarding Contact Center — that provides intelligent guided experiences on recommended steps to get patients access to therapy quicker and more easily.
• Adherence & Care Management Contact Center — where AI recommends actions at the point of need to keep patients on their treatment protocol with a more personalized and coordinated experience.
• Provider Portal & Mobile App — to provide physicians with better patient insights and fact-based, intelligent guidance on the content and services available for individual patient needs.

See - Accenture introduces Ella and Ethan, AI bots to improve a patient's health and care using the Accenture Intelligent Patient Platform

Full press release on personalised government engagement below

• Greater comfort with artificial intelligence a factor in increased expectations for government innovation

ARLINGTON, Va.; Sept. 20, 2018: Enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) is helping to drive heightened citizen expectations for government innovation and personalized services, according to results of a multi-country survey from Accenture (NYSE: ACN).

The survey of more than 6,000 citizens from Australia, France, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States found that citizens overwhelmingly favor an increased government focus on the digital delivery of public services — including more personalization — and easier, more-secure ways to share and access data. Most respondents (86 percent) view digital delivery of public services as equally or more important to them than traditional methods of public-service delivery.

The survey also found that as citizens increasingly access more user-friendly AI-driven solutions in their daily lives, they expect the same type of innovation to also ease their access to government services. Specifically, nearly half of respondents (44 percent) cited personalized services as a top priority when interacting with government.

“Personalized digital government services are better equipped to address the needs of the modern citizen,” said Mark Lyons, who leads Accenture’s work to improve citizen services. “For instance, information and services that a taxpayer sees on an agency website should be more specific to individual needs, online use patterns and how that person wants to interact with the government. Personalized government entails an enhanced level of citizen services based on factors such as preferences, age, demographics or location, better meeting constituent needs and lifestyles.”

Survey findings show that respondents are willing to provide personal information to access digital benefits and more personalized government services. For instance:

• About four in 10 citizens (42 percent) would willingly use “internet of things” devices to share personal data with government to receive discounts or improved services;
• Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of citizens would provide biometric data such as fingerprints, retinal scans and voice ID to government in exchange for more-personalized services; and
• More than half (54 percent) of citizens would be willing to share their fingerprints in return for more-personalized government services. Additionally, the survey found that respondents are willing to be active participants in the evolution of digital delivery of government services. Forty-five percent of citizens said they would be willing to participate in focus groups or committees to improve a service they use, and half (51 percent) support the use of new technologies such as AI and virtual reality to learn more about government services and streamline applications for government services like job applications, visas and passports, tax filings and student loans.

The survey found that most citizens increasingly expect government services to be provided digitally and are enthusiastic about innovation around specific applications. For instance, half (51 percent) of respondents said they would like to use an AI-enabled chatbot to learn about visa requirements for international travel; slightly more said they want human services agencies to use AI to speed eligibility decisions (52 percent) and better identify service needs (55 percent); and nearly six in 10 (57 percent) favor the use of virtual reality technology to create immersive learning environments in higher education.

“As emerging technologies like AI, machine learning and robotics create a new reality for public services, citizens desire rapid government innovation,” Lyons said. “Public-sector employees will be a critical component to meeting that expectation and to advancing technology to better engage with citizens.”

Creating new digital tools and hiring employees with the necessary digital skills are essential for government innovation, the survey determined. Nearly half of respondents (44 percent) want government to incorporate citizen feedback to improve digital applications and services and nearly two thirds say it is important for government to attract top talent capable of working with emerging technologies.

Methodology

Accenture surveyed 6,000 citizens aged 18 or older in Australia, France, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States on a variety of public service issues and topics. The survey was conducted online in May 2018. Results for the full global sample are statistically significant with a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.