Executive Thought Leadership

The New Government Frontier

What kind of government do citizens need, or more importantly, want in the 21st century? This question is fundamental in shaping the government of the future, one that uses e-government but understands that meeting customer expectations requires more than providing Web-enabled services. This "adaptive government" where citizens design the services of the future is what we call The Connected Republic.

Historically, citizensexperience with government service has been less than optimal. Making contact with government personnel has been a time-consuming process, whether waiting in long lines in an office or on the telephone for extraordinarily long times. Progressive governments are helping to change this experience by providing online services and e-commerce capabilities through Web-based solutions; in other words, e-government. For example, automating vehicle registration through the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has tremendously improved productivity and efficiency for citizens and government alike. A single transaction that once took hours now only takes seconds online, and the cost per transaction was reduced from dollars to pennies.

The information age has changed society and citizens have greater expectations now than in the past. This change is creating a fundamental shift in the culture of government. Those in public policy and government must respond much more quickly to citizens and make services more accessible and understandable. The journey toward e-government continues to be filled with successes and lessons learned. Progressive governments understand the importance of using technology to provide services; moreover, they realize that the quality of the relationship between government and the people is equally-if not more-important.

Government of the Future: The Connected Republic

Imagine a community in which government goes beyond the "e" in e-government and increases its value to citizens through better government. Many governments understand that trust and relationships must be developed between those who govern and those who ultimately determine government, the people. The next frontier for governments is to take advantage of the value and power of networks to connect people with government entities within their communities, creating an environment where governments are truly organized for and adapt first and foremost to the wants and needs of citizens.

Implementing this vision starts with a framework for action in organizational governance, Web-based capabilities, and technology enablers. Although implementing major changes such as these is challenging, the rewards are great. What is the value to governments? It's the opportunity to extend and maximize the return on their investments, realize organizational efficiencies and effectiveness, and obtain a measurable increase in citizen satisfaction. What is the value to citizens? A marked increase in services they want and need, and improvements in how those services are delivered.

Progressive Governments Take Advantage of Information Technology

Government of Ontario

Ontario is the second largest of Canada 10 self-governing provinces and home to nearly 12 million peoplealmost 40 percent of Canada total population. When the new administration took control in the Government of Ontario it came with a strong agendaeduce the size of government by eliminating disparate entities and improve the focus on citizens. At the same time, it needed to balance its budget.

The government installed a robust, Internet-based network to serve the needs of more than 60,000 government employees and 12 million citizens, and a Shared Services Bureau was created to optimize delivery of human resources, finance, and procurement services. Major initiatives including business transformation, e-services, Web strategies, and outsourcing have quickly delivered results. In less than a year, the Government of Ontario increased citizen satisfaction by more than 90 percent and projected benefits in efficiencies of more than 35 million U.S. dollars.

Centrelink-Australia

Over the years, millions of Australians pursued social and community support from a variety of disconnected government organizations, expecting quick, efficient service and receiving far less. This presented a challenge for the Australian government, which like many private sector organizations, had grown over time into disparate groups. What the government needed was a way to link these disparate agencies, consolidate information sites, and provide links between customers and agencies that could address customer needs.

Centrelink was the solution networked virtual organization that orchestrates and links the services of diverse agencies. With Centrelink, Australians can access a variety of government services such as the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and The Department of Health and Aging, through one Web portal or telephone number.

Listening to Our Customers

Cisco understands the many complex challenges that face modern governments today and in the foreseeable future. We are committed to the public sector, to helping governments worldwide use the power of their networks as a catalyst for change and to build e-government strategies that support the needs of the people.

We are excited about the opportunity to embark on this next wave of transformation with our government partners. We believe these changes will have a dramatic impact on the industry and on society.