In today’s digital society, where we buy products and services and pay our bills online, I have always been surprised to find that many local governments still rely on paper filing. IT automation offers private and public sector organizations a way to streamline their operations. Governments that are now looking to generate new revenue don’t have to turn to layoffs or increase taxes. Instead, they should consider streamlining their operations through automated processes.
The public sector should follow in the footsteps of privately owned businesses as they have already discovered many benefits of automation, many of which translate to the public sector. Let’s see in detail some of the benefits of automation for the public sector.
Focus on speed
Government agencies can be so highly regulated that a rigid-rule framework could pose a danger of becoming an ingrained part of daily life. In turn, employees may focus on following those rules no matter how overly complex and superfluous they may be. That results in less time spent taking actions that really benefit citizens.
When the public sector goes through additional approvals to change even outdated practices, they cannot implement significant process improvements. Here is when IT automation can help. It provides the public sector an opportunity to access more accurate information at a faster rate than before.
Rebuild the public trust
Citizens expect to access information and services instantly. When they can’t, they feel let down and unable to trust they can get what they need. There’s a difficulty for public services to keep up with modern expectations from citizens used to instant private services and mobile apps.
By adopting IT automation, government organizations can keep pace with private sector companies, giving citizens timely access to the information they demand. Ultimately, this will help establish a government as a trusted agent with modern capabilities.
Save money
In many government agencies, multiple layers of approvals are necessary to reduce the possibility of human error. These extra steps can lead to more delays, inflated budgets, and bulked-up staffing. In these situations, training times are longer for new employees because they have to be thoroughly taught repetitive and mundane tasks. IT automation can support government organizations worldwide by controlling robotic tasks, saving millions or even billions. According to Deloitte UK, IT automation will displace 861,000 public sector jobs by 2030 and save £15 billion off the wage bill compared to 2015.
Achieve innovation
Many government agencies rely on processes that have historically worked to a certain standard. But, this approach doesn’t encourage updates, progression, or improvements. Since public sector agencies don’t have a goal of increased profit to work toward, there’s less motivation to find ways to enhance processes.
IT automation can reduce the time employees spend on repetitive and routine processes. That allows more time to be spent on interaction with the public and tasks that require a greater degree of complex problem solving or human judgment.
Scale without restraint
If within governments the need to scale up or down arise, real challenges can arise. That’s because processes in the public sector can be difficult to change. Many public sector agencies struggle to respond to last-minute adjustments. Instead, they need to plan and prepare for scaling far in advance. That can lead to hiring extra staff, spending time teaching them processes, making adjustments to budgets, and more.
IT Automation can take rigid processes and make them flexible, scalable, and human. Using automation enables an organization to scale on-demand as bots can instantly increase their workload without extra employees or funds.
- Private sector companies worldwide have realized benefits due to deploying automation and now view it as a standard part of their ongoing processes. Government agencies can achieve the five benefits listed above and many others by using IT automation to save time and money while providing real benefits to the citizens they serve.
