Leveraging technology will ensure stronger future for public service

The annual United Nations Public Service Day and the Africa Public Service Day being marked today focus on public service. This year’s theme is around innovating for a new era and leveraging technology for the future.

The primary objective of innovation in the public service is to ensure that vital services are provided to the people in a more timely and efficient manner. In an environment of radical changes shaped by global trends, it is only innovation and technology that can enable governments to tackle challenges in new ways, enhancing the design and delivery of public goods and services for the citizens.

Innovation and adoption of technology requires meticulous planning, leadership and stakeholder alignment. In its 2019-2024 Strategic Plan, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has laid out a road map for transforming the public service for efficient and effective service delivery of which technology and innovation are the backbone. 

With this strategy, the public service can expect a stronger alignment between service delivery and citizen needs. Technology is an enabler not only for provision of efficient and effective service delivery but also a tool for monitoring since the citizens expect improved accessibility to quality public services.

The ability of the public sector to innovate and adopt technology in service delivery is a critical element in driving economic development. However, strategies relating to innovation and technology in the public sector are still less developed than in the private sector. 

However, whereas there are significant differences between the public and private sectors in terms of incentives and motivation, resource allocation and attitudes towards risk, which are inherent in the different roles played by the two sectors in the economy, that should not hinder promotion of innovation and technology in the public sector. 

The ability of public servants to identify aspirational issues that are important to the individual citizen is central to offering citizen-centric services. It is through understanding the issues that affect the citizens that enables public service to design better participation and engagement forums to educate them to overcome inertia towards new technologies, while making applications that are responsive to their needs.

Government approach

Citizen-focused service delivery in the government requires unity of purpose. By adapting a Whole of Government approach, PSC defines innovation in public sector in three distinct facets: Integration of policies and processes between government agencies; developing transparent public services and procedures; and use of technology to improve accessibility of services.

They are expected to, together, contribute towards improvements in outcomes and making public services easily and conveniently available to all, as a result generating positive citizen experience.

The centrality of innovation and technology in the public service was clearly brought to the fore by the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced the PSC to, within a very short period, less than two years, dramatically change the way it organised its activities.

It rapidly turned to technology and developed online platforms for its interviews and adopted online meetings and conferencing, as well as working from home for some staff members, without compromising service delivery standards. It leveraged and continues to improve its use of technology to sustain the enhanced culture of technological innovations that is becoming a prominent platform for service delivery across the public service.

Public servants must not lose sight of the fact that the scale and complexity of continuously delivering quality public services to the citizens makes it an ambitious and demanding enterprise that cannot succeed without leveraging on innovation and technology. 

The pandemic is a wake-up call. The public service must continuously redouble its efforts, be instinctively innovative and use technology to achieve the vision of being a citizen-centric public service capable of offering world class services. 

Ms Kisotu is the vice-chairperson, Public Service Commission (PSC).