How to enhance digital initiatives to ensure substantial change

This post is written by Steven Nõmmik, Junior Researcher, Tallinn University of Technology.

• The problem: Bureaucracy within the public sector can impede the potential initially envisioned and exhibited by many digital initiatives.
• Why it matters: Institutional obstacles can actively steer people towards less optimal decisions, which limit the possible value of digital initiatives.
• The solution: The results of digital initiatives can be improved by empowering motivated individuals through autonomy and support from their organisations.

The digital era has provided many services and products tailored to our preferences. This has redefined our expectations and led the public sector to acknowledge the possibilities brought about by technological developments. However, in the background remain several challenges – strong political rhetoric towards a policy of austerity, decreasing levels of trust, and the difficulty of balancing our demands for quality whilst assuring individual rights. This results in complicated conditions for starting and implementing digital initiatives within the public sector.

Digital initiatives often start out with lofty intentions and yet most fizzle out over time. Some failures are naturally due to the flaws in the concept, but failures also include solutions with plenty of upsides. Other initiatives not only survive but thrive, resulting in new developments. One of the difference makers between the end results lies in the form of champions, who come forth at the different stages of an initiative to bring about change. The champion (who is of great interest to researchers in leadership) is characterised by strong belief and commitment to their initiative, leading them to put more personal effort into bringing about change.

Challenges to digital initiatives

Although the pandemic has changed the conditions in some policy fields, there are challenges for any digital initiative at the outset, both non-technological and technological. First, there are challenges that have been a constant within the public sector for decades – cost pressure; demands for maintaining service provision whilst trying to change; critical perspectives on success. These constants are now complemented by technologically specific challenges. Questions of interoperability, ownership, data-sharing, information protection and analysis of personal data have all come to the fore. Even the terms that we seemingly have consensus on require attention (“Employee” may encompass very different categorisations within a tax agency and welfare providers).

Digital initiatives are very unpredictable, which can often cause the initial vision to shift considerably.

Challenges also arise during the reform process. Digital initiatives are very unpredictable, which can often cause the initial vision to shift considerably. The surrounding data quality may be insufficient or data missing. This can lead to a cut-down of the initial concept and reduce perceptions of usability. Some contexts simply aren’t able to accommodate digital solutions previously thought possible (in one peculiar case, previous good work in fire prevention activities resulted in a lack of fire data based on which accurate predictive models could even be made). There can be unexpected changes in the demands of individuals and organisations, which can lead to disillusionment and negative feedback. The challenges at the outset and during the process highlight the very difficult conditions that digital initiatives meet.

The champion

There are several ways to overcome these conditions, but an important one lies in the groundwork of the champions.

Engaged participants often give praise to these individuals, as they are enablers for new ideas. Their importance comes forth in both planned and unplanned instances. They might organise brainstorming sessions and workshops to bring new ideas to the fore. However, change is supported in day-to-day work as well. This can be from daily encouragement to improvising new ideas - including giving credence to “silly” ideas - that can lead to change.

This process is often (and somewhat frustratingly) reflected back to researchers as “somehow making it work”. This is because idea creation doesn’t occur within a defined order and is often subject to improvisation, which is later very difficult to describe. The improvisation can both improve existing capabilities, such as reducing the burden on citizens for providing individual employment data by finding avenues of increased data exchange between public sector organisations. It can also bring along new ones, like risk analysis of companies committing tax evasion based on new data. These developments are the result of an environment where participants feel comfortable providing ideas for change, which a champion can enable.

Idea creation doesn’t occur within a defined order and is often subject to improvisation.

The effect of champions extends well beyond participants within a single digital initiative. There are limited resources available within the public sector, which results in pressure to increase support. The champions as the key representatives strongly influence the strategies chosen for lobbying the digital initiatives. Other actors (leadership within your organisation, other public sector organisations, citizen representatives) have different competencies and priorities, which requires adapting the message - often technical in nature - to the proper audience. Possessing the necessary knowledge enables champions to formulate a message that will resonate with any audience. This can shape the opinion towards a digital initiative and avoid misinterpretation regarding results or progress.

Organisational support

Although champions possess an important role in digital initiatives, they are limited in possible actions without their organisation providing for them. The complexity within the change process stems from the extent of unpredictability of both the initiative and the individual actions. The initiative may be successful to the point, and new development proposals may arise. For example, newly collected data from employers regarding employment can lead to pro-active engagement of neglected target groups in the provision of social benefits.

Possessing the necessary knowledge enables champions to formulate a message that will resonate with any audience.

However, these shifts result in changes to responsibilities and roles, which require organisational backing. The champion themselves may also be in a difficult position, as their job tasks how much effort can they ultimately put into a single initiative. The organisation’s ability to provide the autonomy and flexibility to champions, as well as the initiative to create and capitalise upon new ideas, can be the difference between a project-based paper solution and transformative change.

👋 You can create a post like this one! Share your thoughts with a community of public servants. Learn more

(Image Credit: Unsplash)