Introducing the Digital Transformation Archetypes

Authors: Alex Oprunenco and Pia Andrews

Our work across Asia and the Pacific (as well as Pia’s earlier work around the world) has demonstrated that “digital transformation” in the public sector is often an ambiguous term, meaning different things to different people in different contexts. The world is abound with assessments of national or organizational digital maturity (usually in comparison to an imaginary or exemplary entity, i.e benchmarking), but it is much more difficult to understand and pursue effectively with the digital ambitions of a government. Strategic planning can become dominated by international rankings, assessment results, political ambitions, emergencies or risk mitigation, which can create pressure to invest in short term digital improvements which further entrench the current status. When considering investment in “digital”, it is helpful to plan for a healthy balance of digital improvements for efficiencies, and digital transformation to keep pace with change and drive policy impact, ideally aligned to the same strategic intent. As we put elsewhere, what is not digital will not scale, and what is not transformative will not last.

A common language and framework for digital transformation is required, both to better understand and support government intent, but also to help encourage and promote ambitious digital agendas that drive the best possible social, economic and human development outcomes from digital investment. Otherwise governments run the risk of digital programs that simply maintain (or worsen!) the status quo with shiny new tools. A common framework also provides the possibility of developing and sharing practices and solutions that serve different digital transformation archetypes.

The UNDP has developed the Digital Transformation Archetypes framework for discussing, exploring and planning digital reform opportunities, framed through the ambitions and appetite of governments and development partners. Below are the four broad categories, or archetypes of digital transformation. Each archetype provides insights and tips to guide engagement, planning and development projects, so as to ensure the best possible development outcomes from digital transformation investment and programs. These archetypes can obviously overlap in the real world and governments often transition or combine elements from one another. The purpose here, however, is not to simply provide a transformation “north star” or assessment framework for governments, but rather to better meet them where they are (context, capabilities, intent), to support them to better achieve their desired outcomes, and to help bend the arc of digital transformation and investments towards equality and inclusivity for all.

The four digital transformation archetypes are:

1. Service Delivery Reform is where the primary intention is to improve government services to the public.
2. Adaptive Policy Reform is where the primary intention is how to better drive policy impact and outcomes in a complex & increasingly volatile world.
3. Institutional Uplift is where the primary intention is to reform public institutions to be fit for purpose and effective in the modern age, and able to adapt into the future.
4. Participatory Governance Reform is where public institutions systemically and intentionally engage and support the general public as part of policy making and service delivery, drawing continually upon the diverse range of expertise, experience, ambitions and intelligence across society to create a highly credible, supported and trusted national approach to public administration and socio-economic settings where people can thrive.

These archetypes are designed to support strategic discussions and exploration of the ambitions and opportunities available to governments from digital transformation. Each archetype overview (below) provides information about the likely outcomes, strategic considerations, what is achievable from differing levels of government aspirations and some indications of the capabilities and infrastructure required for each. The archetypes provide senior decision makers with a a strategic framework and lens that will help them to make informed prioritization and investments in meaningful programs that drive their intended impact from digital transformation.

1. Service Delivery Reform

Citizens rely on government services every day, from social support to passports and much more. The scope and level of ambition varies enormously between countries, different levels of government and even between portfolios, but generally a service delivery reform agenda aims to:

• creating operational efficiencies;

• establishing agile and evidence-based operational service agility; &

• creating a relevant and helpful citizen experience with government.

Strategic considerations: Governments need to make a considered choice between a decentralised model (each department managing their own channels, eg Malaysia, Bangladesh, Australia) or a consolidated model (one department managing a single citizen channel, integrating department systems, eg South Korea, Singapore, Service NSW, Estonia and the direction Nepal is taking with Nagarik App). The decentralized model can only iteratively improve services through standards, support and assurance, but will always be inconsistent across departments. A model that integrates services around the citizen has been shown to deliver the best outcomes, experience & efficiencies.

Medium reform aspirations:

• Digitization of paper processes, eg PDFs to print or submit online

• Single logon for all with authentication passthrough to multiple services

• Improved efficiencies in backend processes/systems

• Digital apps, provided by individual departments

• Most people self-serving, with some challenges, significant training required

Higher reform aspirations:

• Citizen-centric services that support a dignified, delightful and easy user experience with whole of government

• Omni-channel architecture that provides equitable service online & offline (in person, phone)

• The ability to change/deploy services within days, not weeks/months

• Most users providing high CX ratings

• Intuitive experience, no training needed

Medium aspiration likely infrastructure (DPI) required:

• Content Management System(s)

• Digital ID and auth passthrough

• Integration infrastructure

• Data exchange and simple reporting

• Simple automation & chatbots

• Payment system(s)

Higher aspiration likely infrastructure (DPI) required:

• All medium aspiration infrastructure, plus

• Omni-channel integration architecture

• Data utilities & verification services

• Data analytics, CX monitoring

• Feedback & analysis infrastructure

• Service/data registers

• Case management

• Notifications

• Delegation of authority

• AI monitoring, testing, integration

People capabilities required: User research, CX, Service design, Customer service, Product management, Agile development, Life journey mapping, Apps/website dev, Integration/APIs, Data/AI management, analysis, monitoring etc, Platforms & cloud, Content management.

Program enablers: Clear leadership (eg. a Chief Services Officer with authority & budget to deliver/oversee), Cross-portfolio governance, Agile budgeting, Sprints-based procurement, Policy participation in service design and product teams, Service standards, assurance, Public repository of research, Service innovation capability, Ongoing public engagement, Baseline funding & authority for continuous improvements.

2. Adaptive Policy Reform

Policy delivery needs to be increasingly responsive to a volatile & ever changing world, managed end to end, incorporating a broad range of insights and leveraging collaborative and test-driven methods. This is in particular relevant in our age of complex challenges, transcending boundaries of disciplinary silos. Adaptive policy reform aims to:

• establish an operating model for continuous improvement & optimization of policy settings to close the gap between policy intent & delivery

• Measure and incorporate broad expertise, feedback loops and real time impacts, monitoring for intended and unintended impacts

• establish a multi-disciplinary whole of lifecycle policy management approach

Strategic considerations: Modern policy making requires multi-disciplinary policy teams that value expertise with a culture of collaborative curiosity, seeking evidence & public insights. The more consultative a policy, the greater the chance of effective implementation. The gap between design & delivery is a systemic barrier to impact & agility. Policy owners should manage the entire lifecycle, optimizing policy settings over time. Start small with key policies to develop & showcase before implementing broadly.

Medium reform aspirations:

• Standardization of a policy cycle with waterfall implementation

• Use of data, foresight & human-centred design to inform policy design

• Improved evaluation methods

• Some public engagement

• Some cross disciplinary engagement

Higher reform aspirations:

• Iterative feedback & data-driven policy & implementation cycles, with continuous learning

• Multi-disciplinary policy teams or Transformation teams, informed by diverse perspectives and system thinking

• Adaptive policy optimization throughout the life of the policy and adoption of portfolio approach for cross-cutting policy challenges

Medium aspiration likely infrastructure (DPI) required:

• Modeling, data analysis & reporting

• Public engagement tools

• Published legislation/regulation/policy

Higher aspiration likely infrastructure (DPI) required:

• All medium aspiration infrastructure plus

• Advanced modeling tools, potentially available to the public for exploration

• Impact monitoring & escalation

• Machine learning for patterns & predictive impact analysis

• Linked administrative data

• Digital regulation/legislation (machine readable digital policy twin)

• Policy scenarios to continuously test

• Next gen policy steering mechanisms

• Public engagement tool(s)

People capabilities required: Multi-disciplinary skills, Policy expertise, Critical thinking/review, Systems & outcomes design (not siloed), Comfortable with uncertainty, ambiguity, abductive reasoning, Policy prototyping, [Real time] data analysis, Codesign/engagement skills, Program management.

Program enablers: Cross-portfolio policy teams and governance mechanisms, End to end policy decision authority, with ongoing design informing delivery, Measurable success defined by intended real world impact, Team KPIs include impact & continuous learning, not just blind delivery KPIs, Shared policy infrastructure where multiple teams use the same policy interpretation across the policy lifecycle.

3. Institutional Uplift

Many public institutions were established before the internet, and well before the rise of AI, and struggle to respond to the speed, scale and complexity of modern opportunities and challenges.

Institutional uplift aims to:

• reform institutional operations, operating models, creating institutional agility;

• establish agile funding & continuous improvement with an innovative workforce;

• scale impact through mission-oriented programming, structures and prioritization.

Strategic considerations: Senior leaders need support to evolve their ideas of how gov can operate, with confident and strong authority delegation. Before any major restructure, it is useful to choose a service, policy area or function to establish a modern operating model, both to get it right & to demonstrate benefits. Leadership needs support & engagement with staff (all levels) to re-examine the mission/purpose of org & identify better ways to drive the intended outcomes. The institutional operating model must support continuous change.

Medium reform aspirations:

• Impact is iteratively improved

• Outcomes reported regularly

• Strategic function intermittently analyses program/policy efficacy

• Organization leadership acts on strategic advice in timely manner, assuring funds with governance & gateway reviews of delivery

• Funding prioritized around efficiencies to free up capacity for strategic & higher value work

• Risk is managed manually

• Feedback is intermittent

Higher reform aspirations:

• Impact is exponentially improved

• Outcomes monitored (real time)

• Whole organization is driven by strategic insights in real time

• Program and policy managers have flexibility to scale resources, interventions up/down as needed continuously optimizing impact

• Prioritization processes balance efficiencies, impacts & outcomes

• Risk is data-driven & proactive

• Feedback loops (staff & public) drive operational improvements

Medium aspiration likely infrastructure (DPI) required:

• Manual reporting and program management tools/infrastructure

• Analysis tools for strategic function

• Some feedback tools (surveys, etc)

Higher aspiration likely infrastructure (DPI) required:

• All medium aspiration infrastructure

• Mature administrative data holdings, statistics & AI function for continuous outcome, impact & trend analysis

• Program/policy efficacy & risk monitoring & escalation tools

• Proactive feedback tools (surveys, online sentiment analysis, patterns)

• An organizational/structural “digital twin” to streamline and automate machinery of government changes

People capabilities required: Strategic planning, System design, design thinking & foresight, Deep domain expertise & experience, Operational expertise, Agile, CI/CD & DevOps, Multi-disciplinary team management (eg, Product Management), Program management, Impact analysis.

Program enablers: Central agencies & policies that support agile, innovative approaches to funds/delivery, Clear & public purpose & outcome(s) for each agency, Performance measures on outcomes for senior leaders, Funding tethered to impact, Cross-portfolio governance mechanisms for outcomes, Clear authorities delegated to senior leaders, framework for downward delegation to innovate within authorities.

4. Participatory Governance Reform

Creating the conditions for the whole society to sustainably thrive, necessarily drawing upon public expertise, intelligence, values and buy in. To achieve this, participatory governance reform aims to:

• proactively measure, track and engage with changing public expectations, needs & expertise;

• maintain a healthy balance of business and public needs through effective regulations, training and sustainable effective economic settings;

• build public confidence & trust in government and in each other, improving social cohesion and public resilience.

Strategic considerations: Some cultures/nations expect more or less participation in governance, so this type of reform necessarily reflects domestic context. Inclusive engagement creates more inclusive services, policies and programs. Engaging the public provides more data, insights, ideas & access to experience & expertise to inform policies/programs, also helping to understand & keep pace with changing needs, threats & expectations. Public participation also helps improve public support and trust.

Medium reform aspirations:

• Reduced regulatory impost without necessarily any change in outcome

• Public visibility of policies, programs & regular reporting

• Regular reporting of policies, programs and outcomes/impact

• Regular codesign of policy options, with open testing prior to decision

• Intermittent opportunities for public engagement & feedback

• Broad representation on groups that provide advice to government, ideally with public visibility

• Inclusivity of policies & services tested prior to launch, inc youth

• Fragmented approach (projects)

Higher reform aspirations:

• Increased regulatory effectiveness and proactive optimization

• Reduced regulatory impost

• Realtime reporting of policies, programs, services & outcomes/impact

• Just in time & open engagement on policies, transparently developing ideas with feedback

• Continuous engagement & open feedback mechanisms

• Broad representation in groups that actively govern major policies, services & infrastructure

• Inclusivity of policies & services is continuously tested, inc youth

• Coordinated approach (outcomes)

Medium aspiration likely infrastructure (DPI) required:

• Human readable regulation/legislation

• Public repository for reports, etc

• Consultation websites & feedback

• "Alpha site" for early public testing of ideas, policies & new services

Higher aspiration likely infrastructure (DPI) required:

• All medium aspiration infrastructure

• Machine readable regulation/legislation

• Real time public dashboards

• Micro-engagement tools (SMS, social media, etc) with analysis/analytics

• Shared governance comms/ tools

• Continuous scenario dev/testing

People capabilities required: Engagement, co-design, Culturally inclusive design and other forms of system design methods, Analysis & synthesis, Governance skills, Multi-disciplinary skills, Policy expertise, Facilitation skills, Communications, Open government

Program enablers: Central support & policies for public engagement, with transparency & reporting requirements, Training programs for engagement, inclusive/shared governance & communication, Baseline funding for continuous engagement, ideally at outcomes level to avoid fragmentation, Programs to support citizens to participate, eg policy juries, civic gap years, secondments.

Final note on the Digital Transformation Archetypes

We hope these archetypes are helpful for exploring how to make digital transformation efforts and investment as impactful as possible, supporting decision making, prioritization and programs that are able to lead to the best possible social and economic improvements. Digital transformation shouldn’t be seen as a destination, nor a one-size-fits-all approach, but rather an ambitious journey. It must meet people where they are today while paving the way for a better tomorrow. Digital transformation ideally shouldn’t replicate the past with shiny new tools, but rather should enable public institutions to deliver the best possible policy impact and public outcomes on an ongoing basis while maintaining public trust and conscience, keeping pace with the increasing rate of change and complexity in the world around us.