Digitalization in the Public Sector: Why Board Portals Are A Must

It’s no secret that the private sector is typically focused on innovating, or taking advantage of the latest technologies. To remain competitive, the public sector is expected to exploit digital solutions to its advantage as well. This, however, requires a great understanding of the impact of digitalization — particularly on their activities and processes.

With the right implementation, governments can upgrade their public services through digitized data and faster digital transactions. Employees in the public sector also stand to benefit from digitalization with fewer administrative burdens and repetitive tasks — leading to better productivity and higher job satisfaction.

Read on to know more about how digitalization influences the public sector and government.

Digital Transformation for Government

Public sector organizations are becoming increasingly pressured by the demand for digital by default services — which means offering fully digital access to their current and future operations.

How the Private Sector Fueled the Public Sector to Go Digital

Many private corporations today are primarily focused on driving digital technologies into their processes and operations to boost service quality and efficiency. This high digital ability coming from the private sector, however, tends to put more pressure on public institutions that cannot always implement or iterate at will.

The public sector, in fact, experienced little pushback since there was limited market competition. Today, citizens and consumers alike are increasingly holding public organizations accountable.

But unlike private corporations that acquire funds from their customers’ fees, the public sector mainly relies on strictly controlled government funding or taxation. They are also managed by political forces compared to private ones that are controlled by the market. These are only a few aspects that make it challenging for the public sector to fully go digital, regardless of consumer pressure and the push from the private sector.

The Increased Demand for Agile Government

Citizens or consumers expect fast and quality public services — which call for agile governments. Governments are pressured to re-invent the ways they operate regardless of the increasingly complex and fast-paced world.

With agile methodologies, government bodies cannot only transform their strategies and plans but also achieve higher productivity and profitability. Agility can make an organization adaptive, responsive, and dynamic — enabling stronger citizen engagement and service delivery.

One straightforward way to infuse agility into an organization is by switching to digital public services. Governments will find it easier to meet public expectations, regulatory requirements, and their own organizational goals. Automation, for instance, can help get rid of repetitive administrative tasks, reduce backlogs (and even wastes), and improve productivity.

Perks of Using Citizen-Centric Solutions and Automation

A report from McKinsey & Company found that services are imperative in shaping the citizens’ trust and perceptions of the public sector. They expect transparent, accessible, and responsive services. In fact, many expect their local governments to offer services of the same standards as private commercial businesses deliver.

These rising expectations from citizens and consumers alike urge governments to take advantage of modern digital solutions to create citizen-centric public services. Civil servants all over the globe are investing more in digital transformation, from setting up a citizen contact center to building a one-stop shop portal.

Investing in citizen-centric digital solutions allows civil servants to streamline their processes and workflow. Hence, making them capable of providing citizens with fast, accurate, and transparent services.

Automation is another advantage governments can use to create online processes and systems, reducing mundane manual tasks. The UK Government Digital Service, for instance, has digitized its services and fully migrated departmental publishing on the GOV.UK platform.

From sending emails, writing data between apps, to ensuring information accuracy, automation can be a significant investment for different government processes.

How a Board Portal Can Support Public Sector Companies

Among the many digital solutions today, a board portal is one critical tool public sector organizations should first consider buying. Typically called an end-to-end meeting management solution, a board portal can help public companies in streamlining tasks and engaging better with the public.

Below are a few ways board portals can help public sector organizations:

Streamlined meeting cycle

Streamlining the meeting cycle is one of the fundamental cores of any board portal. Convene, a multi-awarded board portal, is designed to be an effective meeting management solution for public sector organizations. It offers live meeting tools that come with page synchronization, laser pointer, and annotations, allowing for seamless virtual and hybrid meetings.

Setting up one-time or multi-day meetings is also possible through Convene’s Meeting Publisher. Users will also be able to create meeting agendas, meeting packs, and send out meeting notifications to participants. With Convene, you can automate and streamline tasks before, during, and after meetings.

Centralized document management

Public sector organizations handle hundreds of pages of reports and documents on a weekly to monthly basis. Convene aims to make it easier for you to find and manage those numerous files through a centralized document repository. Decision-makers or civil servants can quickly access documents required for deliberations and meetings.

Worried about your most confidential documents? Convene’s Document Library is safeguarded with permission-based settings, multi-level encryption, and copy restrictions. For more peace of mind, users can schedule document archival and disposal, following the disposition policies of all records of a government office.

Quicker decision-making

Making high-impact decisions is a critical part of a public organization’s functions. With Convene’s Review Rooms and Resolutions, public officers and civil servants can create, track, and approve decisions from any device and location.

Members of the organization’s board can cast their votes from anywhere. They can access supporting documents, if necessary, and view all pending approvals in just a few clicks.

Better traceability and security

Public organizations are mandated by law for annual audits, making audit trails a clear necessity. Convene’s Audit Trail is built to help public organizations trace any suspicious activities or internal irregularities, and uphold only accurate and verified information. Such a feature helps track user activities or actions made on sensitive board documents, and minimizes misuse or unauthorized access.

For additional security assurance, Convene offers government-approved security features for continuous peace of mind. These include role-based access controls, multi-level user and document encryption, and secure user authentication. Find out more about Convene’s Security Features.

Become One of the Satisfied Convene Users Today!

Convene is a multi-awarded board portal tried and tested by numerous public sector organizations for years. The Children and Family Courts Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS), a non-departmental body in England, did not shy away from acknowledging Convene as a user-friendly and flexible solution for committee and board meetings.

Australia’s public, non-profit mental health organization Beyond Blue also commended Convene for being a time-saving meeting management software with an amazing user experience. Experience all this and more for free by availing of Convene’s no-cost, no-obligation 30-day trial now!

Learn more about how Convene can help your public sector organization by reaching out to our team.