Government bodies are trying to strike the right balance between two competing priorities: continuity and change. Continuity is essential because taxes must be collected, cities policed, benefits paid and streets cleaned no matter what else is happening. Yet transformational change is also being demanded, while resources are reduced and budget frozen. We can’t go on in the same old way: something has to give.
To face this challenge successfully, public sector bodies need to work differently. They need a different approach to joined-up government: we call it YourGov. YourGov is about better collaboration between government departments. That means:
It’s also about better engagement with all external stakeholders. That is built on:
That’s how to give us the best of both worlds: lower costs and higher efficiency on the one hand, closer engagement and higher satisfaction on the other.
YourGov is a big idea, but making it happen is about practical, incremental steps, many of which we are already delivering for clients around the world. Ideas such as Virtual City Hall, now used by Mumbai, in India, Szeged in Hungary and 56 municipal bodies in Poland. With 60% of the total world population expected to be living in cities by 2030, city governments need to join-up everything they do and engage their citizens as closely as possible. Atos is a thought leader in Infrastructure and city-related services, with solutions that address key aspects of city and region management. The work we have done over a 15 year period for the Welsh Government demonstrates how joined-up thinking and continuous systems improvement can make a positive difference to economic and social life within a small country or region. Yet the most critical factor in making YourGov come to life is ensuring that everyone feels like an active partner. Atos has a long track record of empowering citizens to manage their own services. We do this through initiatives such as Government Gateway in the UK, which provides a platform for interaction between 185 service providers and 18 million citizens, and D!mpact in the Netherlands, which enables citizens to access services from 35 local government bodies.
A new age for the public sector is starting, in which public services will be more flexible and customizable. Atos is already showing how this can be managed in Germany, with our use of Biographical Data for Employment Services, which is helping Europe’s largest employment body, the German Federal Employment Agency, to improve the job prospects of four million people. As we move towards a more open world, with the development of Europe’s single market, projects such as STORK are making it easier for people and companies to access services in other countries by proving their identity through use of their own national ID systems. More and more government bodies are working smarter: sharing resources, collaborating wherever possible, making full use of emerging technologies and engaging their customers more closely. YourGov is a concept that belongs to us all and we at Atos believe it’s the way to the future for the public sector. That’s the key to a future of government without borders and technology without barriers. To find out more about the Atos YourGov vision for more open and engaging public services, email dialogue@atos.net
Governments are under increasing pressure to cut costs without compromising on the services they deliver to citizens.This article from Microsoft’s TOUCH magazine describes how Microsoft and Atos can emergence of cloud and open source will help governments deliver the same calibre of service while also cutting costs.Read the article online >>
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