Top 9 Digital Trends in Local Government
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jan. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The year 2018 is off to a fast start and, despite ups and downs on the Federal level, local government leaders are forging ahead and implementing technology that continues to change the relationship between citizens and their local governing bodies.
According to Accenture's most recent Digital Pulse survey, digital government is the key to earning citizen engagement and trust. While nine in 10 citizens said they want to maintain or increase their digital interaction with local government, nearly three-quarters are not satisfied with current digital services.
David Nachman, CEO of Vision, which focuses on developing and hosting websites for local government agencies, said that 2018 will be the year that local leaders fully embrace the technologies that will help them put the "service" back in public service.
"By embracing digital government platforms and treating citizens like customers, local leaders can transform the way they deliver services to be more productive, operate more efficiently and improve the lives of their citizens," Nachman said. "We believe government websites will become the hub for digital engagement and the key to better customer experiences over the next five to 10 years."
So, what are the trends that local leaders need to keep an eye on and what can they do today to prepare? In a new eBook, "Nine Trends in Digital Government," Vision outlines the following trends and tips to help local leaders manage the digital transformation.
1. Digital Customer Experience Gains Momentum: 2018 will be the tipping
point of recognition for the need to create great customer (or resident)
experiences. To generate support for digital customer experience
initiatives, Vision recommends using data from resident surveys to gauge
current wants, needs and satisfaction, and then taking steps to make sure
all elected and internal stakeholders are aligned in their understanding
of the meaning and importance of digital initiatives.
2. Personalization Comes into Focus: Local governments will begin their
foray into personalization in 2018, allowing residents to opt in to
content based on their interests and geography. Any move toward
personalization must begin with a usable, search-centric website and
research to uncover what visitors are looking for.
3. The Mobile Web Takes on an App-like Experience: In 2018, local government
websites need to evolve beyond responsive design, delving deeper into the
mobile customer experience. Successful mobile web design blends the best
of a mobile app into a web environment for the most intuitive user
experience. Vision recommends performing an audit of the most popular
pages accessed via mobile devices. Then evaluate the mobile customer
experience on those pages and consider creating a custom mobile view to
better serve these users.
4. Content Becomes More Interactive & Engaging: The trend toward more
interactive content and two-way dialogue, rather than just static content
published and curated by cities and counties, continues. The most
successful agencies actively listen across all social channels and
identify ways to extend the dialogue on important topics so community
members feel heard by their government.
5. Content Becomes More Discoverable: Given the massive amount of content
available on a government website, findability will continue to be a
major challenge for local government entities. Everything from
appropriate tagging and key words to filtering tools will help website
users intuitively self-navigate to the webpage they are seeking. Search
technology will become more intelligent, serving up related content based
on keyword searches.
6. Paperless Services Become More Common: We expect to see an increase in
local government entities fully automating services on their websites as
technologies like e-signatures and online payments become more
cost-effective and easier to integrate with front-end web experiences.
These services will require investments in new software and the patience
to begin slowly until both internal and external stakeholders are
comfortable with the new processes.
7. A Team-based Content Model is Emerging: Most local government
organizations now have a distributed content model with at least one
content contributor per department. Staff skills in writing for the web
vary, creating a Wild West of content creation. In 2018, we will see a
shift to a team-based model, with trained communications professionals at
the helm, leveraging content to create a better overall customer
experience.
8. Cloud-Based Hosting Grows as Security Remains a Top Priority: Security is
at the forefront of our minds, and it's taking center stage when it comes
to website development and hosting. As you are thinking about your
website development, consider the security of your customer's
information. Your customers will only interact with your website if they
trust you. Make sure your security certificate is updated on all pages
and that your hosting vendor leverages a leading Distributed Denial of
Service (DDoS) solution.
9. Web Accessibility is Here to Stay: Government websites have often ignored
users with vision loss, hearing impairments and other disabilities. Web
accessibility will continue to get the attention it deserves. Not only
are local government agencies recognizing that greater accessibility for
web visitors is the right thing to do, it's the law. Local agencies
should appoint an accessibility coordinator and adopt a formal
accessibility statement that outlines key standards and provides a
contact for reporting issues.
"It's clear that, in the local digital government arena, 2018 will be the year that more agencies move from talk into action," Nachman concluded. "City and county websites will become more personal, mobile, interactive and engaging, creating internal efficiencies and greatly improving the customer experience."
For information or to request a free website review and consultation, call Vision at 888-263-8847 or visit info.visioninternet.com/free-consultation.
About Vision
Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Vision is a national leader in government website design, development and hosting with more than 800 government, non-profit and education clients in U.S. and Canadian communities with populations that range from less than 1,000 residents to more than 5 million. For more than 20 years, Vision has created cost-effective solutions that increase government efficiency, build transparency and promote interactive communications with citizens.
CONTACT:
Lynette Viviani
973-534-1004
lynette.viviani@vivianipr.com
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SOURCE Vision
