Accenture Technology Vision 2015

Delivering Public Service for the Future

A digital
government
perspective

#techvision2015

INTRODUCTION

The Accenture Technology Vision 2015 highlights

five trends that are reshaping industries and
changing the way people live and work around
the globe. The trends foreshadow important
shifts and opportunities to improve public service
performance and citizen satisfaction with
government services. They point to governments
special role in shaping and enabling the
commercial digital economy with infrastructure
investment, digital-friendly policy and
public/private partnerships that stimulate
innovation. Ultimately, they reinforce the idea
that very soon, every government will need to
become a digital government.

In addition to presenting the five top trends, this

years Accenture Technology Vision included a
survey of 2,000 business and industry executives,
including senior public service leaders, across nine
countries. The goals: to understand their
perspectives on key technology challenges they
face and to identify their priority investments
over the next few years. The findings demonstrate
that public service organizations are tuned in to
these disruptive trends, and they are making
progress toward more digital governments.

Here, we provide an overview of the five trends,

explain what they mean for aspiring digital
governments, and share key findings of the
global survey.

ACCENTURE TECHNOLOGY VISION 2015

DELIVERING PUBLIC SERVICE FOR THE FUTURE

TREND 1

Internet of Me
The Internet of Me is changing the
way people around the world interact
through technology, placing the
individual at the center of every digital
experience.
Whether checking bank accounts,
listening to music or monitoring our
health, we now expect intuitive,
at-our-fingertips digital experiences that
reflect our preferences and address our
needs. Such services offer obvious
benefits to consumers, but they can also
provide a powerful channel through
which service providers can influence
consumer behavior.
The push for consumer-centric digital
experiences is both raising the bar and
fueling opportunities for digital
government. When well executed, a
seamless digital experience can lead to
more than just satisfied citizens. It also
can help government encourage positive
behaviors such as greater voluntary tax
compliance.

As digital becomes even more embedded,

we expect radical shifts in the way
people live and work. Consider, for
example, the ongoing shift from
supporting health and welfare to
emphasizing well-being. Digital
technologies can be used to provide
personalized support toward healthier
lifestyles, enhancing individuals
personal growth and their contributions
to the community.
That kind of personalized digital
experience requires much more than a
refreshed portal. Digital governments
must know the needs, motivations,
preferences and pain points of their
customers. They also must own and
shape the entire customer experience.
Ultimately, providing a personalized
experience requires digital governments
to achieve a higher level of
sophistication at every level and in every
aspect of their operationsand to apply
that standard consistently across
thousands of citizen touch points.

Creating simpler, citizencentric registration:

Spanish social
protection agency
For years, registering for social
protection programs in Spain was like
piecing together a puzzleone in which
the pieces seemed to change in the
middle of the exercise. Though

A personalized citizen experience is a

top-three priority for two out of three
public service leaders.

66

frustrating for all registrants, the

complexity created even higher barriers
for migrants, the elderly and other
at-risk segments of the population.
The agency turned to Accenture for fresh
thinkingand new digital ways of
making the registration experience easier.
Accenture formed a diverse team of
strategists, designers and even an
anthropologist to study the current
process and outline specific challenges.
From there, the team used
human-centered design to produce a
prototype of a new, digital registration
service. With the individuals needs at
the core of its design, the digital
registration service brings together all of
the relevant puzzle piecesno matter
which department or agency owns
them. It also uses friendly language and
makes it easy for registrants to track
where they stand in the process. In other
words, it replaces a complex,
government-centered process with an
experience that could be described as
registration of me.
The agency has embraced the new,
digital approach as a fresh way to
connect with citizens, build citizen trust
and reduce the complexity of public
management. And, it aims to replicate
this success with other processes and
stakeholders.

To date, more than half of public service

organizations (53 percent) are already seeing
a positive return on their personalization
investments.
Yet obstacles remain. In Accentures survey,
public service leaders cited a number of key
barriers to personalization: security (79
percent), customer privacy/trust (76 percent),
lack of skilled workers (69 percent) and
3
technology immaturity (62 percent).

#techvision2015

TREND 2

Outcome Economy
A growing collection of connected devices are
changing the way we live and work. As objects
come online, they enable new services. For
example, sporting goods companies now promote
fitness services enabled by personal wellness
devices that capture and share exercise data. This is
only the beginning of an explosion of new devices
and new ideas fueling an Outcome Economy.

Digital devices will tie together businesses,

governments and individuals from every industry
of the world. In time, this will transform the way
governments engage with citizens and deliver
outcomes. Smart parking systemswhich help
drivers more quickly locate available spotsprovide
an early example of connected devices supporting
an outcome-focused approach in the public realm.
Likewise, connected and intelligent cameras and
sensors can help improve public safety outcomes
by providing officers with real-time situational
data, such as gunshot detection and alerts of
suspicious behavior.
The ultimate opportunity is for individuals to
personalize their environments and, thus, their
ability to address their own unique needs. Yet, the
more specific opportunities of digital devices are
only just beginning to be understood, and we have
a long way to go as the digital revolution
continues.

Sensors, cameras, household appliances and

vehicles are among the myriad of things now
connected to the Internet. For each connection,
there is the potential for new services and better
decisions on everything from how to get to work
to where to go for dinner. This Internet of Things
will enable organizations to offer enhanced
services, such as remote vehicle maintenance,
property management and personal health
management.

84

of public service leaders agree that with more

intelligent hardware and deployed sensors and devices,
organizations will increasingly shift from selling
products or services to selling outcomes.

Only 26 percent of public service organizations are

currently using sensor data to monitor and react to
situations and anticipate issues. Just 9 percent reported
using sensor data today to interact with the world, and
only 19 percent indicate plans of doing so in the next
three yearssuggesting significant opportunity to
expand use of intelligent hardware.

ACCENTURE TECHNOLOGY VISION 2015

DELIVERING PUBLIC SERVICE FOR THE FUTURE

in each of the mission areas of government (for

example, education, health, social security, public
safety, economic vitality, quality of life and smart
cities). These ecosystems will connect not only the
government agencies but parties such as NGOs and
the public, too. Successful digital ecosystems will
be those with strong governance, standards and
platformenabled interoperability.

TREND 3

As an example, consider that in any country, the

health ecosystem is one of the largest and most
complex. Digital platforms supporting a connected
Platform (R)evolution
health ecosystem can drive significant benefits
The Platform (R)evolution reflects how digital
much faster and at a lower costfrom more easily
platforms that facilitate exchange, aggregation
identifying and booking a doctors appointment to
and analysis of data are becoming the tools of
improving the transition of a patient from a
choice for building the next generation of products hospital to a community care setting.
and services. A precipitous drop in the cost of data Implementing such services for the entire
storage and computing power is enabling a level of ecosystem promises to optimize utilization of
data sharing between organizations that was
costly care facilities while improving the personal
previously unimaginable, and it is giving rise to
health outcomes for the patients being serviced by
new digital ecosystems which connect
the system.
stakeholders, service providers, partners and
While the Platform (R)evolution may be a
vendors in new and unconventional ways.
longer-term reality, platform evolutions are
Digital platforms are at the heart of the ongoing
underway. Health, public safety and human
digital revolution. They provide the place for
services organizations are deploying digital
collecting, sharing and aggregating data,
platforms that span multiple jurisdictions to help
performing analytics and delivering new and
coordinate service delivery. For example, many
improved services. Digital platforms help eliminate public safety and criminal justice ecosystems share
traditional data-sharing barriers between
information about offenders or other persons of
organizationsconnecting all of the providers and interest. As these ecosystems evolve, they are
people who collaborate to deliver a service. On the moving into real time and are enabling analysis and
commercial side, platforms may connect all
dissemination of data to and from a greater range
members of the product supply chainfrom raw
of sources. Likewise, open government platforms
materials suppliers to end customers. But this is
represent early instances of information
just the beginning. Wherever there is value to be
marketplaces that combine public and private
gained by connecting organizations (or
sector data. Developed by a variety of
ecosystems), digital platforms can open new
entrepreneurs, these marketplaces can support a
possibilities. For example, power consumption data new generation of services. At the same time,
from smart building management systems can be digital governments continue exploring the as a
shared with local power utilities to better forecast service delivery options for their core systems. This
demand and reduce energy costs for a connected shift away from on-premise solutions is crucial to
city. Today, organizations often leverage
helping lay the foundation and build momentum
cloud-based, as-a-service platforms to greatly
for adopting next-generation digital technology
reduce startup costs while allowing for rapid
platforms.
expansion as demand grows.
We envision that the digital government of
tomorrow will include digitally enabled ecosystems

#techvision2015

Building a platform for better

analytics: New York City
DataBridge

citizen complaints), and save lives by helping avoid

human catastrophe. In fact, the MODA team has
already produced some significant resultsincluding
boosting the inspection hit rate (from 13 percent
to 75 percent) of buildings so dangerous they must
The City of New York has long been a leader in
be vacated and dramatically increasing detection of
using analytics to manage its complex operations.i business licenses obtained through fraudulent
While it had 4,000+ performance indicators, it
means. The team also helped in identifying the one
lacked the ability to compile and analyze data from percent of pharmacies that accounted for more
multiple agencies. The Mayors Office of Data
than 60 percent of total Medicaid reimbursements
Analytics (MODA) was launched to address that
for Oxycodonethe kind of targeted insight that
challenge. Working with Accenture, MODA
drives the effectiveness of follow-up inspections.
designed and implemented a platform for more
comprehensive analyticsone that would support
better operational decisions and root out fraud and
waste. Known as DataBridge, the platform provides
both a data repository and a suite of tools that
workers can use to analyze all of that data from
across City agencies.
Through DataBridge, the City of New York is now
equipped to achieve a more robust level of
analytics exploration. Employees are empowered to
prioritize and better allocate resources, to make
decisions based on true need (not just numbers of

More than half of public service leaders reported that

they are already using or experimenting with Platform
as a Service (PaaS) within their organizations.

60

In particular, in the next two years, 79 percent of public

service respondents expect government to broadly
adopt open innovation programs with citizens, suppliers
or partners. A majority (77 percent) also expect
organizations to move toward real-time platforms and
systems as enterprises adopt mobility and Internet
of Things solutions.

ACCENTURE TECHNOLOGY VISION 2015

DELIVERING PUBLIC SERVICE FOR THE FUTURE

governments identify under payment of

taxes and, using diverse data sets, find
clues to determine the next best action.

TREND 4

Intelligent Enterprise
The trend toward an Intelligent
Enterprise is about embedding software
intelligence into every aspect of a
business to drive new levels of
operational efficiency, evolution and
innovation.
In the Intelligent Enterprise, insights
arent trapped in offline systems or
delivered to only a handful of workers.
Instead, the Intelligent Enterprise
spreads insights throughout the
organization, enabling a greater number
of workers to make moreand more
effectivedecisions.
Intelligence may be embedded in
infrastructure (such as utility networks,
operational machinery, buildings and
vehicles) or within business processes
(using software intelligence to help
automate steps or provide
recommendations and better
decision-making insight to the worker).
Embedded software intelligence can help

Managing data remains a huge hurdle for

more than half of organizations in all
industries (56 percent)including public
service (59 percent). Nonetheless, in
Accentures study, 86 percent of public
service respondents agreed that software is
entering a new era that will dramatically

Other applications of embedded

intelligence include enabling operational
efficiency, tracking policy effectiveness in
achieving target public sector outcomes,
and suggesting changes to be made.
Indeed, for digital governments, the
opportunities and implications are huge.
With better software intelligence and
data-driven insight, digital leaders can
increase effectiveness in delivering a
range of public service outcomesfrom
better public safety and social services to
increased economic vitality. Getting
there requires a cultural shift in the
organization, whereby machine
intelligence is seen and embraced as an
aid in decision making rather than as a
threat to workers themselves.

Using smarter tools to fight

crime: London Metropolitan
Police Service
How could Londons Metropolitan Police
Service start predictingrather than
simply reacting togang-related
violence? Working with Accenture in
the first project of its kind in the United
Kingdom, the Met Police embraced
analytics as a new tool for fighting
crime.

change the way we use data. And, public

service leaders reported making progress in
experimenting with or using a range of
intelligent technologies, such as rule-based
algorithms (74 percent), machine learning
(68 percent), predictive analytics (71 percent)
and intelligent agents (66 percent) as they
advance in their digital
government journeys.

Through this innovative pilot, Accenture

helped the Met Police use predictive
analytics to generate risk scores for
individuals with connections to known
gangs across all 32 of the Citys
boroughs. Each individual received a
score for his or her likelihood to commit
violent crimes in 2013. Once individuals
were ranked, they were grouped in to
categories by their likelihood to
re-offend. The group-level data was then
compared to actual known gang crime
activity in 2013 to see how accurately it
could be predicteddemonstrating how
smarter analytical tools can inform
different police interventions to drive
better public safety outcomes.ii
London isnt alone in its use of advanced
analytics to fight crime and improve
public safety. In France, local police
officers used a video analytics service
platform to detect and assess far more
incidents at an annual street market in
Lille, providing a better service to citizens
and improving safety throughout the
event.iii And, in Asia, six Singapore
government agencies across law
enforcement, transport and the
environment helped pilot a safe city
public safety solution that delivered
meaningful insights in real
timeenabling a fast response and
citizen accountability.iv

59

of public service leaders agree that

managing data remains a huge hurdle.

#techvision2015

beings. In short, digital leaders will use technology

to make their workforces more productive, more
effective and happier.

TREND 5

Workforce Reimagined
Advances in more natural human interfaces,
wearable devices and smart machines are extending
intelligent technology to interact as a team
member, working alongside employees in a
Workforce Reimagined.

For digital governments, a reimagined workforce is

one with strong, peer-to-peer collaboration and
insights available in the field at the points of
service. To make best use of these advances,
workers must have the authority to act on insights
with minimal red tape. For most governments,
getting there will require major changes in both
governance and culture as part of the journey to
becoming a digital leader.

CONCLUSION

These disruptive trends will continue to create vast

opportunities for public service pioneers to
The nature of work is changing. Already we have
fundamentally change the way government
moved from lifelong employment to periodic
operates and interacts with citizens, patients,
employment. The future is poised to bring
employees, suppliers, partners and other
crowd-sourced employment where work could
stakeholders. Public service organizations cannot
come from anyone and anywhere. Digital assistants, afford to ignore these trends, as their impact is
wearable devices, robotics and digital printing all
poised to increase exponentially. Bold leaders need
will supplement people in the workplace, enabling
to embrace these trends and, even more crucially,
higher productivity and changing the way that work to understand their impact on delivering public
gets done. The future will also bring greater focus
service for the future. By observing digital
on digitally enabled access to and sharing of skills
innovations in the private sector, the public sector
and experience. Governments will scale and extend can tune in to important lessons learnedidentify
use of digital mentors, remote working and job
potential opportunities to leapfrog commercial
sharingall with the aim of improving productivity, thinkingand accelerate the benefits of digital
personal growth and well-being.
government.
Importantly, Workforce Reimagined isnt about
drones replacing humans. Rather, its about
stretching the boundaries of technology far beyond
mere automationapplying a new generation of
technologies to augment the cognitive,
collaborative and physical capabilities of human

74

Nearly three-quarters of public service leaders

agree that successful organizations will manage
employees alongside intelligent machines

For more on Accenture Technology Vision 2015

for Public Service, please visit:
www.accenture.com/publicservicetechnologyvision

ensuring collaboration between the two. In fact, public

service (58 percent) is ahead of all industries (51
percent) in considering adoption of software
automation or cognitive computing to complement
the human workforce.
Already, nearly half of public service respondents (49
percent) are considering technologies that enable
business users to complete tasks that previously required
IT experts. Further, more than half (67 percent) agree
that within three years, organizations will need to focus
on training their machines as much as they focus on
training their people.

ACCENTURE TECHNOLOGY VISION 2015

DELIVERING PUBLIC SERVICE FOR THE FUTURE

CONTACT

For more information,

please contact:
Dan London
Group Chief Executive
Health & Public Service
daniel.t.london@accenture.com
Connect with us to learn more on delivering
public service for the future on
Twitter@AccenturePubSvc.

About Delivering Public Service

for the Future

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting,
technology services and outsourcing company,
with more than 336,000 people serving clients in
more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive capabilities across all
industries and business functions, and extensive
research on the worlds most successful companies,
Accenture collaborates with clients to help them
become high-performance businesses and
governments. The company generated net revenues
of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31,
2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

What does it take to deliver public service for the

future? Public service leaders must embrace four
structural shiftsadvancing toward personalized
services, insight-driven operations, a public
entrepreneurship mindset and a cross-agency
commitment to mission productivity. By making
these shifts, leaders can support flourishing
societies, safe, secure nations and economic vitality
for citizens in a digital worlddelivering public
service for the future.

REFERENCES
i. City of New York: Using Data Analytics to Achieve Greater Efficiency and Cost Savings, Accenture.com, 2013.
http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-Data-Analytics-Helps-New-York-City-Boost-Efficiency-Spend-Wisely.pdf
ii. London Metropolitan Police Service and Accenture Police Solutions Complete Analytics Pilot Program to Fight Gang Crime, Accenture.com, 2015.
http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/London-Metropolitan-Police-Service-And-Accenture-Police-Solutions.pdf
iii. Helping a French Public Safety Agency Use Analytics to Drive Effective Police Solutions, Accenture.com, 2014.
http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-Helping-French-Public-Safety-Agency-Use-Analytics-Drive-Effective-Police-Solutions.pdf
iv. Singapore Government: Safe City Test Bed, Accenture.com, 2014.
http://www.accenture.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/PDF/Accenture-Singapore-Government-Safe-City-Test-Bed.pdf

#techvision2015

METHODOLOGY
Every year, the Technology Vision team collaborates Accenture Technology Vision 2015
with Accenture Research to pinpoint the emerging
Survey Demographics
IT developments that will have the greatest impact
on companies, government agencies and other
This year, Accenture conducted the first Technology
organizations in the next three to five years.
Vision survey, polling 2,000 business and technology
executivesincluding 162 public service
The research process this year began with
leadersacross nine countries and 10 industries.
gathering inputs from the Technology Vision
External Advisory Board, a group of more than two The goals: to understand their perspectives on key
dozen executives and entrepreneurs from the
technology challenges they face, and to identify
public and private sectors, academia, venture
their priority investments over the next few years.
capital and startup companies. In addition, the
This survey was fielded from December 2014
Technology Vision team conducted nearly 100
through January 2015 in Australia, Brazil, China,
interviews with technology luminaries, industry
France, Germany, India, South Africa, the United
experts and Accenture business leaders.
Kingdom and the United States. Respondents
The team also tapped into the vast pool of
knowledge and innovative ideas from professionals
across Accenture, using Accentures collaboration
technologies and a crowdsourcing approach to
launch and run an online contest to uncover the
most interesting emerging technology themes.
Over 1,700 participants actively engaged in the
contest, contributing valuable ideas and voting on
others inputs.

Copyright 2015 Accenture

All rights reserved.
Accenture, its logo, and
High Performance Delivered
are trademarks of Accenture.

included IT Directors (24 percent), Function Heads

(15 percent), CTOs or Chief Mobility Officers (13
percent), CIOs or Directors of Technology (13
percent), CMOs (9 percent), Line of Business Heads
(9 percent) and CSOs (4 percent).
To learn more and read the full Accenture
Technology Vision 2015 report, please go to
accenture.com/technologyvision.