Kiwis Support Public Sector Agencies Sharing Common Data

Kiwis Support Public Sector Agencies Sharing Common Citizen Data - But Want More Interactive Channels to Connect to Government Online – Unisys Research Finds

Unisys research reveals citizen desires for speed and personal touch is the key to success for New Zealand Digital Government initiatives

WELLINGTON, 23 February 2016 – New research from Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) reveals that 59 percent of New Zealanders prefer to deal with government agencies by phone or in person rather than online, as questions and queries can be answered on the spot. The study also found high support for government agencies and departments sharing citizen data between them.

Both results have major implications for successful digital transformation for the New Zealand public sector, according to Unisys experts.

The Unisys Joined Up Government Survey is a national study that provides insights into the attitudes of consumers toward digital government services. The study, conducted in New Zealand by ConsumerLink, surveyed 1000 adults during February 2016.

Three in four New Zealanders (76 percent) say they are somewhat or very confident they can easily find the right government agency to deal with when they experience significant life events such as having a baby, losing a job, getting married, buying a house, or a death in the family.

Thirty-one percent of New Zealanders surveyed say they prefer to engage with government by phone and 28 percent in person (59 percent combined) compared to 39 percent who favour online contact. However, younger people, aged 18-29 years, have a greater preference (50 percent) for contacting the government online.

The main reason given for dealing with the government by phone or in person is that questions can be answered as they talk (77 percent) and they feel more comfortable talking to a real person (65 percent).

“Such low support of online government channels is surprising given that 86 percent1 of New Zealanders use the Internet,” said Mr Steve Griffin, country manager, Unisys New Zealand. “Digital transformation is the innovative use of digital technologies to enable business transformation across business models, processes, operations, products and services. But for government services this is about more than just the technology. To drive citizens to use online channels, government agencies need to focus on the customer experience and what the citizen expects to get out of the interaction, understanding that they may have questions or scenarios during the process. Then agencies can apply digital technologies such as interactive online help, online chat, analytics and social platforms, available across a range of devices, to enable truly workable self-service interactions.”

Of those who prefer online channels, half cite 24x7 availability as the main benefit and the vast majority (88 percent) prefer to use websites rather than mobile apps. While preference for mobile apps is low (3 percent), people in Wellington are twice as likely to use such apps (6 percent).

“Interestingly, only 8 percent of Kiwis who prefer online interactions cite faster transactions as a benefit. And more than half (54 percent) of those who prefer in-person or phone interactions state they believe it would be quicker than doing it online. Clearly online channels are not yet seen as a convenient way of dealing with New Zealand government agencies and departments,” added Mr Griffin.

The survey also reveals the New Zealand public has very strong support (63 percent of respondents) for government agencies and departments sharing with each other common information about citizens such as address, birthdate and tax number.

“Public support for sharing certain data between government agencies is great news as it signals permission to transform business processes in a ‘joined up government’ approach to not only improve internal operational efficiencies, but also enhance the customer experience. Of course such information sharing needs to be secure – with data protected when in transit and stored, tightly managed access controls, and compliant with an individual’s right to privacy. But it is an exciting time for government,” said Mr Griffin.

Unisys works with government clients across the globe to drive innovation and transform citizen-centric services through leading-edge digital initiatives, including cloud deployments, applications modernisation, security solutions, and advanced data analytics. Supporting more than 300 government organisations around the world, Unisys provides IT consulting services and delivers innovative solutions that facilitate the transition to Digital Government. For more information on Unisys’ Public Sector solutions and impact, visit www.unisys.com/publicsector.

1 – The World Bank - http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.P2

Research Methodology

The online survey was conducted in February 2016 by research firm ConsumerLink. Responses are from 1,000 people across New Zealand in a nationally representative sample. All results have been post-weighted to Statistics New Zealand census data.

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