ICF: 90% of Federal Leaders Say Govt Digital Efforts Should Prioritize Citizen Experience

A new ICF survey has found that 90 percent of federal agency leaders said they think agencies should make citizen experience a priority in their digital transformation efforts.

ICF said Tuesday it polled 500 government program level directors and employees for the Federal Digital Trends 2018 Report and found that 97 percent of respondents said the government has the responsibility to deploy digital services and platforms needed to improve citizen experience.

More than 90 percent of federal executives said they believe that talent and soft skills are critical in the development of digital technology platforms and that the acquisition process for federal information technology systems should be updated.

The survey showed that 80 percent of respondents said agencies tend to focus more on back-end technology tools than the quality of digital experience among citizens.

ICF noted that 41 percent of respondents think security issues hamper efforts to advance digital services and 17 percent said they believe the human resources department plays a critical role in supporting digital efforts.

“Federal leaders need to also focus on human-centered design, change management, recruiting and deep analytics to understand citizen needs,” said Kris Tremaine, a senior vice president at ICF.

“Creating a culture of innovation, prioritizing the citizen experience, and implementing an integrated approach are critical in order to move forward,” Tremaine added.