GovTech technology trends for 2021
In an environment in which governments are facing different challenges associated with the loss of trust in institutions, the lack of agility of internal administration and the difficulty in providing public services, it is necessary to implement technological tools that contribute to counteract these challenges. Thus, the GovTech approach is emerging as the alternative to revolutionize governments and societies through technological trends.
In recent years, States have made progress in the digital transformation of public institutions and entities, with the aim of improving their operability, functionality and relationship with citizens. According to the report "GovTech and the future of government 2020", prepared by the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) and PublicTechLab of IE University in Spain, the most developed GovTech ecosystems are found in the United States and Europe.
In the United States, in 2016, funding for GovTech startups totaled US $336 million, registering a 300% growth over the value presented in previous years. Meanwhile, in Europe, more than 2,000 startups have been identified, according to the report's data. CAF and PublicTechLab also highlighted the private initiatives for accelerating investment in GovTech startups that have emerged in countries such as Great Britain and Denmark.
The GovTech trend has become an opportunity for governments. According to the report, it allows incorporating new work methodologies based on continuous experimentation, designing services focused on users, streamlining procedures, improving transparency, promoting inclusive forms of participation and implementing solutions that help the administration to be more efficient. It also makes it possible to address existing challenges related to the implementation of public policies, through technological trends that improve and facilitate the provision of services.
An example of this is some of the GovTech solutions that the technology company Nuvu has created for Colombian government entities, such as paperless, which seeks to eliminate the use of paper in different procedures through processes such as biometric validation and natural language processing.
In this context, it is important to know the technology-related trends that will impact governments and public administrations in the coming years. According to the article "Emerging Public Innovation Ecosystem", among the GovTech trends for 2021, the following stand out:
Artificial Intelligence (AI). Cognitive technologies, which can carry out complex tasks, represent a competitive advantage for any entity, since they provide agility, immediate solutions, comprehensiveness in all components of any requirement and reliability.
The digital citizen. Digital identifiers improve the quality of the service provided to the citizen and the efficiency in the execution of public policies, prioritizing the attention to the user.
The cloud as a driver of innovation. Cloud computing is an important element, as it offers mechanisms to connect developers and citizens. It is defined by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies (MinTIC) as a model that allows ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand access to a network of a shared set of resources that can be rapidly provisioned and released.
Innovation accelerators. According to the article "Emerging public innovation ecosystem", accelerators, incubators and government laboratories are part of the emerging trend. These mitigate risks and allow solutions to be developed while avoiding the risk aversion of institutions.
Anticipatory governance and ethics. Regarding anticipatory governance, it is important to mention that data analysis, scenarios and simulations allow the development of a predictive analysis. And, regarding ethics, it is essential to point out that, nowadays, tools in favor of ethics and cybersecurity are required, due to the enormous traffic of data and information that institutions collect and use.
In this regard, Nuvu created an application that allows the exploration of data to describe, predict and prescribe behavioral patterns, for example, in the area of crime and public safety. The application, called Xcrime, is a predictive model for the allocation of security resources, which considers the levels of risk of crime occurrence and particular crime dynamics with AI.
Thus, the GovTech ecosystem is impacting public administration. Technology and digitization have become the instrument for the improvement and efficiency in the provision of public services and tasks by governments. However, despite the advances, the GovTech trend continues to face challenges. According to the CAF and PublicTechLab report, barriers that affect its development, associated with cultural and political aspects, public procurement processes, the business model and low investment, must be overcome.
