VIEWPOINT

2022

THE GOVERNMENTOF THE FUTURE
Key insights for developing a truly
responsive and digitally immersive
government

Digital government has been top of mind forgovernments worldwide. For decades, government
service delivery has been evolving across archetypes,

AUTHORSDr. Raymond Khoury
Ryan Alnesayan
Stefanus Nel

allowing for radical transformation of service

Mohammad Ezzeddinedelivery and interaction models with citizens,

Mohammed Aldrees

businesses, and even civil servants. This Viewpoint
provides a blueprint for taking steps toward a
truly immersive digital government archetypethrough bold strategies, new ways of working,and an effective future-oriented government
service delivery model that puts the latest digitaltechnologies and infrastructure at its core, setting
the stage for the government of the future.

ARTHUR D. LITTLE

VIEWPOINTWINDS OF CHANGE

3. Environment and health. Preserving andenhancing the natural environment andIn a rapidly changing, digitally enabled world

citizens’ health. Digital government will

where citizens have become used to services only

enable environmental sustainability, sounda click away, governments continue to struggle

waste management programs, reliable foodto keep pace despite significant advancements inand water supplies, and an all-inclusive ande-government or, as it is more commonly known

timely healthcare ecosystem.

today, digital government. In the future, digital
government will be a key enabler not only for
the way governments improve service delivery
to citizens but also in the way core government
functions evolve around four core themes:1

4. Future and progress. Understanding
research, development, innovation, promotion,
and adoption of future-oriented education.
Digital government will help advance futureoriented national capital, entrepreneurship,

1. Governance and resilience. Protecting

localization, and a world-class education

citizens and ensuring their peace and security
within and beyond national borders. Digital
government will enable governments to adopt
a citizen-centric business model, provide
efficient governance, optimize citizens’ trust,and encourage best-in-class participation andconsensus building.

system.
In progressing across these four themes
and providing more personalized services
to constituents, most of the leading digital
government countries in United Nations (UN)e-government rankings (by the UN Departmentof Economic and Social Affairs) have been jostling

2. Economy and society. Ensuring economic

for a top 10 position over the last decade. Gulf

growth and social well-being for all citizens

Cooperation Council (GCC) nations have madethrough a variety of services. Digital

strides in this race, yet they can do more to reachgovernment will allow for a stable economic

their full potential on the digital government

environment, top-quality public services,evolution journey. These global and regionaland easier ways of doing business, and will

evolutions are shown in Figure 1 .

promote competitiveness.
1“Government in 2071: Guidebook.” World Government Summit,
January 2018.

Figure 1. UN e-government rankings 2010-2020
2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

7

4

16

9

1

1

Denmark

1

1

1

3

3

2

Republic of Korea

20

20

15

13

16

3

Estonia

19

9

10

5

6

4

Finland

8

12

2

2

2

5

Australia

12

7

14

6

5

6

Sweden

4

3

8

1

4

7

United Kingdom

14

13

9

8

8

8

New Zealand

2

5

7

12

11

9

USA

5

2

5

7

13

10

Netherlands

49

28

32

29

21

21

UAE

13

36

18

24

26

38

Bahrain

58

41

36

44

52

43

Saudi Arabia

50

63

49

40

41

46

Kuwait

82

64

48

66

63

50

Oman

62

48

44

48

51

66

Qatar

x Ranked 6-10

x Ranked >10x Ranked 1-5

Source: 2020 UN E-Government Survey
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FUTURE

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ARTHUR D. LITTLE

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DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIESS TEERING THE JOURNE Y

manner, thus improving overall customer

In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has been

deployed across applications in leading digitala catalyst for change in the way governments

governments.

satisfaction and freeing up human resources
for other critical tasks. RPA is being widelyoffer services to their citizens. It has highlighted
in real-life terms the importance of digital tools,
platforms, and services for a nation to be resilient
and adaptable. The transformation to digital
government is simply a journey steered by thecontinuous advancements in digital technologies
and data analytics, which present innovative ways
for both private and public enterprises to conductbusiness and deliver services. Examples of suchkey digital technologies include but are certainly
not limited to:- Connectivity and 5G infrastructure. As

T R A N S F O R M AT I O N T O
D I G I TA L G O V E R N M E N T
I S S I M P LY A J O U R N E YSTEERED BY THE
CONTINUOUS
A D VA N C E M E N T S I N
D I G I TA L T E C H N O L O G I E S
A N D D ATA A N A LY T I C S

key to realizing any digital transformation,
leading Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) digital
government countries have seen mobile
broadband subscriptions jump from 32
per 100 inhabitants in 2009 to nearly 113
per 100 inhabitants in 2019.2 During thesame time period, the average mobile data
usage quadrupled. With people and devices
becoming increasingly interconnected, 5G
technology will increase the ease of sharing
data, data transfer rates, and the volume ofdata, thus giving governments access to an
unprecedented amount of real-time data,
which can be analyzed to better serve citizens’
needs. 6G, the successor to 5G, is also alreadyon the radar screen of telecommunicationcompanies and standards bodies, and will besignificantly faster, making data exchange andservice delivery even more expeditious.

- Robotic process automation (RPA). RPA canbe thought of as software robots, which can beused to standardize and automate repeatable
government processes. This method of
automation can enable tasks to be performed- Machine learning (ML) and artificial

intelligence (AI). As of late, governments areusing data analytics/ML to extract insights
related to the needs and behaviors of theircitizens, design better systems and processes,
allocate resources where needed most, andimprove efficiencies. In the years to come,governments will be able to leverage thefull power of AI to automatically predict anddeliver on the needs of their citizens without
any action required by the citizens themselves— truly a real-time responsive and immersive
government service delivery experience.

- Citizen digital identity. A digital identity
provides a secure means to prove an

individual’s identity via any government digitalchannel that is available to citizens. This is
critical, particularly for inclusion and accessto government services. Digital identity
ecosystems are quickly evolving and allowing
governments to be more responsive to citizens
regardless of the channel used to accessdigital government services.

faster, accurately, and in a standardized
2“OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2020.” Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), 27 November 2020.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FUTURE

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ARTHUR D. LITTLE

VIEWPOINT

Prevailing digital government challenges

Risks of government inaction remain great

Although the aforementioned digital technology

Governments that do not address the previously

advancements will allow future-oriented

mentioned challenges will be unable to evolve

governments to be more connected, robust,

their digital government services to meet

efficient, proactive, and provide interaction-lessthe increasing needs of their citizens, andservice delivery, many governments still faceconsequently risk the following:

challenges to build momentum toward a truly- Becoming irrelevant in the global drive

immersive digital government service delivery
status. These challenges include:- Inadequate cybersecurity measures. With

constant and evolving cybersecurity threats,
governments need to constantly review
and enhance their cybersecurity measures
to protect digital infrastructure, data, andplatforms.

- Underdeveloped data protection laws.

Data protection laws that are underdeveloped
need either to be developed and enacted orreviewed and improved to ensure proper andlegitimate use of personal data and, in turn,to modernize and digitally transformgovernments, when compared to leading
digital government nations.

- Citizens and businesses becoming lessengaged or even fully disengaged frominteracting with governments.

- Lagging in the digital and data regulatory
space, thereby preventing citizens,businesses, and even governments themselvesfrom realizing their full digital transformation
potential.

- Promoting a work environment that is notsupport trust building with citizens.

commensurate with the expectations from- Outdated organizational structures.

mention sustainable — in the long term.

With new disruptive digital businessmodels becoming more prevalent acrossgovernments, existing organizational
structures must be reviewed and updated toempower agile and private sector–friendly
operating models.

- Scarcity of resources and dated skillsets.
With prosperity in the private sector,

governments need to reconsider theiremployment value proposition and foster
capabilities development to support moderna digitally enabled government — not to- Advancing a weak digital economy

infrastructure that will lead to citizens andbusinesses becoming less productive whencompared to their peers in leading digital
government nations and, hence, to fewer
national development opportunities.

To mitigate these risks, governments must
develop bold strategies with clear objectives,
new ways of working with the right skillsets,
and transformative service delivery models

digital technology–enabled transformation.

with the proper and secure enablers. By doing- Poorly articulated strategies. To be effective

members of the elite club, the government ofand realize the full value potential, digitaltransformation strategies must be built on

so, governments will truly advance and become
the future.

measurable objectives, allowing governments
to properly gauge digital service delivery and,in turn, performance maturity.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FUTURE

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THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FUTURE

ARTHUR D. LITTLE

5ARTHUR D. LITTLE

VIEWPOINT

E VOLVING TO G OVERNMENTOF THE FUTURE

and the external public. These efforts should be

There are three key areas where governments

momentum to be built.

combined with a roadmap with clear priorities,
allowing immediate action to be taken andshould focus to enact change, allowing themto evolve toward a government-of-the-future
status. First, governments must develop boldstrategies stewarded by strong leadership.
Second, governments must adopt new ways ofworking, requiring an update to government
policies, a new generation of public servants, andan agile working environment. Finally, the way inwhich governments interact and offer services
to citizens and businesses must progress in atransformative manner from a “one-stop shop”
delivery model to a “no-stop shop” delivery model.
1. Bold strategies and leadership

2. New ways of working
Today, most governments operate muchthe same as they have for the last 100 years.
Rigid organizational structures together withbureaucratic processes lend themselves toministries or departments working in silos
with little room or interest for collaboration.
Public servants of the past were attracted togovernment positions because those positions
offered job security, set working hours, andrequired little technical know-how. Traditional
government structures, processes, and mindsets
worked well in the pre-digital era, but today they

Leading digital government nations haveare not able to keep up with the rapid pace of adelivered on ambitious strategies with

developing world. To successfully operate in aclearly defined, measurable objectives anddigital world and to meet citizens’ and businesses’

responsibilities. For example, the UK government,

evolving expectations, governments mustas part of its digital strategy, has stated thattransform across three dimensions.

“All departments handling over 100,000
transactions each year will redesign services”— a clear, measurable objective. In the GCC, the3

UAE Digital Government Strategy 2025 also has
clearly defined KPIs with ambitious targets (e.g.,
to have 100% of its services digitized by 2023).
It is pertinent that if governments wish todevelop toward the government of the future,they will require an ambitious strategy with clear
objectives that can be measured and tracked.
However, strategies and objectives alone will not
be enough. They will also need to identify andpromote new digital age government leaders who
can understand the value of digital government
and educate internal stakeholders as well as
the general public on its benefits, resulting in

Digital-centric government frameworks,
policies, and governance models

Laying a solid foundation to build the governmentof the future will require rethinking of current
government frameworks, policies, andgovernance models to create an integrated andcongruent approach to a digital government:- Frameworks should be designed to enable: (1) adigital-by-default or digitally native mindset;(2) government as a platform that allows
collaboration between various ministries,
departments, and other entities; and (3) a onetime data entry principle, meaning citizens
and businesses have to provide their data only
once for all government dealings.

timely buy-in from both the internal organization
3“Action 5: All Departments Will Redesign Services Handling Over100,000 Transactions Each Year.” Policy paper, UK Government
Cabinet Office, 16 January 2015.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FUTURE

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ARTHUR D. LITTLE

VIEWPOINT- Policies must enable accelerated adoption ofdigital services, both on the side of citizens
and businesses as well as on the side ofgovernment organizations and employees.
More importantly, policies need to be designed
in a way that encourages transparency andP U B L I C S E R VA N T S W I L L
P L AY A C R U C I A L R O L E
IN THE SUCCESS OF THE
GOVERNMENT OF THE
FUTURE

input from citizens and businesses to build
trust, a fundamental requirement for thegovernment of the future.

- Governance models should ensure ongoingcompliance by government organizations,

quality of service delivery is being met, and asolid foundation for continuous improvement
is established based on feedback from key
milestones.

Next generation of public servants
Public servants will play a crucial role in the
success of the government of the future, andtherefore governments will need to cultivate
the next generation of public servants. This next
generation will need to challenge the traditional
status quo along three aspects. First, public
servants must develop a citizen-centric mindset
as a service provider as opposed to the traditional“approver” mindset. Second, HR policies must
be redesigned so that government roles haveclear objectives, KPIs, and other metrics tofoster accountability, stepping away from thetraditional “job for life” model, and moving
toward a more generalist role for public servants.
Third, governments must rebrand themselves,design roles with career progression to attract
the required talent for the digital age, andrethink ways of incentivizing talent given strong
competition from the private sector. This will
require a new look at the public service cadre
construct, salary scales, assessment models, andAgile and flexible working
To be successful, governments will have to borrowworking styles from leading disruptive sectors,
such as the technology sector. Working in anagile and flexible way will allow governments
to keep up with the rapidly changing world,develop services that meet citizen and businessneeds quickly, and even stay ahead of the curve.
Facilitating such a working style will requireself-governing multidisciplinary teams that are
tasked with a problem but given the freedom
to solve it by working closely with external andinternal domain experts and even customers(citizens, businesses, or civil servants). This could
be achieved through developing a somewhat
decentralized, holacratic management structure
within government organizations, reducing theoften heavy hierarchal management constructmost governments possess. Such a new way
of working or business model can be further
reinforced through the effective participation of
the private sector in the government’s operationand service delivery functions. Today, in many
countries across the globe and in the Middle Eastin particular, public-private partnerships (or PPPs)
are becoming increasingly common, bringing
the best of the two sectors together to operate
government assets and serve the general public
and business community.

career progression.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FUTURE

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ARTHUR D. LITTLE

VIEWPOINT

3. Transformative service delivery model

Governments have grown and developed
throughout history, learning from their past

Governments all over the world are changing theand growing toward the future. Currently, theway they interact with citizens and businesses

future seems to be linked to the development

and the ways they provide services to them.

of advanced digital technology applications

Throughout history and even for some today, itthat increase efficiency and effectiveness andis common for government services to include

radically change the way one interacts with publiclengthy forms, long waiting periods, slow

systems. Each government system adopts aprocessing times, physical presence, and otherparticular archetype that fits with its surrounding

problematic issues that make it cumbersome

environment. However, some models grow andfor citizens to receive their rightful services

progress into future advancement while otherswith the expected quality and within theremain stuck in the past, struggling with a variety

shortest time period.

of obstacles.

Service delivery can be defined as any kind of

Due to this evolution and integration of modern

contact with the public administration where

technology, today’s governments can be

citizens or businesses provide specific data andclassified into five main archetypes:

anticipate that the government will fulfill its
obligations in processing this data for a particular

1. Traditional government

needed service. The government’s customers

2. Online government

usually expect an effective, predictable, reliable,

3. E-governmentand customer-friendly delivery. However, that

4. Digital government

is not the case in many governments due toseveral factors associated primarily with the

5. Immersive government

level of integration of technology and enabling

Each archetype category represents a

infrastructure within the public sector andgovernment’s positioning across six key

platform interfaces between the public sector

dimensions: (1) service delivery, (2) platform, (3)and its customers, be they citizens or businesses.

integration, (4) data repository, (5) infrastructure,and (6) security, as delineated in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Government archetypes
1

TRADITIONAL
GOVERNMENT2ONLINEGOVERNMENT3

EGOVERNMENT

4DIGITAL
GOVERNMENT5IMMERSIVE
GOVERNMENT

Service delivery

PhysicalPhysicalCitizen-centric
onlineCitizen-centric
online proactive

Citizen-centric
online predictive

Platform

None

Single information

MultipleOne-stop shop

No-stop shop

Integration

None

None

Entity-level

Government-wide

Government-wide
seamless

Data repository

None

Limited

Core/aggregate

Multiple sectoral

Single national

Infrastructure

None

LimitedGovernment-wide

Government-wide

Nation-wide/G2X*

Security

None

LimitedRobustFull

Dynamic

Source: Arthur D. Little analysis*Government to Government (G2G), Business (G2B), and Customer/Citizen (G2C)

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FUTURE

8ARTHUR D. LITTLE

VIEWPOINT

Traditional government archetypespecific to each citizen or enterprise requires

Mainly seen as a physically dominant model, thea core aggregated data repository for storage

traditional government archetype is the oldest

and easier access. The means to establish aarchetype. In it, both customers (citizens orstrong connection between citizens, data, andbusinesses) and government clerks need to be

the public sector requires a government-wide,

physically present at a building or location at acapable infrastructure across all government

specific department for a service delivery requestorganizations. This reduces confusion andto be submitted and then, after other department

duplication. Finally, a robust security system

visits, fulfilled. This archetype lacks in platform,

protocol is needed to prevent any breach of

integration with other entities, data repository,

information.

infrastructure, and security. No technology
adoption is seen at this level.

Digital government archetype
The next level of development for government

Online government archetypearchetypes focuses on the digitalization of

Although still requiring a physical location, theservices from the citizens’ or businesses’

online government archetype initiates the uptake

experience perspective, where citizensof technology through a single informationor businesses expect governments to act

platform. Government-related procedures andproactively by initiating appropriate government

statements can be accessed through an online

services themselves. Citizens or businesses

portal that displays the needed information.

can also seek out information and data on a

There is still no level of integration withinsingle unified platform — a one-stop shop thatgovernmental and public departments, withcombines all government information, requests,

limited data repository, infrastructure, andand services. This is enabled by government-wide

security systems that most likely run on legacy

integration across all government organizations

systems that were in use before the creation ofand a multiple sectoral data repository system.

the World Wide Web.

The digital government archetype thrives

E-government archetypeThe uptake of technology as well as the rolloutof fiber networks and the improvement ofon a government-wide infrastructure and afull security system spanning physical andcybersecurity measures.

broadband Internet connections has probably

Immersive government archetypemade the e-government archetype the mostThe ultimate archetype focuses on a citizen-common in various countries around the world.

centric online predictive service delivery modelService delivery has evolved from requiringthat transcends a one-stop shop platform tophysical presence to applying a citizen-centric

a no-stop shop — one that requires no action

online approach to increase accessibility andor form to be filled out by either a citizen or

convenience. To do so, multiple platforms exist

business to receive government services (seeto display different yet specific governmentbox on next page). AI and ML technologies are

information but also to provide the added

highly leveraged in this archetype. Data storage

advantage of submitting service delivery

is integrated seamlessly across the government

applications, attending to tax claims, andorganizations with a single national dataprocessing legal paperwork, and so forth, online.

repository built with high interoperability in mind.

A key element that makes this possible is theintegration level across public entities. Datatransmission and sharing is reciprocated acrossdepartments, with minimal levels of humanThis archetype is complemented by a nationwide/
G2X infrastructure and a dynamic, always current,
security system for data privacy, management,
and authentication.

intervention. Sharing such a large amount of data

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FUTURE

9ARTHUR D. LITTLE

VIEWPOINTG OVERNMENT S ON THEIRWAY TO A NO -S TOP SHOP
Estoniaof this app, SDAIA intends to transform it into a

As part of its invisible government strategy,

comprehensive national application with services

Estonia is building services that will take carethat citizens, residents, and visitors requireof newborn babies throughout their lifetimes.

for their daily life, truly progressing toward the

Parents will register their newborn througharchetype of a no-stop shop.

email, and then they will be reminded by thegovernment through SMS notifications of key
events such as vaccinations, school registrations,etc. Furthermore, simply through confirming
these notifications, the service delivery will be
fulfilled, and appointments will be scheduled
automatically, taking into account the working

Singapore
The Government Technology Agency of Singapore
launched and developed systems to tell citizens
when they need to pay their taxes throughsmartphone notifications — without requiringthem to log into a service. Citizens can thenrequirements of the parents, if required.

click an “OK to pay” button if their bank accountKingdom of Saudi Arabia

payment.

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence
Authority (SDAIA) developed the Tawakkalna
app to automate and electronically issue
movement permits for government employees
and individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tawakkalna’s services have further evolved
to include COVID-19 contact tracing, healthand vaccination status, and, more recently, tofacilitate international travel through a trilateralagreement between SDAIA, airlines, and theInternational Air Transport Association (IATA).
Looking to the future and building on the success

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FUTURE

details are provided in the system to fulfill the tax

United Arab Emirates
As part of the Smart Dubai project, DubaiNow
offers information and access to more than
50 government services from 24 government
entities. Government customers can manage
utility bills and traffic fines, track visa status,
renew trade licensing, and register a car.
All citizen data is stored in one databaseand is updated by agencies seamlessly andautonomously, requiring a simple confirmation toprocess the service and make the due payment.

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ARTHUR D. LITTLE

VIEWPOINT

CONCLUSION

ON THE ROAD TO THE
GOVERNMENT OF THE
FUTUREGOVERNMENT INAC TION IS
NO LONGER AN OPTION IN
T H E D I G I TA L A G E
In a world that is changing so rapidly and on a daily basis, it is likelythat the government of the future will not be an end state but
rather a continuously changing ecosystem that must evolve with
the needs of its customers, be they citizens or businesses. Throughbold strategies, strong leadership, new ways of working, andchanges in the way services are delivered, governments can start
to lay a solid foundation for the future.
Governments on this journey still face significant challenges thatthey must overcome. Citizens have become frustrated by reactive
and repetitive government services in which most services arestill initiated by citizens, even with a one-stop shop model, andat times require entering data for each application. Data security
is a concern as it becomes more difficult to keep data secure
as well as to ensure customer or constituent privacy is always
maintained. Data integration presents a challenge, as alignmentof different data models, semantics, and legacy systems into newarchitectures requires a large amount of effort and investment ininfrastructure. Advancing toward a no-stop shop delivery platform
requires developing a trusted relationship between customers andthe government built on transparency, data security, and privacy
management.
Despite these challenges — and considering the benefits provenby leading digital government nations, the future potential of a fullimmersive government, and the risks of maintaining the status quo— government inaction is no longer an option in the digital age. All
governments have the potential to benefit from current and further
development toward the government of the future as new andpromising service delivery trends, private sector–involved operating
models, and enabling digital technologies emerge. Implicit insuch benefit is the ability of governments to focus on their core
responsibilities of strategizing, setting policy, and developing
measured regulations.

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FUTURE

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