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Public services, as the name suggests, started as means of assistance to public issues and also provide support in government-related matters. Through evolution, the services became from the open public council meeting in the king’s room to different government branches offering different public services such as the municipality, security, legalization, etc.

But with the growing population and rise in complex legislative and regulations, government services that still utilize the paper or physical office as means of information gathering and exchange can no longer perform at their highest efficiency. Governments all around the world now face long wait times, loss of information, slow processing speeds amongst many other problems.

The most critical solution to all the problems is the digitization of public services. Through digitizing the services, governments can become more efficient, resilient and provide the highest public satisfaction. Current technologies can provide the strength and resources to tackle the present problems and as these technologies get frequent updates and upgrades, digitization is also future proof.

The private sector has been extremely fast to adapt and utilize the power of digitization, which in some governments have still not done yet. Digitization can increase the availability of services from certain times of the day to 24/7 and accessibility from certain locations to all over the world. The process of information gathering and exchange also becomes highly efficient and accurate. Digitization lowers the interaction by almost 40% for gather information and retrieval is almost instantaneous. Another advantage is the cost reduction is almost by 60% since it reduces the number of locations and employees required and increases the case handling capacity by 60%.

Smaller population governments were able to successfully digitize their government services. Some first-hand examples could be Estonia, the United Arab Emirates among many others. But there are still many potential problems that large governments need to handle before committing to a complete digital transformation. Applications routinely require hard copies of supporting documents to still be printed and signed, and many online forms are just as complicated to complete as the paper versions. Furthermore, the user experience tends to vary across government websites, and users often require multiple accounts and digital IDs to manage their needs.

While a completely digital future is still long away, there is potential in many different governments around the world to start their digitizing process to not fall behind other countries. If the problems such as coordinating between different stakeholders such as different departments, services, etc, the ability to build a broader support channel, and current limits in technical capabilities are address, the transition will be smooth from a paper-dependent government to digital government.

Resource: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/digital-public-services-how-to-achieve-fast-transformation-at-scale

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While the world is steadily changing pace and face every single day in terms of technology and advancements, we often forget to upgrade and update some of the most fundamental industries that hold the world together. These industries have been present since the presence of mankind. Agriculture, Supply Chain, Construction, etc industries are some of the world’d oldest industries, with a presence well beyond the historical data.

But at the same time, these industries are becoming one of the weakest links in our society and economy. This is because they cannot adapt to the changing environment, which is mainly led by digital transformations. This blog post will mainly focus on the new era of the digital transformation the construction industry is going to have through data.

The construction industry still operates just like in the olden days. The professionals and industry are still heavily dependent upon experience and rely on old methods of contract management, project management, etc for decision making. While this has been something that industry has used to run the projects, this type of management is no longer viable due to the rise of strict requirements such as time, sustainability, etc as well as costs rising due to wastage, inefficiency, etc.

On the other hand, the latest industry which is the digital industry has been able to tap into the potential of their latest information source: Data. Tech companies and many other industries have utilized the data to create new revenue streams and insight for more accurate and better decision making thus creating greater efficiencies in their processes. This is the something construction industry could not tap into but very soon this will change.

With tons and tons of historical data, Engineering and Construction (E&C) can firms can utilize their data in three main stages which are namely pre-construction, construction, and post-construction phases. The preconstruction stage mainly involves contracts, bidding, planning, etc of the project. The construction stage involves the construction, schedule management, safety, material consumption, etc. The post-construction stage involves quality assurance, repairs, and maintenance, etc.

In the preconstruction stage, data from previous projects can be used to draw information and insights. Information could be based on costs of the projects, timelines, material requirements, risks, bidding processes, etc. This can help firms gain advantage through insight and predictions on new projects contracts, costs, scheduling, etc. This ultimately helps the firms price the projects appropriately, schedule the projects in the right manner, have an early idea about the risks involved, etc, thus saving lots of time and money.

In the construction stage, digital tech has to mold itself to be adaptable to both physical works as well as digital works. Physical works would involve on-site execution such as construction, material consumption, labor management, etc and digital works would involve designing, project management, inventory control, etc. The time and money saved in this process are extremely important as a major portion of capital is being utilized in this stage. Every percent saved in money and time adds to a lot in the end.

Finally, in the postconstruction stage, data can help in quality assurance, maintenance, document management, etc. With several teams, contractors, etc are involved in a project, maintaining the quality of the project is a vital aspect to measure performance as well as to ensure the practices employed are up to standards. With data, quality can be measure, tested, and also can be used to mitigate potential problems wherever the quality is subpar. Maintenance is also an important step that many projects fail to consider. This step ensures the longevity of the project as well as ensures the safety of usage. With sensors, switches, etc coupled with data and software, monitoring of building health becomes very easy and efficient.

Resources:

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/the-new-age-of-engineering-and-construction-technology