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Inside the Connected Government Report

Trends Shaping the Future of Public Sector Digital Service

4 MINUTE READ

Today, Salesforce released the first edition of its Connected Government report.

The report is based on a survey of thousands of people across the globe and offers a firsthand perspective on how customers prefer to engage with public sector organizations, what factors drive customer satisfaction in a digital-first reality, and, ultimately, the influence that trust has on customer sentiment and engagement.

In today’s climate of uncertainty, organizations around the world have had to learn how to adapt to rapid change. This is particularly true for public sector organizations that are responsible for delivering benefits and services to customers, as well as for those agencies whose work shapes policy that impacts health, economic, and public safety protocols.

But with public trust in governments steadily declining and customer expectations rising, the need to build trusted experiences has become more of an imperative. Below are the key insights from the Connected Government report.

Trust remains central to government operations.

With the rapidly increasing pace of change forcing swift transformation in every industry, trust has never been more important — particularly for public sector organizations. Having a strong government-customer trust dynamic can help public sector organizations accelerate digital transformation efforts and do a better job of meeting the unique needs of their customers.

Public sector organizations build trust through creating great customer experiences, and for the public sector, security plays a leading role in creating those experiences. When survey respondents were asked about the most important improvements governments could make to their service delivery or interactions with the public:

Statistic focused on security and transparency being the key to trust with blue circles representing each percentage. The first percentage states 50 percent cited a guarantee of security of personal or institutional data.

50% cited a guarantee of security of personal or institutional data

Statistic focused on security and transparency being the key to trust with blue circles representing each percentage. The second percentage states 43 percent mentioned greater levels of transparency around how data is secured.

43% mentioned greater levels of transparency around how data is secured

Statistic focused on security and transparency being the key to trust with blue circles representing each percentage. The third percentage states 42 percent want more transparency around how data is being used.

42% want more transparency around how data is being used

These findings demonstrate that there is a clear expectation that government organizations operate with a high level of transparency and accountability when it comes to customer data privacy and security. With cybersecurity threats on the rise and new zero trust architecture mandates becoming the new reality, security and transparency must be at the center of any plans to strengthen customer confidence and build trust in the digital age.