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The Next Frontier for Innovation and Productivity in the Public Sector, as presented by Mohit Sagar at INTAN Digital Exploration 2015

The Next Frontier for Innovation and Productivity in the Public Sector

This past week, the INTAN Digital Exploration 2015 event was hosted by the Public Services Department of Malaysia (JPA) the Malaysian National Institute for Public Administration (INTAN) on the INTAN campus located in Kuala Lumpur. This event celebrated the government’s journey towards digital transformation, while reminding the public servants of the opportunities provided by advanced technology.

On 19 November, the event featured a series of talks which focused on technology solutions in a variety of areas including cyber security, social media, online learning, and data analytics. The delegates included public servants working in IT departments within their respective agency.

The following day, 20 November, Mr. Mohit Sagar, Managing Director of OpenGov Asia, took to the main stage of the event to discuss ‘The Next Frontier for Innovation and Productivity in the Public Sector’.

He begun by pointing out a recent study showing that the public sector could see as much as $4.6 trillion in Internet of Things related savings and revenue globally, over the next ten years. Mr. Sagar emphasised that the magnitude at which we are creating Information is far greater than any time in history.

What is startling is the estimation of data that will be created by the Internet of Everything (IoE). As Mr. Sagar states, this encompasses information coming in from People, Processes, Data, and Things.

Wearable technology, commonly known as the Internet of Things (IoT) is creating a lot of data. Our Digital Universe (DU) was thought to reach an estimated 40 zettabytes by 2020. This has since changed to now 44 zettabytes. Wearable devices will grow to an estimated 32 billion connected devices by 2020, contributing 10 percent of the DU.

By 2018, data will reach 403ZB. This is 47 times the estimated total data centre traffic and 267 times the estimated amount flowing between data centres and users.

From this, we can now understand why service providers and mobile operators are taking IoT seriously, Mr. Sagar emphasised. He calls this ever-growing stream of data and connected devices, the connection of everything, or CoE. It is important for the public sector to emphasise on this growing capacity of data, and teach public servants about the broader range of connectivity.

“We are going to have to change the way we learn, because technology is intimidating,” Mohit Sagar said, “The systems inside are being taken for granted, because people are assuming if they know, the employee will know.”

From this, Mr. Sagar presents the 5 Main Drivers of Potential value, which includes:

1.      The ability to Increase Employee Productivity

2.      The ability to Improve Military Connectivity

3.      The reduction of Operating Costs

4.      The Enhancement of citizen experiences

5.      Revenue Boost

These factors drive governments to integrate ICT and frontier technology. CoE enables opportunities for governments to raise the quality of life for citizens. Capitalising on these concepts allows for greater service delivery.

2015 intan

Mr. Sagar elaborated on five examples from the region, in which digital transformation strategies are represented. First, the MDEC and MAMPU Fast Track Program which is a government incubator to provide 12 months of programming and support. Second, the Victorian Government Technology Innovation Fund, which provides project-based grant funding for innovative ICT projects that improve Victorian government service delivery.

Third, Singapore’s Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) scheme, initiated in 1998, allows for ease of transportation and payment for citizens. No need to slow down and pull over to a toll window to make your payment. Fourth, the Canberra Chief Digital Officer Jon Cumming, whom has worked in both public and private sectors, will work to transform the digital economy. Lastly, Mr. Sagar spoke on NICTA which was reinstated by Australian Prime Minister Turnbull, to support technology innovation startups.

All of these examples demonstrate that there was a drive for digital transformation and government efforts have been made a reality. Mr. Sagar stated that there are four things that agencies need to be sure of before implementing such a project.

“First, projects must address a genuine public sector challenge. This means that the proposed project should clearly target an area of current or emerging need for the public sector.  Projects must be innovative, they should not be ‘business as usual’, but instead should demonstrate innovation,” Mr. Sagar exclaimed.

“Projects must generate public sector value, including a quantifiable benefit, preferably in the short term. They must be actionable and must have a clear path to implementation. Keeping in mind that a Public Private People Partnership will help with risk mitigation.”

The three parts for successful digital transformation, Mr. Sagar stated are:

  • Cultural Transformation
  • Skills Transformation
  • Technology Transformation

He prompted the audience to guess which part was most obstructing towards the advancement of digital transformation. With most of the audience members whispering things along the lines of, “Well, technology of course,” Mr. Sagar’s answer shocked the audience. He revealed that Cultural Transformation accounts for 65 percent of the digital transformation process, while Technology accounts for only 10 percent.

“Technology on its own is there, that is made available already. It is all about culture. If we can’t change culture, shift mindsets, and bring in trust… we cannot change how we are acting,” said Mr. Sagar, “In India, an employee cannot work from home. If you are at home, your boss will assume you are on vacation, this is the culture. For Indians outside of their native country, they are able to work at home, like myself working in Singapore.”

To spur cultural transformation, Mr. Sagar urges government to think differently, develop another dimension to cultural understanding, start from the end result to explain the benefits, look for the quickest and most efficient path to transformation, and work off of lessons from the past.

Digital Transformation is on the horizon, governments must be prepared to embrace the digital world as it will help advance their service delivery.

“We need to be smarter in the way we work to address the many challenges ahead. That change is only getting faster, the more we stop to take stock the further back we get. The gap between here and now becomes even bigger to address. We need to find a better way to transform our government,” Mr. Sagar said, ending his presentation.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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