Using low-code platforms for faster and more cost-effective development of digital citizen services
Author: Yves Vanderbeken, Kurt Wayenberg
Government agencies worldwide are looking to provide a better-quality and less-costly digital service experience to citizens. Governments need to deliver services faster and cannot afford to spend months in writing requirements and then developing and testing new applications.
Typical responses from government leaders include implementing innovation plans, applied performance management and budget cuts to spark transformative change. However, most of these initiatives have failed to turn the tide on delivering sustainable improvements. Budget cuts have led to short-term cost savings at the cost of infrastructure, system maintenance and upgraded life cycles.
Government chief information officers (CIOs) recognize that their agency must be agile and innovative, but they struggle to be responsive in developing digital initiatives. CIOs must balance addressing their decaying application landscape with contributing to their agency’s digital needs.
The top priority for application developers in the government sector is to improve the quality of digital citizen experiences, followed closely by reducing service delivery costs. But is that possible with traditional software tools and processes?
Hard-coding applications in traditional languages may offer maximum flexibility and customization, but this typically comes at the expense of longer development times and higher budgets — due to managing complexity in designing, testing, deploying and maintaining the applications.
It is time for a different approach. It is time for low-code platforms.
About the authors
Yves Vanderbeken, chief technologist for DXC Technology in Belgium, focuses on delivering innovative approaches to digital services transformation, deriving public and business value from data, and helping governments at all levels realize benefits from consolidated platforms and shared services in the drive toward “everything as a service.” He holds two master’s degrees from the Antwerp Management School; one in IT Management and the other in IT Governance and Assurance.
Kurt Wayenberg, low-code application expert at DXC Technology, is an experienced solution architect with exceptional technical knowledge and coaching abilities. He previously worked as a solution architect for Hewlett-Packard and senior information engineer for EDS. He offers a broad knowledge of Microsoft technologies, architecture and application experience.
How DXC can help
DXC Technology helps government agencies lower administrative costs, reduce fraud and abuse, and improve the quality of services for individuals. DXC has established a competence center for digital technologies that helps institutions better collect and analyze data, resolve issues of legacy transformation and deliver new citizen experiences. Our deep experience helps government organizations strategize, plan and execute their journey toward becoming a digital organization.