As with any other industry, technology plays a vital role within the public sector. It assists by making work easier, providing security, increasing information accessibility and enhancing daily functions in the workplace.
But creating better solutions also involves developing long-lasting partnerships with clients and customers within the public sector space. One method of doing so involves the use of a concept known as SMARTnership, as explained by renowned author, speaker and business expert Keld Jensen.
SMARTnerships help to create a situation where both parties collaborate in order to decrease risk and ensure that both sides gain something positive as a result of the agreement.
“Engaging vendors early in planning is key. This allows us to create that successful engagement,” said Stéphane Lesieur, Adobe’s public sector manager for eastern Canada at CGE’s recently-held Leadership Series event.
“Often, when we deal with the public sector entities, it’s after the fact. There’s an RFP out, and it’s much harder to do this kind of SMARTnership. But if we could get to a more open discussion earlier in the process, it would definitely be much more beneficial.”
Adobe delivers new products and services that help government transform the way it engages with citizens, ideas and information.
“The core of what we’re doing at Adobe is to enhance how citizens engage with information,” Lesieur explained. “In order to do that, we need to work with our customers or partners in the public sector to bring them to where citizens expect them to be, as far as offering services online (goes),” Lesieur added. “From our point of view, it’s really important to understand the technology gap so that we can propose the right solution for our customers.”
Adobe’s latest offerings aim to fulfill the evolving demands of digital government. The new version of the Adobe Experience Manger (AEM) serves to create, manage, and optimize digital experiences across digital channels, including web, mobile apps, digital forms, and communities of interest. With the ability to deliver next-generation experiences across both online and in-person interactions, the public sector can improve the efficiency of services and enhance citizen engagement.
Technological enhancements include the ability to convert PDF forms into other formats, which helps make them accessible to citizens who use mobile devices or other platforms for viewing or completing forms.
“Another of the components of that technology stack is what we call AEM Forms,” Lesieur said. “This is the technology that helps deploy and take the traditional PDF forms to the next level and (convert them) into HTML, guided wizard and adaptive forms using responsive designs.”
In addition, Adobe Analytics gives users access to detailed analytics that help track against digital objectives. Organizations can then use this data to determine how easy it is to download forms off of their website and whether or not changes need to be made to that process to ensure citizen services are performing as designed. The data allows organizations to constantly improve their services.
Many online services provided by the government are being redesigned to improve personalization for users. This not only makes using these services across mobile platforms easier for citizens, but it also creates a system where they can find the information they need faster.
“It’s about providing the right content to the right person on the right device at the right time,” said Lesieur.
With its dedication to making content more accessible to citizens and providing public sector customers with cutting-edge analytics, Adobe hopes that its new offerings will result in many new partnerships within the public sector. By collaborating with these clients and listening to their input, both sides will be able to turn these partnerships into long-lasting SMARTnerships.
