The government and its citizens serve to gain a lot from digitizing and consolidating citizen information––but not without its share of risks as well. Ideally, a citizen could visit a single one-stop-shop for all their government needs; a single, secure website where they can pay their taxes, purchase a metro pass, vote online, and apply for a business license. A repository like this would be a far cry from the current fragmentation the government relies on.
Digitizing citizenry would also simplify identifying and managing people. Proving one’s identity can be more sophisticated than a nine-digit number of a little paper card. Basic information can be made available across the board of countless government agencies. The responsibilities of citizens could be streamlined to be a net positive for their time and the government’s time as well.
One roadblock to implementing a system like this successfully is trust in government. Governments across the globe are imbued with varying levels of trust contingent on cultural and sociopolitical values of the people. To buy-in to a system, this comprehensive will necessitate a very high level of trust––so time will tell. Transparency and accountability will be important factors in play for citizens to ensure they can truth the government with their data on a more consolidated platform.
Deloitte recommends a few mechanisms to keep in mind to address potential pitfalls. A roadmap should be formulated for coming years as more services and programs are incorporated. A legal and policy framework that is centered around privacy that defines the scope, objectives, and institutional accountability should be established. This field will also call for innovative thinking on new methods of authentication to ameliorate security and privacy concerns.
Read more from Deloitte’s report.
