As governments assess their digital transformation challenges and take the necessary steps to keep their agencies operating as efficiently as possible, it is easy to get lost in or misled by technical jargon and flashy messaging for products and pathways that may not be a perfect fit. While moving forward with public sector digitization can seem complicated, the language doesn’t have to be—and that’s the case when it comes to creating the programs and mobile applications that assist agencies, too.
Low-code development is a simple, efficient way to create the electronic systems that are integral to public sector success. Rapidly rising in prominence throughout the past 10 years, low-code serves as a faster way to build applications, allowing organizations to create, deploy and optimize e-government platforms in less time while streamlining their operations and offering citizens enhanced services.
Software for government improves operational efficiency
Low-code platforms are characterized by pre-coded modules that developers can arrange as needed to guarantee an intuitive user experience in an inherently visual environment. This drag-and-drop functionality reduces the need for developers to write code, cutting down on time spent in production while speeding up implementation, recapturing time for in-house innovation.
Using low-code, developers can easily build anything from mobile apps to comprehensive ERP systems in a fraction of the time that traditional development requires. This became crucial during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, as offices balanced the need to maintain internal and public-facing processes while also following public health guidelines to ensure the safety of both employees and community members.
The City of St. Louis utilized payitSt.Louis, a scalable low-code platform, to shift traditional in-person services to an online tax payment system in a matter of days as 2019 deadlines approached. Equipped with the ability to make secure payments from any internet or data-enabled device, St. Louis residents paid over $775,000 in earnings taxes using the platform in its first three months, allowing the city to preserve its revenue collection cycle for this service and continue funding essential public projects during a tenuous time.
As in the City of St. Louis’ case, low-code facilitates government automation by allowing citizens to make digital payments from any location without person-to-person interaction. payitSt.Louis also enables citizens to set up automatic payments for recurring bills, create reminder notifications for due dates, producing a full-service citizen experience while eliminating the need for agency employees to perform these manual tasks. Such agile adaptations earned the city a 2021 Smart 50 Award.
Another advantage to utilizing low-code development is that it empowers organizations to call upon “citizen developers” who can be quickly trained to augment low-code platforms using drag-and-drop features in the what-you-see-is-what-you-get testing environment. Oftentimes, citizen developers are tech-savvy individuals who are already employed within an organization and who can assist with smaller aspects of projects while professional developers focus on high-level needs.
Creating center for digital government that provides secure citizen service
As e-government services continue to emerge and agencies provide their staff with corresponding tools to be successful and efficient in their roles, low-code bridges the gap between public sector business and IT by consolidating operations using government digital services. This creates a one-stop-shop for processes that are moved online.
With scalable platforms built on low-code, local governments can quickly digitize additional services to meet their needs. In Florida, Palm Beach County recently expanded its government technology services to allow its 1.5 million citizens to purchase self-service legal forms online through the PayItClerkPBC app and online portal they already had access to for court fee and citation payment processes.
Increasing digitization, however, comes along with natural concerns about data security. While low-code is simple, it offers clients and users robust safety and protection. Built on AWS GovCloud technology, platforms like PayItClerkPBC are custom-built with strict regulatory and compliance standards in mind for agencies to include data defense and secure payment processing. Enabling further data fortification and government transparency with such measures offers protection for sensitive government citizen information, and peace of mind for end-users who have become used to (and exhausted by) seeing headlines about data breaches.
An optimized government digital service, today
Government digital services are here to stay as agencies search for ways to improve efficiency and citizens clamor for more online availability to public sector processes. E-payment services that mirror retail consumer experiences are a significant part of this request from constituencies, and low-code development is a simple, secure way to move that—and many other processes—into the modern online landscape.
As the leading SaaS provider of digital government services and payments, PayIt is committed to helping your organization simplify doing business by consolidating hundreds of services and payments. Book a demo today to learn how we can help you streamline your operations and create one connected experience for citizens.
