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Research: Trust lacking in digital public services

Thanks to consumer expectations driven by a world of one-click commerce, governments will eventually be required to embrace digital technologies in public services. There are of course obstacles to doing so, but they are not technology—the main barrier is trust.

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In brief

Thanks to private-sector products and services offered by companies like Uber, DoorDash, Netflix, Amazon, and others, consumers have come to rely on and trust digital-only interactions with product- and service providers. Working with Censuswide, the London-based market research consultancy, 4,000 subjects in the UK and Canada were polled concerning their future expectations for digitally-based government services, the digital perception gap between private- and public-sector capabilities, as well as the amount of time they currently spend engaged getting government services.

Respondents made it clear that they spend too much time obtaining healthcare, registering a car, or paying taxes. And they do expect governments to one day soon embrace digital technology in these public services. This finding was not surprising. However, the barriers identified were. While all respondents knew that technology offers a solution, few felt government could be trusted to offer it. Private companies, they felt, were more trustworthy.

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Since we live in a world where many interactions are only a click away, we wondered how people feel about the level of digitalization we are accustomed to from Uber or Amazon applied to healthcare, registering a car, or paying taxes.

For the purposes of this research, digitalization was defined as never having to visit a physical office, with services are personalized to your needs and available to you when you need it with just a click of a button.

Citizens expect government to go digital within two years

Two in three citizens of the UK (66%) want to see the government deliver a fully digital suite of online public services, with an overwhelming majority (85%) wanting this shift to occur within the next two years. The vast majority of (70%) Canadians want fully digital public services, and 87% expect this within the next two years.

But while the expectations are present, trust is not:

  • Two thirds (66%) of UK citizens polled want fully online public digital services, but one-third (31%) do not trust the government to deliver them.
  • Almost one-third of UK respondents (30%) said they are more likely to share personal data with private sector companies than the government for personalized services. 48% of all Canadians cite security and privacy concerns as their biggest fear in the shift to digital public services.

Citizens want fully-digitized public services soon

  • 85% of UK respondents want fully-digitalized public services within the next two years.
  • 70% of Canadians demand fully digital public services, and 87% expect this by 2026.

Problems currently take too long to resolve

  • 29% of UK respondents believe issues take too long to resolve.
  • UK respondents reported they spent on average a total of 12 hours engaging with government public services in the last year.
  • The average Canadian spent 28 hours engaging with government services in the last year.

Younger generations are more critical

  • Generation Z (born 1997-2012) and Millennials are most critical of government services and need for more modern tech.
  • In Canada, younger generations are most critical of government service, with 16% of Generation Z finding room for improvement.

Citizens skeptical of government’s ability to deliver

  • While 66% of Brits want fully-online public digital services, a full third (31%) are not convinced government can deliver.
  • When it comes to personalized services, 30% of UK respondents say they are more likely to share personal data with private sector companies than the government.
  • 48% of Canadian respondents cite security and privacy concerns as their biggest fear in the shift to digital public services.
  • UK citizens and Canadians report being 10 times more likely to give their data in exchange for a Netflix recommendation, than for better benefits in a public service.

Bridging the trust gap

Nortal has been a part of building the most trusted governments in the world, we commissioned this study to better understand the environments in which we work. In an environment with many age groups and their differing expectations, we wanted to gain insight into how our customers can cater to the needs of the aging population while planning and creating services of the future.

It is clear that governments have a mandate to offer public services in a digital format. But this study makes it clear that technology is not enough. The trust gap must be bridged at the same time. Nortal works with governments to make digital services accessible, meaning we guide the user toward digital channels, enabling them to get important tasks done through the channel they prefer.

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Get in touch

In our experience, trust is an issue that can be dealt with. If a service is well designed and works well, then citizens have fewer concerns about the safety of their data. Contact us for case studies of how we’ve done it successfully.