IT solutions developed for people by people

Increased use of IT and digital solutions is a vital element in tackling the major challenges facing the public sector. But in order for IT to create value in the form of increased efficiency, released capacity and higher quality, systems must be developed and designed for the people who will actually use them.

The Danish welfare model will come under a lot of pressure in the future, when fewer wage earners will have to support larger numbers of non-earners. In addition to enormous demographic challenges, cutbacks are commonplace in a public sector faced by ever-increasing expectations from its users. There will be insufficient trained personnel if the sector is to continue to deliver high-quality welfare. And these challenges are not lessened by the fact that large parts of the public sector are under-staffed, because of difficulties in recruiting.

Accelerating digitalization

There is little doubt that IT and digital solutions play a significant role in solving some of the challenges facing the public sector. In a global perspective, Denmark is at the forefront when it comes to public sector digitalization. Nevertheless, many public authorities are struggling to digitize at a sufficiently high pace.

The fact that it can be difficult to accelerate the digital transformation is partly due to a risk-averse culture that prevails at many levels of the public sector. That’s only natural when working with sensitive personal data every day, but unfortunately it often ends up being a barrier to efficiency and optimization through IT. Many public bodies today suffer from a considerable technological debt in the form of outdated systems. That’s an obstacle to digitalization, because the underlying infrastructure makes it difficult to speed up the development of new solutions.

It’s expensive, resource-intensive and risky to build and maintain outdated systems. The faster that technological debt is reduced, the faster modern IT solutions can be developed able to make processes easier. That will also allow the personnel to focus on value-creating core tasks.

Ultimately, the most important task of IT systems is to optimize and streamline processes so that personnel and financial resources are released. Unfortunately, there have been many cases of public IT systems and applications ending up achieving the opposite in recent years. And that’s often because user interfaces are not developed with an eye to the needs of the professionals who will use the system, nor for the end-user – the general public. When developing applications and solutions for the public sector – whether for ministries, public agencies or municipalities – designing them for the people they are supposed to help is essential. Users should never have to conform to systems.

Complex tasks translated into user-friendly systems

The dedicated personnel of the public sector work hard to serve the citizens of Denmark. Better services and more efficient case management are high on the agenda across public agencies and authorities.

Many of them struggle with the processing of sensitive personal data and complex legislation they can apply to efficient case management from creation to completion. Whether in payment systems or other forms of advanced case management, minimizing error for users and the state is top priority.

That places heavy demands on supporting IT solutions, and it often requires more than standard solutions. But even when procedures, legislation and supporting IT are highly complex, the user interfaces that meets personnel and the public must never be. They should be simple, effective and intuitive.

Using ‘low-code’ tools such as OutSystems, IT solutions can be built from modules rather than heavy coding from scratch. That makes it possible to either build new systems or upgrade existing solutions faster than ever before. And because such development does not require specialists in coding, it’s possible to move it closer to the professionals in the administration. That’s a big advantage in a sector where the combination of IT technical skills and domain knowledge within the respective authority areas is in short supply.

Bring back the personal touch with IT

The entire public sector is struggling to attract talent. The staff serving the public have to work faster and harder every day.

As an IT supplier, we believe our key objective is to help by providing IT solutions able to streamline and optimize workflows, so more people can perform the fundamental tasks of helping the citizens. Regardless of whether an employee is at a citizen’s home, or working at a screen, IT systems are needed where good user experience is key.

There’s massive potential here for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. With intelligent algorithms, we can create automated flows around, for example, reports and disbursements, so that resources are released that can be deployed on more value-creating activities, while increasing quality.
Artificial intelligence also has enormous potential in heavily legislated areas. Keeping IT systems up to date with complex and changeable legislation is a massive and resource-intensive job. If those systems can propose systemic changes as a result of new legal requirements through the use of AI, that job will be reduced significantly.

The EU's new Artificial Intelligence Act will tighten the framework within which algorithms and artificial intelligence in private companies and public authorities are used. That places demands on data ethics and traceability, making it important to choose an IT supplier that considers ethical AI from the start in the development of new solutions.

The understanding of management increases quality

At NNIT, we have more than 15 years of experience in helping ministries and public agencies build case management and payment systems in high-complexity, highly legislated fields Our sector insight means that we understand the administration's workflows and processes in depth. That’s your guarantee that we always design user interfaces adapted to your employees and the citizens.

Our many years of experience have given us a broad knowledge of the state's project model, public case management and administrative legislation, which forms the basis for our consulting services and solutions. That’s why we can help create better cohesion and easier exchange of data between ministries, public agencies and municipalities, because we take the requirement into consideration right from the start.

We know how important it is that public authorities are not locked into their systems and suppliers. Therefore, we always develop solutions that are easy to transfer from project to operation – internally and to new partners.

We’re ready to help

At NNIT, a large team of IT experts – from consultants, IT architects and developers to cloud experts and compliance specialists – are ready to help find the answers to your challenges.

Common to all of us is that we are not just coders who love working with the latest technologies. We’re driven by the desire to create solutions that make a tangible difference. Even the most modern technologies do not create value in themselves. Only when the development of new solutions and systems is based on the people who will use them and the challenges they will help solve, can we achieve something.

That's what we mean when we say we develop IT solutions for people by people.