BearingPoint Study Unveils Three Steps for Enhanced Welfare Services

Government ministries and agencies responsible for social welfare must develop collaborative digital solutions to improve service delivery.

AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Management and technology consultancy BearingPoint has released its latest study, “Digital delivery holds the key for enabling better welfare services,” which examines the digital maturity of social welfare services across ten countries in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific. The study assesses the state of various social welfare programs, focusing on core industry digital dimensions and social protection categories, and highlights how governments are leveraging digital transformation to meet evolving socio-economic needs and introducing innovative solutions. The study identifies three crucial steps for government ministries and agencies responsible for social welfare services to enhance well-being outcomes for citizens:

• Reorient social welfare services around citizen segments and specific needs

• Rethink how to deliver true change and transformation in the delivery of services

• Realize tangible social and economic benefits for both public servants and citizens

This study explores why these actions are necessary, outlining what government leaders must do now and the anticipated benefits and outcomes.

Andrew Montgomery, Global Leader Government and Public Sector at BearingPoint, states: “Social welfare services form a significant part of annual expenditure for all governments, both in terms of citizen payments and service delivery costs. Our research and client experience highlights how digital and innovative technologies can improve the alignment of services with citizen needs, enable quicker responses to changing socio-economic conditions and ensure effective allocation of social welfare budgets.”

The global social welfare digital services leaders

As social welfare is a vast domain with many evolving digital developments, a simple, single-dimension maturity model would not provide any meaningful insight. Therefore, the study’s approach was multi-dimensional, examining the global digital service maturity of social welfare benefits across four digital dimensions and six social welfare categories. Of the ten countries assessed for their achievements in digitalizing access to social welfare services, the research shows that countries like Singapore, France, and Canada are typically at a higher level of digital maturity than others and offer leading practice examples. Singapore was the most digitally mature globally.

Countries were assessed on a score from 1-5 across four of the OECD’s Digital Dimensions (Digital by Design, User Driven, Government as a Platform, and Proactiveness) and the EU/EEA’s MISSOC Social Protection Categories (Unemployment, Health, Incapacity, Old-Age & Survivors, Family, and Social Assistance).

Digital by Design was the strongest dimension, with all countries optimized for digital applications and achieving an average score of 3.9 out of 5 across all categories. Proactiveness was the lowest scoring dimension across all categories, with an average aggregate score of 3.1, with opportunities identified for websites to include proactive prompts or auto-enrolment functionality.

Digital maturity in Unemployment is the strongest scoring (81%) and Incapacity (64%) the lowest in the MISSOC Social Protection Categories (Unemployment, Health, Incapacity, Old-Age & Survivors, Family, and Social Assistance).

About the study

The study examines the global digital service maturity of social welfare benefits across ten countries (Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, and the UK), four digital dimensions, and six social welfare categories. It was based on desk-based research and validated with local contacts.

Download the study to find out more: https://www.bearingpoint.com/en/insights-events/insights/digital-strategy-for-citizens-well-being/

About BearingPoint

BearingPoint is an independent management and technology consultancy with European roots and a global reach. The company operates in three business units: Consulting, Products, and Capital. Consulting covers the advisory business with a clear focus on selected business areas. Products provides IP-driven digital assets and managed services for business-critical processes. Capital delivers M&A and transaction services.

BearingPoint’s clients include many of the world’s leading companies and organizations. The firm has a global consulting network with more than 10,000 people and supports clients in over 70 countries, engaging with them to achieve measurable and sustainable success.

For more information, please visit:

Homepage: www.bearingpoint.com
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Twitter: @BearingPoint