MUSCAT, JAN 24 - Oman’s government-led digital transformation ranks as the top technology trend of 2021, supporting innovative mega-events and taking citizen services to a new level, global technology company SAP announced on Sunday.
More than four-fifths (89 per cent) of public sector senior executives agreed that data sharing helps them to improve how they connect with citizens, according to a recent Oxford Economics and SAP survey “The Public Sector Transformation Imperative” of 3,000 senior executives from around the world.
“The Omani government has advanced digital transformation amid the pandemic to better serve citizens,” said Waheed al Hamaid (pictured), Managing Director, SAP Oman.
“With 89 per cent of public sector executives agreeing on the importance of data sharing, the top three goals for Oman’s public sector organisations in 2021 will be to share data to improve citizen experiences, gain real-time data insights, and enhance their employees’ digital skills to drive innovation.”
For the public sector, the top three lessons that make a digital “have” and not a digital “have-not”:
1. Employee and citizen experiences will close the gap with the public sector: Thanks to government initiatives such as Oman Vision 2040, Oman’s public sector will continue to lead data-driven innovation to enhance citizen experiences.
Among public sector leaders in the survey, 89 per cent said data sharing improves how they connect with citizens, 83 per cent said data sharing improves their innovation of existing products or services, and 82 per cent said data sharing helps them to exceed performance goals.
Digitising hiring and onboarding processes can create better employee experiences. Over half of public sector respondents (56 per cent) said employee satisfaction has the greatest influence on organisational strategy, well above the 35 per cent cross-industry average.
2. Data insights will point the way toward actionable insights: Real-time data insights can help organisations to enhance operational efficiency and craft strong policy.
Healthcare has been a standout during the pandemic, with providers using data analytics to target coronavirus hotspots, optimise hospital and staff capacity, and rollout the vaccine.
There is potential for more sharing data among partners to deliver greater benefit.
Among public sector respondents, 81 per cent were effectively sharing employee data internally, but only 22 per cent with partners, and 74 per cent were effectively sharing citizen data internally, but only 26 per cent with partners.
3. Digital skills capabilities will streamline and expand mission-critical services: Already, many Middle East organisations have embraced collaboration and flexible work policies to enhance employee experiences. But more can be done to enhance employee skill sets and collaboration across different departments.
Among public sector respondents, few have implemented the processes needed to improve data sharing.
Only about one-third (33 per cent) have invested in new technologies to analyse data, and 33 per cent have retrained employees to work with data. This skills shortage was cited by 61 per cent of respondents as being a barrier to meeting strategic change initiatives.
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