Summary

This year the survey revealed that Swiss citizens and public service employees trust and use the e-government services available to them. Nevertheless, the range of digital government services should be expanded. On the other hand, the question arises as to how a further expansion of services, including the relevant costs, in the course of digital transformation can be financed.

About the study

Deloitte Switzerland conducted an online-survey for the third time in February 2023 on the digital services offered by the Swiss administration.

More than 1,000 citizens in Switzerland, 239 of whom are public service employees, were surveyed as part of this Deloitte 2023 survey on trust in e-government services.

Key findings and recommendations

Expand the range of services in the course of digital transformation

Swiss citizens and public service employees use the e-government services available to them. Nevertheless, the range of digital government services should be expanded.

Recommendation

E-government services can be expanded in many ways. One approach is to expand the digital portfolio or even replace physical government services. Another approach involves supplementing the way in which e-government services are offered, in which a tailor-made offer is designed according to the needs of citizens.

Data protection and IT infrastructure

Data protection and the IT infrastructure, tend to be perceived as secure but are in need of updating in order to maintain the crisis resistance of digital government services, such as in the event of cyberattacks.

Recommendation

To ensure this resilience, new legal foundations are needed to close legal gaps, and physical administrative procedures and the physical storage of data must be maintained in order to remain functional in the event of cyberattacks.

Financing the expansion of services in the course of digital transformation

Although the respondents indicated that the existing range of e-government services should be further expanded to advance digital transformation, the majority of them reject paying higher taxes or higher fees for this.

Recommendation

Various measures are possible, such as:

• Involving users in budget allocation
• Collaboration between administrative units
• Building financial ecosystems

Professional competence

A further challenge is the lack of investment in the professional competence of existing public service employees. According to the respondents, well-trained employees are the most important factor for digital transformation.

Recommendation

In times of skills shortages and the need to remain an attractive place to work in the labour market, more flexible working models have emerged. These include not only the possibility of flexible working hours and work-from-home options, but also working models with a focus on mobility, such as in form of mobility within the organisation and mobility between the public and private sectors.

More trust in e-government services through customer-centric design and increased technical expertise

The findings of the Swiss Digital Government Study 2023 can be divided into four parts, of which the first three are found mainly at the citizen level and the last part at the administration level:

Part 1: Customer-centric design of e-government services
 

Customer-centric design of e-government services

Just under half of the respondents are satisfied with the existing range of e-government services. Furthermore, around 58% of respondents believe that the digital possibilities should be used by public authorities to proactively provide existing services. The automatic renewal of identity cards or comparable documents would be an example of this. The majority of people of all age groups are in favour of this expansion. This indicates that the Swiss public has confidence in the provision of digital services and that further potential can be reaped through digital transformation, such as time savings from the proactive implementation of e-government services.

Part 2: Ensuring the resilience of digital government services through analogue means and stable infrastructure
 

Ensuring the resilience of digital government services through analogue means and stable infrastructure

Data protection tends to be rated as satisfactory by citizens and public service employees. Nevertheless, many respondents do not want to forego the possibility of physically storing data so that government services can still be ensured in an emergency, such as in the event of a cyberattack. These results apply regardless of whether the digital affinity of the respondents towards e-government services is high or low. The crisis resistance of the IT infrastructure is considered more critical in comparison. In this regard, only 2 out of 5 respondents believe that the federal government, cantons and municipalities have a secure and crisis-resistant IT infrastructure.

The legal situation must be taken into account here. Although the government can act by means of emergency law in crisis situations in which a rapid response capability is essential, emergency situations are rare in the context of digitalisation. According to the results, citizens and public service employees prefer to close legal gaps in the context of digital transformation with new legal foundations rather than interpreting existing legal foundations in favour of digital transformation. The lengthy legislative process, including consultation on the legal foundations, limits the administration’s general responsiveness and speed of adaptation.

Part 3: Unwillingness to invest in digital government services with public funds
 

Unwillingness to invest in digital government services with public funds

Shifting tax money from the federal government, the canton and the municipalities towards digital transformation is perceived ambivalently by citizens. Around one third of respondents state that an investment in digital transformation should take place through an adjusted budget allocation. The majority of citizens also reject a tax increase or additional fees for the advancement of digital transformation. This finding applies regardless of individual preferences for e-government services. This attitude has remained constant over the last three years.

In contrast, the willingness to purchase digital government services provided by private companies has increased significantly compared to 2021. In the Deloitte Swiss Digital Government Study 2021, 83 to 89% of respondents indicated that they would prefer to use digital services provided by government institutions than by private providers. Current results show that one in three respondents is now willing to use digital government services provided by private companies. A further shift in opinion among the rejecters could be attained if lower costs (1st place), greater expertise (2nd place) or a better security guarantee (3rd place) could be expected from private companies.

Part 4: Operational hurdles to the expansion of government services

Operational hurdles to the expansion of government services

Both citizens and public service employees were asked about their perception of the existing range of government services. The survey asked public service employees to give their own assessment of the availability, the current state of transformation and the perceived hurdles of digitalisation. The results show that public service employees tend to be in favour of expanding the existing range of e-government services because they believe the current range does not meet the needs of the economy and the Swiss public. Well-trained employees who have digital skills are seen as the most important success factor for digital transformation. Nearly half of the public service employees think that their organisational/administrative unit augments the existing team with employees who possess sound digital skills, and that the working methods are made more efficient with new technologies. On the other hand, fewer believe that there is sufficient targeted investment in the development of digital skills among existing employees.

Methodology

Learn more about the methodology we used in the Deloitte Swiss Digital Government Study 2023.

To analyse and understand the behaviour and preferences of Swiss citizens regarding e-government services, Deloitte conducted an online survey for the third time in February 2023 involving more than 1,000 participants between the ages of 18 and 80 – in both urban and rural settings, and in the German-, French- and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland.

Of these, 239 were public service employees. This allowed us to determine not only citizens’ perceptions of e-government services, but also views within the authorities and administrations about their work in the context of digitalisation, as well as challenges associated with transformation.

To determine the existing level of trust, the first part of the survey asked citizens and public service employees about their assessment of the availability of digital government services, the financing of digital transformation and the degree of perceived resilience of these services. The second step consisted of asking public service employees to provide an assessment of the current status of digital transformation in their organisation, the implementation of data protection in their organisation and the hurdles to digital transformation.