Security: The Most Important Component of Digital Citizen Services

In recent years, citizen experience has become a common utterance across government. The shift in focus toward citizen experience is driven largely by recent mandates such as the 21st Century IDEA Act and the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Circular A-11, as well as the goals outlined in the President’s Management Agenda. While the scope of each initiative varies slightly, all include one key objective: to make the federal government operate more efficiently and effectively through improved digital services.

Passed in December 2018, the 21st Century IDEA Act requires public-facing federal websites to have a consistent look as well as maintain an online and mobile-friendly version of any in-person government transaction. Similarly, OMB introduced a new section to its A-11 guidance, which provides instructions for managing customer experience improvement efforts as well as insight as to how agencies can establish customer experience frameworks.

To align with these mandates, agencies will need to focus on improving how they provide digital experiences to citizens. This process will require government leaders to make sure that relevant information is accessible for every citizen and that each receives a personalized journey on agency websites. While a sizable majority of these improvement efforts will focus on the overall usability of federal websites, security is perhaps the single most important factor for agencies to keep in mind.

Whether it’s in our homes, our jobs or our relationships, security is a central concern. So, when it comes to interacting with and storing citizen data online, federal agencies must ensure that their websites are secure. If government wants to fully improve the citizen experience, it’s important that agencies leverage a web content management (WCM) system that encrypts citizen data at rest and in motion to protect personally identifiable information (PII).

Here are some key considerations agency leaders should keep top of mind when analyzing WCM providers and strategy:

Do your research: Deciding which WCM platform to use should be determined by its functionality and level of security. A key resource for agency leaders to understand the security of providers is the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system, an official listing of publicly known information security vulnerabilities and exposures associated with software products.

Funded by the National Cyber Security Division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the CVE system contains identification numbers, descriptions and at least one public reference to publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities. According to the system, some leading customer experience (CX) brands have thousands of known cyber vulnerabilities.

Build from the ground up: Think of your web content management platform as a foundation. Just like building a house, you want to start with a solid structure. Look for a single, integrated solution with security embedded throughout so that you can patch and update quickly when new features arise. Platforms that were not designed with this architectural metaphor in mind are intrinsically less secure.

Ask questions: Is it useful to you? Are you convinced it’s secure? Most organizations—regardless of sector—often struggle to answer “yes” to both of these questions. A beautiful website design means nothing without the security to back it. As data breaches have become increasingly more common, agencies cannot be complacent in their efforts to ensure the online citizen experience is secure.

At the end of the day, improving the citizen experience begins with establishing trust and citizens want to know that agencies are protecting their data from cyberattacks. Security and certainty are inherent in any relationship, and when it comes to interacting with American citizens, it’s essential that agencies keep that same mentality.

Agencies who invest in a long-term solution instead of a band-aid solution for website security are taking the necessary steps to improve citizen satisfaction and improve the overall digital experience.

Clark Campbell

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Clark Campbell

Clark Campbell has more than two decades of experience helping government agencies harness the power of technology and a track record of successfully establishing public sector divisions at other companies. Prior to Sitecore, Campbell served for more than 12 years as vice president of Public Sector at BDNA, where he established the company’s government practice. Prior to that, he served for over a decade as the Army and Air Force Regional Manager at Oracle.

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