Good government tech maps to (and ideally improves) the operations of government — the entire workflow, which always involves many people and typically different agendas and needs. This simple point is often overlooked when people assume there’s just one piece of technology an agency needs to operate. Few offering are truly “full stack” solutions for an agency. Instead, it is common practices to stitch together multiple pieces of software to cover every need.
That patchwork presents a number opportunities for technology innovation — the full value chain available within a department or sector (e.g., fire, parks, etc) and the ecosystem of players in that market.
The process is best understood with an example.
Example: Permitting Ecosystem
The planninng department — the permitting process in particular — illustrates the value in this approach. The permitting, licensing, and code enforcement (PLC) space is a source of both public and market interest. However, no one tool (even Accela with its market share) offers full cycle, end-to-end functionality, so agencies need to manage and connect multiple systems such as electronic plan review (e.g., ePlanSoft), citizen engagement (POLCO), or mapping/analytics (Esri or Tablaeu). their needs around advanced needs such as electronic plan review or present maps or analytics. What emerge then is a fuller picture of the PLC ecosystem that’s not only more accurate for on-the-ground reality, but also more attractive for innovation and investment.
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