5 Key Public Sector Themes for 2021

Tyler Podcast Episode 23, Transcript

Our Tyler Technologies podcast explores a wide range of complex, timely, and important issues facing communities and the public sector. Expect approachable tech talk mixed with insights from subject matter experts and a bit of fun. Host and Content Marketing Director Jeff Harrell – and other guest hosts – highlights the people, places, and technology making a difference. Give us listen today and subscribe.

Episode Summary

2020 is over. And now that we’re well into Q1 of 2021, we share the five key themes we are talking about and tracking this year in the public sector. And how has the pandemic impacted these key themes. The perfect person to educate us on this topic is Tyler’s Editorial Manager, Meredith Trimble. Meredith has an extensive background in the public sector, writes and produces the Tyler blog, and is a guest contributor for publications like GovLoop, ELGL, and the American City & County.

Transcript

Meredith Trimble: Not only will these themes produce solutions that will remain, I think we'll see a really interesting and valuable evolution of public sector utilizing these new solutions for years to come.

Jeff Harrell: From Tyler Technologies, it's the Tyler Tech podcast, where we talk about issues facing communities today and highlight the people, places, and technology, making a difference. I'm your host, Jeff Harrell. I'm the director of content marketing for Tyler and I'm so glad that you joined me.

Well, 2020 is over. I think you probably know that. And now that we're into Q1 of 2021, we wanted to share the five key themes that we are talking about and that we are tracking this year in the public sector. And how has the pandemic impacted these key themes? Well, the perfect person to educate us on this topic is Tyler's editorial manager, Meredith Trimble.

Meredith has an extensive background in the public sector. She writes and produces the Tyler blog and is a guest contributor on publications like GovLoop, ELGL and the American City and County. So without further ado, here's my conversation with Meredith Trimble.

Meredith really excited to chat with you today. I think before we dive into the five key themes, it's important for listeners to know your journey in the public sector. So would you mind talking a little bit about your experience?

Meredith Trimble: Sure. I would love to. I think my government path might seem a little bit backwards to some listeners, because I moved from federal government to state government, to local government, as opposed to the other way around, which I suppose is more the norm. I started out my government career in the United States, Federal Election Commission in Washington, DC. And then I moved to be the Director of Education for Connecticut's Office of State Ethics.

And that was in the wake of some scandals that created that new agency. And after my tenure there, I was lucky enough to serve my town of Farmington, Connecticut, both as a member of the board of education and then a couple of terms on our town council. And I feel like the biggest lesson I've learned over the years and over all those levels of government, is that public service really isn't for the faint of heart, for sure. And it just makes me so grateful to be where I am now, to be able to help public sector leaders across the country tell their stories and find inspiration because I've been right where they are. And I know the nuance of the challenges that they're facing.

Reopening and Recovery

Jeff Harrell: Well, that's great Meredith and we're certainly very happy to have you here at Tyler Technologies. In your role, you look at the public sector landscape and key themes that are happening. And so as we move into 2021 coming out of the pandemic in 2020, we're looking at five key themes across the public sector. So let's dive right into those. What would be the first one?

Meredith Trimble: I think the first key theme is the notion of reopening and recovery. When we talk about reopening and recovery, editorially speaking, I should state right from the outset that we understand that governments never closed during COVID 19's onset and continuation. In fact, we realized probably more than anyone that governments went into overdrive during that time. And they're still in overdrive, pivoting to remote operations, finding new ways to serve residents virtually and at the same time managing an unprecedented public health crisis.

So I just wanted to be clear on that, that we're not saying governments closed, but we do know that buildings closed and businesses closed and in person programs and public recreation activities were limited. And so those doors and in-person programs and community events are in fact reopening at different paces around the country. And there are certain ways that modern technology can help local governments facilitate that reopening. Technology can help community businesses reopen successfully, and it can help governments stabilize their economic recovery.

I think one of my favorite ways to talk about reopening and recovery is through civic engagement mobile apps. And these connect residents to their governments in meaningful two-way interactions, so that they can be part of reopening in terms of providing opinions on policy, buying into leaders' decisions and supporting those local businesses as they reopen.

Jeff Harrell: And one of the advantages we have at Tyler is we get to work with a lot of clients all over the country. Any specific stories about reopening and recovery that you can share with us?

Meredith Trimble: Sure. I think there are quite a few jurisdictions that have engaged these types of mobile apps to collect community input and to push out information on these businesses as they reopen. What is open? Where can people find information? How can people submit public comments and engage? And I think one of the prime examples of that is in Tyler, Texas. And that story actually is available on our blog for people to read.

Equity

Jeff Harrell: That's great. So reopening and recovery is number one. What's the second key theme that we're looking at for 2021?

Meredith Trimble: A second key theme is equity. And this is because communities can't really thrive, or the individuals within a community can't all equally thrive without everyone having fair access to core government services. And unfortunately, all sorts of barriers still exist, that limit that access. Including things like reliable transportation, childcare, available time off of work. If you think about what it takes to appear in court, in person, during business hours, for example. It requires that you have flexible daytime availability, a way to the courthouse and back, or to provide in-person public comment at a city council meeting.

That requires evening availability and safe, or maybe even free, childcare. And I personally believe that communities in which all voices are heard, truly benefit from smarter policy decisions. When I was on town council, it became so clear to me that we were only hearing from a handful of the same residents on every issue. And these were residents who could afford to attend a four o'clock in the afternoon building committee meeting, or a seven o'clock in the evening regular council meeting. And just sit there for a few hours. And their opinions certainly mattered.

But it was overwhelmingly clear that we just weren't hearing from large segments of our population. And maybe our decisions were skewed, based on viewpoints that were presented, but were perhaps minority viewpoints, if you were to pull the whole town in. I know I'm going on a tangent there, but it really stuck with me that the public comment process in particular was probably not equitable and didn't offer decision makers the full picture. Anyway, what we hope to talk about in equity is how jurisdictions are innovating with new and creative ways to break down some of those barriers and to increase equity.

Jeff Harrell: Any specific examples, Meredith. I know in 2020 we had an election and right now people are trying to figure out how do I get the vaccine for the coronavirus? Those things require some access to technology, internet, things like that. Any specific examples you can share that are relevant today?

Meredith Trimble: Oh, you're so right. In order to navigate vaccine distribution or sign up for an appointment, seniors and others need that reliable internet access, that's certainly a matter of equity. I think it's now becoming cliche to say that opportunity comes out of a challenge. But in the case of COVID 19 and the acceleration of these virtual service delivery opportunities, ways to enhance equitable service naturally arose. And I think these are the types of things that are going to stick around after COVID 19 pandemic is over.

Yeah. I have a couple examples. The Los Angeles superior court, for example, uses a cloud based online dispute resolution tool to help co-parents create parenting plans, without having to hire a lawyer or find a childcare or take time off of work, to travel to a courthouse. And I think that's a great example of this type of service.

In terms of equity too, there's so much overlap between equity and citizen engagement and the use of data. In Chattanooga Tennessee, for example, leaders are tackling a data initiative focused on policing and racial equity. And that combines public safety data with census demographics, neighborhood based planning, and even some of the local budget details for this type of holistic analysis that produces insights to create a safer, stronger community. And I'll just give you one more because this story actually just appeared this week in the March issue of American City and County.

In Ramsey County, Minnesota, a new type of assessor's report is surfacing in equalities in the assessment process, which is also something very important and it's really moving the needle on equity. So clearly there's a lot to talk about in this theme.

Civic Engagement

Jeff Harrell: I love that. So number two theme, equity. Big one there. What about number three? What's our third theme that we're keeping an eye on.

Meredith Trimble: The third theme is civic engagement. And civic engagement really goes hand-in-hand with recovery and equity. You'll see that all of these truly overlap with one another, but solving for stronger, more effective citizen engagement is so important in reopening cities and counties and getting back to business. Right now, we're still focused on communicating urgent information about the virus and vaccines, but many of those in-person channels of engagement are still minimized in many places.

So this is a topic that's really important now. It's also one that's not going away because even without COVID 19, we've got to communicate around severe weather, or public safety, or even traffic issues reaching and engaging residents. It means a lot of things that are important now and in the future. And I think by way of an example, effectively engaging residents means that they're going to know who their elected officials are.

I think that's such a basic thing, but it's such an important thing to engagement. They're going to know how to communicate with those officials. It also means things like people are going to know how to file a permit application. They're going to understand how to volunteer in the local food pantry, or how to get access to available senior services. And I think we've seen in our clients around this topic, an acceleration of digital processes and engagement channels.

And I think that was, frankly, inevitable. I think the public sector was moving there anyway. But it's not necessarily happening everywhere, which is why it makes it important for us to talk about. I'll give you an example. Just last week I received a multiple paged, folded paper survey in the mail. It must have been an eight pager with some explanation on the front and back. And it was from a town committee and the notion was that we would all find a pen or pencil, complete this paper survey by hand and put it back in the mailbox.

And I was just thinking "No way." Frankly, that could have been accomplished instantaneously with some sort of citizen engagement app or some web interface, because I can't even imagine the hours that it would take to manually compile those paper responses and to not make errors or... My handwriting is pretty terrible. And so there's a large chance that when we had open ended questions, there was no way these people were going to be able to read my handwriting or other's handwriting. So I think that's just an example of how there's still a lot of opportunity out there to better engage citizens.

Jeff Harrell: You were probably excited to get some physical mail and then you were less excited when you opened it up and realize what it was they were asking you for.

Meredith Trimble: Exactly. Especially with remote work and being on the computer all day, I'd be hard pressed to even be able to find a pencil to go ahead and answer something like that.

Jeff Harrell: Well, that's great Meredith. Any examples in the civic engagement theme, maybe even in schools that you could share with us?

Meredith Trimble: I think schools are really on the cutting edge of this. I'm thinking for example, of Ozark Public schools in Missouri. And this was even prior to COVID, but leaders there developed a paperless experience for both parents and administrators that allowed parents to complete student information forms online. This eliminated all of that redundant information entry and the engagement rate of parent users for that online system, there was over 90%. And that really shows that there's a clear demand for that easy online engagement channel.

And one of their student information coordinators there actually said they love to hear parents rave about being able to complete forms at work or at home in their pajamas. And that system electronically alerts both staff and parents when a form is missing. And that just boosts compliance, it boosts accuracy, it makes everybody's lives easier. And I think the school's sector also has really done a great job with mobile apps that enable parents or caregivers to access a child's bus stop location, or route, or pick up time without having to contact the district.

If you've ever been a parent and have stood outside in the rain for 25 minutes, wondering where your kid's bus is, that instant communication and that targeted communication is just such a wonderful service. And it has pivoted in COVID 19. Those types of integrated communication services have pivoted to even engage in contact tracing.

For example, with transportation rooting solutions, the bus drivers know exactly which students are on which bus on any given day. And it makes contact tracing so much easier to be able to integrate that system with the student information system at the schools, and be able to immediately contact the schools and parents when a contact tracing situation occurs.

Data Insights and the Cloud

Jeff Harrell: Well, this is great. So civic engagement is the third theme we're looking at. What about the fourth one?

Meredith Trimble: The fourth theme is a combination of data insights and the cloud. This is because another acceleration that we saw with COVID 19 was a move to the cloud or increased use of cloud enabled solutions. Dashboards emerged, for example, to support tracking, reporting and monitoring of Cares Act Funds in public agencies. And we know it's happening out there in departments, but it also happened at Tyler Technologies. We accelerated our own cloud development to help clients during COVID better respond to their communities with increased speed and agility and security.

And we all saw that having data or systems locked in buildings where people couldn't go, simply didn't work. So it's important for us to talk this year about cloud-based solutions that provide secure, near real time access to accurate information for all stakeholders. That's really fundamental to leaders being able to make fact-based decisions. Or probably even more important to change course quickly when it becomes apparent that something's not working. And increased access to data, it just increases insight.

So for performance metrics, program evaluations, resource allocation decisions, not only the decisions, but transparency for buy-in and support of those decisions. It's so much easier when leaders have access to accurate data securely and in its appropriate context. Those leaders are going to have much more successful operations in the years ahead.

Jeff Harrell: And Meredith any examples, I know you've written lots of blog articles on this particular topic, any examples that you want to share with us, maybe of clients that are on the cutting edge of this?

Meredith Trimble: Sure. I think I mentioned dashboards. And I'll call out New Jersey and Iowa and Pierce County in Washington State, for example. They all created really easy to understand charts and visualizations that tracked Cares Act dollars, which is something that residents are really interested in. And in one story that ran on one of our blogs, Pierce County budget manager, Julie Demuth actually said she honestly could not imagine going through COVID and Cares Act Fund administration without having that data available online and in real time. She said, "Otherwise it'd be like operating blindly."

Cybersecurity

Jeff Harrell: That's great. And as a parent of four kids, I definitely can feel that pain and see how technology can really alleviate some of that. This is great. Meredith, we're already at number five. So number one was reopening in recovery. Two was equity. Three, our third theme is civic engagement. Fourth was data insights in the cloud. What is, I'm excited to know, what is theme number five?

Meredith Trimble: All right. Theme number five is cyber security. And cyber security could be really a year's worth of blogs and multiple podcasts. And it's something that I know our clients are eager to explore in depth, even at our upcoming Connect conference. So we'll be talking about it through the year. Security threats, especially in the public sector are constantly evolving and it seems like governments are playing catch-up all the time. In my own town when I was on council, we faced a situation where an accounts payable staff member wired a $2 million construction vendor payment. It ended up in China and that's money we never fully recovered, even with the FBI's assistant.

So I know that this is a subject that matters a great deal to all levels of government out there. And I think things are getting even more hairy with government employees working remotely right now. And for that reason, we started out the year talking about endpoint protection. We know that a majority of cyber attacks originate on end-user devices, those are called endpoints. And so every endpoint is a potential gateway into a network. So it's essential to continuously monitor for malicious activity. So again, this is particularly important right now in our remote work environment, because when a remote device is compromised, it actually puts the entire network at risk for an infection when it connects.

Jeff Harrell: I could imagine now that everyone is working from home, you've multiplied that risk many times over, I would imagine.

Meredith Trimble: Absolutely.

Jeff Harrell: Meredith. This is great. Love these five key themes. I know we'll be talking about these themes throughout 2021. And we always like to give our listeners a little bonus at the end. I think my question for you as a bonus is, what do you think... the pandemic has really accelerated a lot of things. Changed a lot of things. With the vaccine there's hope now that we're seeing a little bit of a light at the end of the tunnel with the pandemic. But what do you think is here to stay? What step changes and new ways, related to these themes, do you think are here to stay?

Meredith Trimble: Well, I think you've actually hit on the number six theme and the bonus in terms of the conversation and how it will evolve to which of these innovations will stick around. And I think you'll see most of these, if not all, evolve to stay in some way. For example, and this is actually the topic of ICMAs session at Connect, what COVID accelerated innovations will stick around and become the norm. I think these civic engagement opportunities, the additional channels for engagement to reach all residents effectively, are things that are going to stay. I think some of these virtual service opportunities and even remote operations and remote work opportunities for government employees, will to some degree stick around.

I think as we evolve the conversation in all of these five thematic areas, there's probably room to bring a modern tech foundation into a physical infrastructure discussion, which is also something that evolves the equity theme. And I think in the cloud, we'll probably move to asking, what are the critical capabilities of the cloud? For example, COVID 19 accelerated governments getting into the cloud or using cloud enabled solutions. But I think the evolution of that is naturally, "So now that we're there, how do we actually truly leverage that data aggregation and analytics for actual problem solving?"

And it gets to that critical capabilities and whether or not people are really making the fullest use of being in a cloud environment. And I think data will evolve, as well. Where data's concerned, I think governments are going to continue using that new insight for solutions, but I think that too will progress quicker than we may have expected to think about artificial intelligence and what types of predictive analysis might solve operational challenges. So I think not only will these themes produce solutions that will remain, I think we'll see a really interesting and valuable evolution of public sector utilizing these new solutions for years to come.

 

Jeff Harrell: Well, Meredith, this is great. I know we've just scratched the surface on each of these five themes. If people wanted to dig a little bit deeper and get a little bit more information, what's the best place for them to go?

Meredith Trimble: Our Tyler blog sits on the Tyler Tech Resource Center, which is www.tylertech.com/resources. And it's not just blogs that live there. There's this podcast, for example. There are on-demand webinars, videos, guides, and many other resources there. Actually just recently we added three video conversations between our CEO Lynn Moore and the National League of Cities CEO, Clarence Anthony, on the resource center. And in particular, those two leaders talk about what's next in the industry, specifically around the cloud and cyber security.

Jeff Harrell: Well, Meredith we're excited to follow these themes throughout 2021. If someone had a question and wanted to contact you directly, what's the best way for them to do that?

Meredith Trimble: The best way is through my email. It's meredith.trimble@tylertech.com and the spelling of my name is all over the resource center on these blogs. And I would love to be contacted because public leaders deserve to be celebrated. We are committed to telling their stories. And so anybody with ideas or questions is more than welcome to reach out to me and have a conversation.

Jeff Harrell: So great. Well, thanks again, Meredith, for being here.

Meredith Trimble: Thank you.

Jeff Harrell: Well, I learned so much from Meredith and as Meredith said, the conversation about these key themes continues on the Tyler blog. So check that out. You'll find that at tylertech.com just click on resources at the top of the page. And remember we have new podcast episodes dropping every other week. So please subscribe. Again, this is Jeff Harrell for Tyler Technologies. Thanks again for joining me. We'll talk to you soon.