Enhancing State Business Services

Tyler Podcast Episode 97, 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. Each episode highlights the people, places, and technology making a difference. Give the podcast a listen today and subscribe.

Show Notes

On this episode of The Tyler Tech Podcast, we welcome back Ron Thornburgh, former Kansas secretary of state and current vice president of digital government policy and advocacy at Tyler. Ron shares his insights on how platform technologies are transforming state business services, the benefits of low-code solutions, and the role of AI in government operations. Discover how modern technology can enhance efficiency, bolster security, and empower state governments to tackle complex challenges.

We also detail our latest white paper about the five main risks of legacy systems. You can download it here: Is Your Legacy Digital Infrastructure Putting You at Risk?

Learn more about the topics discussed in this episode with these resources:

• White paper: The Future of Business Services
• Issue paper: Strategies for Fraud Monitoring and Prevention
• Blog: Future-Proofing Government Through Technology Modernization
• E-book: A Digital Government Guide to Effective Data Strategies
• Blog: Preparing for the Future of AI in Government

And you can listen to other episodes of the podcast at this link: www.tylertech.com/resources/podcast

Let us know what you think about The Tyler Tech Podcast in this survey!

Transcript

Ron Thornburgh: It’s how do you get cooperation among all these different agencies to reach the same end goal. And I mean, not to be overly simple about it, but that's the art of politics. And I don't mean partisan politics.

It's the art of politics. How do we move people to get in the same direction? And I think it goes back to the old saying, it's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the credit.

Josh Henderson: From Tyler Technologies, it's The Tyler Tech Podcast, your source for insightful conversations with thought leaders addressing the pressing issues in our communities. I'm Josh Henderson, and I'm on the corporate marketing team here at Tyler. Thanks for joining us. In each episode, we dive into the essential topics shaping our society and shed light on the individuals, places, and technologies empowering the public sector. If you like what you hear, please consider giving us a five-star rating and review, subscribing on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, and recommending the show to others. On today's episode, former Kansas secretary of state and current vice president of digital government policy and advocacy here at Tyler, Ron Thornburgh.

Ron joins us to discuss how platform technologies are reshaping the landscape of state business services, the significant advantages of adopting low-code solutions, and the future of AI in government operations.

He has a lot to share on improving efficiency and security and also outlines how state governments can feel empowered through modern technology, which enables them to focus on more complex and impactful challenges. In addition, Ron co-wrote an in-depth new white paper entitled The Future of Business Services, available for download now at the Tyler Tech website. You can find that link in the episode show notes. But now without further ado, here's my conversation with Ron Thornburgh. We hope you enjoy the episode.

Alright, Ron. Thank you so much for joining me again on The Tyler Tech Podcast.

Ron Thornburgh: It's great to be back, Josh. I can't believe you invited me again.

Josh Henderson: Of course. Of course. Now, you know, as our returning listeners know you have 15 years of prior experience as Kansas secretary of state. So, you really do know the tech needs of state governments. But just curious to get things started with some lessons you've learned about the successful implementation of technology solutions in state government, and what advice you would offer to current secretaries of state, in that regard.

Ron Thornburgh: You know, I've thought about this a little bit, Josh. And the interesting thing is, I served 15 years, and in that time, and so that was from 1994 to 2010, which we saw market growth just in how we used computerization, at the time it was called, in the growth. And it was literally the time we were changing from paper to digital.

And in that experience on how to take best advantage of it, the first lesson I learned that stuck with me all the time is, I had to surround myself with people smarter than me to make sure that you're bringing the true experts to the table. Now, you still have to provide the vision. You still have to provide this. These are the expectations, this is what I expect to come from this. But at the same time, if you're not asking the right questions, if you're not trying to create the ultimate user experience for your taxpayers, then I think we're all heading in in the wrong direction.

So, as we look at that, and now things have certainly grown exponentially.

And I like to think of the opportunities we have before us are simply allowing government to work at the speed of business.

And that simply means the changes are coming at us almost faster than you can manage from time to time. But if you keep that end goal in mind and you have a system that allows you to provide scalability, to continue to provide ongoing maintenance, to provide security. All of those elements become a part of the flow and process, but the end goals never change. And sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the stuff instead of the outcomes, and I think that's the role of the secretary or any leader is to make sure we're all moving in the right direction.

Josh Henderson: Yeah. I think that's a really great place to start this conversation off, as well. And I wanted to now jump into specifically talk about the advantage of platform technologies.

I’m curious if you can share some examples, some specific examples, of the ways in which platform technologies and business services can enhance operational efficiencies in state governments?

Ron Thornburgh: You know, the first thing that comes to mind is business one stop. I mean, we're simply talking about an opportunity. And let's think about this from the user experience side. You've got someone who is creating a new business, all they know is that I want my business to do X. And then you throw on to it, oh, well, I need to register with the secretary of state's office. Okay. I can figure out what type of corporate entity I want to be, or I can work with my accountant, and I can work with my lawyer. I can figure all that stuff out. But that's just the beginning stage of it, registering with the secretary of state's office. Then all of a sudden, you've got to get your tax numbers from, we'll call it, the Department of Revenue. You may have an economic development opportunity where you need to work with economic development. You probably need some kind of licensing, both at the state level and at your local level.

So, now we're talking about a business one stop, that this technology allows the end user to have one experience. It all looks like the same transaction to them. But now instead of doing the hunt for what am I supposed to do to be qualified to do business in my state, now we're walking them through everything they need to do based upon the type of business that they're creating. And through a single transaction, they're able to get registered with the secretary of state's office, and then seamlessly move to the Department of Revenue and get all of their various tax numbers for whatever elements may come into play there. Then they can go to economic development. Then they can go to licensing. Or maybe licensing comes before economic development, all of those things. Because you can imagine someone, literally, if they were doing it physically, which I don't expect many people do anymore. But if they were doing it physically, it would take three days in a best-case scenario to, a, find the office, find the right division, find the right form I'm supposed to fill out to get to that point, and then, oh, well, you're supposed to have this form done before that form.

We make all of that go away with the business one stop. And now you as an agency have found a way to make that look like one single transaction with one experience on the filing, they're ready to go. And that is the ultimate that we're trying to create for government, that I think we should all be trying to create for government. And I'm showing my stripes a little bit here, but I'm a big proponent of let's get government out of people's way and let them go about doing their business. And I think, ultimately, that's what we're all trying to do.

Josh Henderson: Yeah. I think you make a really good point there in that government should be trying to make residents' lives easier. And I think with something like a business one stop that's doing that thing.

Ron Thornburgh: Yeah. Well, we know the hoops.

Being on the inside of government, we know the hoops and where they're supposed to go and what they're supposed to do, but expecting someone else to translate that language and what it is and where I'm supposed to go and which hoop is next and how big is it and all of those things, that's more than most people are able to do without hiring some kind of consulting expert to walk them through it.

Josh Henderson: Yeah. I'm curious to get your take too in just having a hand in, you know, the goings on in from a from a state level, from a secretary of state level. How much is it reaching out to residents and and communicating with residents about what their experience is like? And how much is it just secretaries of state talking to each other and figuring these things out on their own?

Ron Thornburgh: Let me say it this way, Josh, I feel strongly both ways.

You certainly have to have to talk with your residents. You have to understand what their needs are and what they're trying to accomplish. And that communication is vastly important, and that kind of becomes the baseline.

But I remember very early in my career, I'd just been elected, a year or so, and I had a friend who was a secretary in another state.

And he told me, he said Ron, it's really pretty simple, good minds think great thoughts, and great minds steal them. And that was that was kind of the purpose of, you know, we all can share information.

We all can learn what other experts around the country are doing. And that's the easiest thing in the world is to find a great idea and say, how can I apply that here within my resources? And I may have to tweak it a little bit because my state laws are a little bit different than their state laws. But, again, it's that outcome of sharing that information, what works, what doesn't work, lessons learned, opportunities still before us, all of those things.

And that's what makes an organization like NASS so outstanding. They've always been very good at sharing best practices, at sharing opportunities, sharing difficulties.

And, you know, that sharing difficulties is more valuable than anything that I've ever seen.

Josh Henderson: Yeah. Certainly. And now I'm sure data is also a huge component of all of these things that we're talking about as well. I’m curious if you can give us some insights on how platform technologies facilitate the better integration and accessibility of data across various state departments and, you know, the impact it has on service delivery for residents or constituents.

Ron Thornburgh: Well, let's talk about what you just said, data. I mean, it's the cornerstone of what we're trying to do here.

State government is in the in the business of gathering data. It's information about, let's talk about corporations. It's in the business of gathering that data from the corporations to establish the publicly available record of that corporate entity, and that's great.

That’s the baseline of what we're trying to accomplish.

But now, where does that data have additional value? Let's jump to the economic development side.

Economic development would love to be able to know where are the most businesses being created? What kind of businesses are being created? What kind of challenges are left out there in, say, rural America? We're not getting this kind of business there because of x, y, or z. And we start pulling all of that data together from disparate pieces, and all of a sudden you get a different picture than you've ever had before.

Platform technologies allows you to answer questions you didn't even know were out there before.

Josh Henderson: Stay tuned. We'll be right back with more of The Tyler Tech Podcast. 

I hope you're enjoying listening to this episode of The Tyler Tech Podcast.

I'm here with my colleague Jade Champion to talk about the importance of tech modernization.

Are you struggling to maintain your legacy systems? It might be time for a change.

Jade Champion: That's right, Josh. We just released a white paper that outlines the five main risks of legacy systems and the benefits of modernizing your digital infrastructure.

Josh Henderson: From security weaknesses to inefficiencies and high maintenance costs, legacy systems can really hold back government agencies. So, what are some of the benefits of future proofing with an updated tech stack?

Jade Champion: Modern cloud-based solutions help to streamline processes, protect against cyber threats, improve the resident experience, meet compliance requirements, and provide more scalability.

Josh Henderson: Are you ready to leave your legacy systems behind and improve your digital services?

Check out our show notes for resources to help you get started and reach out to us at podcast@tylertech.com to connect with a Tyler expert today. Now let's get back to The Tyler Tech Podcast.

And now, you're obviously also well versed in some of the challenges or hurdles or obstacles involved in in working at a state government level, and modernizing state business registration and campaign finance systems, things like that, that can be a challenge for states. What are some of the most common hurdles states face in your opinion, and how can technology solutions address these issues effectively?

Ron Thornburgh: I will say the single largest challenge I faced, and that I know current office holders face today, is how do you get cooperation among all these different agencies to reach the same end goal?

And that, not to be overly simple about it, but that's the art of politics. And I don't mean partisan politics. It's the art of politics. How do we move people to get in the same direction?

And I think it goes back to, you know, the old saying, it's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't care who gets the credit. You've got to get everybody on board moving in the same direction.

The platform technology solution is what allows that to happen most easily. And that is simply if you've got a platform solution that can adapt to whatever system each of these different agencies is using, whatever sets they are currently using, and it's up to the platform to adapt to what they are currently doing and bring it forward to a more uniform system.

They don't have to change their systems. They don't have to change their structure. They don't have to change how they train their employees, all of those things. All we know is that the platform is going to take that and translate it to what it needs to be, how it needs to operate.

And then, all of a sudden you have a chance to then your only question is, how do I make this a priority for all of the different agencies that are a part of this? And if everybody's priority is serving the residents better, then you've got something you can begin to work with. And then, you know, it's I don't want to kid anybody, it's not easy.

And I'm talking about business one stop in particular. It's not an easy thing to do by any stretch of the imagination, but there are very few things we can do that are more impactful on citizens, more impactful on government's ability to be efficient, to be effective, to provide cost savings, to use their employees in the most efficient manner possible.

You know, just for a moment on state employees, we're faced, just like most industry is faced, with this, what's it called, the silver tsunami, with all of the retirements that are getting ready to come out. You've got a lot of expertise, enormous expertise, that is getting ready to walk out the door in the next one to five years, we'll say. I don't know if that's the real number, but it feels like it is.

As that expertise walks out the door, we have to find a solution that captures that expertise.

And that's where something like platform solutions can bring that common knowledge to the table. And, ultimately, what that does is the platform answers the simple questions.

And the user didn't even know they asked that question, and it just gets resolved for them. And then your experts are there to handle the tough questions. If there's a unique challenge with something, then you bring their expertise to the table. So, you're using your experts as experts, and everything else is being resolved by the system itself.

Josh Henderson: Yeah. You know, as we start to wrap this up, I think it would be helpful to kind of summarize what you think. And I know we've touched on the resident experience, how government agencies can kind of have this business one stop for constituents to handle all of their filings in one place. But if you could just kind of summarize what you believe to be the key outcomes that states should aim for in implementing these services or implementing something like a new platform technology or a business one stop?

Ron Thornburgh: You know, at the end of the day, I think government's ultimate responsibility is certainly to provide for all the statutory compliance issues.

But ultimately, government's job is to gather the data, make the data as useful as possible in as many ways as possible, and then, ultimately, the end user experience.

We want our taxpayers to know that our government is effective and that it's efficient and that it is allowing me to do what I'm allowed to do by state law and get to my business rather than performing a series of a half dozen transactions with my government. Let me go about hiring people. Let me go about serving my community in the way I want to with my corporate entity.

And then I think we’ve both achieved our ultimate purpose.

Josh Henderson: That's great. And now, lastly, I just wanted to get your thoughts on how you foresee the future of business services evolving with the continued adoption of platform technologies and digital solutions and whether that ties into this concept of artificial intelligence or generative AI or what you're seeing from your perspective.

Ron Thornburgh: I think the greatest opportunity we've ever had before to make government more effective is artificial intelligence.

AI is a game changer unlike anything I've ever seen, but that's a low bar for what I've ever seen. What the experts are talking about is the greatest opportunity.

And right now, most state governments or federal governments and even local government are trying to figure out exactly what AI is, trying to figure out exactly how can we make use of this to be efficient and effective, but also what are the threats. And it seems like almost every state put together some kind of special blue ribbon task force to study AI in the coming year. And so, in the next year, we're going to have all kinds of reports coming out about that.

But at the end of the day, what we know is that artificial intelligence, and I keep coming back to this, and I apologize, artificial intelligence is going to make us more efficient. It's going to make us more effective. It's going to provide data in ways that we've never perceived using data before.

And then lastly, the analysis of that data so that we can become yet again more effective and more efficient.

And when I talk about effectiveness and efficiency, on one hand I'm talking about how we use our state workforce or how we use the employees that are providing those services.

But more importantly, we're also talking about outcomes.

How can I take that data, and how can I solve a particular problem that has been unsolvable or that we didn't even know about? Perhaps the most fascinating piece I I've seen about how data can transform information, one of our states uses third grade reading levels to determine what prison populations are going to be 15 to 20 years down the road. Now that's two sets of data I never would have put together in any imagination there, and those are the things that are now possible. How can I take a piece of data that I wasn't aware of and that I don't know about, and how can I use that to change an outcome for what I'm trying to accomplish?

Ultimately, I think that's the kind of position that AI puts us in.

Josh Henderson: I think that's a great spot to wrap it up here. Ron, thank you again so much for joining me on the podcast. Always a pleasure chatting with you and hope to have you back on again soon.

Ron Thornburgh: I appreciate the chance to chat with you guys. Thank you.

Josh Henderson: Thanks so much.

I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Ron Thornburgh. If you'd like to learn more about the benefits of platform solutions and other topics discussed throughout the episode, check out our show notes for more resources, including Ron's latest white paper, The Future of Business Services.

A modern digital infrastructure allows the public sector to adapt in the digital age. From operational agility to data management and analytics, as well as cost savings, security, compliance and scalability, governments are poised to take advantage of innovative technology to create more efficiencies in their systems and better support and connect their communities.

Tyler creates solutions made exclusively for the public sector and has experts with government experience ready to support you on this journey.

I hope you're excited about what the future holds and will reach out to us at podcast@tylertech.com to connect with the subject matter expert if you'd like to learn more. And whether it's state business services or a modern digital infrastructure or something else entirely, we want to hear from you about what you'd enjoy hearing more of and how we can make The Tyler Tech Podcast even better.

Fill out our audience survey in the show notes today to let us know how you heard about the show and your ideas for future episodes. And don't forget to subscribe to the show and rate and review the podcast.

For Tyler Technologies, I'm Josh Henderson. Thanks for joining The Tyler Tech Podcast.