80% citizens feel Indian government and public services have been effective in using digital technology to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic: EY survey

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80 per cent of Indian citizens feel that the government and public services in India have been effective in using digital technology to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new EY Connected Citizen Survey. Respondents in India hold a favorable attitude towards technology and see an important role for technological innovation in public service delivery. The EY Connected Citizen Survey was conducted by Ipsos MORI, with 1000 respondents from India between the age 18 to 50, and globally 12,100 respondents across 12 countries.

Respondents in India are more likely than average to use mobile applications to provide feedback on public services. They are comfortable with technology replacing face-to-face human interaction and are inclined to use an artificial intelligence powered chatbot to communicate with the government. They want the government to prioritise making certain services available online including pension planning, resources to help people set up businesses and providing more ways for citizens to have an online say in government decision making.

Over the past year, the pandemic has increased the need for governments across the world to offer more services remotely, and in some cases, they have been delivered entirely online. This has resulted in the generation of much larger volumes of citizen’s data which is then collected by governments. Compared to other countries, there are fewer concerns about data privacy in India. 63 per cent Indians feel comfortable in sharing their personal data with the government online in order to access a service, while 34 per cent don’t feel comfortable in sharing the same. Similarly, 57 per cent feel comfortable in sharing their personal data with a company in order to perform a transaction and 48 per cent feel comfortable in sharing their personal data through social networking services. Globally, 53 per cent of those surveyed think that privacy and security risks around how their data is shared outweigh the benefits. 

Gaurav Taneja, Partner and Leader, Government and Public Sector, EY India, says, “Digitisation is the new normal and the Indian Government was quick to adopt technologies, especially during the pandemic, to deliver safe, secure and improved digital services to all citizens. Going forward, a more inclusive digitalization approach including unique digital ids, smart portals and mobile apps, integrated digital platforms, etc. on the back of design thinking, customer experience labs and data analytics will help the government design their services to make each touchpoint better, faster and more efficient, and to move towards more proactive and even predictive service delivery to Indian citizens.” 

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