Governing Magazine/December 1994

TECHNOLOGY COLUMN

NEXT STOP: ONE-STOP

By Jerry Mechling

Jerry Mechling is director of the Program on Strategic Computing and
Telecommunications in the Public Sector at Harvard University's
Kennedy School of Government. To reach him, call 617-495-3036 or send
e-mail to jerrym@ksgrsch.harvard.edu.

Far too often, citizens are confused and inconvenienced by government.
Let's see now, is that something for city hall, or is it a federal
problem? Or maybe something for that new county building near the
mall? No matter where they turn, it seems they have come to the wrong
place, or will have to come back later.
 Why can't government offer convenient, one-stop service? If credit
card problems can be resolved with one phone call, why not tax
problems? Shouldn't the same computer networking that enables
"anytime, anywhere" private services also work for government?
 The short answer is yes. Computer indexing and interactivity make it
much easier to find the information you need for the next step of
whatever problem you're working on. Indexing and interactivity make it
possible for computer-supported government workers to handle a wider
range of problems at a given quality level than those without computer
support. Computers allow one service outlet to handle a greater
variety of service types, and one service type to be offered through a
greater variety of outlets. The chances increase that a given problem
can be handled with one convenient "stop."
 In general, it seems desirable to use information technologies to
move more in the direction of one-stop service--but perhaps not all
the way. After all, we don't want postal clerks offering advice on
brain surgery. And the widespread information-sharing that makes
customized one-stop services possible raises heightened concerns about
privacy. How far should we go? Should we offer a broader range of
services through neighborhood-based institutions such as libraries and
schools? Should we pass laws to mandate the consolidated design and
delivery of income support and/or family services?
 These and other questions were examined recently at a Harvard
University workshop involving leading-edge public- and private-sector
practitioners. The top three recommendations that emerged were:
 Customer analysis: The goal should be customer service, not "one
stop" per se. "Putting customers first" requires that those customers
be involved much more actively in the evaluation and design of
governmental services. Vice President Al Gore's National Performance
Review deserves kudos for requiring that federal agencies benchmark
their services against best private-sector practices and make those
results public.
 Information access: While some elements of government service require
interaction with things that are clearly tangible--garbage collection,
health examinations--others can be handled through information
exchange alone--finding out how to get an old refrigerator disposed
of, for example, or whether your symptoms require you to come in and
see a doctor. To optimize these information-only exchanges, we need to
help citizens locate and access governmental information through such
tools as computerized indexes, databases and operator-assisted
hotlines. And while some of these initiatives should be organized
agency by agency, the critical need is for smoother and more
comprehensive information-locator and -access services across ALL of
government or ALL of a specific state or locality.
 Self-service: Because self-service is much more cost-effective than
face-to-face service, it should be offered wherever feasible.
Successful self-service, however, will require careful interface
design and monitoring, and will depend on customers finding it at
least as easy to use as traditional face-to-face services. Remember
that it took more than a decade for sizable portions of the population
to learn to use bank ATMs. It may take a similar investment before
kiosks become "the ATMs of government." Investments in kiosks and
other forms of one-stop self-service should be a top priority for
government computerization.
 One implementation approach for these recommendations is "virtual"
one-stop service--that is, offering self- and remote-service options
which look like one-stop, but where the actual transition may involve
a number of electronic hand-offs over telephone or computer networks.
While this would stop short of full service integration, it would
still be a great improvement over the confusion and hassles of
multiple physical stops. Virtual one-stop services can also be much
easier and quicker to implement than fully reengineered services.
 Many people in government are willing to begin with these easier
steps, but fear that, in doing so, they might lose the opportunity for
more fundamental reforms. This is a valid worry. But sometimes the
obstacles are too great or the timing is wrong for a major move. In
these situations, I stick to the advice given by my football coach
years ago, when I was playing quarterback: "Take what the defense
gives you." Politics is still the art of the possible.

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