Skip to content

  • Platform
    • Platform overview
    • Why Genus?
    • Use cases
    • Evaluation guide
    • Pricing
  • Industries
    • Industry overview
    • Banking and finance
    • Insurance
    • Energy and utilities
    • Public safety
    • Business services
    • Consumer goods
    • Transportation and logistics
    • Manufacturing
    • Property management
  • Resources
    • Case studies
    • Professional Services
    • Support
    • Academy
  • Partners
    • Hire a partner
    • Become a partner
  • Company
    • About
    • Blog
    • News
    • Careers
    • Contact
  • Book a Demo

Low-code applications and the public sector

By See all articles from the author: Christophe Birkeland
10. May 2021
  • Share on LinkedIn Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Facebook Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter Share on Twitter

Private enterprises worldwide embrace low-code application development platforms as the preferred tool for successful digital transformation. In the following, we argue that low-code is also the better approach for developing software applications for the public sector.

The public sector is complex

Organizations in the public sector are complex and often have complicated structures and business processes:

  • They are service organizations at their core, always dealing with people as opposed to e.g., private manufacturing companies.
  • It is harder to set specific goals and strategies. Instead, it is more about adjusting and optimizing work processes and complex case management applications.
  • The public sector and politics are often interlaced and changing.

It is therefore not surprising that software solutions in the public sector tend to be complex, and implementation projects are often hard to manage. Adding digital transformation to the equation introduces additional risk as work processes need to adapt to new software solutions.

The needs of individuals risk getting lost

During digital transformation processes, the needs of individuals are at risk of getting lost. There are several reasons for this:

  • Individuals must learn to use new software solutions, introducing new user interfaces and alternate ways of registering data.
  • Multiple solutions can result in a more fragmented workday.
  • New solutions will sometimes overlap, thus creating confusion and frustration.
  • The individual loses influence on how to perform his own work. For example, the digital implementation of a business process may require a specific order of how tasks are solved, also when this is not necessary for the outcome.

These are examples of consequences of digital transformation that can result in lower job satisfaction and lower job efficiency, in direct opposition to the purpose of implementing new software solutions.

Digital transformation has many pitfalls. Can low-code technology help alleviate these challenges?

Low-code platforms allow for more user involvement

Low-code platforms enable more experimentation and prototyping as compared to traditional software development. New features can be implemented, tested, and deployed to users in hours instead of days or weeks. This shortens the feedback loop between the users and the developers considerably.

When developing with low-code, end users are encouraged to participate in workshops. Their feedback and ideas are implemented and made available during the workshop, not several weeks later. This immediate feedback loop is particularly useful to adapt and make small changes in the workflow that affect their workday.

This approach to software development is possible using low-code application development platforms (LADP). There is no handwriting of code when developing with LADP – everything is done using visual tools and in a click-and-point manner.

Low-code applications are more flexible and easier to change

Modern low-code platforms have a clear separation between business logic and technology. This allows business domain experts to focus on solving business problems, while the low-code vendor maintains and continuously develops the technical platform and removes technical debt. These processes are independent of each other and allow the business logic to be deployed independently of underlying technology details. This separation facilitates a truly agile approach, allowing new business problems to be explored and functionality to be adjusted quickly.

The business-IT gap is removed

For years, enterprises and the public sector have experienced that functionality provided by IT often differs from the functionality the business wants. This is the renowned business-IT gap.

The best approach to remove or reduce this gap is to make sure application developers have the necessary domain expertise and work closely with end-users. This is a core principle of low-code application development.

Low-code developers spend less time dealing with technical challenges compared to developers using traditional programming. Thus, low-code developers can gain insight into the users’ domain knowledge faster, accelerating the overall delivery process, and reducing the number of costly misunderstandings.

Sustainability

In addition to the points above, in Genus, we believe in offering sustainable software, by delivering low-code applications designed to be continuously improved at low cost. This ensures that the customer applications remain updated and relevant for a very long time.

This alleviates a problem for both the individual and the organization, namely the rather frequent need for replacing old applications with new ones. By focusing on updating your existing applications in step with both your users and the organization’s changing needs, you will:

  • save upgrade costs
  • always have a solution that is up to date
  • keep your users happy

Indicia is an example of sustainability

The low-code application development platform made by Genus is used to implement several solutions in the public sector. One of them is Indicia, a national system for investigation and prevention of crime. Indicia is developed and maintained by a team of low-code developers at the Norwegian Police ICT Services.

Indicia was launched in 2007 and has since its inception been adjusted to new requirements and changing business processes. Strong user involvement right from the start has resulted in a system that stays relevant and up-to-date.

Read more about Indicia and a debate around user involvement in this article (in Norwegian) by Senior Police Officer Lars Helge Eklund at Kripos, Norway’s National Criminal Investigation Service.

Curious about what low-code can do for you? Book a demo now!

Related posts
Let’s talk about sustainable software
07.09.20

For too long, enterprise applications have been treated as disposable products. Luckily, there are alternatives for more sustainable, long-living software.

→ Read more
The evolution of enterprise application development
03.07.20

The nature of software development is continuing to evolve – as it has since its birth. Low-code platforms are disrupting software development by tackling more and more complex application scenarios. As a result, there are still fewer use cases where organizations must actually hand-code the solution.

→ Read more
Christophe Birkeland avatar image
Christophe Birkeland

Christophe is the CEO of Genus. He is a technology strategist with a commercial focus, an expert on agile software development, and passionate about offering a secure low-code platform that changes the way core business applications are developed.

Genus AS

Strandveien 55

N-1366 Lysaker

Norway

contact@genus.no

  • Subscribe to newsletter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Privacy policy

Copyright © 2019-2021 Genus AS, All Rights Reserved.

Login

Lost Your Password?
Register
Don't have an account? Register one!
Register an Account

Registration confirmation will be emailed to you.