Top findings
● APAC Governments’ IT spending is forecast to grow by 8%1 each year to US$151 billion by 2025 - outpacing the annual 6% growth in overall government spending.
● There will be 900 million2 citizens joining the online community by 2025, an increase of 36% compared to 2021
Singapore, 1 August 2022 – VMware Inc., a leading innovator in enterprise software, today unveiled research titled “Digital Smart: Advancing digital government for citizens in the Asia-Pacific”, which found APAC citizens are more digitally engaged than ever, but governments still lag in the delivery of those services.
The study, conducted by Deloitte, found that the use of in-person government services halved across APAC nations in the last two years3, and 77%4 of citizens now primarily use a digital platform to access government services.
However, 67%5 of respondents expected the quality of government services to be on par with those offered by the private sector with 41%6 of people struggling to access digital services on their own, with a lack of basic digital skills and shortfalls in digital infrastructure. With 900 million new internet users expected to be added to the region (Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Japan, and South Korea) by 2025, the need for investment in digital services by governments continues to grow.
Sylvain Cazard, senior vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, VMware said: “It’s clear from the Deloitte research that citizens expect the same level of services – and quality – as those delivered by private companies or organizations. Service delivery in terms of multi-cloud infrastructure as well as modern containerized applications and services are the way forward, so governments also need to align thinking and resourcing along these major trends to meet their citizens’ needs.”
Deloitte partner, and principal report author, John O’Mahony, said,” The return on investment for digital government services is very significant. It can include positive citizen experiences with digital services, improved perceptions of, and trust, in governments, greater social equality and inclusivity, reduced carbon emissions, possible financial savings, and more responsive governments when policies need to change.”
Governments’ readiness to embrace digitization going forward varies widely between emerging and developing economies. Here are some of the highlights:
● Singapore: 84%7 of Singaporean respondents expect to access government services the same or more frequently in the next five years and 76%8 agree or strongly agree that government needs to invest more in technology to better prepare for the future.
● Vietnam: 85%9 of respondents in Vietnam are willing to learn new digital skills or use a new platform and 80%10 expect to access government services the same or more frequently in the next five years.
● India: Respondents in India are the most likely to say that a positive experience using online government services will improve their trust in government and currently, 89%11 are more willing to learn new digital skills or use a new platform.
● Indonesia: 81%12 of Indonesian respondents are more comfortable engaging with digital technologies, and notably, government websites have replaced in-person services as the most common medium when accessing government services today.
● South Korea: 90%13 of Korean respondents expect to access government services more frequently in the next five years. The report finds that South Korea is ranked 1st globally14 on the World Bank GTMI and is recognized as a GovTech world leader with a score of 98 out of 100.
● Japan: 90%15 of Japanese respondents expect to access government services more frequently in the next five years and only 27%16 expect the quality of government services to be the same as services offered by the private sector.
● Australia: 82%17 of Australian respondents expect most government services to be available online over the next five years and look forward to a more integrated experience. 55%18 of Australians are willing to provide personal data if it makes accessing services easier. Data security is also top of mind for Australians when accessing government services.
The commissioned study was conducted by Deloitte Access Economics on behalf of VMware and surveyed 3,840 people. The full report can be downloaded here.
About the report
Commissioned by VMware, this report has been created by Deloitte and brings together the latest trends of digital government services across Asia-Pacific, including citizen experience in digital government and their expectations of how governments should deliver their digital services in the future. To develop this report, Deloitte surveyed 3,840 citizens across seven markets in Asia-Pacific in March and April 2022.
The survey was fielded by Ipsos in Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Japan, and South Korea and was administered across a representative sample in terms of age, sex and locality in each market. The survey asked citizens about their current use of digital government and expectations for the future of digital government services.
About VMware
VMware software powers the world’s complex digital infrastructure. The company’s cloud, networking and security, and digital workspace offerings provide a dynamic and efficient digital foundation to customers globally, aided by an extensive ecosystem of partners. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to being a force for good, from its breakthrough innovations to its global impact. For more information, please visit https://www.vmware.com/au/company.html
Media Contacts
Himangi Tewari
Director, Execution Communications & Special Projects, APJ
tewarih@vmware.com
Anubha Pandey
SEAK Communications, VMware
anubhap@vmware.com
1 Deloitte, (July 2022). Digital smart: Accelerating digital government for citizens in the Asia Pacific. Pg 9
2 Ibid. Pg 3
3 Ibid. Pg 5
4 Ibid. Pg 15
5 Ibid. Pg 18
6 Ibid. Pg 16
7 Ibid. Pg 26
8 Ibid. Pg 26
9 Ibid. Pg 28
10 Ibid. Pg 28
11 Ibid. Pg 23
12 Ibid. Pg 24
13 Ibid. Pg 27
14 ‘GovTech Dataset’, The World Bank (11 March 2022).
15 Deloitte, (July 2022). Digital smart: Accelerating digital government for citizens in the Asia-Pacific. Pg. 25
16 Ibid Pg 25
17 Ibid. Pg. 22
18 Ibid. Pg 22