Public Sector Newsletter
September 2017

How analytics is spectacularly boosting government efficiency

Case studies from governments including £572 million in additional tax yields

Accurate decision-making is more critical than ever

In this landscape how can civil servants at all levels really know how best to serve the country? How can they predict future demand for services or model the potential outcomes of changes to services – and understand how citizens will be impacted and the effects on public opinion? When the public purse is still under such extraordinary pressure, how can civil servants acquire the factual insights they need to build a value-based approach to improving efficiencies?

Answers to the most challenging questions

A shift in analysing what has happened to predicting ‘what could be’ is needed. The most forward-looking government and private sector organisations have made this leap already. They use advanced analytics to produce answers to the most difficult questions at far less cost and far greater speed. And if those analytic capabilities include capturing and using real-time, contextual data then it’s easy to see how much value the technology can bring to government. Just think about the impact of real-time intelligence gathering and analysis on the decision-making process for counter-terrorism, for example.

How does it work in reality?

Well, the opportunities feel almost unlimited. The only real limitations being data regulations, which will become ever more important in May 2018 (when the GDPR enforcement can begin), citizen opinion and internal capabilities. Our new paper, Analytics for Government: Better decisions, smarter policies at less cost and risk, illustrates many SAS case studies. You’ll get a real feel for how analytics can help you to achieve a range of goals from cost savings, to spending plans, service demand predictions, fraud detection, improving citizen services for less.

Specifically, you’ll see how HMRC has already used advanced analytics to increase tax yield by £572 million, to generate an initial project ROI of 30:1. At the DWP advanced analytics has, among other things, informed a 100-year view of the future needs of pensioners. The report includes many other powerful case studies from London Fire Brigade, the NHS, the Ministry of Defence, other international organisations involved in national security, and the British Army. You’ll also find stories from the front line of private sector transformation with transferable use cases, intended to give you food for thought and a deeper understanding of what is possible with advanced analytics.