Transforming case handling in the public sector

Share this post:

A new wave of digitized case handling in the public sector has emerged.

For more than 20 years, ESDH (electronic case and document management) systems have been the standard for public case handling in Denmark. However, IBM has recently come to an agreement with the public sector, where the solution offers an – for Denmark – unusual approach to handling cases.

The solution offers a digitized end-to-end workflow combined with IBM BAW (Business Automation Workflow) as the core architecture. We won against other providers offering a SharePoint based solution with ESDH in the center – solutions that are highly tailored and demand a lot of coding to offer the needed application support.

A key factor for choosing IBM was the fact that IBM BAW offers a standard system for workflow solutions including classic BPM and case management functionality, in a LOW/NO-code package. This means that the time it takes to obtain value from the solution is faster compared to other systems. Consequently, the total cost of development is lower than traditional systems in the public sector, easier to maintain, and further optimize. Also, it was significant that when the IBM team presented the solution and participated in clarifying meetings, they were experienced with project management in order to show how easy configuration of the solution is.

Looking at the public sector in general, we see a constantly increasing interest in our Digital Business Automation portfolio to help drive end-to-end digitization and small incremental projects that quickly delivers value to ultimately be expanded upon. Let me give an example:

A public agency handles complaints from citizens. Today, the main case handling is done in an ESDH system, and for the purpose this is sufficient. But nowadays, estimating the complexity of a case and directing it to the best case-handler is difficult to do. We help with this issue by digitizing the incoming cases and gather data on each case to ensure we have all the necessary data, to create a solid foundation for directing the case to the right case handler. Furthermore, we are providing the case handler the best possible decision support in the form of relevant legal documents, rulings in similar cases, etc. This facilitates the agency to switly estimate workloads, evaluate trends in areas of complaints, and drive knowledge-based educational sessions to the municipalities to eliminate wrong rulings that generate complaints.

The way we deliver such solutions are with our standard approach:

Understand –> Digitize –> Learn –> Augment

1. We do an end-to-end workshop to understand the current as-is process.
2. We digitize the low-hanging fruits and tie the solution together in a workflow- or content focused solution (IBM BAW).
3. We gather data on how the agency is performing and apply that data to highlight hotspots for automation.
4. Based on the outcome, we drive AI to aid case handlers with decision support.

The platform offers and delivers substantially more than expected. It is a great and modern way to drive digitization by using established tools (BPM and case management), but now with the addition of new embedded tools that help users do their job better, faster and with less variation in decision-making.

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at lars.dinesen@dk.ibm.com