A focus on government efficiency should benefit citizens by yielding improved service and better stewardship of tax dollars. Efforts have been underway across government for decades to improve service to the citizen. With the government embracing artificial intelligence (AI) and new security paradigms, the digitization of government continues to accelerate in support of citizen service.
Paperwork Reduction
The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 kicked off the government's focus on reducing both paperwork and manual effort. Now a new piece of legislation may accelerate efforts further. The ePermit Act was introduced to create an interagency data system to serve as a single point for tracking real-time data on environmental reviews. Currently, agencies have siloed systems that make it difficult to share information, even though permitting often spans multiple agencies. This act responds to the administration's desire to streamline regulatory compliance, easing burdens on industry.
The Department of Agriculture has worked across the Trump and Biden administrations to move U.S. farmers' applications for federal financial aid online and provide easy-to-use portals. A portal approach makes the process more efficient (a direct farm loan application was shortened by 16 pages when it was moved online) and transparent, with applicants having up-to-date access to the status of their requests.
Modernizing Call Centers
Post-COVID, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) was receiving up to 100 million calls and 13 million service requests. While the agency's customer operations were handling this volume, they knew if they better utilized the data they had on hand, they could answer questions faster and with more accuracy. As one example, around 65% of complaints that USPS receives are questions about the status of packages. USPS is implementing a cloud-based application for their call centers to remove the manual effort required to get this information for customers. With that in place, such situations can be automatically monitored through to resolution, and the information gathered can be used for future planning.
The State Department's centralized passport service call center, known as NPIC, had a drastic increase in call volume, accompanied by plunging customer satisfaction scores. Investigation into these trends found that people had been booking multiple appointments and then fraudulently selling those slots. Customers who bought these slots would call NPIC offices multiple times with questions about their appointments and even show up to appointments that didn't actually exist because they were fraudulently booked.
Once NPIC implemented two-factor authentication for their online booking system, that alone helped decrease the appointment no-show rate from 26 percent to 20 percent. NPIC also enacted additional customer verification measures that prevented appointments from being sold. These implementations vastly reduced call center volume, dropping the average wait time from around 45 minutes to less than a minute, and raised the agency's customer service satisfaction score from 55 percent to 70 percent.
For more examples of how digital government efforts are driving efficiency and satisfaction, check out these resources:
- Digital Transformation Summit 2025 (September 17, 2025; Reston, VA) - This event will focus on where digital transformation is today, how it has been used to transition to new innovative technologies, and how it has improved overall performance.
- Imagine Nation ELC 2025 (October 26-28, 2025; Hershey, PA) - The purpose of Imagine Nation ELC is to bring together the government technology community to discuss the issues facing government and work together to develop practical solutions and innovative strategies.
- SNG Live: Digital Experiences (November 12, 2025; Washington, DC) - The federal government has been on a multi-year journey to modernize and streamline the way it provides services to Americans in the digital age. This event will provide a platform to assess progress made in digital experience and highlight the continued work ahead to improve service delivery and strengthen Americans' trust in their government.
- Improving the Taxpayer Experience (white paper) - Improving the taxpayer experience means more than faster calls--it's about anticipating needs, reducing frustration, and building trust. With tools like AI-powered journey orchestration, the IRS can streamline interactions, predict taxpayer intent, and empower customer service representatives with timely, case-specific insights.
- How to Responsibly and Effectively Use Artificial Intelligence in Government (white paper) - The overarching goal of improving citizen experience is a shift to seeing citizens as customers and implementing private sector-type practices in responding to requests and needs. While there may not be an alternative for citizen customers to choose when it comes to government services, agencies must adopt the competitive mindset of the private sector in how they deliver services to build trust in government.
- From Services to Experiences: The Next Generation of CX (white paper) - Government agencies are rethinking public service delivery by shifting from reactive support to personalized, proactive engagement. This transformation is driven by technologies like agentic AI, unified resident profiles, and mobile-first platforms that empower both staff and citizens.
For more information on government efficiency and citizen service initiatives, search for additional events and resources on GovEvents and GovWhitePapers.
