State government needs to be more customer friendly so that Californians can easily engage and get the services they need. That is the goal of two bills introduced last week by Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton.
AB 2203 would create a new state Department of Customer Service headed by a director appointed by the governor. And each agency or department would be required to name a customer-centric lead.
Her second bill, AB 2204, would create the Office of Digital Services within the new department. Its task would be to deploy what she describes as a “ninja” squad of experts to help agencies and departments fix problems fast and effectively. Assemblymember Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park, is a co-author.
Eggman, a former social worker and city council member, said it is essential government improve its interactions with Californians if it ever hopes to engage the public.
“Why don’t people feel engaged? A lot of times, they don’t feel their government is effective or working for them,” Eggman told Techwire in an interview.
She built her legislation upon recommendations issued last October by the Little Hoover Commission, which conducted a nine-month study of customer-centric changes in governments across the country.
In its report, the commission called for better government services, improved interactions between citizens and government, and customer-centric technology that makes it easy for citizens to report problems. It recommended California create a chief customer officer and launch a small digital team to implement reforms.
The ninja team concept in Eggman’s bill is based on a federal digital strike team known as 18F at the General Services Administration, which works with agencies to create better digital services for the public.
Eggman’s bill also would allow the state to recruit outside experts from the private sector to quickly help solve technical issues and create new tools and platforms that make government more customer-centric.
