Self-service access to Healthcare, Education and Security by 2020, report reveals

The austerity-stricken healthcare, education and security sectors will experience radical change to become ‘self-service’ industries by 2020, concluded Steria, the European IT-enabled business services provider, based on “The Future”  report published today - http://www.steria.com/futuresreport*

Through a compelling synopsis of data from more than 150 published sources, the report, commissioned by Steria, outlines how an overwhelming demand for services delivered 'anytime, anyplace, anywhere, anyhow', driven by both social and economic factors , will set the wheels in motion for accelerated step-changes in these vital sectors.

Francois Enaud, Group CEO, Steria, explains: “Within our lifetimes, everyday public services will mirror what we can only imagine today as futuristic scenarios. The convenience-driven, commercial innovations of recent years will increasingly penetrate public services, enabled by renewed investment in services that improve standards of living across global communities.”

Austerity-stricken sectors must do more than play catch-up
Recent self-service innovations in the commercial sector include cashless mobile ‘wallets’, in-store product locators for the retail industry, and a network of charging stations for electric vehicles throughout the EU in UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Spain. The benefits derived from commercial sector innovations – namely, more control, flexibility and self-determination over how services are received – could soon be extended to customers of essential healthcare, education and security services.

“In a self-service world, IT services experts will play an even more critical role in ensuring that public service projects ‘just work’, and work in the interest of the communities they are meant to serve. Sharing international best practice will accelerate this change, especially with emerging markets where mobile is really accelerating innovation.”

He continued: “In 2020, the role of IT services professionals as technology integrators will continue to be as relevant, given the continued proliferation of platforms, devices and applications. The major difference is the shift from commercial applications to public service applications that are more Jetsons than G-Cloud.”

The roadmap to self-service innovation

Enaud’s vision for the next 10 to 20 years includes rapid innovation that will see rapid change in three sectors:

Healthcare
- EU citizens will be able to access sophisticated self-diagnosis tools to cut waiting list times and improve patient care
- Hospitals and surgeries will carry out remote diagnosis through virtual video or teleconference appointments, and patients will receive instant referral. In addition, telemetrics and remote monitoring of city inhabitants will give early warning of impending health issues
- Machines will run simple tests such as heart rate, blood pressure, eye examinations, through the interface of a computer screen

Education
- More e-qualifications will have launched, taking us a step closer to providing students from emerging markets with affordable access to international degrees/diplomas. The emergence of self-service will bring greater convergence and democratise access to services in the E7 developing countries.
- Textbooks will largely be replaced by the internet in classrooms, and touchscreen, interactive whiteboards will be regarded as standard
- Every schoolchild in the EU will be issued with a laptop or tablet computer

Security
- Digital signatures to access documents, restricted zones on the ‘cloud’ and to remotely provide proof of identity, will soon be commonplace
- Government buildings will require access by iris scan
- Faster broadband speeds and more secure databases will enable closer collaboration between police forces internationally

“The future of products and services is already laid out in front of us, and it is all driven by the consumer,” explains Enaud. “All that’s required in between is the innovation from companies and governments to make this foresight a reality.”

^(*) The Future report is available in two formats:

- the flash version is available here - http://www.steria.com/futuresreport

- the pdf version is available here