As the world changes, many public officials continue to lead the charge in helping the government go through the digital transformation process. Achieving that transformation comes with challenges. PGUI understands the risks of change and helps provide peace of mind through its public officials liability coverage.

What’s Involved With a Digital Revolution in Government?

Public officials play a key role in making a digital transformation happen. By doing so, it creates a more transparent, responsive, and efficient government. Inherently complicated, the government must make decisions and create policies that meet the varied needs of citizens. In this evolving landscape, existing manual methods of governing no longer work. The transformative power of shifting to technology enables officials at all levels to better serve the public.

While at the base level, a digital transformation involves moving data from paper to the cloud, a true transformation means much more. 

Modern digital platforms often use artificial intelligence and machine learning to compile and analyze data, giving officials a real-time view of governmental operations. This allows them to make better-informed decisions more quickly. From websites where citizens can access data or ask questions to software that eliminates repetitive tasks by government employees, a digital transformation streamlines employment practices and brings the public together.

It’s a transformation that needs to happen, according to Gartner research. Citizens and employees alike have come to expect automation and access to digital services, and it’s incumbent upon government leaders to embrace change.

How Public Officials Can Drive Innovation

Citizens rely on public officials to lead by example, stay informed and advocate for them. New innovations make that easier to do. While it’s challenging to bring about a transformation, officials have many ways to initiate the process. For instance, proactively researching new technologies, such as single-point-of-contact software that encourages collaboration and communication, can help create a unified government. Modernizing public services also requires a dedication to testing and implementing new policies using adaptive tools to streamline information and remove barriers that citizens face.

Understanding Public Officials Liability

As an advocate for change, public officials also face public scrutiny. That makes having public officials liability insurance more important than ever. This insurance provides coverage for legal fees and damages for claims against an official. Typically, these types of claims develop related to wrongful acts regarding an official’s public duties. No matter which level of government, an official faces the risk of a lawsuit for a number of reasons, including discrimination, mismanagement of funds, and failure to protect the public’s trust. Since most officials have a team working behind them, it also opens the door for employment-related lawsuits.

Mitigating Employment Practices Liability

Faced with the potential for employment practices liability, public officials must also ensure a proper working environment. From the hiring process to training, insurance agents can help officials develop policies that ensure fair employment practices and create standards for training new employees and tracking operations. Some ways to help mitigate risks include enhanced hiring practices to avoid discrimination, documenting disputes and prevention methods, and creating a handbook of policies.

Conclusion

As the government landscape changes, so do the needs of public officials. Insurance agents have the unique opportunity to help officials get protection through public officials liability coverage and develop policies that embrace technology, enhance employment practices, and benefit citizens. To learn more about PGUI’s public officials liability coverage and how it can help government officials, contact us today.

About PGUI

Professional Governmental Underwriters, LLC., is a full-service risk management company dedicated to assisting public, educational and non-profit entities in the management of their professional liability exposures, including educators liability insurance. We are dedicated to providing state-of-the-art professional underwriting management and loss control advisory services on behalf of our designated carriers. For more information, call us toll-free at (800) 586-6502.