Public Sector Digital Strategy:

Why are So Many Councils Won Over by Low-code?

22nd October 2024

by Mark Gannon

More councils are breaking free from inflexible IT systems and spiralling licence costs by choosing low-code. But what’s so radically different about this approach to innovation?

As local authorities try to achieve more with less, low-code is emerging as a quiet success story in the UK when it comes to public sector digital transformation. Put simply, councils are building their own solutions, getting better results and saving money.

Let’s dig deeper and look at three reasons why more councils are using low-code platforms for many applications, rather than traditional IT purchasing or development.

1: Low-code public sector platforms deliver better services, faster

This is probably the greatest advantage with low-code public sector platforms. It’s easy to involve user groups of citizens and colleagues from the council teams who’ll be using the services. This close collaboration and feedback happens throughout development, so the end product is a great fit for everyone’s needs.

Low-code design and build is an iterative process in public sector digital transformation. You start with a proof-of-concept and then keep adding functionality. Feedback can arrive quickly and it’s simple for features to be tweaked and the application to evolve incrementally.

The end result? It’s exactly what people wanted and expected, because they were the ones to shape the applications. Typically, new digital services can be rolled out in days or weeks, rather than months or years. That’s remarkable for any public sector digital strategy.

2: Digital transformation in the public sector can save resources and reduce stress

Digital transformation can feel slow, unwieldy and disconnected from the day-to-day pressures that council employees face. Some big IT changes may even create more stress and disruption for services and teams at near-breaking point.

But low-code empowers council teams to fix stubborn issues themselves – in a way that’s intuitive and nimble. They can replace morale-sapping manual processes or poor legacy applications , access data silos easily and simplify workflows. Editable interfaces, IT templates and drag-and-drop tools make it possible for project teams to get working without needing coding skills.

Before long, clear improvements can lift morale and reduce staff turnover, as people see their workloads easing and positive change happening for themselves and citizens.

Meanwhile, councils can save money and boost satisfaction scores as they advance public sector digital transformation in the back office and on the frontline.

3: Low-code gives you digital autonomy

With low-code, councils are no longer so reliant on third-party solution providers. You don’t have to be locked into their roadmaps or feel powerless as licence fees rise steadily. You can also avoid having to hire support from expensive developers to create complex, bespoke solutions of your own.

Instead, you set your own destiny: simply innovate your way, at your pace to meet the goals of your public sector digital strategy.

Low-code is good news for IT departments too, saving them from having to procure new solutions every time there’s a request – and then dealing with integration issues, disappointed users and application bloat further down the line.

With the right governance in place, IT departments can empower their colleagues in service areas to solve many issues themselves using low-code.

Where to begin with your public sector digital strategy?

Choosing low-code in the public sector isn’t an all-or-nothing decision. It’s a flexible and agile approach to development that can co-exist happily with third-party solutions within a public sector digital strategy and deliver game-changing apps and efficiencies.

The best first step is to carry out your own research. Already, 40+ councils are using Liberty Create, our low-code platform and Citizen Hub solution, which is designed especially for local authorities. Many of them talk passionately about their low-code public sector experiences and the benefits achieved quickly.