Is Ownership Obsolete? Share Your Way to Government Innovation

Governments need to purchase, manage and control all of the assets they use to deliver public services. Or do they?Digitally enabled platforms are forging new operating models for transportation, lodging and a host of other services. Digital is also powering new avenues, including crowdsourcing, for collecting, sharing and using data to drive innovation and tackle some of society’s most complex problems. Pioneering organizations are seizing these opportunities to make a difference and a profit by operating as ecosystems, not just as individual corporate entities. By mastering this shift from “me” to “we,” such enterprises are shaping a new economy—the “We Economy”. In fact, according to one estimate, the five main sharing economy sectors1 generated $15 billion in revenue in 2013 and are poised to generate as much as $335 billion by 2025.2

What does the “We Economy”—and its digitally enabled platforms, models and tools—mean for government? In a word: plenty. While many are focused on regulatory issues arising from these disruptive models, government innovators are embracing them as opportunities to drive enhanced performance. Indeed, as “We Economy” models continue gaining momentum, government can either get on board or be left behind.

New research from Accenture confirms that citizens support government use of sharing platforms and other “We Economy” models, pointing to opportunities to enhance citizen perceptions, engagement and satisfaction with government. The survey also shows that public service leaders recognize the value in using “We Economy” strategies—from shared use to crowdsourcing—to enable government innovation, strengthen citizen engagement and improve outcomes. And, secondary research has uncovered a number of examples of how government is already tapping into the potential for “We Economy” solutions.

All told, the research findings raise two crucial questions: Why should government build what it can borrow? And, why shouldn’t government use digitally enabled platforms to get more from what it already owns?

The case for borrowing, not buying

Digital technologies are empowering individuals and companies to take a modern approach to an old-fashioned idea: sharing. Shared use platforms make it easy to connect those who need a particular asset or service with those who have excess capacity. Shared use creates clear advantages in terms of cost efficiency—whether paying only for what you consume as a buyer or generating a better return on investment as a seller.

Accenture research shows that both public service leaders and individual citizens recognize that having access to an asset or service does not require owning it. In the survey, 62 percent of citizens and 66 percent of leaders think government use of sharing economy services will improve overall citizen satisfaction with government. What’s more, 62 percent of citizens and 76 percent of government leaders think shared use will positively change citizen views of government as innovative and forward thinking.

One example is use of third-party car-sharing platforms to dramatically reduce the size and improve the utilization of government fleets, or maintaining a common pool of vehicles for rent across agencies or municipalities. In communities with robust public transportation, third-party car sharing services, such as Lyft and Uber, may enable government to completely exit the “business” of fleet management—cutting capital and operating expenses, reducing risk and making a positive impact on the environment.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, local government employees are using Lyft to cover the first and last mile of public transportation. Similarly, the City of Chicago uses Zipcar to meet some of its fleet needs and has found that Zipcar costs $.25 less per mile versus owning and operating its own fleet.3

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Car-sharing platforms can also help close gaps in public transportation services without requiring massive government investment. Consider, for instance, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), which has partnered with Uber. Using the GoPass Mobile Ticketing Application, customers can purchase a ticket for DART as well as order an Uber ride for transportation to and from the station.4 Similarly, HART—the public transit system in Hillsborough County, Florida—is talking to Uber and Lyft about a partnership to connect customers to the bus system. The pilot project is helping deliver door-to-door public transit for disabled riders and those who use paratransit services.5

Get more from what you already own

While ownership may not be obsolete, traditional models are becoming less desirable. In Accenture’s survey, citizens are supportive of government sharing a wide range of assets. Indeed, 87 percent of citizens support the idea of government sharing heavy equipment, which is often underutilized and very expensive for local governments.

Through MuniRent, six local governments in Michigan are already renting equipment to and from each other. MuniRent empowers these organizations to get the gear they need at a lower rate than purchasing and maintaining their own equipment or renting it from a private company.8

Forward-thinking governments also are tapping into sharing platforms to reduce the cost and risk associated with the real estate they own. In Accenture’s survey, fully eight in 10 citizens agreed that government has excess resources—including facilities—that are currently underutilized. LiquidSpace, which lists offerings in more than 500 cities across the U.S., Australia and Canada, offers a platform for renting workspaces and meeting rooms by the day or hour. In California, the cities of Palo Alto, San Francisco and Santa Cruz have listed their unused space, including areas in public libraries and other government buildings, for rent via LiquidSpace.9

Digital and mobile technologies have combined with public support to create a host of opportunities to transform the way government manages the infrastructure it has already acquired. Embracing new models can help drive government innovation, trim costs, reduce waste and enhance risk management.

Digital: A direct line to citizens and their data

Widespread adoption of mobile devices is creating another set of opportunities for government innovation. Through third-party mobile apps, citizens are already providing valuable information that can be used to shape and deliver public services—without government bearing the full burden of storing and managing the data. More than three-quarters of citizens (76 percent) support the use of crowdsourced data to inform service delivery.

Among the opportunities: Monitoring Yelp or similar apps to identify which restaurants and hotels are most likely to be out of compliance with health and safety regulations. Using third-party sensor data to monitor and respond to weather and/or public safety conditions. And mining driver-provided data to help guide highway and road infrastructure repairs and long-term planning. Already, the City of Detroit and other municipal governments are leveraging the mobile app SeeClickFix as a communications platform for citizens to report non-emergency issues. Governments can use the SeeClickFix platform to track, manage and reply to citizen-reported issues.10

While there may never be a time that government can or should depend fully on such sources, there’s little question that these data sets can have a significant positive impact on how services are designed and delivered. In addition to helping government reduce its infrastructure requirements, tapping into digital ecosystems also supports stronger citizen engagement. Call it “collaborative production,” with mobile devices making it far simpler and easier for citizens to step up as co-creators of public services.

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Lifts for employees with less drag on budgets

By the end of 2020, New York City plans to eliminate 10 percent of its light-duty vehicles, replacing the fleet with car sharing. The Department of Corrections will be the first City agency to roll out car sharing. In time, NYC will expand car sharing and fleet sharing for City workers and expects to save $5,000 per year per reduced vehicle.6

To reduce the size of its fleet, the General Services Administration (GSA) has launched a car-sharing program with Enterprise CarShare. Through a pilot in Washington, DC, New York City, Boston and Chicago, government agencies and their employees will have access to car-sharing services 24/7 in these cities.7

Procuring change

Mitigating risk. Matching expenses with revenues. Engaging with citizens. Improving services and outcomes. Every local and state government is working to address those critical goals. And, every government should be exploring how “We Economy” opportunities can help. Yet, Accenture’s survey revealed that across a range of such opportunities, half or fewer of government leaders will consider implementing them in the next 10 years. At most, only one in five are considering implementation of the various opportunities today. At the same time, half of leaders say their organizations are unprepared to meet the challenges of engaging with or using the sharing economy to deliver services. About a quarter report evaluating or discussing sharing economy impacts—but almost 40 percent report no engagement with sharing economy issues.

Government doesn’t need to own every asset and control every resource in order to deliver public services. It does, however, need to let go of long-held assumptions in order to grab on to newly forming models that will allow it to fuel government innovation and succeed at delivering public services for the future.

That needs to change. How and where should you start? Accenture recommends the following:

• Identify swift wins. Getting started with the “We Economy” needn’t be a long, protracted project. To start, tap into existing platforms, such as Uber and Lyft for first- and last-mile transport, Airbnb for emergency shelter following natural disasters or MuniRent to share heavy equipment.

• Borrow before you buy. When contemplating the purchase of almost any asset, ask first, “Can we borrow or rent?” The opportunities for sharing are limited only by your willingness to try.

• Lend what you already own. Look at existing assets. Ask, “What do we have that’s underutilized?” Then look for a “We Economy” approach that you can adopt to get more use, and more revenue, from what you already own.

• Cut your residents in on the action. Apps like NextDoor and SeeClickFix can quickly get your residents connected and active with you in solving problems and effectively delivering services.

For government, the path to participation in the “We Economy” is not long. Nor are the barriers high.

Government doesn’t need to own every

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Copyright © 2016 Accenture All rights reserved.

Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.

For more information, please contact:

Peter C. Hutchinson Managing Director, Accenture Public Services Strategy Health & Public Service peter.c.hutchinson@accenture.com

Pari Sabety Senior Manager, Accenture Public Services Strategy Health & Public Service j.p.sabety@accenture.com

Connect with us to learn more on delivering public service for the future on Twitter @AccenturePubSvc

About AccentureAccenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions for government in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all organizational functions—underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network—Accenture works at the intersection of government and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With more than 358,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way citizens work and live. For more information visitwww.accenture.com/publicservice

Resources1 That report defines the five main sharing economy sectors as peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding, online staffing, peer-to-peer accommodation, car sharing, and music and video streaming.

2 “The Sharing Economy – Sizing the Revenue Opportunity.” Pwc. Available at: http://www-pwc-co-uk-dpe-staging.pwc.com/issues/megatrends/collisions/sharingeconomy/the-sharing-economy-sizing-the-revenue-opportunity.html

3 “How cities are saving big bucks with car sharing.” Government Executive, July 9, 2014. Available at: http://www.govexec.com/state-local/2014/07/car-sharing-chicago-zipcar-indianapolis-blueindy/88141/

4 Dallas Area Rapid Transit, Uber partner in effort to fill in riders’ ‘first-mile-last-mile’ Gap.” The Dallas Morning News, April 14, 2015. Available at: http://transportationblog.dallasnews.com/2015/04/dallas-area-rapid-transit-uber-partner-in-an-effort-to-fill-in-riders-first-mile-last-mile-gap.html/

5 HART pilot project could include partners with Lyft, Uber.” The Tampa Tribune, August 17, 2015. Available at: http://www.tbo.com/news/transportation/could-hart-partner-with-lyft-uber-20150817/

6 “NYC Expands Car Sharing in Fleet Reduction Plan.” Government Fleet, June 15, 2015. Available at: http://www.government-fleet.com/channel/operations/news/story/2015/06/nyc-expands-car-sharing-in-fleet-reduction-plan.aspx

7 “GSA Begins Car Sharing Pilot Program.” Government Fleet, October 3, 2014. Available at: http://www.government-fleet.com/channel/safety-accident-management/news/story/2014/10/gsa-begins-car-sharing-pilot-program.aspx

8 “MuniRent brings the sharing economy to the local government level.” L’Altelier, May 19, 2015. Available at: http://www.atelier.net/en/trends/articles/munirent-brings-sharing-economy-local-government-level_435577

9 “LiquidSpace Used by California Cities to Rent Out Public Workspace,” Government Technology, April 5, 2012. Available at: http://www.govtech.com/e-government/LiquidSpace-Used-by-California-Cities-to-Rent-Out-Public-Workspace.html

10 “How the ‘Improve Detroit’ Mobile App will Transform the City.” SeeClickFix Blog, April 8, 2015. Available at: http://blog.seeclickfix.com/how-the-improve-detroit-mobile-app-will-transform-the-city