The gold standard of digitising government? Standardisation.

Why uniformity decides success.

International comparisons show: countries with high standardisation achieve up to twice the usage rates for digital government services.

But why?

Because standardisation reduces friction. It makes digital government simpler and more user-friendly.

3 reasons why standards save nerves:

One unified digital identity instead of lots of logins
Shared data models and registers instead of asking the same thing multiple times
Reusable platforms instead of individual isolated solutions
Fewer media breaks, more end-to-end communication

In fragmented systems, you’re often left with good individual services — but with low usage and high maintenance effort.

The lesson is uncomfortable, but clear: it’s not innovation that decides — it’s binding commitment.

What are your experiences with different standards?

Source: OECD (2024/2025): Digital Government Studies

Photo: No Revisions for Unsplash