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10/07/2026 9:22 pm
TL;DR: Inefficient public services compound into lost time, slower business formation, reduced programme uptake, and weaker trust when digitisation simply replicates manual verification and disconnected workflows, according to Seamfix. The governance shift is from online forms to interoperable identity and process infrastructure that can actually remove friction at scale.
NHIMG editorial — based on content published by Seamfix: a discussion of why public-service efficiency depends on interoperable identity workflows and infrastructure
Questions worth separating out
Q: How should governments reduce verification friction in digital services?
A: Governments should reduce verification friction by sharing trusted identity data across services, standardising workflow rules, and removing duplicate proof steps.
Q: Why do digitised public services still feel slow?
A: Digitised public services still feel slow when agencies automate the front end but leave manual verification, disconnected records, and separate approval chains in place.
Q: What goes wrong when identity verification is not shared across systems?
A: When identity verification is not shared across systems, each transaction becomes a fresh trust decision.
Practitioner guidance
- Map repeated verification points across services Identify where citizens or businesses are asked to prove the same facts more than once.
- Design interoperable workflow rules Define common approval, verification, and exception-handling logic across agencies so automation does not just accelerate fragmented processes.
- Measure friction as a service metric Track repeat submissions, manual verification steps, and average time-to-decision for high-volume services.
What's in the full article
Seamfix's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:
- How GovSmart is positioned to connect service systems, automate workflows, and reuse identity data across government processes
- The specific service-delivery pain points Seamfix uses to argue for infrastructure-led transformation rather than front-end digitisation
- The way identity verification is embedded into coordinated workflows to reduce manual approvals and duplication
- The article's broader economic argument for why public-sector efficiency affects participation, trust, and growth
👉 Read Seamfix's analysis of why interoperable identity workflows matter for government efficiency →
Government service friction and identity verification: what changes now?
Explore further
10/07/2026 9:44 pm
Digital government fails when identity proofing is treated as a transaction instead of shared infrastructure. The article describes a familiar governance problem: agencies digitise entry points but leave the verification model fragmented. That forces repeated checks, duplicate submissions, and manual intervention across services. For identity programmes, the lesson is that service efficiency depends on interoperable identity data and policy alignment, not on more portals.
A question worth separating out:
Q: Who should own interoperability in public service delivery?
A: Interoperability should be owned jointly by service, identity, and platform teams because it is both a governance and operational issue. If one group owns only the portal or only the data layer, the organisation misses the end-to-end workflow. Accountability should cover identity proofing, data exchange rules, and exception handling.
👉 Read our full editorial: Digital government efficiency depends on interoperable identity workflows
