LONDON, Feb. 25,
2025 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from
Appian (Nasdaq: APPN), in partnership with Coforge (NSE:
COFORGE), reveals that, on average, manual process inefficiency
is costing public sector workers five hours per week in extra
work or delays. Across the UK's 6.12 million public sector
workforce, this adds up to 30.6 million hours of extra work
every week.
Of the 1,000 UK public sector workers surveyed in the 2025 UK
Public Sector Efficiency Survey, 94% say they face process
inefficiencies in delivering citizen services. The top three
reported obstacles to efficiency were:
- Manual and repetitive tasks
- A need to access multiple legacy systems to view or enter the
same information
- A lack of training and support
Process change is also a common challenge: 91% of public sector
workers say that their organization finds adapting its processes
challenging (specifically when trying to maintain productivity
amidst changing service demands, citizen needs and government
policies).
AI and automation: The keys to efficiency
Despite process challenges, the public sector is optimistic
about the opportunities AI and process automation offer:
- Confidence in AI. 62% of survey
respondents have some or high confidence in AI's
potential to improve their organization's efficiency. Those in
back-office IT roles (71%) were most likely to report confidence in
AI, followed by those in citizen-facing services (65%) and
back-office business roles (57%).
- Confidence in automation. 72% of
respondents believe that automating repetitive tasks would simplify
their jobs and improve efficiency. And 95% of respondents that use
workflow or process automation tools reported experiencing
benefits.
"Every public service organization is built on processes. When
those processes improve, so do the services delivered to citizens,"
said Peter Corpe, Industry Leader,
UK Public Sector at Appian. "With millions of hours at stake,
automating low-value admin tasks and resolving process
inefficiencies offers the public sector a chance to work more
efficiently. This means more time for the strategic and
value-driven activities that directly impact citizen outcomes."
Coforge, an Appian partner for over 13 years with 350+ Appian
practitioners on staff, has seen these outcomes first-hand. "Modern
AI and automation technologies are transforming complex government
processes into streamlined digital workflows," said Coforge Chief
Customer Success Officer John
Speight. "By partnering with Coforge, organizations are
turning this potential into reality – reducing processing times
from hours to minutes to achieve significant cost savings, and
deliver smarter, faster, community-focused outcomes."
Pressure on the public sector to improve productivity
In its latest budget, the UK government has set all departments
a 2% target to improve productivity, efficiencies and savings for
next year. Using technology more effectively is one way to achieve
this goal. According to a 2025 review by the UK Department for
Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) "Over £45 billion per
year of unrealized savings and productivity benefits, 4–7% of
public sector spend, could be achieved through … digitization of
public sector services." The review goes on to say, "This makes
digitization the most powerful lever available to drive public
sector and service reform." It lists process simplification
and AI-driven automation of manual tasks as two predominant
opportunities to drive savings.
"The government is clear on its mission to automate processes in
the public sector," says Corpe. "AI adoption in the public sector
is no longer a question of if but when." And
according to survey respondents, public sector workers are ready
for change.
The solution to process inefficiency, Corpe says, is to make
technology part of the process. "And no company is better equipped
to deploy AI in enterprise processes than Appian. Appian is the
leader in process orchestration, automation, and intelligence. By
embedding AI in processes with unified, secure enterprise data,
Appian is improving service delivery outcomes. And we've been at
the forefront of better process outcomes in government for over 25
years."
Download the 2025 UK Public Sector Efficiency
Survey for more findings from public servants.
About Appian
Appian is The Process Company. We deliver a software platform
that helps organizations run better processes that reduce costs,
improve customer experiences, and gain a strategic edge. Committed
to client success, we serve many of the world's largest companies
across industries. For more information, visit appian.com.
About Coforge
Coforge is a global digital services and solutions provider that
leverages emerging technologies and deep domain expertise to
deliver real-world business impact for its clients. A focus
on select industries, a deep domain understanding of the underlying
processes of those industries and partnerships with leading
technology platforms, enables Coforge to be a trusted partner of
its clients in their transformation initiatives. Coforge leads with
its Product Engineering approach and leverages AI, Cloud, Data,
Integration and Automation technologies to transform businesses
into intelligent, high growth enterprises. Coforge has 30 global
delivery centers and is present in 23 countries. For more
information, visit coforge.com.
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