A total of 60,000 monthly calls are made to freephone 153 to ask about government services, a sixfold increase compared to the number of calls made five years ago when the service was set up.

Most callers query tax and social security issues, and, in the case of the latter, the main questions are about retirement pension, followed by widowers’ pension, unemployment benefits and disability benefits.

The freephone falls under servizz.gov, the online guide to government services set up in 2015. Now, five years later, the service is undergoing a digital transformation that includes upgrading the contact centre, which mans the freephone, with the introduction of a chatbot and live chat which should be up and running by the end of the year.

“Our goal is to establish a strong digital presence to reach customers faster,” says newly appointed chief executive Massimo Vella.

Vella took over as CEO three weeks ago. Before that he spent nine years in the role of chief information officer of various ministries and has a clear understanding of the way things work.

He wants to ensure an equal technology playing field across the various ministries since, at the moment, some are more technologically advanced than others.

“I’m not just talking about public-facing upgrades online, but even about internal technology. The more efficient we are, the more time we can spend on the important things and the public benefits from this,” says Vella who holds a Master of Science in Information Systems Management.

Servizz.gov chief executive Massimo Vella.

To achieve this, for the first time, servizz.gov will be represented during the regular ministry meetings, he says.

Vella explains that, as the provider of government services, servizz.gov manages freephone 153, 23 service hubs where services are offered face-to-face, and one-stop-shop online www.servizz.gov.mt with over 1,200 online forms. Now the agency has been tasked with the digitalisation of public services.

Sharing data across government entities

Vella says one of his priorities is to oversee the implementation of the once-only principle, expected to be completed next year. Through this system, customer information, including personal details and address, will be shared across government entities.

This means less bureaucracy for the customer who will not have to constantly communicate with various government departments to update personal data – but instead submit the data once. This will facilitate procedures, such as the registration of births or deaths, a change in surname following marriage or a change in address. 

Hot desking for public officers

Servizz.gov is also working on the overall upgrade of its 23 service hubs that provide a one-stop-shop for government services to those who are not tech-savvy.

Apart from undergoing a physical refurbishment, the hubs will get a digital dimension with the creation of hot-desking spaces.

These will be offered to public officers who need to work remotely, he says, giving the example of a mother who works from home but can now get away for two hours to focus on work while someone minds her children.

“We are evolving the teleworking concept into a remote working concept,” he says, adding that the hubs would be pre-booked through an app.

He says that the opening hours of the various hubs now vary depending on the outcome of a study on client behaviour with some hubs opening daily, others four times a week and others twice weekly – depending on use.

Having joined the public service back in 1989, Vella is committed to providing a seamless service to the public.

“I am proud to be part of the public service. This has been very rewarding. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw the importance of what we’re doing and this makes us proud,” he says adding that after the first wave, in April, there was a 32 per cent increase in traffic to servizz.gov’s electronic site, with 125,000 people accessing some of the 1,000 government services offered by the site.