Citizen Relationship Management (CiRM) has captured the interest of GCC governments on both the federal and local levels across the region.

CiRM is the public sector’s adaptation of customer relationship management (CRM), which involves the automation of organisations’ sales, marketing and customer service data and processes to enhance, service, overall efficiency and customer satisfaction, according to a statement by LinkdotNET, which is the parent company for software development house Link Development.

“Every government in the Gulf is either planning or implementing some form of CiRM strategy, with applications from healthcare and transportation to finance and education,” LinkdotNET GCC territory manager Sherif Dahan.

“This is part of an overall digital government initiative and a solution to meet higher demand for public services from rapidly growing populations in the region,” he added.

While CRM has been applied in private enterprises for years, it has only recently captured the interest of the public sector, and done so substantially. These efforts stem from the keenness of governments to enhance the quality and delivery of public services. Feedback mechanisms, enabling suggestions and complaints, are a particular area of focus within CiRM adoption in the region because they help the government sector to review performance and address issues.

Furthermore, governments in the region have recognised CiRM’s value in streamlining public services to meet the demand of rapidly growing populations.

The GCC region has one of the highest population growth rates  in the world, resulting from high birth rates amongst national populations and a continuous influx of migrant workers.

With the current GCC population set to increase by 40 per cent by 2015, the strain on public services can be considerable. By automating and integrating processes and data, CiRM can bring a much higher level of efficiency to the public sector and alleviate pressure on resources.

Link Development CEO Hanan Abdel Meguid, explains that the CiRM evolution echoes the trend of many private sector practices that are slowly making their way into government.

“Governments have been taking tips from the private sector and learning how they are effectively managing long-term relationships with customers, ensuring customer satisfaction and growing the business.

“Ironically, CiRM adoption at this later stage may actually work to the benefit of governments, who have the advantage of the private sector’s initial learnings, and CiRM may turn out to be an even more successful concept with public services.

“The surge in interest in CiRM is a reflection of the shift in regional governments’ attitude towards citizens,” Hanan said. “They have realized the importance of a citizen-centric philosophy and culture. An early indication of this trend was the willingness of governments to go online through websites, then portals and now one-stop gateways. They are going where the citizen is going. When you look at it from a broader perspective, you realize that the Internet has gone beyond being just a communication tool with citizens – it is in fact revolutionising governments’ relationships with citizens.”

CiRM draws heavily on CRM, using similar technologies, strategies, management practices, and a user-centric approach. It works to maintain and optimize relationships with the public and encourages transparency, thereby improving accountability, enabling citizen participation and online transaction tracking.

Earlier this year, Link Development deployed a CiRM solution for the Egyptian Government’s Ministry of State for Administrative Development.

The solution, based on Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0, was designed to help manage the e-government Call Center in Egypt, and track citizen complaints, questions and suggestions relating to all e-government services