Identity as a catalyst: Transforming government culture in the digital age

Government digital transformation is as much about culture as it is about technology. As the saying goes, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast," and while discussions often center on authentication, security, and integration, the most significant changes arise when we recognize identity as the cornerstone of new ways to work, serve, and connect.

The identity paradox in government

Today's US residents have come to expect government services to deliver the same seamless experience they enjoy when ordering takeout or shopping online. One survey found that more than half of Americans would prefer to interact with government services online, yet only 23% do so on a regular basis. 

This gap exists because the current government digital infrastructure often requires residents to:

• Navigate multiple login systems.
• Repeatedly provide the same sensitive information.
• Manage separate accounts and credentials for different services.

This fragmentation frustrates residents and perpetuates a bureaucratic, rather than service-oriented, culture. The paradox: Something as seemingly technical as authentication becomes the linchpin of cultural transformation. By prioritizing identity, organizations can unlock their full cultural potential.

From gatekeepers to enablers

Implementing modern Customer Identity and Access Management solutions can transform organizational culture in three fundamental ways.

• From defensive to service-oriented: Traditionally, government security teams have adopted a "fortress mentality"— building walls, protecting assets, and restricting access. However, modern technologies are changing this dynamic. The government sector has seen 66% year-over-year growth in user-experience-related security tool adoption (the fastest of any sector). Agencies can now simultaneously strengthen security while delivering frictionless experiences, enabling agencies to shift from a "no" to a "yes, securely" approach. This fundamentally changes their relationship with residents and program staff.
• From fragmentation to connection: Residents don't think about government in organizational charts and procedural flows. They simply want seamless services, regardless of departmental boundaries. When agencies implement a unified identity layer, they begin breaking down the artificial barriers between departments. Staff start thinking differently too, considering the resident journey across services rather than just their departmental silo.
• From reactive to innovative: With passwordless authentication solutions growing 52% year-over-year (according to our 2025 Business at Work report), agencies can redirect resources from maintenance to innovation. By freeing up staff from tasks like password resets, agencies can empower them to reimagine services.

Rethinking the resident relationship

The impact extends beyond internal culture to transform the fundamental relationship between government and the people it serves.

• From subject to partner: Traditional government identity processes treat residents as applicants to be verified and subjects to be authenticated. Modern identity solutions flip this dynamic, empowering residents as active participants in a secure digital relationship. Self-service capabilities, transparent consent management, and user-friendly authentication give residents more control over their government interactions.
• From transactional to ongoing: Legacy systems handle identity as a series of disconnected transactions. Modern platforms like Okta and Auth0 enable continuous, trusted relationships. For example, a mother can use a single, secure identity across multiple life events — like renewing her child's school enrollment, applying for recreational programs, and handling property tax payments — allowing government services to recognize her context and needs.
• From burdensome to effortless: A 2023 Government Accountablity Office report indicates that some agencies spend up to 80% of their IT budgets on maintaining outdated systems that can't meet today's digital demands. This maintenance burden translates directly into resident friction. By adopting modern identity solutions, agencies can eliminate barriers that collectively waste thousands of resident-hours on unnecessary complexity.

Implementing lasting cultural change

The US faces a high-stakes security landscape, with a 6.6% rate of detected cyberthreats — the highest among all countries. In this environment, identity represents a critical vulnerability and an opportunity for cultural reinvention. The path forward requires more than new technology; it demands a fundamentally different mindset.

• Think resident-first, not system-first: Modern identity solutions prioritize the resident experience, shaping technical implementation, rather than the other way around. This approach involves selecting solutions that align with residents' digital behaviors, rather than forcing them to adapt to government processes.
• Embrace incremental transformation: As detailed in our guide, agencies can adopt distributed, hybrid, or consolidated models for identity implementation. While the optimal approach depends on an agency's specific context, cultural transformation can begin at any stage. Each step toward modern identity paves the way for cultural evolution.
• Build for trust through access: The most effective identity systems balance security and accessibility, encouraging participation from all residents, including those with limited technical skills or access. By making security seamless for legitimate users and impenetrable for bad actors, the government can build trust through every interaction.

Identity is the key to what’s possible

Identity management for residents is more than just infrastructure — it's the key to government transformation. When residents can access services seamlessly, staff can focus on improving outcomes rather than resetting passwords, and enhanced identity security can empower instead of impede. This unlocks the government's potential to serve in entirely new ways. Forward-thinking agencies understand that identity transformation is cultural transformation; they're reimagining the relationships between government and residents, departments, staff, and their core mission.

In this new paradigm, identity becomes the foundation for a government that is adaptive, responsive, and worthy of trust. Download our comprehensive whitepaper, "Building Flexible and Secure Government Services: An Identity-First Guide," to explore practical implementation models for your journey from identity management to cultural transformation.