The Citizen Experience Theatre at DigiGov Expo 2025 opened with a sobering yet ultimately optimistic assessment of the relationship between citizens and the state in the digital age. The morning session tackled one of the most pressing challenges facing government digital services: declining public trust and what can be done about it.
The session began with stark international data showing trust in government at concerning lows. Recent OECD findings reveal that just 39% of people trust their national government, whilst only 37% are confident that government balances the interests of current and future generations. These aren't merely abstract statistics; they have real-world consequences for how citizens engage with public services.
Academics define trust as a "willingness to make oneself vulnerable when relying on others." When that willingness erodes, the speaker warned, it doesn't simply result in customer churn as it might in the private sector. Instead, it fundamentally alters civic behaviour: people become less likely to vote, less willing to participate constructively, and crucially for digital transformation efforts, less inclined to use online government services.
The presentation made a compelling case that those working in digital government cannot treat trust as someone else's problem. Low trust directly impacts the ability to deliver value through digital channels. Research shows that users with low trust are less likely to use services requiring personal data sharing, more reluctant to adopt AI-powered government services, and have lower incentives to engage with new digital offerings.
Perhaps most concerning, the data suggests the problem may worsen. In the UK, younger and more educated citizens are amongst the least trusting of national government, precisely the demographics that future digital services will need to reach.
Having established the scale of the challenge, the session pivoted to the solution. There is "clear evidence of a direct and symmetrical relationship between customer experience of digital government services and citizens' trust in government," with research showing 87% of respondents saying positive experiences increased their trust, whilst 81% said poor experiences eroded it.
This creates both an opportunity and a responsibility for those building digital services. The speaker emphasised that government competence and perceived values both drive trust, with satisfaction with services and perception of fairness showing significant effects on trust levels.
A key insight came from recent research into Universal Credit, which highlighted a disconnect between how civil servants and users frame their interactions with government. Whilst officials focused on communicating the legality of decisions, claimants prioritised processes that felt "respectful and dignifying."
This points to a need to think beyond transactional efficiency. The session introduced a framework for understanding government-citizen interactions as relationships over time, with both experienced value (such as time saved) and perceived value (such as feeling more informed or in control). Success means both reducing user costs – the material, mental and emotional burden of interacting with government, and being actively helpful.
The presentation outlined several concrete initiatives addressing the trust gap:
Particular attention is being paid to understanding the needs of younger users, those aged 14-16 who represent the next generation of government service users. This cohort, dubbed "Generation Alf," interact with digital services in fundamentally different ways, rarely using traditional websites and expecting app-based, personalised experiences as standard.
The speaker was candid about current limitations, noting that whilst government digital services excel for citizens with simple, transactional needs (such as renewing a passport), they haven't yet cracked more complex scenarios where people need to interact with multiple departments, such as managing a long-term health condition.
The session concluded with a call for systemic transformation that delivers value citizens can feel quickly. The goal isn't simply to digitise existing processes, but to build a "consistent, helpful presence" in people's lives that extends beyond traditional service delivery.
Measuring success will require new metrics focused on personal value, understanding what value is made up of, how it varies across different circumstances and attitudes, and whether different people conceive of value in similar ways.
The overarching message was one of cautious optimism. Whilst trust in government faces significant headwinds, digital services represent both a cause and a potential solution. The next five years were characterised as the next revolution in citizen experience, full of opportunity, but undeniably risky.
For those working in digital government, the challenge is clear: build services that don't just work efficiently, but that help rebuild the fundamental relationship between citizens and the state. The alternative, continuing decline in trust and engagement, is simply too costly to contemplate.