“Digital technology provides the essential tools to build and sustain this connection, facilitating community awareness, information sharing, and, ultimately, robust participation.”
Government agencies, across local, state, and federal segments, are gaining capacity without hiring anyone.
A nearly 30% surge in digital form submissions last year saved thousands of staff hours, shifting routine requests online and freeing teams to focus on complex cases, according to the newly released 2026 State of Digital Government: Trends in websites and customer service benchmark report from Granicus. This isn’t just a technological upgrade, but a fundamental change in how services are delivered.
The benchmark report shows how digital demand is rapidly reshaping government operations and why agencies must modernize now to keep pace. Residents aren’t waiting for modernization plans. They’re already interacting with government differently. They expect to submit requests online, track progress from their phones, and find answers instantly without calling, waiting, or navigating multiple departments. And increasingly, they can.
This shift is transforming service delivery at its core.
Digital growth is directly reducing staff workload
Every digital interaction has the potential to replace a manual one.
When residents submit forms or complete service journeys online instead of calling or visiting an office, staff no longer need to answer repetitive questions, manually enter data, or route requests across disconnected systems. The cumulative effect is significant: thousands of staff hours reclaimed and redirected toward higher-priority work.
The benchmark data also reflects how deeply digital engagement is becoming embedded in government operations. Across 287 government organizations using Granicus engagement tools, the number of published engagement projects rose to 2,478 in 2025, continuing a steady increase from 2,069 in 2023. This growth signals that agencies are not just experimenting with digital services but scaling them as core infrastructure.
At the same time, agencies are facing persistent staffing and resource constraints. 81% of engagement practitioners cited limited resources as a major barrier, and 60% pointed to competing internal priorities.
Residents are choosing digital first
The increase in digital form usage reflects a broader behavioral shift. Residents expect to engage online or through digital agent assisted channels, and analog forms feel like a relic of the past.
In 2025 alone, engagement platforms saw more than 5.35 million residents visit engagement initiatives, demonstrating sustained growth in digital participation. More than 1.5 million users actively engaged with content, and more than 210,000 completed direct actions, such as submitting feedback or participating in surveys.
At the same time, the number of newly registered users declined to 48,982 in 2025, down from more than 60,000 in 2023. This suggests residents increasingly prefer frictionless experiences that allow them to participate without creating accounts or navigating complex registration processes.
This combination of rising engagement with declining tolerance for friction creates a clear mandate: Government services must be easy to find, easy to use, and accessible from any device.
Mobile-first expectations are raising the bar for service delivery
Residents bring their expectations from banking, retail, and healthcare into their interactions with government.
They expect to complete transactions quickly. They expect clear navigation. They expect mobile accessibility.
When these expectations are met, digital services reduce inbound calls, improve resolution speed, and increase satisfaction. When they are not, residents revert to phone calls and in-person visits — reintroducing the very workload digital services are designed to eliminate.
This is why website modernization is no longer cosmetic. It is operational.
Cleaner navigation, accessible forms, integrated service workflows, and mobile-friendly interfaces directly influence whether residents choose digital self-service or rely on staff-intensive channels.
Digital self-service is becoming a workforce multiplier
The implications extend beyond convenience. Digital growth is fundamentally reshaping workforce capacity.
With more requests handled online or through digital agent assisted channels, staff can shift their focus from manual intake to complex service delivery, program improvements, and resident support that requires human judgment.
This is particularly critical as agencies navigate budget pressures. Engagement data show that community engagement budgets account for 5% or less of overall budgets at two-thirds of agencies, even as demand continues to rise.
Digital infrastructure allows agencies to scale services without scaling costs.
It enables government to handle greater demand, improve service delivery speed, and reduce operational strain — all within existing resource constraints.
Digital demand is driving a strategic shift in modernization priorities
The nearly 30% increase in digital form usage is not an isolated trend. It reflects a broader transition toward digital- and AI-first service delivery models.
Agencies are consolidating engagement platforms, increasing project activity on existing systems, and leveraging automation and data to optimize service delivery. The focus is shifting from launching new tools to maximizing the effectiveness of established digital infrastructure.
This evolution signals a growing recognition that websites, forms, and digital workflows are no longer supplemental channels. They are primary service delivery mechanisms.
For agencies that modernize successfully, the benefits are measurable:
- Reduced call volumes and manual workload.
- Faster response times and improved operational efficiency.
- Greater staff capacity without additional hiring.
- Improved resident satisfaction and trust.
- More scalable and sustainable service delivery.
Agencies that delay modernization risk falling behind resident expectations — and placing additional strain on already limited staff resources.
What comes next
The full 2026 State of Digital Government benchmark report provides a comprehensive look at how agencies are responding to these shifts, including scaling digital form usage, adopting AI, improving engagement strategies, and optimizing service delivery infrastructure.
We’ll also break down what these trends mean in practical terms — and what governments can do next — during our upcoming webinar.
Register for the webinar to learn how agencies are using digital self-service, automation, and modernization to reduce workload, improve response times, and deliver better outcomes for residents.
