MACH Technology, Social Value & The Public Sector
MACH technology, which stands for Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless, has the potential to play – and in some cases is already playing – a pivotal role in shaping a more innovative, inclusive, and resilient society. Its principles foster a digital ecosystem that’s flexible, scalable, and capable of addressing the complex challenges facing today’s world. In layman’s terms, it’s an approach to designing, building, and testing agile digital systems where every digital component is pluggable, scalable, replaceable, and can be continuously improved.
“At M.E.L Research Ltd we undertake a range of work in the technology sector, including focussing on the digital divide and digital exclusion across a range of sectors, working with clients to evaluate and develop new ways of working, new digital platforms to support socially conscious behaviours such as recycling, and work to understand the impact that digital technologies are having on society – for example our work in to the use of dating apps,” says Elliot Simmonds, Client Solutions Director.
“We also undertake research in to software, hardware and wider technological trends. It is difficult to argue that technology does not impact almost every sector we work in, and understanding the systems and approaches that are on the cutting edge is important. Our work with the MACH Alliance, the membership organisation for MACH enabled organisations, whilst focussed largely on corporate brands and their experience of implementing the architecture, is important in helping to understand and develop the MACH movement. A lot of new advances make their way to the third and public sectors via the private sector.”
In addition, many of our clients operate in a customer focussed way as part of delivering public services – for example, our work in transport with train operating companies for ORR, or our work with utilities companies such as Electricity North West. In early 2023, Chris Daplyn of Valtech said he felt there was “huge potential in the UK’s public sector when it comes to digital transformation and making .GOV services easier to access and use.” This article highlights some of those potential benefits.
Benefits of MACH
Some of the benefits of MACH, looking from a public sector / social value perspective might include…
- Promoting Social Inclusion and Accessibility
MACH technology, particularly through its headless architecture, enables the creation of digital platforms that can be more accessible and user-friendly for a diverse audience. This aspect is vital for social inclusion, ensuring that digital services can be accessed by individuals with varying levels of digital literacy and on any device.
Example: Studies into the digital divide, such as those examining internet access and usability in underserved communities, highlight the need for more adaptable and accessible digital services. MACH’s headless approach allows for the development of applications that can be easily used by people with different needs, promoting inclusivity.
- Enhancing Public Services and Engagement
The cloud-native and API-first aspects of MACH ensure that public services can be more efficiently delivered and integrated. This could result in better citizen engagement and more effective public service delivery, from healthcare to education.
Example: Evaluations of e-government platforms can reveal how effectively services are being delivered and where improvements are needed. MACH principles can help in redesigning these platforms for better performance, user experience, and integration with other services – and allow for easier ‘test, learn and develop’ type approaches, as the individual parts of a system can be upgraded and integrated together, rather than being ‘stuck’ with a single, monolithic system, which cannot be replaced easily.
- Supporting Environmental Sustainability
MACH’s emphasis on cloud-native technologies could offer advantages in terms of environmental sustainability. This would need to be taken in the round, and the impact of providing power to data centres taken in to account, but there are arguments that by optimising resource use and reducing the energy consumption of data centres, MACH could contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of digital operations as compared to on-premises soltions.
Example: Research into the sustainability of tech infrastructures underscores the importance of adopting cloud-native solutions.
- Facilitating Rapid Innovation and Scalability
The microservices architecture inherent in MACH allows organisations to innovate rapidly and scale solutions as needed. This is crucial for responding to emerging social challenges and opportunities, enabling quick deployment of new services or adaptation of existing ones.
Example: The scalability of health information systems, especially during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, can illustrate the importance of a flexible and scalable architecture. MACH technologies enable the swift scaling of services to meet increased demand.
Conclusion
MACH technology’s potential value for society lies in its ability to address key challenges across inclusivity, public service delivery, environmental sustainability and innovation.
Through the lens of research, whether it’s examining the digital divide, assessing public e-services, evaluating environmental impacts, exploring scalable health or recycling solutions, there are potential examples where MACH principles might be used to support the public sector. To understand how MACH is impacting the private sector, currently, please see our annual research for the MACH Alliance.
To find our more about our work in the technology sector, please visit our dedicated technology market research page.
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