One of the best things about humanity is its ability to innovate and evolve. Whatever you see today might not have existed a few years back or may not even exist in the future.
Today, everything we purchase and use has a digital element attached. Artificial intelligence, self-driving cars, and reusable rockets are just a few to name. But where is the technology headed now? How will it evolve and advance further than what it is now? What is the next big thing?
All signs point to one thing and that is citizen development. Since organizations need more applications to drive innovation, improve operational efficiency, and boost revenue in the future, citizen development is by far the best solution.
What is Citizen Development?
Citizen development is a business approach that encourages non-IT employees to develop software applications with the help of low-code/no-code (LNLC) platforms. The process helps employees to become citizen developers despite their lack of coding knowledge or skills.
Using LNLC platforms, they can either customize or create existing software to enhance operational efficiency or meet user-specific needs. The platforms only require individuals to drag and drop icons for updating or developing the applications. It enables them to apply actions, publish new codes, test the program, or connect components with different business units.
Importance of Citizen Development
Enterprises have started realizing the importance of citizen development. According to Gartner’s report, 80% of organizations will have citizen development policies by the end of 2024.
Now, let’s discuss the increasing need for citizen development from two different points of view.
The IT Point of View
Currently, digitization efforts by organizations are more prolific. About 40% of CIOs have successfully reached their digital endeavor scale. It further demands a continuous IT backlog.
Aside from keeping the organization updated with technology, IT is also under pressure to modernize existing infrastructure and improve the digital strategy by creating new apps.
The Business Point of View
Business users are still using outdated methods like spreadsheets and desktop databases to fix their problems. Furthermore, unchecked development along with the inception of SaaS applications have resulted in complex solutions with little to no IT visibility.
Final Thoughts
Citizen development has the potential to create positive advancements in the future. However, it can only work if more citizen developers get en route.
With citizen developers, there will be accelerated access to the world that can benefit future generations. They can immediately execute a good idea and build engagement from the very beginning till the end when the idea gets implemented.
Additionally, the effort put into creating software or applications will be less. This effort can be used further to think, innovate, and align ideas that can make a difference for humanity.