The Experience Gap: How Legacy Systems Are Bankrupting Citizen Confidence

by Brian Chidester, Head of Global Strategy & Innovation, Public Sector at Adobe

If even 5–10% of the IT budget were reallocated to modernizing citizen-facing services, government could deliver transformative, measurable improvements in how citizens engage.

Each year, the U.S. federal government spends over $100 billion on information technology. It’s a staggering figure—more than the GDP of some small countries. And yet, despite this massive investment, citizens still struggle to access services, navigate clunky websites and endure painfully outdated processes that wouldn’t survive a day in the private sector.

So, where’s the disconnect? The uncomfortable truth is this: Most of that money isn’t making citizens’ experiences better. It’s keeping old, broken systems alive.

The Cost Of Keeping The Past On Life Support

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), roughly 80% of federal IT spending goes toward maintaining aging, legacy systems—some of which are over 30 years old. These systems, built for a pre-digital world, were never designed to deliver seamless, on-demand services to a digitally savvy public.

When government services rely on outdated technology, the citizen experience suffers. Simple tasks like renewing a license, applying for benefits or accessing healthcare records become exercises in frustration. And in critical services like disaster relief, veteran care or unemployment assistance, these failures aren’t just inconvenient—they can be life-altering.

Why CX Isn’t a “Nice to Have” — It’s a National Imperative

In the private sector, poor customer experience costs companies customers and market share. In government, it costs something even greater: public trust.

Research shows that citizen satisfaction with government services directly correlates to trust in institutions. When people struggle to access services, they perceive government as inefficient, unresponsive, and indifferent to their needs. In a time when confidence in public institutions is at a historic low, this is a crisis hiding in plain sight.

The Biden administration recognized this by issuing the Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery — a mandate to improve the way government interacts with the public. But mandates alone won’t fix the problem if budgets continue flowing into obsolete infrastructure instead of transformative, citizen-centered solutions.

The Opportunity Hiding in Plain Sight

Imagine if even a fraction of that $100 billion IT budget was redirected toward modern, user-centered digital experiences. The kind of services that don’t just work — they anticipate needs, resolve issues quickly, and make citizens feel seen, heard, and valued.

Let’s imagine what a government designed for the modern digital era could deliver:

• Seamless, unified online portals where citizens can access benefits, renew licenses, and manage services through a single, intuitive platform. No more jumping between clunky, unconnected agency websites.

• AI-powered chat and virtual assistance capable of answering common questions, guiding citizens through complex processes, and resolving issues in minutes, not hours.

• Mobile-first applications built for how people actually live and work today — with frictionless navigation, biometric security, and instant notifications about deadlines, payments, or status changes.

• Proactive, personalized communication that reaches out before problems arise. Imagine getting a text reminder about upcoming benefit renewals or new healthcare options you qualify for, rather than scrambling to fix an expired application after the fact.

Private sector leaders like Amazon, Apple, and Delta Airlines have long known that customer experience isn’t a luxury — it’s a strategic advantage. They’ve invested in intuitive digital interfaces, proactive service models, and AI-driven personalization because it drives loyalty, reduces operational costs, and builds trust.

Government doesn’t have competitors, but it does have stakeholders: citizens. And those citizens now judge digital experiences by the standards set by the private services they interact with every day. If ordering groceries, checking your bank account, or booking a flight takes seconds, why should accessing public services be any different?

The technology already exists. The barrier isn’t capability — it’s prioritization.

If even 5–10% of the government’s IT budget were reallocated to modernizing citizen-facing services, the public sector could deliver transformative, measurable improvements in how people interact with government. Beyond convenience, this would restore public trust, improve equity in service delivery, and reduce costs by eliminating inefficiencies baked into legacy systems.

The recent Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience was a step in the right direction. But real change will come when agencies stop treating IT modernization and CX as side projects and start seeing them as core to their mission.

Time for a Reckoning

The real question isn’t whether the government has the resources to fix CX. It’s whether it has the will to stop funding failure.

Every year, agencies submit IT budget requests, and every year the majority of that money props up systems no one wants to use. It’s time for agencies to rethink those priorities, embrace modernization, and invest in experiences that restore public trust.

Because in the end, a government that can’t serve its people well doesn’t just waste money — it weakens democracy.

Brian Chidester is the Head of Global Strategy & Innovation for Public Sector at Adobe and the host of "The Government Huddle with Brian Chidester" podcast from GovExec. Mr. Chidester holds a B.S. in Communications Studies from Liberty University, is an Advisory Board Member for Digital Government Central, an advisor to the G20 Global Smart Cities Alliance at the World Economic Forum, and a member of the Forbes Technology Council.