Modernizing the Government of Tamaulipas with Google Workspace and AppSheet

People depend on their government for more than just roads and bridges. To thrive, individuals across global communities require civic infrastructure such as public education, healthcare, and law enforcement that's managed in a way that warrants public trust and generates pride. 

Here in the State of Tamaulipas, in northeast Mexico, our governor Dr. Américo Villarreal Anaya recognized that our government's existing systems and processes could no longer meet the dynamic demands of our 3.5 million citizens. So in 2022, he established a six-year state development plan. It outlines a strategy for using modern, digital tools and services to improve citizen wellbeing, social development, and inclusive, sustainable economic growth so that our state's government is known for its efficiency, honesty, and justice. 

Choosing the right tools to advance a long-term modernization strategy

To achieve the goals set out in our governor's strategic plan, we needed to implement digital solutions that democratized access to digital tools and inspired our state's 60,000 employees to embrace new ways of working and advancing their own ideas for innovating. One of our first projects was deploying Google Workspace to enable real-time information sharing and collaboration between employees. 

We also had to quickly digitize workflows, especially in purchasing and procurement. Creating contracts with suppliers involves a lot of coordination between employees with different roles, and the manual processes teams had to manage took too long. Not only were individuals pulling information from the siloed databases they had access to based on their roles but then they had to work with colleagues to compile their data in shared spreadsheets. Contract review processes were also manual, and there were no digital records that showed who made what changes to the state's existing 66 contracts. Understanding the source of any issue was nearly impossible. The manual workflows also restricted employee mobility and required them to work in the office.

Accelerating digital innovation with a no-code tool

After evaluating digital purchasing solutions to automate these and other workflows, we decided to build a custom application using Google AppSheet. The no-code app and automation creation tool, which is included in Google Workspace, dramatically simplifies development including system integrations and automation, making it the ideal tool to modernize our operations, combat internal backlog, and support future digitization.

Centralizing and automating purchasing processes in less than two months 

Delivering on-demand insights and more apps to increase transparency and efficiency 

With ATCOM, we've improved collaboration, purchasing efficiency, and transparency. Our teams use the app every day to create and modify contracts, make data-informed decisions as they negotiate terms with suppliers, and expedite other purchasing and procurement tasks. For example, rather than spending a week manually compiling information for a contract, they can now immediately access the data with ATCOM. Employees can instantly verify whether existing or potential government suppliers comply with current regulations and do not introduce any potential conflicts of interest. Additionally, because ATCOM runs on desktop and mobile devices, administrative employees can access the app and work on contracts whenever and wherever they need to.

Modeling sustainable social and economic development for other agencies

Our modernization strategies have quickly captured national and global attention. Tamaulipas' Secretary of Administration recently provided AppSheet training to other state government agencies, who are now working on their own AppSheet projects. Additionally, our state government is looking at sharing ATCOM as a model for state governments in Mexico and other countries in Latin America because they face similar purchasing and procurement challenges.

What makes our purchasing and procurement solution so interesting to others? Not only does it solve key workflow challenges but it also meets requirements for increased collaboration, employee mobility, and data insight, control, and protection. Additionally, we built ATCOM with a no-code tool in Google Workspace. They want to know how they can use AppSheet to accelerate cumbersome processes, improve accuracy and insight, and respond to their other requirements faster. 

For us, AppSheet is a core tool in our digitization strategy—and we're just getting started. With AppSheet, we can promote a path toward a disruptive digital government and focus our efforts on building the modern services needed to improve citizen wellbeing, social development, and inclusive, sustainable economic growth. 

Whether you are a public or private sector IT professional, AppSheet can help you create the impactful solutions your organizations need, easily and securely. Appsheet is now included with most Google Workspace editions, get started building workflows and solutions with no coding today!