“When we considered in fact switching to SAFe, we had this failure and we gained this information. We knew why we had to change the process instead of being waterfall and turn toward being a Lean-Agile organization.”
— Thomas Quartier, Principal Lean-Agile SPCT, Capgemini
Industry:
Government, Transportation
Quick Facts:
- The French Ministry is made up of 12,500 driving schools, 84 public offices, and several hundred agents
- The system serves 1.4 million driving candidates per year
- The Ministry launched the first SAFe for Government station in France
Outcomes
- SAFe allowed the Ministry to change the culture of the department by working with stakeholders, observing processes, and understanding the end user and their needs.
- With SAFe, they improved lead time and accelerated flow of value to citizens without interruptions
- They restored trust both within operations and between the government and citizens
- ART mood scores registered 4 out of 5 over 17 PIs, which indicates high overall satisfaction among workers
- Employee retention rates went from an average of 6 months to more than 2 years
- ARTs and releases achieved predictability rates near 100 percent over 17 PIs
Key Takeaways:
- Increase trust with stakeholders and teams by creating an inclusive and dynamic work environment
- Build and maintain deep business knowledge, mission agility, and business agility
- The public sector should strive for excellence and state-of-the-art practices in the same way private enterprises do
Overview
When it comes to implementing SAFe in a government setting, sometimes the value delivered to customers is measured in protected lives. Such is the case for the French Ministry of Interior, the government organization tasked with meeting the needs and expectations of safety and security for its people. The Ministry’s purpose is to define and implement road safety policy. This includes processes and systems for earning a driver’s license and for reducing accident rates.
“We have a simple mission. Our mission is to protect life, to save life and to protect users, car drivers, motorcycles, cyclists, pedestrians, scooters, everybody. So, the road safety is everybody’s concern,” explains Amine Fendri, RTE, Head of Business Applications at the French Ministry of Interior.
The driver’s license program is one of the biggest, most complex systems within the French Ministry. In 2013, the Ministry tried to update its systems using waterfall methods and suffered major failures. At that point, they understood that they needed to pivot and try something new. In 2015, they began developing a new information system using more agile practices. The Ministry opted for a long implementation schedule in order to fully learn SAFe, to experiment with proof of concepts (PoCs) and Minimum Viable Products (MVPs), and to comply with government requirements. In 2019, the Ministry launched its first Agile Release Train. By 2022, they launched a second ART. Today, they credit SAFe with helping them improve the culture of the department, get closer to their stakeholders, and deliver greater value in less time.
“Three words in Japanese that are stuck in my head… follow the rules, break the rules, then transcend the rules. It was very important, particularly in the public sector. So we strictly applied SAFe by the book during four increments and then… we observed that our teams were mature enough and have a strong agile mindset. So we moved forward and adapted… And with Covid episodes we learned how to work efficiently with a mix of remote and onsite, which was very important. We know now that this was possible thanks to a technology foundation of the program, which was clear, simple, and easy to maintain.”
— Amine Fendri, RTE, Head of Business Applications at the French Ministry of Interior
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