A digitalisation push: Citizen Development in businesses

Citizen Development enables employees to develop their own applications without in-depth technical knowledge, thereby driving forward digital transformation within the organisation. This innovative approach not only addresses staff shortages in IT departments, but also minimises the friction caused by communication between business departments and IT.
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Citizen development refers to an approach in which employees develop applications independently. These employees have little or no technical knowledge. Alongside the persistent shortage of staff in IT departments, the significant friction involved in communicating requirements is one of the primary factors slowing down digitalization. Citizen developers play a central role in this.

The specialist knowledge of the processes lies with the individual users responsible. This means there is no loss of information when the process first has to be explained to a third party. Furthermore, changes resulting from business decisions can be implemented directly by the person responsible for the business process. This ensures the rapid and accurate implementation of the applicable business rules.

In short, the definition of a citizen developer is: process owners who combine business responsibility with technical implementation in a single role.

The right citizen developer platform

The category of citizen development platforms comprises two sub-types: so-called low-code platforms and no-code platforms. The difference between these two platforms is significant.

  • Low-code platform
    A low-code platform is a software framework – or, in this case, a citizen developer framework – that simplifies the development of applications. When working with low-code, the application development processes are greatly simplified; however, an experienced developer may still need to incorporate lines of code in some cases.
  • No-code platform
    A no-code platform is a software application that enables users to create business apps without requiring any development knowledge. In most cases, applications can be put together using drag-and-drop interfaces.

Both approaches – low-code and no-code – aim to accelerate application development and lower the barriers to creating software applications, although low-code is more developer-oriented, whilst no-code also enables non-developers to create applications.

The linqi Citizen Development Platform is a no-code platform whose corporate philosophy is to make digitalisation so simple that anyone can become a citizen developer.

A unique opportunity in digital transformation

Citizen developer tools such as linqi offer a unique opportunity in digital transformation. Employees possess a vast wealth of expertise regarding business processes. Involving these employees in digital transformation presents enormous opportunities.

On the one hand, digital transformation can be embraced and implemented at every level across the entire organisation. This distributes the workload across the whole organisation, rather than just the IT department. As a result, a mindset takes hold throughout the organisation of using digital transformation to maximise efficiency. Furthermore, it is essential to integrate an increasing number of stakeholders into the work processes. Cross-departmental processes without data disconnects enable seamless documentation and the accelerated processing of success-critical processes.

Offer your employees the opportunity to flourish. Everyone has a desire to get involved. Often, however, the necessary framework is lacking, which means that innovation – particularly in the area of digitalisation – is not being driven forward. Some employees set up ‘shadow IT’ and attempt to digitalise and simplify processes within their department using uncontrolled software solutions. A genuine benefit for the entire organisation can only be realised if processes can flow seamlessly into one another.

The linqi process platform offers all the functions that citizen developers need. It makes no difference whether employees are technology experts or subject matter experts without technical knowledge. As a citizen development platform, linqi Level provides the tools needed to digitise processes of any complexity. Using tenant-based set-ups, employees can implement the necessary processes within their department or for self-contained areas. Cross-tenant processes are also no problem.

Frequently asked questions about citizen development platforms

You’ll often come across terms in both English and German such as: citizen development platform, citizen developer platform, business process tool, no-code platform, low-code platform. But we’d be happy to show you exactly what these terms mean in a personalised demo. Please get in touch for a bespoke demonstration. We’d be happy to show you, free of charge, just how easily you can digitise business processes – including documentation and everything else involved – all on your own.

Request a free live demo

After a preliminary discussion of approx. 30 minutes, we will automate your process free of charge and demonstrate linqi to you using your own process in a live demo via video call (approx. 60 minutes) to clarify any open questions.

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It is essential for transparent and legally compliant administrative processes: procedural documentation. How digital solutions can make it easier to create.

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Flowcharts can be used to translate business processes into clear and easy-to-understand automated workflows – with linqi, this is done simply via drag and drop.

linqi as SaaS software

As a SaaS solution, linqi is ready to use straight away: clear workflows, clearly defined responsibilities and a configuration that can be flexibly adapted – with no IT effort required.