Who is Citizen Developer and What is Citizen Development: Definition and Model

1. What is Citizen Development
2. Who is Citizen Developer
3. What is the Citizen Development model
4. What does the process look like in Citizen Development
5. What are the solutions for the development of Citizen Development, the possibilities of Webcon
6. Why Citizen Development is profitable
7. Which industries of companies can benefit from the implementation of citizen Development?
8. Consider TTMS as a trusted partner in Citizen Development and Webcon software
9. Thoughts and conclusions

Investing in Citizen Development’s strategy is a wise choice for several reasons. First of all, it  allows for gradual optimization of business processes and increased work efficiency. Thanks to this technology, employees at different levels of the organization can create and modify applications, which allows for faster adaptation of systems to current business needs.

Secondly, it reduces the investment associated with the involvement of IT specialists. Traditionally, creating applications required hiring a team of programmers, which was associated with high costs of salaries and training, Citizen development allows you to use the knowledge and skills of existing employees, which saves money.

Thirdly, it enables the gradual implementation of new functionalities and services. This allows organizations to adapt their applications to current needs, which allows for a faster response to changing market conditions and business needs.

Looking from the perspective of Citizen Development allows for faster and more effective application development by users without programming knowledge. Investing in this strategy allows you to optimize business processes, reduce costs and implement new functionalities faster. This solution allows you to increase the efficiency of the organization, automate and improve financial results.

There are always many questions at the beginning: who is a Developer, who is a programmer and what is this software? What is Citizen Development?  You will find answers to these and  other bothering and timely questions in this article.

What is Citizen Development

Citizen Development is an approach to creating applications and IT solutions in which people outside the traditional development team, such as employees of business departments, can create, modify and implement applications without the need for deep programming knowledge. End users become creators by leveraging low-coding tools, no-code or low-code platforms that allow them to build applications using simple graphical interfaces and configurations.

Citizen development definition, the shorter answer is a business process known as approach, which allows people without programming experience to develop software and applications through low-code platforms and tools.

Thanks to Citizen Development, organizations can quickly respond to changing business needs, increase operational efficiency and reduce costs and dependence on a traditional development team. It is also a form of employee involvement in the creative process, encouraging innovation and cooperation between various areas of the organization.

Citizen Development

Who is Citizen Developer

This is a person who uses Citizen Development tools (no code, low-code) to create applications without the need for specialized programming knowledge. This is a new category of IT users that uses simple and intuitive technology to create applications or improve existing systems.

Answering the question who is a citizen Developer:

simply put, they are employees of the company of various departments, having some knowledge, who have the need to adapt IT systems to their individual needs. Thanks to low-code/no-code platforms, they can easily and quickly adapt systems to their needs, without having to wait for the support of IT specialists.

Citizen Developers play an important role in the digital transformation of the enterprise, as they allow for faster implementation of new solutions and improvements that better respond to changing business needs. Your employees can become creative app developers who engage in their organization’s innovation process.

People in the role of Citizen Developer use Citizen Development to create applications and improve IT systems without the need for specialized programming knowledge. Citizen Developers who are committed to digital transformation and contribute to increasing business efficiency.

Citizen Developer

The term “citizen developer definition” refers to individuals within an organization who, despite lacking extensive programming expertise, utilize low-code or no-code platforms to create applications and digital solutions tailored to specific business needs. These modern innovators bridge the gap between IT and various departments, fostering collaboration and driving efficiency through their creative problem-solving approach. Citizen developers empower organizations by harnessing technology to turn their unique ideas into functional applications, thereby contributing to increased agility and responsiveness in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.

What is the Citizen Development model?

The Citizen Development model is an approach to creating applications and IT solutions that allows business employees to create their own applications even when they are not specialists in the field of programming. As part of the Citizen Development model, no-code or low-code tools are available. This allows them to create applications that meet their specific needs. This model enables organizations to tailor their software to their individual needs and provides the flexibility to respond quickly to changing business needs.

Thanks to the Citizen Development model, organizations can benefit from the knowledge and skills of their employees who know their specific requirements and needs. In this way, business employees become creative application developers who can proactively work for their organization and contribute to its development. So, to the question “Citizen Development – what is it?” we answer: j With this approach, business employees are able to create their own applications, even if they do not have specialized knowledge in the field of programming. This model enables organizations to tailor their software to their individual needs and provides the flexibility to respond quickly to changing business needs.

The citizen developer framework is a structure or model that provides guidelines, tools, resources, and support necessary for the successful implementation of the citizen development concept within an organization. It is a type of strategic approach that assists organizations in enabling their non-IT employees to create applications and IT solutions without deep programming knowledge.

Example of the Citizen Development model process

What does the process look like in Citizen Development

The process in citizen development flow consists of several steps that allow for quick and effective application development. Below is a general diagram  of the process in Citizen Development.

1. Initial analysis of business needs: In the first step, the user or team of users determines the business needs and problems that the application should solve.
2. Choosing the Citizen Development platform: Based on business requirements and technical skill level, the user chooses a tool that suits his needs – for example, Webcon.
3. Application design: Next, the user designs the application, defines its functionalities, creates data schemas, business models and user interface (for example, using Webcon BPS templates).
4. Application development: In the next step, the user starts creating the application using Citizen Development tools. This may include inserting ready-made modules, reading data from sources such as sql database, online documents, APIs, using code libraries or creating functionality from scratch.
5. Application testing: After the application is created, the user runs tests to ensure that the application performs as expected and meets business requirements.
6. Application deployment: After the application is successfully tested, the user deploys it to production or to a testing server.
7. Application maintenance and development: In the last step, the user maintains and develops the application, monitoring its operation and adapting it to new business requirements or changes in the IT environment.

The process in Citizen Development is usually fast and flexible, which allows you to immediately respond to business needs and quickly adapt the application to the requirements of the organization.

Example of the Citizen Developer implementation process

What are the solutions for the development of Citizen Development, the possibilities of Webcon

Here are the solutions that can help in the development of Citizen Development:

1. Low-code and no-code tools: With low-code and no-code tools, business users can create software without needing deep programming knowledge. These tools offer drag-and-drop interfaces like Webcon and templates that speed up the application development process.
2. Collaboration and knowledge-sharing platforms: Collaboration and knowledge-sharing platforms allow business users to share ideas, experiences and best practices in Citizen Development. They allow users to collaborate, learn from each other, and develop their skills.
3. Pre-built templates and modules: Pre-built templates and modules speed up the application development process by enabling citizens to use off-the-shelf components and functions. Users can customize these templates to their specific needs, saving time and effort in the development process.
4. IT support: IT can help with Citizen Development by providing application integration with other systems, implementing tools to monitor and maintain applications, and ensuring data security.
5. Training and templates: Business user training and available application templates can speed up the Citizen Development process and enable business users to create applications more easily.
6. Cloud computing: Cloud computing enables faster application deployment, scaling, and easier management. This is particularly important in the context of Citizen Development, because business users can easily implement their applications without the need to use IT resources.

Process automation Citizen Development with Webcon BPS Designer Studio

Why Citizen Development is profitable

Speed and efficiency: Citizen Development allows for faster and more effective application development, thanks to the use of lowcode or no code tools.

Adaptation to business needs: non-IT people who enter the role of citizen Developera are able to create software (applications) that perfectly suit their own needs and business requirements, so that business processes can be more optimized and adapted to the needs of the organization.

Cost reduction: Citizen Development allows you to reduce the costs associated with hiring IT teams or using the services of external software companies. People outside the IT industry are able to create applications on their own, thanks to which the costs associated with creating and implementing applications are much lower.

Rapid iteration and easy deployment: Citizen Development allows you to quickly build, test and deploy applications, enabling you to quickly iterate and adapt applications to changing business needs.

Flexibility: Citizen Development enables employees from different business fields and from different levels of the organization to create applications, which gives greater flexibility in application development, so that business processes can be more optimized and adapted to the needs of the organization. The savings obtained from such a project can additionally serve as a way to influence the bonus remuneration for implementation by Citizen Developers.

Which industries of companies can benefit from the implementation of Citizen Development?

Finance and insurance:

In the financial and insurance sector, there are many processes that can be streamlined with Citizen Development. Citizen Developers can create applications for credit process management, customer service, risk monitoring, financial reporting and much more.

Healthcare:

In the healthcare industry, Citizen Development can contribute to improving patient data management, appointment scheduling, lab results tracking, task management, and many other administrative aspects. Citizen Developers can create applications that will streamline processes and improve the quality of care.

Production and logistics:

Citizen Development can help you optimize production processes, inventory management, supply chain monitoring, shipment tracking and many other aspects of production and logistics activities. Citizen Developers can design applications that optimize processes and contribute to greater operational efficiency.

Retail:

In the retail industry, Citizen Development can be used to create applications for order management, customer service, sales analysis, personalization of the shopping experience, retail execution management and many other business aspects. Citizen Developers can design applications that adapt to the unique needs of retail.

Education:

Citizen Development can be useful in the education sector to create applications supporting teaching and learning processes, manage the lesson plan, monitor student progress, organize educational resources and much more. Citizen Developers can design applications that will facilitate access to education and streamline processes in educational institutions.

Professional services:

In industries such as consulting, law, architecture, advertising and many more, Citizen Development can help you create applications that support project management, time tracking, client management, data analysis and other aspects of professional activities.

Consider TTMS as a trusted partner in Citizen Development and Webcon Software

Transition Technologies MS is a member of the Transition Technologies Capital Group, specializing in IT services and based in Poland. By choosing TTMS as a business partner, you can be sure that your business goals will be achieved. We will prepare you for the implementation of Citizen Development using Webcon software. TTMS has extensive knowledge and experience in creating personalized business applications based on this platform. TTMS also offers consulting services and support in the field of Citizen Development.

In addition, TTMS – along with the human and technological facilities associated with the company’s membership in the Transition Technologies Capital Group – has 20 years of experience in the IT industry, which ensures that they will be able to meet the challenges associated with the implementation and passage of the entire process. The company also offers training to help your team learn how to use and use Webcon software and to create applications without having to write code.

We have authorized Webcon certificates and we are constantly improving our qualifications. Find yourself in the low-code era and trust Transition Technologies MS – an official partner of Webcon.

Development of Webcon Citizen Development with TTMS

Thoughts and conclusions

Citizen Development is an approach that is gaining popularity nowadays as more and more companies look for ways to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their business processes. Thanks to Citizen Development, they can create personalized applications that perfectly match the needs of their company, without the need to involve the IT team.

One of the biggest advantages of Citizen Development is that it allows companies to adapt to the changing needs of the market and customers. In contrast to the traditional approach to creating business applications, it allows you to quickly respond to changing business needs and adapt to market requirements on an ongoing basis.

Additionally, Citizen Development can help improve the customer experience by allowing for a faster and more effective response to customer needs. However, please note that Citizen Development may not be suitable for all organizations. Businesses that deal with sensitive data or require complex applications will still have to rely on IT teams. In addition, Citizen Development requires investment in training and tools that will enable employees outside the IT department to create applications.

To sum up, Citizen Development is an approach that can bring many benefits to companies, especially those that want to react faster to the changing needs of the market and customers. However, before implementing this model, you should carefully analyze your business needs and assess whether this approach is right for your business.

If you have questions about the implementation of Citizen Development and Webcon and the benefits of them – please contact us  and discuss your needs.