Background to the growing attention on citizen development

While there is a growing demand for digital transformation (DX), many companies continue to face challenges such as a shortage of IT personnel and a heavy workload for information systems departments. In many companies, it's commonplace to find themselves in a situation where "improvement requests from the field are increasing, but development can't keep up."

IPA's "DX Trends 2025" report also indicates that while the number of companies undertaking DX initiatives is increasing, some companies are not yet fully realizing the benefits. In other words, while progress is being made, there are differences in how companies perceive the transformation.

Relationship with no-code/low-code

No-code and low-code tools are often discussed in conjunction with citizen development. These tools have made citizen development a realistic option. However, citizen development is merely a means to an end, not just a tool name; its essence lies in empowering those on the ground to drive improvement.

Reasons why DX initiatives don't yield results

Even if you implement the latest cloud services and automation tools, if the business processes themselves don't change, it won't lead to fundamental transformation.

The original purpose of DX is to improve business operations and increase productivity. However, if the introduction of IT itself becomes the goal, the result will be an increase in systems that are not used in the field, and the expected results will not be achieved.

The importance of those on the ground becoming stakeholders

When tool implementation becomes the sole objective, it can lead to problems such as failing to foster a sense of ownership among employees on the front lines. If tool implementation is driven by management or the IT department, employees remain merely "users" and cannot become the driving force behind transforming their own work. As a result, digitalization initiated by employees on the front lines becomes less likely. When employees on the front lines, who best understand their work, identify problems, design solutions, and translate them into digital forms, DX becomes their own responsibility. When employees take the lead, it becomes easier to achieve highly effective transformation.

Speeding up business process improvement

The biggest advantage of citizen development is that it dramatically increases the speed of business process improvement. Traditionally, the process involved the field staff gathering requests, submitting them to the IT department, defining requirements, and prioritizing before development began, but this process inevitably takes time.

By implementing citizen development, detailed tasks such as inventory management and paper-based checklists can be automated, significantly reducing the burden of daily work.

Reducing the workload on the IT department

If all development requests from business departments are concentrated in the IT department, the IT department will become overwhelmed with responding to these requests, resulting in a situation where they cannot dedicate sufficient time to their core responsibilities.

By incorporating citizen development, the IT department can be freed from tasks that do not necessarily require full resources, allowing them to focus on more important areas such as infrastructure development, security design, and governance building.

Discrepancies in requirements definition have decreased.

In typical system development, discrepancies in requirements understanding between business and development departments are not uncommon. This misunderstanding often leads to rework and additional development.

In community-based development, the person in charge who is thoroughly familiar with the work is involved in the design process, which reduces the likelihood of misunderstandings about the work. As a result, development efficiency improves, and more practical systems can be built.

Risks of reliance on individual expertise and shadow IT

If citizen development proceeds in a disorderly manner, it could lead to an increase in applications that depend on individuals, potentially resulting in a situation where organizations cannot manage them effectively.

This is known as a"shadow IT" problem, where maintenance can become difficult if the person in charge is transferred or leaves the company, as there is no one to take over.

To prevent this, it's important to establish certain rules from the beginning. For example, simply implementing procedures such as having a system in place to register all developed apps, using common templates, and having the IT department conduct regular reviews can make it easier to maintain control.

Challenges in Quality Security Governance

Citizen development can present challenges in terms of quality control, security measures, and data governance. However, this is not a reason to reject citizen development itself. Rather, it indicates the need to design rules and standards in advance.

By establishing a common platform and standardizing access rights and data management, risks can be significantly reduced. With support from the IT department and other relevant parties, citizen development and governance can be more easily achieved together.

The danger of ending up with just tool installation.

Simply introducing no-code or low-code tools will not ensure the establishment of citizen development. Without proper education and support systems, those on the ground will not be able to use them effectively, and their adoption will eventually cease. Furthermore, if results are not reflected in the evaluation system, motivation will not last.

To avoid this, education and ongoing support are essential. It is important to create an initial success story, share it within the company, and foster an atmosphere where people think, "I want to try this." Furthermore, if a system is in place where engaging in community development is recognized and rewarded, the activities are less likely to end as a one-off event.

Leaving citizen development entirely to individual discretion makes it difficult to track what is being created and where. This can lead to situations where multiple similar apps exist, or where an app becomes unusable as soon as the person in charge changes. The so-called shadow IT problem stems from this lack of visibility.

Division of roles between the IT department and the business department

To ensure the success of citizen development, it is necessary to clearly define the roles of the IT department and the business department. The business department will be responsible for clarifying its own operational challenges and concretizing improvement plans, while the IT department will be responsible for achieving overall optimization through the development of a common infrastructure, security management, and the promotion of standardization.

By separating the roles of the business and IT departments in this way, development and operation can be carried out with the initiative of the field staff while minimizing risks such as shadow IT.

A strategy of starting small and expanding throughout the entire company.

It is more effective to start community development on a limited scale rather than aiming for company-wide implementation from the outset. By accumulating successful experiences with small-scale projects and then spreading those results horizontally, it will naturally permeate the entire organization. Gradual expansion leads to sustainable adoption.

Designing an organization and culture

Citizen development is not merely an IT initiative; it also involves transforming organizational culture. A continuous support environment is necessary, including its incorporation into evaluation systems, the development of educational programs, and the establishment of readily available support services.

Examples using the citizen development tool Mendix

In the manufacturing industry, there are increasing examples of on-site-led development of business applications, enabling the visualization of equipment data and the digitalization of approval flows. These examples demonstrate that citizen development goes beyond mere efficiency improvements, leading to increased productivity and faster decision-making on the factory floor.

• See case studies here: Improve operational efficiency with DX in manufacturing! Learn about the effects and operational points from success stories.

The concept of systematizing citizen development

To ensure that citizen development is not merely a temporary initiative, a comprehensive design is necessary, including talent development, process improvement, and governance design. By developing digital talent for business sectors and establishing common templates and review systems, a foundation can be built to continuously generate digital transformation (DX).

Digital Execution Factory as a Practical Model

One of Macnica 's services that implements citizen development as a sustainable mechanism is Digital Execution Factory. This is not a tool-centric approach, but rather an integrated design of role allocation, common infrastructure, and human resource development to build a system that continuously generates digital transformation.

In fact, at Macnica, we not only provide services but also utilize them in our own internal digital transformation (DX). For example, to address the lack of flexibility in our existing SaaS, we developed an in-house budget management application for our IT department.
By automatically integrating with SAP and internal approval systems, and visualizing budget-to-actual comparisons with reporting tools, we provide highly accurate data in real time that can also be used as materials for Member of the Board reports.
By bringing development in-house, we can rapidly expand functionality to meet business needs, creating a strong foundation that supports management decisions.

As you can see, Digital Execution Factory is an approach that is continuously refined through internal practice. Please see the article below for more details about the service.

• Learn more here: Digital Execution Factory - Smart Manufacturing -Macnica