Combined Public Sector Digital Services release notes for upgrades from Vancouver to Xanadu

How to use this page

To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Public Sector Digital Services release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Vancouver to Xanadu.

Tip:

If there were no updates for a release notes section in a certain family release, we included a short note for your reference. For example, if a product did not have any updates in Tokyo, the row says "No updates for this release."

Important information for upgrading Public Sector Digital Services to Xanadu

Before you upgrade to Xanadu, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed.


Release	Release notes
Vancouver	Before you upgrade to Public Sector Digital Services v8.0, you must create custom service definitions for data in the Services Offered table, data in the Services Received table, and all other data affected by the conversion of the Services Offered table to the Service Definition table (Performance Analytics dashboard data, constituent or business report data, and so on). Any custom Services Offered and Services Received data created in previous releases will not be automatically migrated to the new release, and, after upgrade, will not be accessible within the application until the data is migrated from the legacy entities to the Service Definition table. For details, see Services Offered and Services Received Migration Guidance and Configure a service definition for Playbooks in Public Sector Digital Services. After the upgrade, certain public sector menus and menu items in the CSM Configurable Workspace revert to their original CSM label names. You can relabel these items for public sector use by updating the UX List Categories for Customer and Service Organizations. For details, see Relabel items for public sector use after upgrade.
Washington DC	After the upgrade, certain public sector menus and menu items in the CSM Configurable Workspace revert to their original CSM label names. You can relabel these items for public sector use by updating the UX List Categories for Customer and Service Organizations. For more details on relabeling, navigate to All > Constituent Service > Administration > Guided Setup, and select Configurable Workspace for Public Sector Digital Services > Customize Workspace Labels Manually.
Xanadu	After the upgrade, certain public sector menus and menu items in CSM Configurable Workspace revert to their original CSM label names. You can relabel these items for public sector use by updating the UX List Categories for Customer and Service Organizations. For more details on relabeling, navigate to All > Constituent Service > Administration > Guided Setup, and select Configurable Workspace for Public Sector Digital Services > Customize Workspace Labels Manually.

New features

Between your current release family and Xanadu, new features were introduced for Public Sector Digital Services.


Release	Release notes
Vancouver	Automate requests for license and permit requests using the License and Permit Playbook Implement the new License and Permit Playbook to automate requests for license and permits, guide government workers to fulfill license and permit requests consistently, and simplify the process for constituents to request license and permits and track the status of their requests. New modals for 'Manage Documents' and 'Documents from Similar Requests' Activities in Information Request Playbook Create documents, search for documents with the auto-complete name lookup, and link or unlink existing documents to a case. You can do all these tasks from one modal within the playbook. CSM Business (Agency) Location Service Portal Uptake Use the Agency Location Service portal to request specific services and submit cases against agency locations, as well as view associated customers, households, and businesses. External agencies can add and manage staff members from a centralized portal. Associate an agency location to an offered public service offered Associate service definitions to specific agency locations. This association enables agents and constituents to view a list of the public services that an agency location offers to a service organization and to report and resolve cases at each agency location. Service definition enhancements for case tasks Use service definitions to connect services and case types, and extend service definitions to case tasks. Agents can create case tasks by selecting from a list of install base items or public services and then by selecting from a list of available task types.
Washington DC	Submit requests for social benefits with the Social Benefits Playbook Enable constituents to submit requests for one or more social benefits offered by their local, state, or federal government agency, and guide government workers through the process of approving and delivering financial and social assistance to constituents. Constituents can also request to renew an existing benefit through the Government Service Portal. Provide auto-calculated eligibility using the Social Benefits Eligibility Framework engine Design a custom, auto-calculated eligibility system for approving and delivering social benefits, and for authoring, updating, and incorporating eligibility rules into workflows using the Social Benefits Eligibility Framework engine. Government agencies can institute updates to this system as laws and regulations change. Manage Eligibility Criteria Policies using the Social Benefits Eligibility Framework engine Enable agency administrators and process owners to define and manage the eligibility rules and policies that drive benefit determination and calculation. Administrators and process owners can define, test, and publish eligibility framework policies, associate published eligibility policies to one or more benefit types, and update policies as regulations change, all through the eligibility framework engine. Create relationship records between applicants and beneficiaries Auto-populate forms that are based on existing relationships (constituent) or constituent records (agent), and create relationships between authorized users and cases by using related parties. Constituents and agents can edit or remove person and relationship records, or create relationships if a relationship between applicant and beneficiary doesn’t exist. Upload and verify documents attached to a social benefits application Automatically verify the validity of documents that are uploaded to a social benefits request application by using the Grouped Document Verification Tasks (GDVTs) component of the Document Processor Plugin. Request interviews with constituents through the Conduct Interview modal in Social Benefits Playbook Enable the case agent to initiate an application interview with the constituent to determine social benefit eligibility and gather additional case details. Agents can recommend specific dates and times directly from the playbook. Apply for additional Social Benefits programs by using data from the primary case Enable constituents to apply for additional social benefits in addition to the primary benefit being requested. A child Social Benefits case is appended to the case of the original benefit. View benefits summary card in Government Service Portal and Social Benefits Playbook Enable constituents to view a running summary and value of all requested benefits through the benefits summary widget in the Government Service Portal. The benefits summary widget displays the benefit and the estimated benefit amount that is determined by the eligibility criteria. Agents can also use the benefit summary widget to view the benefit breakdown when fulfilling social benefit requests in the Social Benefits Playbook workspace. Submit a license and permit application on behalf of someone else Prepare license and permit applications on behalf of others with the application proxy feature. Constituents or business contacts can act as authorized representatives to look up beneficiaries or other related parties (registered users only) and link them to the application in progress. Agents can create and process applications that were initiated by authorized representatives and can also link other registered users to the case. Create a digital copy of a license and permit in License and Permit Playbook Create a digital copy of an issued license or permit directly in the License and Permit Playbook and attach it to an item received record so that it can be printed, emailed, and shared with the requester. Submit license and permit requests using Virtual Agent Enable constituents and business owners to submit license and permit requests by using a prebuilt Virtual Agent License or Permit Request conversation topic that runs in supported chat and messaging channels, including Engagement Messenger. Request additional inspections needed for a license or permit request in License and Permit Playbook Enable agents to request additional inspections after reviewing the findings of an initial inspection so that the applicant can make any changes that are required to pass the inspection and receive a license or permit. Agents can record the findings for each round of inspections with a Record Findings activity in the License and Permit Playbook.
Xanadu	Agent updates to License and Permit Playbook Specify the license details and add license endorsements directly from the workspace in License and Permit Playbook. Guided Constituent Experience for License and Permit Playbook Streamline how you communicate with your constituents with easy appointment booking. You can also simplify complex license and permit applications with the save and resume and guided data entry functionality in License and Permit Playbook as part of the playbooks-on-portal experience. Document redaction for Information Request Playbook Redact sensitive content, data, or entire documents within the document management tool in the Information Request Playbook. You can either highlight bodies of text, or search for strings of text and designate them to be redacted. This functionality is only available to information request case agents for documents in the Published or Draft state. New versions of the same document are generated each time that text is redacted or unredacted. Now Assist for Public Sector Digital Services (PSDS) Condense case records into short summaries by using the case summarization skill in the Now Assist for PSDS application. Agents can use the resolution summarization skill to generate resolution information for a case, propose the resolution to the customer, and add the information to the case record. The Now Assist for PSDS application brings generative AI case summarization and resolution notes generation to Public Sector Digital Services.

Changes

Between your current release family and Xanadu, some changes were made to existing Public Sector Digital Services features.


Release	Release notes
Vancouver	Data Model Improvements and Extensions Use the enhanced install base data model to provide authorized users with additional roles to access (read or update) cases, agency location items, and all install base items. The Services Offered and Services Received tables will be replaced by the Service Definition table. Category-related fields in government service forms are also removed, and the source table of the Service Offered Performance Overview dashboard has been reparented. For more information, see Configure a service definition for Playbooks in Public Sector Digital Services. Services Offered and Services Received Deprecation Upon upgrade, the Services Offered and Services Received tables will be deprecated and replaced by the Service Definition table. Service Offered, which is an extension of Product Model, will no longer be used to model government services. Services Received, which is an extension of Sold Product, will no longer be used to model the government services that have been granted or delivered to constituents. The Service Definition table, which is extended from Service Model [cmdb_service_product_model], is now used to model all public services that are offered by agencies.
Washington DC	No updates for this release.
Xanadu	Constituent Service Dashboard Migration to Platform Analytics The Constituent Service Dashboard has been migrated to Next Experience Platform Analytics. Next Experience is a ServiceNow AI Platform® feature that is active by default when the user loads or upgrades to the Xanadu release. The dashboard migration to Next Experience enables continuous visualization of historical and real-time process statistics in role-based dashboards, which enable individual stakeholders to make informed decisions. The new dashboard can be accessed by navigating to All > Platform Analytics > Library > Dashboards. Enhancements to Social Benefits Playbook Use the enhanced Social Benefits Playbook to view an updated constituent card with more detailed information about the primary applicant. Cancel draft cases, bypass the initial eligibility screening, and skip playbook activities by using the updated process playbook in the Government Service Portal.

Removed

Between your current release family and Xanadu, some Public Sector Digital Services features or functionality were removed.


Release	Release notes
Vancouver	No updates for this release.
Washington DC	No updates for this release.
Xanadu	No updates for this release.

Deprecations

Between your current release family and Xanadu, some Public Sector Digital Services features or functionality were deprecated.


Release	Release notes
Vancouver	Important: Any data in the Services Offered and Services Received tables need to be manually migrated into the Service Definition table. You can do so by creating a Service Definition for each entry in the Services Offered table. For more information, see Services Offered and Services Received Migration Guidance. Upon upgrade, the Services Offered and Services Received tables will be deprecated and replaced by the Service Definition table. Service Offered, which is an extension of Product Model, will no longer be used to model government services. Services Received, which is an extension of Sold Product, will no longer be used to model the government services that have been granted or delivered to constituents. The Service Definition table, which is extended from Service Model [cmdb_service_product_model], is now used to model all public services that are offered by agencies. For more information, see Configure a service definition for Playbooks in Public Sector Digital Services.
Washington DC	No updates for this release.
Xanadu	No updates for this release.

Activation information

Review information on how to activate Public Sector Digital Services.


Release	Release notes
Vancouver	Install Public Sector Digital Services applications by requesting them from the ServiceNow Store. For details on installing the applications, see Configuring Public Sector Digital Services. Visit the ServiceNow Store website to view all the available apps and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.
Washington DC	Install Public Sector Digital Services applications by requesting them from the ServiceNow Store. For details on installing the applications, see Configuring Public Sector Digital Services. Visit the ServiceNow Store website to view all the available apps and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.
Xanadu	Install Public Sector Digital Services applications by requesting them from the ServiceNow Store. For details on installing the applications, see Configuring Public Sector Digital Services. Visit the ServiceNow Store website to view all the available apps and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.

Additional requirements

If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Public Sector Digital Services we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Vancouver	No updates for this release.
Washington DC	No updates for this release.
Xanadu	No updates for this release.

Browser requirements

If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for Public Sector Digital Services we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Vancouver	No updates for this release.
Washington DC	No updates for this release.
Xanadu	No updates for this release.

Accessibility information

Review details on accessibility information for Public Sector Digital Services, such as specific requirements or compliance levels.


Release	Release notes
Vancouver	No updates for this release.
Washington DC	No updates for this release.
Xanadu	No updates for this release.

Localization information

If there are specific localization considerations for Public Sector Digital Services we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Vancouver	No updates for this release.
Washington DC	No updates for this release.
Xanadu	No updates for this release.

Highlight information

If there are specific highlight considerations for Public Sector Digital Services we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Vancouver	Automate requests for license and permit requests using the License and Permit Playbook. Associate services with an agency location. This association enables agents and constituents to create and resolve cases from public service offerings at a specific agency location. Use Custom Activity UI standardization to simplify a case document, attachment, and task management. See Public Sector Digital Services for more information.
Washington DC	Enable constituents to submit requests for social benefits with the Social Benefits Playbook. Provide auto-calculated eligibility for social benefits programs using the Social Benefits Eligibility Framework engine Add additional beneficiaries to a Social Benefits application by adding additional contacts to a request. Enable constituents to prepare public service applications on behalf of others by using an application proxy in the Government Service Portal and the License and Permit Playbook. Request additional inspections directly from the playbook so that applicants can make the required changes to pass an inspection. See Public Sector Digital Services for more information.
Xanadu	Added enhancements to License and Permit Playbook, including updates to the Intake stage for applicants on the constituent Government Service Portal, and added functionality for specifying license details and license endorsements on the agent playbook. Added enhancements to Social Benefits Playbook, including updates to the Intake and Decision stage, and updates to the process playbook for applicants on the Government Service Portal. Redact sensitive content or data from PDF documents in the Information Request Playbook. Auto-generate case summaries and case resolution notes for cases in the Social Benefits Playbook by using the Now Assist for Public Sector Digital Services (PSDS) application. See Public Sector Digital Services for more information.