3 Technology Trends in State and Local Governments in 2023 - Hartman Executive Advisors

Across the country citizen expectations are at an all-time high for digital services. Software modernization is at the top of the list for local governments and the demand for digital citizen services has escalated. Local governments have been dealing with technical dept as older legacy systems have not had the capacity and capability to meet citizen demand, and the pandemic forced action across all state and local governments to respond immediately.

Digital transformation in local government initiatives are the response to provide a unified portal capable of bringing single access integration across program services to provide more efficient and effective outcomes. The technical capabilities have vastly improved, making it easier to eliminate technical debt, rather than adding to it. This, along with organizational change management, will foster a new way of working for government IT.

Experience-driven government (EDG)

Experience-driven government (EDG) is an approach to modernizing delivery of government services and improving the overall constituent experience. It is laser focused on driving better outcomes and leading from the point of the end-user. EDG is about delivering the right information or government service to the right person, at the right time, across their preferred communication channels. The primary differentiator with EDG is the ability to deliver that personal interaction at a much larger scale and in real-time.

The public expects a more personalized government experience, but that requires people to share more data. At the same time, many constituents have low trust in the government, and how they use constituent data. Governments can start by modernizing one department and then extending that consistent design framework across other websites, so constituents come to associate a trusted brand and experience with that government entity. As state and local governments build trust, they can collect more data with consent, helping them foster a data-driven culture that drives a better understanding of their users’ digital journeys. This data collection supports the creation of the unified constituent profile, which ensures, for example, that users don’t have to type their addresses into multiple agency websites. By personalizing the experience and gaining trust over time, governments can deliver significant time savings, cross-agency service delivery and economic impact. These are the foundational elements that set the stage for a successful EDG deployment.

Upskill & Reskill Your IT Workforce

The ability to upskill and re-skill your IT workforce is critical. State and local governments will need to invest in training and development programs to ensure that their employees have the necessary skill sets to support these initiatives. According to recent studies, 70% of IT leaders believe that their organizations will face a skills gap in the next three years.

As consolidated models come centerstage, there’s a need to both rationalize all systems and platforms, as well as provide clear career paths for employees to match this paradigm. While many state and local government leaders are aware of the need to upskill and reskill their workforces, they may not be aware of the magnitude of the skills gap that exists within their organizations, along with the associated risk. Maintaining legacy applications, while planning for enhancements, doesn’t always align with current staffing matrices. State and local governments must augment their staff throughout the transformation process. Strategic teaming and cross-training will allow for a knowledge transfer to take place throughout the modernization project. It’s also important to note that this is not a one-size fits all approach. State and local governments need to build their matrix organization based on current and future skills and capabilities.

The “best practice” mindset is based on application modernization not happening at a single point of time – but being part of normal and ongoing operations. This can be achieved by having the real work inform the larger strategy, as opposed to waiting a year to develop a comprehensive roadmap.

Cybersecurity and Risk Management

For many cyber attackers, government agencies make for especially attractive targets — these organizations hold a lot of sensitive and valuable data, be it social security numbers, medical records, tax records.

The problem — and one that challenges CISOs and security professionals alike in the public sector — isn’t a lack of security-relevant data. It’s having the right synchronization of people, processes, and technology necessary to make sense of it all and act upon any findings.

State and local governments find themselves drowning in a sea of security alerts, while lacking the capacity to effectively identify and prioritize the critical ones. This situation makes it difficult, if not next to impossible, to make fast, confident, and proactive decisions on how best to respond to threats, improve security posture, and manage risk overall — and to execute responses at speeds the mission demands.

Therefore, many agencies are adopting a risk-based approach, enabled by an analytics-driven foundation for security operations. This approach connects security teams with the right data and context at the right time to enable timely, objective analysis and decisions. As a result, security teams can more confidently manage risk.

Meeting Tomorrow’s Challenges

The challenges of modern governance require modern, technologically based solutions. Data and information silos are dismantled, eliminated, and ensure that all employees, regardless of department, now have access to current, accurate data, reducing human error and eliminating communication bottlenecks. As state and local government technology continues to evolve, it’s crucial for state and city governments to modernize and streamline their operations by using these emergent technologies. Contact Hartman Executive Advisors today to learn more about how we help state and local governments leverage technology to meet constituent needs in cost-effective, efficient, and innovative ways.