When the COVID-19 pandemic started, the government rushed to offer more digital services, and as the public health crisis stretched into a third year, agencies are relying on those services more than ever. Like their private-sector counterparts, they have come to recognize that digital service delivery is the key to solving a range of challenges. Digital services are not static. Instead, agencies must continuously introduce innovations and improvements based on customer needs.
Learn how your agency or municipality can continue to improve customer experience, including increasing employee retention and training, adding sustainability initiatives, and utilizing scalable technology, in Carahsoft’s Innovation in Government® report.
Digital Transformation and the Power of a Platform
“In using traditional and legacy IT systems, governments dedicate significant amounts of time, money and expertise to select, build, integrate, test, scale and secure new technologies, often accumulating decades of technical debt. One clear lesson from the pandemic is that we need to find a new way to operate, and time and speed are of the essence. New technology helps introduce the speed, agility and digital services needed to operate in today’s world. The technology that was delivered during the pandemic saved lives and could not have been built on legacy technology. That’s why digital transformation and a powerful platform are paramount.”
Read more insights from Salesforce’s President for the Global Public Sector, Dave Rey.
Reimagine Service Delivery with a Proactive Digital Strategy
“Customers expect timely services in flexible and convenient mediums. As a result, government IT systems need to be modified to meet customer expectations, where new features and capabilities are rolled out in days, not years. Creating an “agile first” policy can help the government update its policies and foundation to focus on modern IT. Governments should invest in cloud-based and low-code and no-code platforms that are secure and agile. The primary benefit for government agencies to leverage cloud solutions is the access to an ecosystem that is regularly updated and constantly evolving to meet changing demands.”
Read more insights from Salesforce’s Senior Vice President of Energy and Utilities, Nasi Jazayeri, and Digital Transformation Executive, Mia Jordan.
The Benefits of Treating Employees Like Customers
“Agencies can foster an eagerness for learning by encouraging employees to gain new skills and expertise that enable them to expand their career horizons, further the agency mission and benefit the end user. Employees can be provided with resources that enable them to understand different technologies and how they can be used to address business needs. Agencies can also provide time during the work week for employees to learn new software or get certified on new technologies and with the flexibility to attend conferences.”
From Salesforce’s Director of Digital Strategy for Global Public Sector, Tahera Zamanzada.
Investing in a Secure and Modern Platform
“By leveraging modern technologies, agencies can quickly deploy secure, customer-centric applications in weeks, instead of months or years. But to achieve this, they’ll need to prioritize IT modernization efforts that focus on their platform, integration and security. When government leaders select an IT platform, they are typically making a five- to 10-year commitment to that technology and the vendor behind it. Before making such a long commitment, government leaders should evaluate and understand the platform’s ecosystem.”
Read more insights from Salesforce’s Executive Vice President of Global Public Sector, Paul Tatum.
How Government Agencies Can Take on Sustainability
“Government agencies can work toward creating a sustainable future and accelerating their net-zero journeys by developing their own climate action plans. To start, leaders should bring together and listen to their stakeholders in an effort to gain a holistic understanding of the situation, its impacts and how to make changes that can have positive results. The next step should be to focus on reducing and their emissions. Agencies and their energy suppliers can achieve this by using renewable and cleaner energy sources.”
Read more insights from Salesforce’s Vice President for Federal Government Affairs, Hugh Gamble.
Responding Quickly to a Public Health Emergency
“To deliver services quickly in a pandemic, agencies should keep these key considerations top of mind. They can begin by assessing and understanding the governance and delivery structure around the type of implementation they’re trying to make and understand that rapid deployment cannot happen without having the right technical infrastructure in place. Agencies could leverage cloud-based, low- or no-code platforms rather than building something new. Cloud-based technology is scalable and can be configured for multiple use cases, making it easier to deliver services quickly while meeting the needs of a rapidly changing environment. It’s also important that agencies understand that customers want to be engaged in different ways and leverage technologies that provide omni-channel engagement.”
Read more insights from Salesforce’s Health and Human Services Industry Executive, Courtney Hawkins.
Download the full Innovation in Government® report for more insights from these digital service delivery thought leaders and additional industry research from FCW.
