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Can Government Keep Up With the Private Sector in Digital Technology?

by Jeff Neal

Technology is advancing at such a rapid pace that it has changed the way we communicate, manage data, buy goods, share news, interact personally and collaborate professionally. Technology we never imagined a few years ago is everywhere around us. As advanced as today’s technology is, it will become dated and obsolete in just a few years. The private sector, driven by the need to be profitable and to survive in a highly competitive world, is rapidly adopting digital technology as a means of reducing costs, improving efficiency and delivering a better customer experience.

Do the unique challenges of government make it difficult or impossible for government to keep up? These are questions that led the National Academy of Public Administration to survey government leaders to get their views on government’s adoption of digital technology. I participated in the survey as a NAPA Fellow and my employer, ICF International, partnered with NAPA on the survey and resulting report.

As is NAPA’s custom, they formed a Panel of Fellows to conduct the Federal Leaders Digital Insight Study. In addition to me, Panel members were:

  • Dan Chenok (Panel chair) – Executive Director of the IBM Center for The Business of Government and former Branch Chief for Information Policy and Technology with the Office of Management and Budget.
  • Governor Parris N. Glendening – President of Smart Growth America’s Leadership Institute and former Governor of Maryland
  • Bev Godwin – Former Director, Federal Citizen Information Center, General Services Administration
  • Sally Selden, PhD, SPHR – Professor of Management and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Lynchburg College

The Panel has completed the study and will be releasing the results on Tuesday, January 13, 2015 at 8:00AM at the University Club of the City of Washington (1135 Sixteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.).  Please join us for a discussion of the Federal Leaders’ Digital Insights Study, featuring keynote speaker Beth Cobert, Deputy Director of Management at the Office of Management and Budget, and an opportunity to engage with NAPA Fellows.

Click here to register to attend.