While we undoubtedly face uncertain economic times, at Serent we maintain a strong belief that the government technology sector will be one of the few resilient sectors of the economy. Citizens are dependent on their state and local governments more than ever for essential services, and governments need to swiftly adapt to providing those services while in crisis-response mode. Organizational IT budgets are yet to be determined, but we believe this crisis is an opportunity for state and local agencies to re-evaluate their IT priorities and shift their technology portfolio away from costly system integrations and legacy on-premise solutions to lower-cost, nimble and adaptable cloud-based technologies.
How GovTech is Mobilizing
With the sudden need for remote options, GovTech has enabled state and local governments to find digital solutions to organize and respond to the crisis. Some governments are utilizing technology to create a centralized set of resources for its citizens, like California. Others have been working to find predictive and proactive solutions to minimize the impact, like Kansas, who recently rolled out a social scoreboard tool that shows users where people are obeying stay-at-home orders or not. As the situation continues to develop for state and local governments, the demand (and necessity) for technology is likely to continue to grow.
Mid-Range and Long-Term Impacts
e.Republic recently held a webinar where local, state, and GovTech leaders came together to discuss how the current situation will have an impact on selling technology in the medium-term and long-term into government agencies. In the 3 to 6 months that follow, leaders anticipate a major shift in how agencies approach technology, from transforming entire IT portfolios to focusing on greater collaboration among different silos. In the long-term, there will need to be measures taken on IT modernization and disaster recovery / business continuity infrastructure to ensure state and local government leaders adopt best practices to be prepared going forward.
Resources for GovTech
As events continue to develop quickly, there has been an onslaught of information from the national level down to the city level that has impacted GovTech. Government Technology has provided a resources guide to equip leaders and solution providers with the latest information on counts, federal guidance, government and state responses, and companies that are offering COVID-19 Solutions.
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