The Technology Modernization Fund intends to use the remaining $500 million of the $1 billion allocated in the U.S. rescue package by the end of this year. Depending on the structure of the fund, grantees must supplement TMF with savings from modernization projects they invest in. However, the Government Accountability Office has consistently reported that TMF lacks adequate charges and reliable cost estimates.
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The Technology Modernization Fund intends to use the remaining $500 million of the $1 billion allocated in the U.S. rescue package by the end of this year. Depending on the structure of the fund, grantees must supplement TMF with savings from modernization projects they invest in. However, the Government Accountability Office has consistently reported that TMF lacks adequate charges and reliable cost estimates.
Part of this imbalance stems from the fact that the bulk of TMF’s funding to date has been allocated to emergency pandemic-related spending rather than a scalable overall transformation. While the costs associated with COVID-19 are completely understandable, it’s time for IT modernization programs to shift to more sustainable and strategic thinking.
Federal agencies and taxpayers can achieve long-term cost savings by adopting agile technologies that ensure resiliency today and into the future. These savings will be critical considering that TMF has allocated only $100 million in fiscal 2023, rather than the $300 million required by the current administration.
Citizenship Experience: IT Modernization North Star
As the countdown to the end of another federal fiscal year weighs heavily on the minds of agency IT leaders, the long-term implications of acquiring certain technologies and rushing to modernize IT systems must be considered.
The foundation of all IT modernization efforts should be to improve the citizen and employee experience to increase the public’s trust in the government services they rely on. This trust is not generated by the flashiest or cutting-edge user experience, but by the consistency of voter participation across federal agencies.
Last year’s executive order on improving the federal customer experience stated that CX and service delivery should be “fundamentally driven by the voice of the customer through a human-centered design approach; empirical customer research; an understanding of behavioral science and user testing, especially for digital services. Therefore, any TMF-related spending should be supported by tangible customer experience data and citizen needs. Collecting and analyzing citizen satisfaction survey results is one way for TMF to ensure that its award funds are being used efficiently.
Furthermore, citizen satisfaction has been shown to be related to predictability. CX can be significantly improved by managing citizens’ expectations for challenging tasks, meeting citizens with empathy, and reducing any surprises in citizen interactions. However, achieving a level of predictability and consistency across federal agencies will require interoperable technology, a longstanding hurdle for the federal government.
Why a whole-of-government approach is difficult and why it’s necessary
Interoperability is a systemic issue that can be addressed through a top-down approach to sourcing technology. By strategically building modern IT systems at the enterprise level, governments can reap the full benefits and offerings of these systems without the challenges of interagency collaboration.
Not only can a top-down approach improve CX by making the digital government experience more accessible and efficient, but adopting holistic and functional technologies that can work seamlessly across sectors will reduce what CX EO calls “time-tax, “Time spent on preventable administrative burdens. Tax cuts not only save time, they also reduce costs and allow government employees to direct their attention to more demanding, higher-impact tasks.
For the best results in CX and employee experience, all modernization programs should be designed with agility in mind. While future-proofing may not be feasible in the current exponentially growing technology ecosystem, designing processes that can adapt to the emergence of new technologies means that the entire system will not have to be overhauled in the future. While some current digital transformation projects do require significant changes, not all legacy systems should be abandoned entirely. All upgrades should be based on measurable citizen or employee needs, not modernization for modernization’s sake.
Agencies should seek to procure technology from industry partners who recognize that a “rip-and-replace” approach is not feasible in a federal setting. By meeting with their agencies and building on legacy systems, citizen-government interactions can be improved while minimizing disruption to operations.
Additionally, government CIOs and CTOs must work closely with each other and with industry partners to implement an enterprise-level, top-down approach to modernization. Through stronger coordination, customer and employee experiences can be standardized to improve predictability in citizen-institution interactions, rebuild public trust in the federal government, and save money in the long run.
Amplify benefits while maintaining consistency
By sourcing holistic technology and investing in systems that are already interoperable, institutions can accelerate digital transformation while reducing the costs associated with transformation. Institutional IT leaders should prioritize CX alignment over cutting-edge innovation to achieve reliability in citizen-government interactions at critical times in citizens’ lives. Doing so will increase public confidence in governments to help the citizens they serve and be good stewards of taxpayer money.
Comprehensive IT modernization never happens overnight. If institutions place too much emphasis on solving immediate challenges, and thus prioritise fragmented, reactionary spending over proactive procurement, they will limit the funding and bandwidth available for more scalable improvements. Strategic investments at the enterprise level will benefit from the unprecedented funding currently available through TMFs and positioning agencies, among others, to extend modernization into the future.
Eric Head is the Regional Vice President for Federal Adobe Sign.