The Technology Modernization Fund intends to spend its remaining $500 million — of the $1 billion allocated in the American Rescue Plan — by the end of the year. According to the fund’s structure, funding recipients must replenish the TMF with the money saved as a result of the modernization projects they invest in. However, the Government Accountability Office has consistently reported that the TMF lacks sufficient fee collection and reliable cost estimates.
The imbalance stems in part from the fact that the majority of the TMF’s funding thus far has been allocated for emergency pandemic-related spending rather than scalable and holistic transformation. While COVID-19 related expenses are entirely understandable, it is time for IT modernization initiatives to pivot to a more sustainable and strategic mindset…
Interoperability is a systemic issue that can be addressed by procuring technology through a top-down approach. By building modern IT systems strategically at the enterprise level, government can reap the full benefits and offerings of those systems without running into interagency collaboration challenges.
Not only would a top-down approach improve CX by making digital government experience more accessible and efficient but adopting holistic and functional technology that can function seamlessly across departments would have substantial benefits for government employees by reducing what the CX EO refers to as the “time-tax,” the time spent on preventable administrative burdens. Reducing the time tax cuts costs in addition to saving time and allows government employees to allocate their attention to more demanding, high-impact tasks… Read the full article here.
