“US federal bodies are likely to redesign their ‘physical footprint’ in the light of COVID-19, the federal chief information officer of the United States has said, arguing that ‘in the future it will be mandatory to have a workforce that is technology-enabled, constantly connected and where human interactions can occur potentially without human contact.’”
“In a keynote speech, delivered via video link as part of the Adobe Digital Government Symposium last week, Suzette Kent said that the move to telework may lead to government agencies moving away from in-person services. Civil servants’ shift to remote working ‘gives us real data and real feedback – not ‘what if’ scenarios’ – on how services can be delivered by a distributed workforce, she said. ‘Federal teams can now reconsider what their physical footprint needs to look like. But more importantly for all of us, what continued investments we need in our technical infrastructure and what our future road map looks like of digital capabilities.’”
“Kent added that agencies are ‘thinking about previously on-site activities and ways that they can now use digital tools to spread those across a distributed workforce.’ This, she said, may lead agency bosses to reduce their dependence on face-to-face meetings with service users. She gave the Social Security Administration and Department of Veterans Affairs as examples, both of which have shifted from in-person to phone interviews.”
Increased inter-agency data sharing
“Kent said that 95% of employees at some agencies are working from home. This, she said, is driving other changes such as increased inter-agency data sharing; the use of digital signatures, including for official documents and by senior leaders within government; and a spike in demand for collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams…” Read the full article here.
Source: US federal CIO signals long-term shift away from face-to-face meetings – By Mia Hunt, May 26, 2020. Global Government Forum.
