GovLoop Tech Guide: Navigative the Digital Roadmap

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WELCOME CONTENTS pages

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4 Executive Summary

About GovLoop

5 Technology Allow Agencies to Increase Productivity

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UP In The Cloud- The Promise of Cloud Computing Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) Finding Efficiency, Leveraging Technology - Data Center Consolidation Securing Infrastructure in an Increasingly Digital Environment - Cyber Security

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The digital government strategy Delivering 21st Century Services to America The Mobile Revolution

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The Digital Government Strategy timeline - Infographic

Technology enabling agencies to improve performance Driving Organizational Success with Big Data Government Accountability Through Increased Transparency Government Websites

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Government Transparency In Focus: Open Tucson Initiative Breaking All the Rules – Reinventing Rule Making

About The Authors

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TECHNOLOGY PROMOTES AGENCIES TO INNOVATE PROACTIVELY Shared Services, Shared Savings

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ABOUT GOVLOOP Location GovLoop is headquartered in Washington D.C with a team of dedicated professionals who share a commitment to connect and improve government.

GovLoop 734 15th St NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20005 Phone: (202) 407-7421 Fax: (202) 407-7501

GovLoop’s mission is to connect government to improve government. We aim to inspire public sector professionals by acting as the knowledge network for government. GovLoop serves nearly 60,000 members by helping to foster collaboration, solve problems and advance their government careers.

The GovLoop community has been widely recognized across multiple sectors. GovLoop members come from across the public sector; including federal, state, and local public servants, industry experts and professionals grounded in academic research.

Today, GovLoop is the leading site for addressing public sector issues. GovLoop is also the largest government niche network. GovLoop

members create and comment on nearly 1,000 blog posts and discussion forums every month.

GovLoop works with top industry partners, to provide resources and tools, such as guides, infographics, online trainings and educational events, all to help public sector professionals.

GovLoop also promotes public service success stories in popular news outlets such as the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Government Technology, and other industry publications.

Navigating the Digital Government Roadmapwas underwritten by the GovLoop Technology Solutions Council. Members of this council include, Cisco, Google, GovDelivery, HP, IBM, Oracle and Microsoft.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

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Advancements in technology has enabled government to improve how services are delivered to citizens. This guide focuses on technology that has enabled government to increase productivity, improve performance and facilitates innovation in government. This guide shows how new and emerging technology is radically changing the government landscape.

TECHNOLOGY allowing agencies to increase productivity

IT

the default, and are required to provide two services on mobile devices within the next year. This section highlights the digital government strategy, mobile and the importance of more widely accessible government data.

TECHNOLOGY Enabling Agencies to Improve Performance

In this section, we highlight technology trends that are allowing government agencies to increase their productivity within the agency.

These trends are cloud computing and data center consolidations. With more information being stored in the cloud, there is an increasing need to take proper measures to ensure security. This section will also focus on the growing need to implement stronger cyber security protocols.

For centuries, government has been collecting data about citizens and looking for ways to use data to improve services. With emerging technology, leveraging large volumes of data to drive decision-making is now a reality. This section also explores ways government can become more transparent, focusing on government websites, data, the rule making process and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) procedures. Finally, this section explores the IT workforce, exploring initiatives that are intended to develop the next generation of leaders in the public sector.

THE Digital Government Strategy: Providing 21st Century Services to America

TECHNOLOGY Promoting Agencies to Innovate Proactively

The featured story of this report is The Digital Government Strategy, which was released by the Obama Administration on May 23, 2012.

With this memorandum, the Obama Administration has set standards and goals for federal agencies. Agencies will now make Open Data

The final section highlights how agencies can do more with less through shared services.

With fiscal uncertainty and deep budget cuts on the horizon, government at all levels is challenged to find ways to “do more with less.�

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Across government, agencies are looking for innovative ways to improve productivity.

With the development of cloud technology, and a host of different collaboration tools, technology now exists to instantly connect people around the globe. The use of cloud services and mobile technology has been a game changer across all sectors, allowing employees to access information when they want, and on what device they desire.

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Although employees can now connect easily across any device, new challenges have become apparent, and there are increasingly more security risks for government. Retaining security in multiple environments and decreasing vulnerabilities is critical to improve productivity for government. This section will highlight cloud computing, data center consolidation, and cyber security as ways government can use technology to increase and maintain productivity.

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Up in the Cloud _________________________________________________ The Promise of Cloud _____________________________________________ Computing ______________________________ _________________________________________________ _____________________________________________

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Cloud computing continues to be one of the key trends in government. Since 2009, President Obama’s Administration has been encouraging federal agencies to adopt cloud technologies through the Federal Government’s Cloud Computing Initiative.

With this initiative, the Obama Administration hopes that by leveraging cloud computing, agencies can work to reduce waste, increase efficiency, and cut costs for the federal government. With the adoption of cloud computing, government at all levels has found new efficiencies.

In May 2012, GovLoop ran a blog series that explored how government can break down silos, including the role of emerging technology, such as cloud technology. Cloud technology offers many benefits for government agencies. With

more and more cloud initiatives being implemented in government, there are many related benefits to moving to a cloud-based environment.

Ten benefits of cloud technology can be found below.

(1) Ease of Sharing Information and Data The cloud easily allows users to connect and share information across the agency. By sharing data, and resources, agencies can work collaboratively to solve cross-agency challenges.

(2) Sharing Best Practices Just like with data, best practices and resources can easily be shared through the cloud, whether this is certain initiatives or programs that the agency has started or longstanding projects or processes.

(3) Connecting Instantly The cloud makes it easier than ever before to connect with colleagues. The ability to instantly connect through the cloud, collaborate on documents, and share information is one of the many benefits of the cloud.

(4) Driving Improved Decision Making By sharing data and information, decision makers will have access to the right information they need to make a decision.

Some examples include agencies using the cloud to connect people in the field with decision makers back in the office.

This could be extremely useful during a crisis, as decision makers could address where to send supplies and how to best provide relief at risk areas.

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(9) Achieve Cost Savings

(5) Connecting More Decision Makers With the cloud, more decision makers can be connected and work towards collaborative solutions. Getting all the right people at the table is always a challenge, but the cloud helps mitigate some of those barriers.

(7) Recruit Top Talent Do not forget that technology can also be a recruitment tool. Many future workers are accustomed to using cloud technologies to collaborate on projects, they will expect to have this kind of technology at the workplace.

(6) Increase Telework Opportunities

(8) Increase Efficiency and Productivity

With cloud technology improving, the cloud provides more opportunities for teleworking. Teleworking provides many benefits to employees and organizations.

With the cloud, people can be more efficient and productive by having the information they need at their fingertips, rather than searching and requesting information.

Cost savings is usually mentioned with cloud technology.

With cloud technology now available, agencies need to be smart as to how they think about cost savings. If a new cloud initiative yields a cost saving, the saved money can be redistributed back into the agency to support other initiatives.

(10) Improve Transparency With the ability to quickly access information and share information through the cloud, agencies can improve their transparency efforts. The cloud allows people to share the right information and allow people to quickly access the information they need.

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ORACLE (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world’s most complete, open, and integrated business software and hardware systems company.

With more than 370,000 customers—including 100 of the Fortune 100—in more than 145 countries around the globe, Oracle is the only vendor able to offer a complete technology stack in which every layer is engineered to work together as a single system. Oracle’s industry-leading public sector solutions give organizations unmatched benefits including unbreakable security, high availability, scalability, energy efficiency, powerful performance, and low total cost of ownership.

Oracle Public Sector Solutions Oracle delivers a complete platform of database, middleware, applications, servers, and storage—all based on open standards—to work together in the cloud and in your data center.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Big Data Solutions Business Intelligence and Reporting Applications Case Management and CRM Solutions Cloud Computing Data Center Transformation Enterprise Security Solutions Financial Management Solutions Human Capital Management Solutions Integrated Workplace Management Solution Oracle Database Procurement Applications Public Sector Planning and Budgeting Server and Storage Systems Tax and Revenue Management Solutions Virtualization Portfolio Security Solutions

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Oracle Public Sector Sector Resources • Oracle Public Sector Resource Center • Oracle Solutions for Public Sector • Using Oracle to Ease the Transition to Modernization • Recruit, Develop and Deploy Personnel • Improve Efficiency and Responsiveness at All Levels of Government • Oracle Social Services: A Complete Platform for Integrated Program Delivery • Oracle’s Cloud Solutions for Public Sector • Public Sector Defense Solutions Oracle Offers the Public Sector Measurable Results • City of Las Vegas Saves up to $1.7 Million in Consulting Costs for IT Infrastructure Upgrade • State of Maryland Government Agencies Improve Inter-Agency Collaboration through a Shared Services Business Intelligence Environment • State of Indiana Standardizes Financial Systems State-wide to Improve Efficiency and Transparency • Federal Aviation Administration Improves Performance and Scalability of Shared Services Center Database • The Forestry Commission Reduces Testing Time for Online Services by 80% and Improves System Stability • U.S. Air Force Capabilities Integration Environment Meets Extreme Growth Demands with Virtualization • The United States Marine Corps Deploys Comprehensive Oracle Solution to Create a Global Combat Support System More Oracle Public Sector Case Studies

For more information, visit oracle.com or call 1.800.ORACLE1

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Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP)

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FedRAMP is a governmentwide program that helps government agencies implement cloud based technology. At the core of FedRAMP is providing government officials with a standardized approach to security, authorization and monitoring of cloud-based services.

With the implementation of FedRAMP, governmentwide acquisition of cloud technology is expected to increase. With FedRAMP, cloud service providers will have to use a third party to verify the company meets basic security requirements.

FedRAMP is an extension of the Obama Administration’s “Cloud First” strategy, detailed by the memorandum released on December 8th, 2011.

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FedRAMP.gov states the following program goals:

• Accelerate the adoption of secure cloud solutions through reuse of assessments and authorizations • Increase confidence in security of cloud solutions • Achieve consistent security authorizations using a baseline set of agreed upon standards to be used for Cloud product approval in or outside of FedRAMP • Ensure consistent application of existing security practices • Increase confidence in security assessments • Increase automation and near real-time data for continuous monitoring FedRAMP.gov states the following program benefits: • Increases re-use of existing security assessments across agencies • Saves significant cost, time and resources – “do once, use many times” • Improves real-time security visibility • Provides a uniform approach to risk-based man-

agement

• Enhances transparency between government and cloud service providers (CSPs) • Improves the trustworthiness, reliability, consistency, and quality of the Federal security authorization process Key FedRAMP Documentation (Resource list provided from CIO.gov) • FedRAMP Security Controls: The baseline controls required for FedRAMP security assessments and authorizations.

• FedRAMP CONOPS: The FedRAMP Program Management Office’s Concept of Operations for FedRAM • FedRAMP JAB Charter - The Joint Authorization Board’s Charter detailing roles and responsibilities and governance.

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OMB Policy Memo – OMB policy guidance on issues ffecting FedRAMP

• FedRAMP FAQs – provides answers to most questions about FedRAMP For questions regarding FedRAMP: info@FedRAMP.gov.

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______________________ _____________________________________________ Find efficiency: data ______________________________ center consolidation ________________________

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Data center consolidation is typically part of the cloud computing discussion, like cloud computing, there are significant advantages to consolidating data centers.

There are dozens of case studies identifying the success that agencies are having with data center consolidation.

One example of data center consolidation success comes from the Census Bureau, which was able to close a 6,750 facility and free up $1.7 million annually in operating costs.

The Census Bureau strategy has allowed them to reduce data center power consumption in all of their data centers by 10%. The Census Bureaus is

not alone, and due to the numerous successes reported by Federal agencies, Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel has expanded his goals of closing redundant data centers. By the end of 2015, agencies plan to close nearly 1,080 data centers, surpassing goals set by the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative two years ago. Data center consolidation is a practical solution to cutting costs, increasing services, and improving efficiency for agencies.

Best Practice - Assessing Business Value: Tie to Mission The first step for an agency considering data center consolidation is to look at the business value of new adoption or consolidation of services. Agencies should be sure to scope the project and make sure implementing the new technology makes sense for the agency. Likewise, when thinking about costs, agencies need to be sure that they identify to-

tal savings, and think critically about how the savings can be filtered back within the agency

Best Practice - Culture Change: Make it personal One of the key lessons for culture change and data center consolidation is to always make it personal. Top-level managers need to really show how implementing data center consolidation will make employees jobs easier, more efficient and help to achieve the goals of the agency.

The first step for an agency considering data center consolidation is to look at the business value of new adoption or consolidation of services. Agencies should be sure to scope the project and make sure implementing the new technology makes sense for the agency.

Likewise, when thinking about costs, agencies need to be sure that they identify total savings, and think critically about how the savings can be filtered back within the agency.

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Securing Infrastructure in an Increasingly Digital Environment - Cyber Security

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With increasing use of bringyour-own-device policies and the variety of devices available in the market, IT professionals are challenged to protect multiple devices, and often, across different operating systems.

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(2) Diversity of Devices on Network

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Agencies need to understand who has access, when they have access and through what kind of device people are accessing the network. Knowing this information is critical, as it will help agencies identify proper protocols for accessing the networking, and assessing network vulnerabilities.

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Top 3 Challenges for Cyber Security

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Government agencies now must improve infrastructure to protect against threats and simultaneously reduce the number of cyber attacks within government. As attacks become more complex, agencies need to be ready to protect themselves and improve infrastructure to reduce the number of attacks. Cyber security affects all of us. With government using more devices, and employees accessing information in new ways, government is challenged to keep all systems protected.

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Protecting the nation from cyber threats is critical. As citizens perform more daily transactions online with the government and more information is shared, the government has a responsibility to make sure our personal information is protected. Although we are more connected than ever before, more information has been shared and there is more risk of information being breached.

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In a White House blog post, President Obama stated, “Cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation” and that “America’s economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cyber security.”

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(3) Diversity of Network Applications Agencies sometimes develop homegrown network applications, which sometimes do not comply with agency wide standards, and may potentially open up networks to threats.

Although network applications are important for efficiency and productivity, agencies need to be careful while developing, and be sure they meet all the right standards to retain security.

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Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how Government and Education connect, communicate, and collaborate. Since 1984, Cisco has led in the innovation of IPbased networking technologies, including routing, switching, security, TelePresence systems, unif ied communications, video, and wireless. The company’s responsible business practices help ensure accountability, business sustainability, and environmentally conscious operations and products. Our technology is changing the nature of work and the way we serve, educate, and defend.

Helping government agencies maximize ef fectiveness in key areas:

· · · · · ·

Cloud Computing Data Center Consolidation Cyber Security Mobile (Mobile Collaboration) Telework Bring Your Own Device

For more information, visit www.cisco.com/go/usgov

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THE

DIGITAL GOVERNMENT STRATEGY

DELIVERING 21st Century Services to America or centuries, government has been collecting data. Whether it was ancient civilians recording data about the stars, identifying weather patterns, collecting health data information to avoid epidemics or collecting data about the citizenry, similar to a modern day census. Data has always been an integral part of how government operates.

Recently, more data has been released and made accessible for citizens. As more kinds of data are collected, many agencies have made a shift towards open data initiatives, in which

data is released to the public in multiple forms.

Sometimes the data is used to develop apps, and at other times, data is collected and turned into visualizations to help educate the public.

On May 23, 2012, the Obama Administration announced The Digital Government Strategy which strives to change how government works and delivers services to citizens. President Obama states, “I want us to ask ourselves every day, how are we using technology to make a real difference in people’s lives?” The Digital Government Strategy challenges innovators across government to think how they can fully leverage emerging technology to improve how services are delivered to Americans.

Within the Digital Government Strategy, fed-

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eral agencies are required to make two core services available to citizens on mobile devices by May 23, 2013, giving agencies one year to make the transition. Further, the memorandum requires that government data be machine readable and government data be open by default.

Federal Chief Information Officer, Steve VanRoekel and Federal Chief Technology Officer, Todd Park announced the Digital Government Strategy at TechCrunch’s Disrupt Conference in New York City.

Eight core outcomes from the Digital Government Strategy are: 1.

The new default for data is open, data should be public when possible, available on demand, and agencies should take a device agnostic approach, providing flexibility to citizens and developers to use and published data.

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Government data should be social and a two way street, allowing people to develop mobile apps. This will encourage increased participation to transform government.

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Agencies will create a slash developer page and continue to build upon data.gov as a spot to host governmnet data 4.

Decreasing the number of

government domains to help streamline information and make finding resources easier for citizens 5.

Agencies must convert two priority citizen services to mobile in the next 12 months 6.

Take two backend systems and convert them to API’s 7.

Create the Digital Innovation Center: central effort to change web dynamic 8.

Private sector integration

The Digital Government Strategy has been developed at a fascinating time for government. The combination of a staggering economy and incresed demand for improved services by Americans has added a new layer of complexity to government agencies.

In many situations, government is operating in a restrictive budgetary environment.

With this dynamic functioning within government, mission centric programs have become more important to agencies than ever before.

Regardless of the agency or department, agencies are now called to identify the best

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way to serve their customers, decrease costs and operate efficiently in a perilous fiscal environment. This challenge is reflected in the call for developing two services on a mobile device within 12 months. As more citizens have adopted smart phones and mobile technology is becoming increasingly more common in consumers lives, there is truly a need for government to reform services and provide them in a mobile setting.

An excerpt from President Obama’s memorandum reads, “Innovators in the private sector and the Federal Government have used these technological advances to fundamentally change how they serve their customers. However, it is time for the Federal Government to do more. For far too long, the American people have been forced to navigate a labyrinth of information across different Government programs in order to find the services they need. In addition, at a time when Americans increasingly pay bills and buy tickets on mobile devices, Government services often are not optimized for smartphones or tablets, assuming the services are even available online.”

DorobekINSIDER Resources GovLoop’s Daily Podcast, The DorobekINSIDER, had extensive coverage of the Digital Government Strategy announcement in New York.

How to guide for implementing the Digital Government Strategy Default Open Data: White House Launches New Digital Government Strategy

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Mobile is not the only way innovators in the private sector have transformed how they deliver services. Everything from cloud computing, data, data center consolidation, and collaboration tools are being used to transform the ability to deliver services to consumers.

During the announcement of the Digital Government Strategy, VanRoekel and Park also provided insights into the new Technology Fellows Pro-

33IT

gram, which closely resembles the prestigious and extremely competitive Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program. The Technology Fellows Program website states:

with universities with well‐recognized technology programs, the Federal Government will tap into the emerging talent pool and begin to build a sustainable pipeline of talent.”

“The Technology Fellows Program seeks to cut bureaucratic barriers to entering public service and providing access to unique career opportunities in Federal Agencies to highly talented technology professionals. By partnering directly

Under the first federal CIO, Vivek Kundra, the 25-point plan was developed, which the Technology Fellows Program was derived from. The new Technology Fellows Program acknowledges that one critical way to make govern-

Layers of Government Service Delivery Within the Digital Government Strategy, Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel established a conceptual model as to how government should deliver services. He identifies three distinct layers, the information layer, the platform layer and the presentation layer.

These three layers separate information creation from information presentation—allowing us to create content and data once, and then use it in different ways In effect, this model represents a fundamental shift from the way our government provides digital services today

INFORMATION The information layer contains digital information It includes structured information (e g , the most common concept of “data”) such as census and employment data, plus unstructured information (e g , content), such as fact sheets, press releases, and compliance guidance

PLATFORM The platform layer includes all the systems and processes used to manage this information Examples include systems for content management, processes such as web API (Application Programming Interface) and application development, services that support mission critical IT functions such as human resources or financial management, as well as the hardware used to access information (e g , mobile devices)

PRESENTATION The presentation layer defines the manner in which information is organized and provided to customers. It represents the way the government and private sector deliver government information (e g , data or content) digitally, whether through websites,16 mobile applications, or other modes of delivery

Focused on helping government organizations communicate with the public more effectively and efficiently, GovDelivery adapts world-class practices from the private sector and leverages new technologies while designing communication solutions that address the unique privacy, compliance and security needs faced by government.

Solutions GovDelivery Digital Communication Management (DCM) provides organizations with an automated, on-demand public communication system. GovDelivery DCM empowers governments to provide citizens with better service and access to relevant information by proactively communicating official content through email, text messaging, RSS and social media.

GovDelivery Collaboration creates a secure community to help you gather and organize stakeholders on unprecedented scale, with the flexibility to innovate and collaborate nationally with colleagues, citizens, businesses, government partners, consultants, and more. With GovDelivery Collaboration, you can eliminate the physical and technological barriers that often stifle the flow of communications and teamwork across your entire stakeholder base to more fully interact with your community in an effective, efficient and engaging manner.

GovDelivery Transactional Messaging Service (TMS) makes critical, large-scale, transaction-focused email communication between government and the public more effective and reliable. With GovDelivery TMS, your organization can save time and money, while allowing your employees to focus on messaging and stakeholder interaction instead of technical email complexities and deliverability.

Delivering Real Value Within the first six months of the [website’s] launch, the [State of Indiana] saw a return on investment between $200,000 and $250,000 through reduced postage, printing and mailing costs, and the state has seen annual savings of nearly $200,000.

- Robert Paglia, Director, Indiana Department of Technology and IN.gov “Within one hour, we generated more revenue than we did in weeks with the old method. People here were elated – we had reduced a truckload of work processing checks as well as printing and mailing costs.”

- Margie Damgaard, Web Division Coordinator, Wisconsin DNR The U.S. Census Bureau ran a national campaign incorporating use of GovDelivery DCM to broaden its outreach and encourage members of the public to participate in the 2010 Census in a timely fashion.

They engaged 103,000 subscribers, sending more than 2.4 million messages. The Census’s overall communications effectiveness saved $1.87 billion in taxpayer money.

- U.S. Census Bureau

Learn more visit: govdelivery.com email: info@govdelivery.com call: 866-276-5583 reachthepublic.com

facebook.com/govdelivery

@govdelivery

youtube.com/govdelivery

govloop.com

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ment more transparent, participatory and collaborative is to provide unique career opportunities to talented technology professionals to attract them to public service.

The program structure and application process is very similar to the competitive PMF program, as potential fellows follow the same application process as PMF’s, and are appointed to a twoyear rotational position.

In a recent White House blog, Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel mentioned there has been substantial interest in the program, as he states, “There has been a groundswell of interest in the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, with 700 applicants for Fellows positions, and over 4,000 people in total expressing interest in following (and contributing to) their progress.”

The Presidential Innovation Fellows program has five projects that launched in 2012, the website states the goal of the project is “To improve the lives of the American people, saving taxpayer money, and fueling job creation. This is innovation aimed at making a difference for all Americans.”

The five projects are MyGov, which the White House briefly describes as, “Reimagine the relationship between the federal government and its citizens through an online foot-

print developed not just for the people, but also by the people.”

The second program mentioned is, Open Data Initiatives, described as, “Stimulate a rising tide of innovation and entrepreneurship that utilizes government data to create tools that help Americans in numerous ways – e.g., apps and services that help people find the right health care provider, identify the college that provides the best value for their money, save money on electricity bills through smarter shopping, or keep their families safe by knowing which products have been recalled.”

The third is the extremely successful Blue Button Initiative by the VA. The White House states, “[this program] will develop apps and create awareness of tools that help individuals get access to their personal health records -- current medications and drug allergies, claims and treatment data, and lab reports – that can improve their health and healthcare.”

The fourth initiative looks to reform the RFP process and help small business navigate the federal government. This program is called RFP-EZ and briefly described as, “Build a platform that makes it easier for small high-growth businesses to navigate the federal government, and enables agencies to quickly source low-cost, high-impact infor-

mation technology solutions.”

The final program of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program is the 20% Campaign, which looks to “Create a system that enables US government programs to seamlessly move from making cash payments to support foreign policy, development assistance, government operations or commercial activities to using electronic payments such as mobile devices, smart cards and other methods.”

All these programs are great steps forward, and it will be interesting to see how they unfold in the coming months.

Hopefully, these programs will recruit new talent into the federal space. With fellowship programs, it’s always easy to attract top talent, but difficult to hold on to the talent once the fellowship ends.

The Digital Government Strategy and Technology Fellows Program is just one of many initiatives set forth by the Obama Administration that encourages the federal government to embrace emerging technology. The Obama Administration has set a high bar for government agencies.

With numerous initiatives encouraging IT reform, the Administration understands that it is not just about providing API’s, improved data, technology standards, IT reform is about a combination of all services, which will help

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to facilitate the needed reforms to government services.

Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC)

Other executive orders and initiatives developed by the Obama Administration focusing on technology to transform government include:

>

>

Executive Order 13571 (Streamlining Service Delivery and Improving Customer Service) >

Executive Order 13576 (Delivering an Efficient, Effective, and Accountable Government) >

The President’s Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government >

OMB Memorandum M-1006 (Open Government Directive) >

The National Strategy for

The 25-Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal Information Technology Management (IT Reform) These Executive Orders have led to further cloud adoption, increased use of shared services and improved management of IT programs. The Digital Government Strategy builds on these improvements, and focuses on delivery of services as the priority.

The way the Digital Government Strategy was developed is a testament to the administration’s desire to create a more transparent, participatory and collaborative government. The Digital Government Strategy was developed through a multi-disciplinary approach, as practitioners

from the government, private sector, public and two working groups collaborated to develop The Digital Government Strategy. The two working groups, the Mobility Strategy and Web Reform Task Forces worked with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and General Services Administration (GSA) to identify solutions for mobile government.

The Digital Government Strategy incorporated insights from citizens and federal workers. In September of 2011, an online dialogue, National Dialogue on Improving Federal Improvements, and in January 2012, National Dialogue on the Federal Mobility Strategy, both were used to formulate the Digital Government Strategy. In total, the online forums produced a combined total of 570 ideas and nearly 2,000 comments.

The Digital Government Strategy sets out to accomplish three things: Enable Ensure Unlock the American people and an increasingly mobile workforce to access high-quality digital government information and services anywhere, anytime, on any device.

Operationalizing an informationcentric model, we can architect our systems for interoperability and openness, modernize our content publication model, and deliver better, device-agnostic digital services at a lower cost.

that as the government adjusts to this new digital world, we seize the opportunity to procure and manage devices, applications, and data in smart, secure and affordable ways.

Learning from the previous transition of moving information and services online, we now have an opportunity to break free from the inefficient, costly, and fragmented practices of the past, build a sound governance structure for digital services, and do mobile “right” from the beginning.

the power of government data to spur innovation across our Nation and improve the quality of services for the American people.

We must enable the public, entrepreneurs, and our own government programs to better leverage the rich wealth of federal data to pour into applications and services by ensuring that data is open and machine-readable by default.

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The Digital Government Strategy, and related initiatives are bold moves by the current Administration and set a high bar for reforming government IT. With our nation’s top leaders setting the goals and leading the charge, reform is on the way for government IT. A core

differentiator is that the Obama Administration understands that to tackle the challenges of government IT, they can’t go at it alone - it will require collaboration across sectors to fully leverage all potential technology to transform how services are delivered to Americans.

With the bar set high, now is the time for government agencies to embrace the movement, work towards reform, and start to transform government services in a way that has never been in history. />

REVOLUTION

THE MOBILE

The growth of mobile technology has been game-changing for both the private and public sector. In the public sector, mobile is changing both the way government interacts with citizens and within the workplace. As smartphone usage continues to proliferate in citizen’s personal lives , there is an increasing expectation that the services they are accustomed to in the private sector and personal lives will also be available with government services.

Mobile technology is an interesting study for government, as mobile crosses many disciplines and functions that government provides. In this section, we define two different applications of mobility: mobility for improved citizen engagement and mobility for the workforce.

Mobility for Improved Citizen Engagement Mobility for improved citizen engagement comes from a variety of sources. The use of smart phones has facilitated increasing use of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, where government agencies can quickly share information to citizens. Likewise, the release of data sets has enabled citizens to develop their own mobile applications to help facilitate improved interactions with government. With these apps, an ongoing trend is that government is complex and cannot provide solutions to all the problems citizen’s face. Partnerships with individuals and companies can help facilitate improved citizen engagement.

5 Benefits of Mobility and Citizen Engagement 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Speed of Communication Connect Key Stakeholders Improved Customer Service Increased Accessibility to Information Empower the Citizen

Mobility for Improving the Workforce – BYOD & Telework There are a lot of different ways that mobility has impacted the workforce. Two examples are bring-yourown-device (BYOD) initiatives and telework. A common trend across all sectors is the desire of employees to work where they want and have flexible schedules.

With more and more opportunities for telework and bring- your-own-device initiatives taking place in government, the workforce is changing based on advances in mobility.

5 Benefits of Mobility in the Workplace 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Information on Demand Flexibility of Workplace Enable Employees to Work on Most Comfortable Platform and Tool Recruitment Tool Efficiently connect key stakeholders

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Smarter governments interact dynamically with citizens and businesses in real time to spark growth, innovation and prosperity. They also collaborate across departments, communities and businesses to take full advantage of the available opportunities.

The world isn’t just getting smaller and flatter, it is also becoming more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent. As we move toward a globally integrated economy, all types of governments are also getting smarter.

IBM provides a broad range of citizen centered solutions to help governments at all levels become more responsive to constituents, improve operational efficiencies, transform processes, manage costs and collaborate with internal and external partners in a safe and secure environment.

Recent reports and whitepapers: Smarter Public Safety: Enabling And Enhancing Crime Fighting Capabilities Learning to do more with less is the new normal in government. Read our latest report. (604KB) The power of analytics for public sector: Building analytics competency to accelerate outcomes Opening up government: How to unleash the power of information for new economic growth Smarter computing to support 21st century governance: Modernizing IT Infrastructures to meet critical imperatives

Governments can leverage the unparalleled resources of IBM through IBM Research, the Center for the Business of Government, the Institute for Electronic Government and a far-reaching ecosystem of strategic relationships. To learn more, visit ibm.com/ government

(1.2MB) Available contracts • US Federal contracts • Canadian contracts Analytics SMEs and Analytics to Outcomes group members: Frank Stein- fstein@us.ibm.com Nathan Greenhut- nrgreenh@us.ibm.com

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TECH N O T E C H N O L OO GY ENABLL ING AGENCIES TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

Driving Organizational Success with Big Data

With shrinking budgets and fiscal uncertainty, agencies are not only pressed to meet financial and organizational pressures, but also to deliver improved services to constituents. In order to do so, agencies are focusing heavily on how to improve performance. Two ways agencies are exploring improved performance are making data driven decisions through big data programs and transparency initiatives.

Although big data still has some ambiguity as to how it is defined, big data has been gaining momentum throughout 2012. Big data is commonly referred to as data that has volume, velocity and variety. Often, a fourth V is mentioned, “value.� The hope for the public sector is that by managing large volumes of data at the often meteoric rate at which data is created, agencies can cut costs, reduce fraud, and deliver a higher level of service to citizens.

One shift that has impacted big data is that many interactions with citizens online have become much more transactional. With these kinds of transactions, government agencies are now able to collect more kinds of data. For

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H OGY instance, a local government agency that is responsible for collecting parking or speeding tickets is able to track various kinds of user behavior online.

If the agency wants to encourage citizens to use online services to process tickets, they can track user behavior online, identify what challenges might occur online and improve the online service based on user behavior. This is just one small example of how agencies can use data. There are many really interesting examples of how government has managed big data to improve services.

GovLoop’s Daily Podcast, the DorobekINSIDER recently interviewed Zach Friend, a Crime Analyst for the Santa Cruz Police Department. Zach explained how the Santa Cruz Police Department has used big data to improve predictive policing.

“We have implemented an algorithm that is designed by a team UCLA researchers that is actually based on the same model that predicts Earthquake aftershocks. When you have an earthquake there is a predictable set of aftershocks that occur after, and we have found that in certain crime types when you have a

crime, there is a predictable set of crimes that occur after. So we are inputting data into this algorithm and producing hotspots maps that tell our officers where to patrol before the crimes occur.”

Santa Cruz is one of many interesting examples of the potential benefits of big data.

Although Santa Cruz has had success with big data, managing all this data does not come without related challenges for agencies. Below are three best practices for implementing a big data initiative.

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GOVERNMENT Accountability Through Increased Transparency

Best Practice\\ Identify Your Scope Big data can do a lot of things; agencies need to be careful they are not spreading themselves too thin. With any kind of initiative, it is important that a clear problem is defined, and can be solved with the use of available data.

Best Practice\\ Make Sure Your IT Infrastructure is Set Agencies need to have the technology that enables them to manage the volume, velocity and variety of data to truly leverage big data. Without the right infrastructure in place, agencies will not be able to fully embrace the benefits of big data.

Best Practice\\ Evaluate Your Personnel/ Workforce Understanding data is no easy task, so the right kind of workforce is needed to manage big data. Not only will workers need to understand the complexity behind big data and how to truly unlock all the benefits, they will also need to be able to simply describe impact to the rest of the team. Solid communications skills cannot be overlooked when it comes to big data.

The Obama Administration has been a leading voice for all levels of government to create a more transparent, participatory and collaborative government. Although the Obama administration has led the charge at the federal level, there has been a tremendous push to improve transparency at the state and local level.

Transparency in government has been notoriously hard to define. Departments and agencies across government describe transparency differently. Although differences exist, there are some common initiatives that stretch across government. There are

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several initiatives that government at all levels has embraced to improve government transparency, including website reform, releasing government data, improved rule making, and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

Janet Wilson stated in a recent GovLoop post, “My state’s .gov website, Arkansas.gov, was named #1 state web portal in the nation by the Center for Digital Government in its 2011 Best of Web awards!”

GOVERNMENT Websites Many government websites have gone through significant upgrades in the past few years.

The goals with these upgrades tend to be three-fold: improved services, improved accessibility and improved information.

GovLoop Content and Community Coordinator Jeff Ribeira highlights his top Federal websites in a recent GovLoop post.

Top 5 Federal Agency Websites

Government agencies have not always been known as leaders of the web design industry.

However, in recent years and even months, there have been a few that truly are on the cutting edge of quality design and user experience. Granted, not every agency requires a modern, flashy, public-facing website, but if your agency engages the public in any form, a clean and effective internet presence really needs to be a critical element of your mission. And the best part of the internet is that no matter what your agencies budget is, there is a web solution out there for you that won’t break the bank or have taxpayers up in arms against wasteful spending.

The way people search for and consume content has changed drastically even within the last couple of years. More and more people first and foremost go online for information and to conduct business, including citizen services, making the need for responsive, clean, and well designed websites even more of a necessity. While there are a number of agencies that have made enormous strides in updating their user interfaces, there are a few that stand in a league of their own when it comes to providing citizens with an excellent user experience and some pretty slick design to boot. The following are GovLoop’s top 5 picks (and 5 honorable mentions) for the best government agency websites.

Vanessa Vogel stated in a recent GovLoop post that her favorite website was Utah.gov.

Vanessa states, “BEST http:// utah.gov/index.html This website is my personal favorite.

The website is well designed, clean, simple, easy to navigate, and organized. There’s clear visibility on how to connect to social media. The navigation bar at the top is visible and easy to find. What could seem like one more government site full of information that’s hard to read, utah.gov becomes a manageable, eyeappealing website that organizes all its information in a user-friendly way. This site gets an A in design for me!”

1\\ Department of Energy

Built on Drupal, energy.gov demonstrates a pretty drastic shift in the world of government websites. They started rolling out big changes as early as January, which we reported here on GovLoop, but it was in August of this year that they launched their complete refresh. You can also read the ensuing GovLoop discussion here. While there were a few issues with things like formatting, aspect rations and accessibility at first, the new energy. gov has continued to evolve, and shows a clear dedication to becoming more interactive and overall just plain useful. From sleek photogra-

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phy, localized search returns, clean navigation (which persists as you scroll), and great presentation of data, energy. gov really is at the forefront of government websites Chris Stinson stated on GovLoop: “I tend to like sites with very little on the homepage (I know why I am there, so please don’t give me your mission statement or the latest speech from a elected official). I also tend to run from sites that have the same featured items, month after month - year after year give me what is new and current. If you are local government, tell me what’s happening in the local area, not what’s happening in government.

And keep the pictures & icons to a minimum. One big picture is nice, 15 pictures and 30 little icons, may be more then I care to look at or will even try and figure out what they are about.

(One of them might have been important, but if you have 30 plus items that you’ve deemed important items, they all become unimportant to me) A couple of inspirational government sites (to me) are places

that don’t try to be everything to everybody on the homepage. http://w w w.calgar y.ca/ SitePages/cocis/default. aspx (alot like the Utah site, with search as the key) ht t p : / / w w w. g e o rgi a . g ov (kept it simple. not as pretty as utah or calgary, but still is search focused) http://www.weho.org/ (very colorful! great small site) I might be a little harsh, but I (and I believe most people, who’s job is not working with government) want to spend as little time as possible on a government website, that has nothing but government.”

2\\ The Federal Communications Commission

I had the opportunity a few months ago to hear a few members of the FCC redesign team speak about their experience, so I have firsthand knowledge of the incredible amount of hard work that went into creating this beautiful website. All the difficulty dealing with budget restraints, drawn out approval requirements, and the dreaded “design by committee” surely paid off, as the FCC team really managed to keep the new site very streamlined, yet informative. Not to mention, the site itself is blazing fast. I also like how the FCC has kept the portal to their old website available for comparison’s sake. It’s

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pretty interesting to click back and forth to see just how drastic this redesign really was, and the impressive strides they made in design and usability. Check out just a few of the discussions we had here on GovLoop when the FCC reboot launched here and here.

3\\ The White House

The whitehouse.gov redesign team had a unique struggle in that they had the added challenge of reproducing arguably the more public facing government website of them all. The website itself basically needs to house all of the information that we Americans want and deserve to know, plus quite a large amount of sub sites that feature various legislation or other executive initiatives and programs. I actually got to hear a few members of this redesign team also speak about

their experience and was highly impressed. The White House requires a much different design aesthetic and layout than most other websites, yet they managed to create something that is both modern and sleek yet conservative and professional. Overall just a stunning website, no matter what your political views are. Looking forward to seeing this one evolve over the years.

4\\ National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA has a reputation for being one of the most innovative, genius, and also fun government organizations around.

With their website, they surely don’t disappoint. They have a ton of useful information that they need to organize, and they’ve done a beautiful job at displaying it. While the content blocks are a bit thick

in the lower half, the use of fun iconography, clean navigation, beautiful themeing and images (I’m a sucker for space photography) more than make up for the minimal design imperfections, and still puts them well ahead of most of their government counterparts. In addition to their homepage, NASA has some very impressive subpages for various programs and initiatives (such as this site that lets you track how space innovation has improved and affected our everyday lives).

5\\ The National Archives

The National Archives lands itself on our top 5 for its sheer simplicity in design, and usability. The Archives have a unique and challenging mission in organizing hundreds of years of government documents and information, and then some.

Personally, it boggles my mind to even begin to think about organizing all of this information, and then how do you go about making it all accessible to the general public, and even let

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them interact freely in many instances. It’s a huge logistical and developmental challenge and that makes their very basic, yet extremely useful homepage even more impressive. From a user’s perspective there is extreme potential for becoming overwhelmed when coming to the National Archives website, but the limited 5 choices, gets people headed in the right direction from the first point of contact. So kudos to the National Archives. I’m excited to see how this agency’s website continues to evolve.

GOVERNMENT Transparency In Focus: Open Tucson Initiative Excerpts from a blog post

by Sam Lovett: Planning an Open Government Future

After scouring just about every government agency’s website, there were a decent amount that had pretty impressive design and usability. The following are the government websites that didn’t make the Top 5, but still deserve to be honorably mentioned for their achievements in producing great government websites and citizen experiences:

“What makes a good website is nothing more than what makes for a good speech, consider your audience and be brief. Work from the general to the specific. The biggest mistake web builders make is letting someone build it themselves. They may know everything about what they do but no one else in the world thinks like they do. It would be like designing and building your own house without an architect and contractor, a disaster.

Honorable Mentions • The House of Representatives • The Department of Justice • The Small Business Administration • The Department of the Treasury • The United States Postal Service

Assume your audience knows little to nothing about you or your business. Have a third party, not familiar with your business, beta test the site and give feed back. Lastly, looks are important but they are not everything. Sacrifice appearance for content or function every time.” – Dennis Stransky

While the pressure to maintain transparent operations is an issue facing all levels of government, one challenge that is especially pressing for local governments is taking big data out of open data, making information more readily accessible to average citizens. Presenting data in a meaningful way is the goal of Open Tucson, an independent non-profit group that is trying to open up data for citizens and app makers alike in Arizona’s second largest city.

‘OPEN Tucson’ to Drive Better Decisions As of last month, the Open Tucson group is working in conjunction with the Tucson Mayor’s office to create a public open data portal on the mayor’s website. Their projects include: opening a kiosk to display live schedule data for buses coming to

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Real for Better Government The positive side of the “do more with less” mantra: Done right, less is more. Less complexity means fewer errors, less downtime, lower cost of operations, and improved simplicity that drives user adoption – and improved mission performance.

3 Ways Microsoft Can help 1. Use What You Already Own • If you’re government organization has a Microsoft enterprise license agreement, you may already own some of the most powerful solutions on the market.

• Microsoft Financing can help you tailor a payment plan to meet your agency needs, realizing the technology benefits as you pay.

• Software Assurance can help improve worker productivity, streamline development and help reduce costs with fast, efficient access to the most current technology.

2. Lighten Your Technology Load in the Cloud • With little to no infrastructure investment, you can quickly add powerful software and computing resources.

• Save on hardware, maintenance, IT management, and facilities cost, in addition to software licensing fees.

• Offer services faster and stay on the latest technology using Microsoft cloud services.

3. Work Without Walls • Telework solutions can help reduce travel costs and close gaps in a dispersed workforce.

• Keep teams and resources better connected wherever people are located.

• Virtual workspaces reduce infrastructure costs and give staff options during disruptions in service due to weather or emergencies.

To learn more about using Microsoft solutions to help navigate budget cuts and pave the road to opportunity, go to

www.microsoft.com/govcostsavings

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stops near local businesses, an outreach program to explain how the city’s budget, and establishing a partnership with SeeClickFix to track city services in need of repair.

Tucson’s portal is still in its planning stages, and they are accepting citizen suggestions for potential data sets. It is expected to go live on the city’s website at the end of 2012.

They are not the first city to undertake the creation of a portal. A quick look at Baltimore’s Open Government portal shows what a more developed system can provide. The salary of every city employee is easily available, right next to victim based crime data, and a map showing the location of every speed camera in the city. Parking citation information, addresses of vacant buildings, city contracts… the list goes on and on.

BREAKING All the Rules – Reinventing Rule Making

Anything with a value can be tracked and quantified in open government. Having access to data is helpful for businesses, policy makers, city planners, and basically anyone with a question and access to an internet device. The key to the successful presentation of data is maintenance, making sure that everything is presented in real-time for the people who need it, which is why Tucson’s approach of private-public partnership to create their portal looks especially promising.

An excerpt from the Open Government Status Update, The White House, reads: On January 18, 2011, President Obama issued Executive Order 13563, reaffirming the framework for White House review of rules that was established by Executive Order 12866 and requiring agencies to develop plans to conduct a retrospective review of their existing rules. Section 2 of Executive Order 13563, entitled “Public Participation,” directs agencies to promote an “open exchange of information and perspectives” among all stakeholders during the regulatory process, and to provide the public with a “meaningful opportunity” to comment on proposed rules. Specifically, the Order directs agencies to provide the public with a “timely” opportunity to comment on proposed and final rules, and to make electronic rulemaking dockets, including the scientific and

technical findings relevant to a proposed or final rule, available and searchable online. Executive Order 13563 also instructs agencies to “seek the views of those likely to be affected” by a proposed rule, including likely beneficiaries and those who would be subject to a rule. Notably, the Order directs agencies to do so before issuing a notice of proposed rulemaking.”

One aspect of Executive Order 13563 was to promote increased public participation throughout the rulemaking process. Alex Moll, Communications Officer, eRulemaking, Program Management Office, recently posted on GovLoop some of the updates from Regulations.gov.

RULE Making In Focus: The Regulations.gov Relaunch Blog post by, Alex Moll, Communications Officer, eRulemaking Program Management Office Yesterday, the White House announced the relaunch of Regulations.gov in a post on remaking public participation by Cass Sunstein, the Administra-

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tor of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA): “In response to the President’s direction,Regulations.gov has launched a major redesign, including innovative new search tools, social media connections, and better access to regulatory data. The result is a significantly improved website that will help members of the public to engage with agencies and ultimately to improve the content of rules.

The redesign of Regulations. gov also fulfills the President’s commitment in The Open Government Partnership National Action Plan to ‘improve public services,’ including to ‘expand public participation in the development of regulations.’ This step is just one of many, consistent with the National Action Plan, designed to make our Federal Govern-

ment more transparent, participatory, and collaborative.”

The eRulemaking Program team, which manages Regulations.gov, regards the relaunch as the first installment in a series of website developments scheduled for this year.

The substantial redesign aims to effectively relaunch the site to meet the goals of Section 2 in the President’s Executive Order 13563. The new video below highlights some of these improvements with the significance of public comments.

Featured scholars point to the fact that public participation in rulemaking makes a difference in regulatory outcomes.

making. Overall, the relaunch consists of a new website to further advance program goals of access, education, efficiency, and participation.

Emboldened by this fact, equipped with knowledge of the regulatory process, and empowered with new web tools citizens can more easily engage with agencies and inform Federal decision-

Focused on these program goals, we relaunch Regulations.gov this week with new features and functionality.

These improvements include the following: • Navigation: Improved

• Access: Increase the amount, breadth, and ease of access to rulemaking.

• Education: Advance public understanding of the rulemaking process.

• Efficiency: Sharpen processes for smarter governance via docket management best practices.

• Participation: Build confidence for and quality of public participation in Federal decision-making.

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navigation with a simplified homepage.

• Learning: New homepage tabs allow users to browse featured regulations by category and learn about the regulatory process.

• Search: New sorting and filtering functions help change and refine search results.

• Social Media: Better connections to Twitter and Facebook, and two-way communication with the public.

• Data Standardization: Consistent use of the Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) and standardized regulatory data and descriptions across Federal agencies.

• Open Data: Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that allow the app community to link directly

to regulatory documents.

Moving forward, we pursue continuous improvement.

Based on feedback from various stakeholders, our team and partner agencies have future plans in store for 2012.

IMPROVED Access to Information, A Fundamental Right- Freedom of Information Act FOIA requests are one of the most basic rights of Americans.

Citizens have a fundamental right to receiving access to information and documents. On March 15, 2012, the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Chairman, Darrell Issa, CA -49) released their “Report Card on Federal Government Effort’s to Track

and Manage FOIA Requests.”

The report states “Under FOIA, people may file a request for any existing record at any federal agency for any reason.

Agencies subject to the FOIA include the Executive Branch departments, agencies, and offices; federal regulatory agencies; and federal corporations.”

The report provides an average grade of C- to the federal government FOIA initiatives.

President Lyndon Johnson signed FOIA legislation into law in 1966. The House of Representative cites that at the time the FOIA legislation was revolutionary, as there was no other effective means for citizens to receive information. In 2011, more legislation was passed to improve oversight of FOIA to assist in government transparency.

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Bring Google innovation to your agency! Google products help government agencies organize information and make it accessible and useful to citizens or to authorized

employees.

Our

solutions

for search, geospatial data, and messaging and collaboration are easy to use, quick to deploy, fast and scalable.

Government agencies across the US and around the world use Google’s enterprise solutions — Google Apps for Government, Google Earth & Maps, or the Google Learn more at www.google.com/federal Contact us at: federal@google.com 202-346-1100

Search Appliance. Google helps take the hassle out of managing IT solutions, letting you focus resources on your core mission.

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TECHNOLOGY PROMOTES AGENCIES TO INNOVATE PROACTIVELY Technology Innovation The traditional view of government is that it is slow moving, archaic, and changes only when necessary or when a crisis occurs. Although economic forces are shaping the current government landscape, this leaves a lot of room for agencies to innovate. With new services and technology available, agencies are exploring ways they can do more with less, increase the use of shared services, and explore ways to improve IT to cut costs, improve efficiency and drive mission oriented success.

SHARED Services, Shared Savings With the current fiscal state of government, IT

professionals are tasked to do more with less.

With this dynamic clear in government, agencies are looking for ways to streamline efficiencies, optimize services and share resources across the agency. One solution to this challenge is implementing more shared services.

Shared services can be defined as consolidating functions or services that an agency provides into one unit. That unit then becomes the sole provider for other departments across the agency. CIO.gov lists numerous studies and best practices from the Federal government.

USDA is a great example of using shared services to help streamline email. One case study

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about

their

efforts

states:

“In 2008, USDA was operating numerous separate email systems, most with unique functionality and settings.

The decision to consolidate these systems was driven by sound business practices based in cost, operational efficiency, and developing a more productive workforce.

Though the Department had begun to move in the direction of an on-premise solution, the option that made the clearest business sense in the end was moving the USDA email system to the cloud.�

Throughout this guide numerous kinds of technology have been identified which allow agencies to do more with less, and help drive innovation and IT reform in government. Doing more with less is a common trend across all levels of

government. As government resources becoming tighter, and demands increase, government is forced to think of creative ways to improve how services are delivered. Although challenges will always remain with doing more with less, there are some common trends that agencies have adopted to become more efficient in their service delivery. The financial state of government is perilous, and now is a time for innovation to help work towards solving the complex problems government faces.

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creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. Federal, state and local government IT decision makers trust HP’s timetested legacy of innovation and proven global hardware leadership to help them answer the call to deliver a more streamlined, transparent and secure government through the strategic use of technology. Follow HP Government on Twitter at @christinaatHP or on GovLoop at HP for Gov. “HP technology is helping us deliver dramatic changes in the way we do business and serve the public. We can deliver services faster, and do it more efficiently than ever before.”

—Dorothy Brown, Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County (Clerk’s Office), Ill.

“We’re getting high quality products

and services from an industry leader, improving our ability to manage the environment, and getting more value for our dollar. Developing a closer relationship with HP is one of the best decisions we’ve made.”

—Garry Beaty, chief information officer, City of Boise, Boise, Idaho

“It’s great to have HP partners at hand for my day-to-day needs, but it’s also incredibly valuable to have access to a company with HP’s broad expertise in technology. It’s the best of both worlds.”

—Scott Smith, director, Information Systems, City of Bristol, Conn.

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Navigating the Digital Government Roadmap was written by Pat Fiorenza and designed by Jeff Ribeira and Vanessa Vogel. Thank you to everyone in the GovLoop community for their contribution to this guide.

Pat Fiorenza, GovLoop Research Analyst Pat is currently a Research Analyst at GovLoop.

GovLoop is an online knowledge network of nearly 60,000 government employees. In his role, Pat is the author of GovLoop guides, research reports and also writes a monthly a blog series on GovLoop. By authoring this content, Pat works to find best practices and identify solutions to help government employees become more efficient in their day to day responsibilities and facilitate knowledge sharing across government. Pat received his Masters

of Public Administration degree from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Jeff Ribeira, GovLoop Content and Community Coordinator Jeff is the Content and Community Coordinator at GovLoop and manages all creative and technical development projects.

Vanessa Vogel, GovLoop Design Fellow Vanessa is currently a Design Fellow at GovLoop. She recently graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelors degree in Graphic Design.

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