How Connecticut Reinforced its Resilience
With resilience, simpler is sometimes better. The fewer people, processes and technologies agencies have, the less energy it takes pleasing the public. Gradually, the more streamlined agencies grow, the more resilient they
become too.
Reflect on Connecticut’s recent step to consolidate all its IT into one agency. In
March 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont proclaimed that Connecticut would spend one year merging the state’s IT capabilities into its Department of Administrative Services (DAS). Once streamlined, Connecticut’s IT will be more reactive, sustainable and secure.
GovLoop spoke with CIO Mark Raymond about how Connecticut’s IT merger breaks new ground for his state’s resilience.
The interview below has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
GOVLOOP: What is resilience, and how would you like Connecticut to become more resilient? RAYMOND: To me, resilience is our ability
to continue to meet our constituents’ needs in a changing environment. And “changing environment” is a loaded word, right? We
have changing environments and changing legal, regulatory and political frameworks.
Our physical world changes around us. How do we continue to meet the needs that we have and emerging needs in a consistent 34
way? Lots of that comes with flexibility in
how we deliver, the ability to adapt and to recognize what is happening around us,
and what changes we need to put in place for that. It is one of the reasons why we’re changing how we are structured around
technology. We have so many different silos of agencies and technologies that prevent that flexibility in applying technology
and applying skills. We know that we can become more resilient if we can more
flexibly apply the deep skills that we do have to the challenges that we face.
A GovLoop Guide
