Introduction

In the early days of the COVID-19 crisis, most chief information officers (CIOs) focused on fundamental questions:

How can agencies help employees stay productive and engaged when working at home and dealing with so many stresses and distractions?

How can work processes be reengineered to work more effectively in a virtual environment?

How can digital services help agencies support citizens when offices are closed?

Over time, however, they realized that in responding to the crisis, agencies were crafting a new model for agency operations. In many cases, it was indeed possible to carry out the business of agencies in a virtual environment. Employees could stay engaged, work processes often were streamlined and digital services proved their worth.

In part, the goal of this new model is to improve operational resiliency — ensuring that the next crisis, whether the next wave of COVID-19 or something entirely unexpected, is not nearly so disruptive.

But the new model also is geared toward transformation — helping agencies adopt more efficient and effective processes that deliver better services. Of course, this is what CIOs have envisioned for years.

This guide, created by GovLoop and Carahsoft, will explore how the COVID-19 crisis might reshape the future of government, drawing on the experiences and insights of government CIOs nationwide and the IT community’s expertise. We also highlight some best practices around technology, policy and management strategies.

This might not be how we expected the future of government to arrive, but in responding to the challenges of this time, CIOs have the opportunity to help their agencies become more resilient and agile — ready to face whatever challenges the future might hold.