We met with 302 central and federal government executives to understand their top priorities and how they are preparing for and adapting to key trends shaping their organizations. This year, executives are prioritizing:
- Accelerating modernization and AI to improve citizen services and operational efficiency
- Protecting data and operations through cybersecurity
- Responding to budget demands by optimizing operations
32%cite high* business-IT alignment to support strategy28%cite high* business-IT integration to execute strategy18%cite high* maturity of their organizational strategy
to use data and digitization for business model resilience
*8 or above, where 10 is high
- Impact of social demographics remains high
51% say this macro trend, including aging populations and talent shortages, highly impacts their organization.- 3/4 cite IT hiring challenges
76% say they have difficulty recruiting IT talent.- Legacy remains a constraint
88% say legacy systems pose challenges to successful digitization.- Use of managed services to rise
Executives indicate plans for greater reliance on managed services over the next 3 years for applications (+4pp vs. today) and infrastructure (+2pp vs. today).
Organizations generating expected results from their digitization strategies—the digital leaders—share common attributes that enable them to accelerate outcomes compared to others.* For example, in central and federal government, digital leaders:
Produce results from data privacy & protection strategies
vs. others*
Highly align business and IT operations to support strategy
vs. others*
Substantially or fully use managed IT services for infrastructure
vs. others*
*those building or launching their digitization strategy
pp = percentage points
1 |
Modernize technology to optimize investments and secure data to transform government operations and services. |
2 |
Continue to invest in automation and responsible AI to address government challenges in the workforce and to optimize citizen services. |
3 |
Expedite digitization by simplifying and optimizing processes for citizens. |
4 |
Define a robust sourcing strategy to attract younger generations to government roles. |
5 |
Strengthen alignment of business and IT operations to ensure strategies are implemented. |
6 |
Understand government’s role in supply chains to support citizen services and pursue collaborative strategies to realize shared value. |
