In recent years, advances in technology have caused a dramatic transformation of government services at the state and local level. With the aim of providing citizens with services wherever they are, governments are now offering many tasks online, making them more convenient for citizens. Gone are the days when people had to physically visit a government office for even the simplest tasks.
Chief Information Officers (CIOs) have played a crucial role in this transformation by breaking down data silos and sharing information across different domains. They have also modernized legacy systems to meet the evolving needs of citizens and improve overall satisfaction with government services. The National Association of State Chief Information Officers defined digital government in 2001 as providing simple, accessible, and unified services across agencies. This goal remains true today, and state and local agencies are making significant progress towards it by embracing transformational government.
One example of this is the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, which revamped its unemployment insurance system using Microsoft Azure to better handle the surge in claims during the pandemic. Similarly, Sonoma County, Calif., and Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services have used technology solutions from IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services to enhance services for at-risk populations and streamline operations.
These success stories demonstrate that transformational government is not just an idea but a reality that state and local agencies are successfully implementing to meet the needs of citizens in the digital age. By offering services online, governments are making them more accessible to people wherever they are located, improving their convenience for citizens while saving time for both individuals and government officials alike.
