Government Technology

Governing Faster, Smarter


By the Center for Digital Government

Rumsfeld's quote echoes a hardlearned lesson for thousands of public servants, including the former secretary of defense. Governing is a complex business. Public servants act on what they know and often have to make decisions based on the best available information - but why isn't the best available information better? There are the reasons we would expect: public agencies with allied but separate missions (and a bureaucratic tendency toward fiercely guarded independence); legacy systems that were never designed to work with each other;the need to hold sensitive information securely. The conventional approach has been to take on the daunting challenge of massive restructuring and reengineering at high cost and with long lead times. With or without such heavy lifting, there are emerging standards-based, networked overlays that increase transparency and efficiency without sacrificing data sovereignty or security.

This white paper looks at how forward-thinking governments are using the data, systems and tools available now to govern smarter, collaborate across organizational boundaries, and deliver public services at top speed. The paper will specifically consider training and collaboration for governing faster and smarter, the business transformation involved in changing government services, and how secure information sharing can aid such processes.


To download Governing Faster, Smarter, or to listen to the podcasts on Service-Oriented Architecture and Dashboards, click the "Download" button above.

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