This isn’t all bad. Not all new technology offers potential for government application, and government cannot afford, either financially or in terms of resources, to explore the benefits and implications of every new technology that comes along. From those perspectives, government is wise not to leap without evaluating new technologies carefully.
But the public sector can’t ignore the promise of innovative technology either. Constituents expect to interact online with government just as easily they do with private industry, and government has as much need to increase productivity and efficiency as a for-profit business does. At this intersection of need and opportunity, new technologies can deliver.
Government agencies should constantly monitor technology development and evaluate which technologies might help them streamline operations and better serve constituents. Here are six questions they can ask to assess new technologies’ potential.
1. Is the technology here to stay?
Not all technology catches on. Sometimes it addresses too narrow a segment of the population or performs a single function that other technologies already cover more broadly. A government agency should make sure the technology will have staying power and be relevant to a broad constituent base before investing time and money incorporating it.2. Is the new technology the best way to achieve the agency’s goal?
Bells and whistles are fun, but there may be other ways that require less time and money for the agency to get where it needs to go. For example, updates may be available that would expand current systems’ features and serviceability. Before investing in new technology, it’s worth exploring whether another, simpler solution might meet the need.3. Does the potential benefit of the new features exceed implementation cost?
Every new technology comes with hard costs, which may include hardware, software, network and storage upgrades, as well as soft costs for employee training. However, if the technology will reduce operational, data collection, staff time or other expenses over time, or if it provides significant customer service or customer perception benefits, the long-term gain may well be worth the upfront costs.4. What are the voices worth listening to saying?
Neither intuition nor a shrewd salesperson should drive the decision about new technology. Instead, an agency can and should rely on numerous information sources to determine a new system or software's potential value. Agency employees who are passionate about the latest and greatest often are the best sources for identifying new technologies that could have fresh applications in a government setting. End users should be involved in the evaluation process to provide feedback about how well the technology would suit their needs and to suggest modifications that would make the new technology most effective. Agencies also should assess the technology’s capabilities and possible challenges by looking at how the private sector already may be using it for similar purposes.5. Is the technology performing as expected elsewhere?
Marketing materials can make all sorts of claims, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re accurate. To verify that the technology will live up to expectations, government IT decision-makers should ask tough questions, such as where, specifically, the technology is being used, how it is performing in those deployments and whether the provider will offer references.6. Will the technology really accomplish what the agency needs it to achieve?
Before undertaking an enterprisewide rollout, the agency should conduct proof-of-concept testing to understand whether the technology will achieve the anticipated results if and when it is broadly implemented. This approach requires only a minimal investment in equipment, and it allows the agency to identify the best tools for the desired solution, determine how well constituents will accept and use the technology, and expose and troubleshoot any problems.A government agency doesn’t need an entire department dedicated to evaluating and implementing new technologies. By simply maintaining an open mind about exploring new tech products — and by engaging relevant voices inside and outside the organization — agencies can comfortably adopt new technologies to generate innovative and exceptional results for themselves and their constituents.
Nolan Jones is director of eGovernment Innovation for NIC Inc., (NASDAQ: EGOV) the nation’s premier provider of official government Web portals, online services and secure payment processing solutions for more than 3,500 local, state and federal agencies across the United States. He can be reached at njones@egov.com. More information about NIC is available at www.egov.com.
