Will the vitally strong performance of information technology in government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic go down in the history books years from now as technology’s “golden moment?”
Unless someone has a time machine they’re not telling anyone else about, the answer to that question is impossible to know at the moment. But evidence of the robust ability of government to continue delivering vital services to citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic makes the question one worth asking. Four decades – give or take – after IT began its journey into the fabric of everyday life for government, business, and citizens, has technology finally matured to the point where it can carry a nation through sudden and mortal crisis?
We asked Mike Wiseman, VP SLED at Pure Storage for his thinking, and here’s what he told us:
“Across the board, Federal agencies, state and local governments, healthcare organizations, and education institutions are implementing policies that will not simply disappear when things return to normal.”
“These new policies will be a permanent part of standard operating procedures – many of which will include crucial standards for information sharing as government, media, and education organizations are relying on technology to communicate and collaborate with citizens and students and maintain a robust end-user experience.”
“In education, collaborative technologies have permanently shifted how institutions approach distance learning, while in government, agencies have shifted to accommodate a largely remote workforce – and a modern storage platform is crucial to keeping these systems running smoothly and securely. By moving away from legacy systems, IT teams can focus time and resources on current priorities, including information security, web applications, online digital services, data backup, and rapid restore of data center service in the event of an unforeseen outage.”
“Meanwhile, security remains top of mind as networks are largely more vulnerable – highlighting the importance of leveraging solutions designed to enable a modern data experience that is simple, seamless, and sustainable.”
What are you thinking about IT and the Golden Moment? Please drop us a line at jcurran@meritalk.com and let’s talk.
