During Crisis, Digital Transformation Helps Governments Speed Distribution of Aid

September 23, 2021

By Chris Hopfensperger

The global coronavirus pandemic forced quick action across almost every sector of society. Scientists and health care providers moved quickly to develop new vaccines. Businesses adjusted their operations to ensure the health and safety of their employees and customers. And governments approved billions of dollars of financial assistance to help affected companies and individuals.

The speed of those operations was key to their effectiveness over time. In the health care space, millions of people have received vaccines and work continues to slow the spread of the virus. In the business space, many organizations have implemented new protocols and revised the way they serve their customers. And governments continue to provide assistance to any number of people harmed by COVID-19’s ongoing impacts.

The software industry has supported the entire economy by enabling digital transformation across each of these – and many other – fronts.

Perhaps most importantly, as our new paper describes, software helped ease the impact of the pandemic by expediting the delivery of relief aid to affected individuals and businesses. Local and state governments faced incredible challenges as they worked to distribute direct stimulus payments, unemployment assistance, nutrition assistance, housing aid, loans for small businesses, and more.

Those efforts continue today. Governments that are digitally transforming by using modern cloud-based software solutions could streamline and secure their internal, inter-agency, and constituent-facing business processes to promptly deliver relief funds to eligible individuals and businesses and resume interrupted public services. Software.org’s latest paper “Software Speeds Delivery of Aid, Helps States Respond to COVID-19” highlights some of the key software technologies at play in digital transformation and how they helped deliver relief funds and demonstrates how federal, state, and local agencies can succeed by putting software to work for their constituents.

Looking ahead, the lessons for how software can boost efficiency, conserve resources, and increase the speed, accuracy, and security of services shed light on the importance of why it is important for governments to invest in software solutions suited for both crisis and calm.