Overview

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic makes clear like no event before the centrality of software to how governments operate and achieve their missions. Technology is helping federal, state, and local governments all across the pandemic response, and it also is enabling the core functions of almost every agency and office. In light of the far-reaching consequences of the pandemic, governments likely will be leading recovery efforts requiring unprecedented levels of orchestration and communication for a potentially protracted period. This presents an opportunity for some government technology leaders to adopt new solutions that are tailored for the future. For others, it may require adjusting systems they quickly set up as the pandemic emerged. In either case, this paper highlights the technological upgrades that governments should be making to help accomplish their work, and it details some of the software solutions that can be tapped to help agencies make needed changes.