In this new year, agencies continue to embark on digital transformation journeys, modernizing IT applications and infrastructure. Federal technology leaders discussed their agency’s 2022 digital transformation plans and goals at ATARC’s Digital Transformation Summit on Jan. 18.
Kevin Duvall, the chief technology officer (CTO) for the Administration for Children & Families at the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), said in 2022, his agency will follow guidance from President Biden’s Federal Customer Experience executive order. The ‘Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government’ states that the Federal government must design and deliver services in a manner that people of all abilities can navigate.
“The EO is a fundamental component of any sort of digital transformation journey,” Duvall said. “We need to follow the right problems. Talking to your customers well in advance of looking for emerging technologies to solve challenges helps us better serve those customers.”
Technology, he added, does not yield better answers or solutions if it is blindly implemented. Following guidance from the EO, HHS wants to solve the right problem for its program offices and mission spaces. By thinking through their customer experiences first and how that allows or encourages the use of emerging technologies, Duvall believes, will improve their services for their customers and meet their mission needs.
Sanjay Koyani, the CTO for the U.S. Department of Labor, explained that his agency’s 2022 digital transformation plans focus on three areas: overseeing and understanding emerging technology, data modernization platforms, and enterprise architecture.
First, by overseeing emerging technology, Koyani explained, his team will try and understand the role emerging technology can play in filling gaps in their legacy systems. Second, modernizing the Department’s data platforms entails making sure that proper data layers and architecture are in place. And finally, in terms of enterprise architecture, Koyani wants to ensure that technologies align with mission needs.
“Our goal is to continue to mature as a centralized shared service environment, while at the same time continuing to figure out how to identify the best funding stream and the best-prioritized approach to get different systems in place to modernize in a way that aligns with our mission,” Koyani said.
