Government efforts to modernize saw substantial advancements in 2022: An overwhelming 91% of federal IT workers report their agencies have gained ground on digital modernization efforts in the past year, according to a recent survey of federal employees conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of ICF. But while optimistic, these employees say their work is far from done. Just 30% have achieved continuous improvement in their modernization jou...

In June 2019 the Office of Management and Budget released MemorandumM-19-21, directing all Executive Branch departments and agencies to transition to fully digitize all permanent records by Dec. 31, 2022. But many agencies are going to miss that deadline. Between the scope of the requirements and the effects of the pandemic, fully one-third of agencies have indicated they are going to miss the deadline. The challenge is not simply digitizing r...

Modernizing the Federal Acquisition Lifecycle As Federal procurement policy and processes become more complex, agencies must adapt their business processes and technology solutions to better enable their acquisition professionals to maintain compliance and efficiency while executing mission-critical tasks. IT modernization initiatives empower acquisition professionals and leadership to make better-informed decisions throughout each phase of th...

Over the past year, the Biden-Harris Administration has increased the focus on improving federal services through the President’s Management Agenda which presented a roadmap for ensuring an equitable, effective, and accountable Federal Government that delivers results for all. The three priorities were: Strengthening and empowering the Federal workforce; Delivering excellent, equitable, and secure Federal services and customer experience...

Government’s Journey to IPv6 – What It Means for Agencies Federal agencies have been mandated to migrate to IPv6 – the next-generation Internet protocol, designed to replace version 4 (IPv4) that has been in use since 1983. The depletion crisis that exists with IPv4 unique addresses requires the shift to the robust, 128-bit IPv6 with its 340 undecillion or 340 trillion trillion trillion unique addresses. The explosion of Inte...

5G for Government – From Warehouses to Virtual Reality The advent of 5G – fifth-generation mobile communications – is creating a host of opportunities for government applications. A "smart warehouse" at Naval Base Coronado is delivering on optimization of the facility’s operations, including identification of materials and supplies, organization, storage, retrieval and transportation. Meanwhile, the U.S. Army is develop...

Modernization is a Journey, not a Destination. Federal agencies raced to update their systems and move as many programs as possible to the cloud during the pandemic. But federal leaders realize that modernization is a continuing process that includes, but is not limited to, updating IT equipment and data centers. It also means upgrading networks and connections, software and services, security, workforce, and acquisition processes. At this sum...

Just as the pandemic changed the American workplace, it had a major disruptive effect on colleges and universities across the country, forcing them to adopt new remote learning initiatives and revealing the technological shortcomings that campuses faced. At the same time, it opened opportunities. During the pandemic, Carnegie Mellon University used a rapidly deployed private wireless solution to power live video streams on high definition came...

Data comes from many sources, data definitions, variations in data, different systems, and from many users. It is important to gather and identify data from a multitude of sources to explore data patterns and data trends to be used for forecasting, planning, future strategies, innovation, research, and others that are not affected by fluctuations, repeated sequencing over fixed periods of time, unexplained random variances, and much more. Ever...

Modernization is integral in the development of the Federal workforce as organizations fight to keep up with the private sector. Organizations and agencies need to begin to adopt more cutting edge technologies, such as automation of workflow processes, in order to be more forward-thinking and competitive. In order to fully reach a new potential within our Federal workforce, agencies need to center the implementation process as their goal. This...