Digital fitness in state and local governments

4 pillars to driving digital fitness in governments

Even in the most ordinary of times, state and local governments are under constant pressure to meet their core mandates—better serving constituents—while finding ways to do the most good possible despite chronically lean budgets and resource constraints. But when such daily demands are tested by a once-in-a-century crisis, resources and tools can be stretched to the breaking point.

The COVID-19 pandemic generated massive, rapid disruption in every aspect of life in every country on earth— and governments scrambled to respond. Almost every public agency was urgently pressed to deliver massively increased services in radically different, and more difficult or dangerous, conditions. Many of those handling the challenge most successfully shared a key characteristic: They already had some level of digital fitness.

Just as you wouldn’t try to run a marathon without extensive preparation and ongoing training, organizations need a regular digital fitness program, ideally one developed under less stressful conditions, before they’re put to the test by a crisis. In the best of times, it takes time to build the fundamental digital muscles required to successfully meet citizen expectations, improve operations, and conserve resources.