Government Technology Insider
  • About
  • State & Local
  • Civilian
  • Defense & IC
SUBSCRIBE
No Result
View All Result
  • Acquisition
  • AI & Data
  • Digital Transformation
  • Cybersecurity
  • Remote Work
  • Resources
    • C-Suite Directions for Agile Government
    • Civilian Agency
    • Innovative Solutions for Connecting Agencies
    • Modern Data Experience
    • Podcasts
    • State and Local
Government Technology Insider
  • Acquisition
  • AI & Data
  • Digital Transformation
  • Cybersecurity
  • Remote Work
  • Resources
    • C-Suite Directions for Agile Government
    • Civilian Agency
    • Innovative Solutions for Connecting Agencies
    • Modern Data Experience
    • Podcasts
    • State and Local
No Result
View All Result
Government Technology Insider
No Result
View All Result
Home Operations

Federal Agency CIOs Embrace Mobility, Discuss Challenges and Benefits

by GTI Editors
November 26, 2013
in Operations
Reading Time: 4min read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

When the Obama Administration announced its commitment to a digital strategy in 2012, barely 25 percent of Americans were using smart phones. A year later, that number had doubled, according to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. But as agencies look to embrace mobility and take advantage of rapid technological and market advances to increase their efficiency, they are encountering challenges associated with implementation.

According to a panel of government IT professionals speaking at immixGroup’s recent event, “Agency Innovation: Making Mobile Government a Reality”, mobility holds the promise of helping agencies cope with budgetary and manpower pressures that show no sign of easing.

The three experts – one from the U.S. Census Bureau, one from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), and one from the Defense Manpower Data Center – are all facing similar challenges in embracing mobility, but they all share optimism for its potential in changing how their agencies fulfill their missions.

Brian McGrath, CIO for U.S. Census Bureau, credited his agency’s move to a private cloud several years ago with helping to ease budget constraints. It has put the agency “on a very nice glide path” to reduce costs, he said.

Now, the Census Bureau’s attention has turned to laying the groundwork for the 2020 national census, including developing a plan to leverage new and emerging technologies. “The Internet and BYOD will be a huge play for us,” McGrath said, “our new director [wants to set] a target that 60 percent of the American public respond online.”

Even if Census achieves its goal to move census data collection online, field workers will still need to go door-to-door in order to facilitate data collection for the 30 percent of American homes that do not have internet connectivity.  It is in this situation that a well developed mobility solution will be most important.  McGrath said there are questions about how much data can, or should, reside on the devices until they can be uploaded to Bureau’s computers and ensure that there’s a security policy in place to protect data in the event of device loss or compromise.

The Census Bureau will have an opportunity to evaluate some of these issues before the next major census. While the agency is known primarily for its once-a-decade national census, it conducts an economic census twice a decade.  The next one, in 2017, will be conducted entirely online, McGrath said, which will provide insights into technologies, respondent rates, and other factors that will determine the success of online approaches.

For Greg Youst, DISA’s chief mobility engineer, the challenges posed by mobility are even more formidable, though the potential return is even greater.

Youst described DISA as a business that provides the network for the Department of Defense (DoD). There is enthusiasm for adopting mobile technologies throughout the department, but it is a very complex environment. Mobile solutions have to work with the department’s public key infrastructure (PKI) and cybersecurity requirements, on the battlefield as well as the Pentagon.

There are creative ways that mobile technology can be integrated into DoD use, particularly if they can incorporate Defense-specific policies and procedures. For instance, Youst said, it would be very useful for building sensors to be able to detect a person’s smartphone and automatically turn off its camera feature when the person enters the building. If the person then enters a SCIF – a secure compartmentalized information facility, a room shielded from electronic eavesdropping – he suggested the sensors could tell the phone to shutdown completely.

All the panelists agreed that vendors looking to sell mobile solutions to the federal government need to think about the unique constraints of government when they pitch their ideas. Youst suggested that vendors should pursue NIST FIPS certification before they approach agencies

Both agencies and vendors need to take a long term view into incorporating mobile technology into government operations.  With best practices in place and a clear understanding of potential obstacles along the way, mobile technology can go a long way to moving an agency’s mission forward to better meet its goals and serve its citizens.

Tags: Brian McGrathbyodDISAGreg YoustmobilityU.S. Census Bureau

RELATED POSTS

Government Organizations Turn to Innovative IT to Drive Agility, Reduce Costs, Streamline Delivery
Digital Transformation

Government Organizations Turn to Innovative IT to Drive Agility, Reduce Costs, Streamline Delivery

August 19, 2020
The DoD and U.S. Census Bureau Turn to Data Lakes for Modernization and Greater Insights
CIO Perspective

The DoD and U.S. Census Bureau Turn to Data Lakes for Modernization and Greater Insights

August 6, 2020
5G
Digital Transformation

5G: The 4th Industrial Revolution Driving Agency Modernization

July 7, 2020
Please login to join discussion

TRENDING NOW

  • Billy Biggs

    Support, Security, and Success: Insights from Billy Biggs, Area Vice President – US Public Sector Sales with BlackBerry

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Meet Advana: How the Department of Defense Solved its Data Interoperability Challenges

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Three Strategies for Optimizing and Securing Multi-Cloud Environment for Federal Agencies

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Federal Remote Worker Podcast Series – Part 1: Wireless Communications are Essential to Keeping Government Workers Connected During COVID-19

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) — Securing Future Network Communications

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

CONNECT WITH US

Advertisement Banner Advertisement Banner Advertisement Banner
Advertisement Banners Advertisement Banners Advertisement Banners
Advertisement Banner Advertisement Banner Advertisement Banner
Advertisement Banner Advertisement Banner Advertisement Banner

BECOME AN INSIDER

Get Government Technology Insider news and updates in your inbox.

Strategic Communications Group is a digital media company that helps business-to-business marketers drive customer demand through content marketing, content syndication, and lead identification.

Related Communities

Financial Technology Today
Future Healthcare Today
Modern Marketing Today
Retail Technology Insider
Today’s Modern Educator

Quick Links

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us

Become a Sponsor

Strategic Communications Group offers analytics, content marketing, and lead identification services. Interested?
Contact us!

© 2021 Strategic Communications Group, Inc.
Privacy Policy      |      Terms of Service

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
  • State & Local
  • Civilian
  • Defense & IC
  • Categories
    • Acquisition
    • AI & Data
    • Digital Transformation
    • Cybersecurity
    • Remote Work
  • Contact Us