Three Things to Know from Mike Raker and Nikki Collier:
- Federal technology ecosystems are more complex than ever as legacy technology meets AI and cybersecurity needs intensify.
- Trusted private sector partners who understand the pressures federal IT leaders are under are invaluable resources for building a technology-adaptable agency.
- Invest time in understanding what’s in your IT environment. When you don’t know what you don’t know, it’s nearly impossible to avoid adding complexity while keeping the mission front and center and delivering exceptional experiences to citizens.
If there’s one thing that federal CIOs know, it’s that their roles, their tech ecosystems, and expectations for their teams are becoming increasingly complex. From keeping legacy systems running while new solutions are layered on top, to breaking down silos to support secure interoperability, and rethinking how outcomes are measured and how to prioritize customer experience through solution design, there’s so much to manage.
Justice Department CIO Dr. Nikki Collier is one of the CIOs navigating this complex journey. But one thing that has made her team’s journey through legacy technology upgrades, system-wide modernization, AI integration, and myriad other changes more manageable is the support of a community of technologists, not just within the government but in the private sector too. Dr. Collier and Mike Raker, Chief Technology Officer at Maximus, recently joined a WashingtonExec video panel to discuss the challenges that government and industry share and how each IT leader is helping their organization deliver results.
Related Article: The Shift to Intelligent Service Delivery: What Federal Agencies Need to Know
Throughout the conversation, Collier and Raker found numerous points of commonality that shape their investments in technology. The first point of mutual agreement is that the customer in the private sector and the citizen in the public sector must be at the center of imagining the future and investing in IT. Raker shared, “Our North Star is about delivering end business value and not delivering technology for technology’s sake.” Collier amplified Raker’s position by adding that in the public sector, “[agencies] have to be better stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
The two technologists also shared an understanding of the impact of distributed technology environments and the negative effect they can have on operations. For Raker, organizational complexity comes from acquisitions, whereas for Collier, complexity comes from managing 19 CIOs across the agency’s 40 departments. “Right now,” she shared, “I’m concentrating on consolidating roles, responsibilities, and tools … I’m ripping off the Band-Aid because we cannot continue to do business as usual. What may have worked two or three years ago doesn’t necessarily work today.” In practice, for Collier, this means identifying duplication in technologies and looking for single-use tools that can be replaced by enterprise-grade licenses.
But this is just the start of a fascinating conversation between Collier and Raker. Over the next 30 minutes, the topics of identity management and its impact on cybersecurity were explored, along with the importance of outcomes-based contracting, transparency and accountability, not to mention their unique insights on workforce development and skills gaps as agencies embrace AI, work to address identity management challenges to comply with Zero Trust requirements, and manage the advanced technologies needed today.
If you’re ready to hear more from Dr. Collier and Mike Raker, click here.