There is one thing that nearly every one of us in the industry have in common since the global pandemic disrupted our lives. Technology is changing the way we interact – both personally and professionally and it has shined a bright light on how stronger federal IT strategies can support the new reality of remote and hybrid work. The aggressive pivot towards digital transformation that was accelerated by the global pandemic forced agencies to consider new ways to connect with employees while delivering on their respective missions.
While the technology has long been available, the global pandemic really forced a culture change that accelerated adoption. To delve further into this massive cultural shift towards remote and hybrid work at the federal level and the technologies that eased the transition, Andrew Balzarini, Director of Marketing and Alliances at Wildflower International, spoke with Cameron Chehreh, CTO and VP of Engineering at Dell Technologies, in the inaugural episode of the video series, “A Wild Idea.” The series features discussions with experts from the government technology community, like Chehreh, and shares trends, challenges, and predictions around federal IT; in this episode Chehreh and Balzarini dish on federal remote and hybrid work environments.
Watch: A Wild Idea Digs into Remote Work Culture
“The global pandemic really forced agencies not only to talk about telework, but [ask] how do we rethink the way we work and put technology and infrastructure in place that enables; in some cases, almost 90 percent of the workforce to work from other locations,” Chehreh remarked. Balzarini and Chehreh went on to discuss the necessary mindsets to make such an evolution possible, the technologies enabling the shift towards remote and hybrid work, and where the federal government goes from here in this “new normal.”
Expanding on cultural change, Chehreh touched on two key principles that are driving such technological adoption among federal agencies: mission over process and prioritizing user experience. Both of these principles must be championed by leadership in order to emphasize the importance of IT modernization and effect true cultural change among employees.
The birth of the “A Wild Idea” series in and of itself is a testament to the adaptation supported by an outside-the-box IT strategy. As a way to expand its engagement capabilities with employee safety in mind, Wildflower International stood up its production studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico during the pandemic, utilizing office space that was no longer needed because of their move to remote and hybrid work. From this space, Balzarini and his team are able to take video conferencing to a new level and can foster a professional, yet remote, collaborative environment with leading experts like Chehreh.
You can watch the full discussion between Balzarini and Chehreh about how remote and hybrid work pushes federal agencies to think bigger when it comes to their IT strategy here.
