Home > Resources > Articles > How Does Government Operations Continuity Help Them Perform Better?

How Does Government Operations Continuity Help Them Perform Better?

Vipika Kotangale | October 7, 2022 | 2802 views | Read Time : 07:00 min

How does government article
One of the challenges the government faced during the COVID-19 pandemic was keeping operations running. Certain advanced economies and developing nations' business continuity plans gave them an edge over their underdeveloped counterparts. But because of the pandemic, the national economy had suffered the pangs of unemployment to fuel the malicious intents of cyber-attackers, thus, protecting government assets that carried important economic information became a national priority.

National security and staying competitive with other economies worldwide are becoming increasingly crucial in elevating a country’s economy. Keeping all public-sector companies and federal agencies running efficiently is a foundational block for the economy. Companies in public administration, like the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, as well as different ministries, public sector businesses, and more, need data protection from international cyber-threats. They use disruptive business strategies to make their operations more resilient.

Now, that we know the importance of business continuity in the context of federal government and agencies, let us understand what risks does business continuity management mitigate.


Business Continuity Management in Government Easily Mitigates:

Individuals rely on the government during economic crises and disasters. A crisis or a disaster can be a huge risk to the economy, which can bubble up to an irreversible loss if not handled on a timely basis. Mitigating the risks of crises such as natural disasters, cyber security compromises, power and communication outages, terrorism, wars and military activities, global financial crises and more has become crucial. These crises can cause the loss of physical assets, human safety, and infrastructure that hamper government operations. This is why having a BCM plan in place is the need of the hour.

The government must serve and meet the expectations of economic contributors. If there is a divergence or a timely action constraint, the government must maintain peace and harmony for the common good and economic well-being.


Government Continuity to Support Individuals and Public Organizations:

Resuming operations for public organizations and individuals quickly can be almost impossible without the intervention and support of the government. Government continuity is directly proportional to the level of trust, government reputation, and business resiliency. This is possible because the financial loss can be covered by insurance and financial help, as explained below.

  • Insurance Policy Claims and Coverage: Making it easy to claim insurance during and after the crisis helps individuals and organizations reclaim their finances, thereby restoring essential functions first and full-fledged functions later. Providing reimbursement of expenses and coverage for losses for public organizations and financial assistance for the public sector remains one of the top priorities as far as resuming business operations is concerned post-disaster. Making sure that the insurance can cover the expenses and losses incurred due to the disaster is a part of the business impact analysis (BIA).
     
  • Resiliency: Restoring public sector infrastructure in an operating condition, overcoming operational obstacles such as IT, power, and communication outages in a short span of time, and maintaining due vigilance to keep a check on national security builds business resiliency for the public sector.
     
  • Reputation and Recovery Management: Reducing the turn-around time to fix and restore normal operations after a disaster provides operational resiliency through recovery management. This keeps a check on the best interests of the economic contributors and enhances their trust and the government’s reputation in the long run.

Now that we understand the risks that a BCP can help mitigate and the role of government policies to support the economic contributors, let us understand how it improves the overall performance of a public organization.


Business Continuity Management for Better Performing Public Organizations:

The federal governments and public organizations have implemented an agile approach to bounce back from disasters, catastrophes, and crises using BCM. Because of this, the federal government is heavily invested into business continuity plans (BCPs) to improve how well their operations work and keep the economy and government stable.

The factors impacting the performance of public organizations using a BCM are as below:
  • Public organizations must know how BCM components influence performance in public sector organizations.
  • They must be aware of BCM and the successful implementation of effective BCM. However, some governments that do not invest in a BCM have a much lower level of awareness due to a lack of human resources, finance, and management.
  • They are allocating enough budget for disaster prevention, preparedness, management, and relief considering the government's initiatives. But not getting enough help from the government can make people unhappy, which can hurt the ruling party and lead to people protesting for their rights.
  • Even though there is no direct financial benefit or gain from investing in a BCM, BCM testing helps to improve performance significantly.
  • For governments to consider investing in the successful implementation of BCM and get funding for it, BCM professionals need to predict and evaluate the potential loss due to idle service time and its results.
  • Each government entity must identify the likelihood of risks, define the best rescue objectives, and indicate the most cost-effective clarification and knowledge about BCM.
  • Another challenge is using BCM in organizations that cut across several business groups or completing it with collective business-wide support.
  • These situations show that old management responsibility and regulation are useful for making sure that all members of an organization prefer BCM actions.
  • Recognizing the potential impacts of BCM on organizational performance is required in order to provide accurate value to the BCM powers, attract consideration, and, finally, obtain adequate assistance from senior management.

In the journey to optimizing the performance of your public sector company using BCM, there are many hurdles that you need to overcome. Let us discuss them further.


Challenges in Maintaining BCPs and Performance Growth in the Public Sector:

Maintaining a business continuity plan as per the recommended guidelines is crucial to optimize its performance and efficacy. Your public sector organization's BCP will need to overcome some of the challenges to enable their performance growth as follows:

  • Dedication of time from the top management of the public organizations, the ministry, and leaders towards deciding which functions are essential to maintain the BCP.
  • Lack of complete understanding of all the business functions and their dependencies on other public sector organizations.
  • Comparing the business functions on the level of criticality.
  • Not implementing the BCM approach completely.
  • Tweaking the BCM approach to show everything is taken care of
  • Inaccurate assumptions are used to create a business continuity plan.
  • Business Impact Analysis (BIA) - Determining how long a business process can be rendered inoperable without affecting performance.

The Business Continuity Plan (BCP) takes care of aspects such as:
  • Who will be affected by the business operations disruption?
  • How and when will customers be notified?
  • What issues are to be addressed in the first 48 hours?
  • From the initial response to restoration, unique access roles and functions are assigned.
  • Testing of BCP should be done regularly with the help of table-top exercises, walkthroughs, crisis communications, emergency enactments

The importance of a BCP cannot be undermined as it minimizes the cost of business disruptions on the operations of public organizations. Let us discuss them in-depth.


The Cost of Not Having a Crisis Plan like a BCP for All Sizes of Public Organizations:

Although the costs involved during times of crisis may be difficult to calculate, there may be significant infrastructure and data recovery charges that can have a long-term impact on business revenue. Monetary loss, revenue loss due to idle time, reputation loss, productivity loss are some of the consequences that small, medium, and large enterprises have to go through. The major losses among them are as under:

  • Loss of time and revenue for recovery and resuming operations.
  • The company's brand image and reputation are at stake.
  • Financial instability and loss
  • Productivity loss
  • Customer satisfaction is hampered.
  • Some laws and regulations are violated during idle time.
  • Distrust and loss of faith among investors
  • Employee safety is at risk with the consequences of injury and death.
  • Loss of infrastructure
A business continuity plan has four strategies to boost business resilience. These include crisis and risk management; disaster recovery; incident response management; and business continuity planning.

Acting quickly to mitigate the risks of loss as per incident response management during the event of distress is the first step. Crisis and risk management take care of the plan of action during the event of distress. The disaster recovery plan takes care of resuming the business operations to their normal condition after the disaster has subsided, whereas the business continuity plan takes care of all these aspects to minimize loss during distress as well as the time required to resume normal operations with the help of dedicated software.


Conclusion:

Performance optimization for public organizations is the number one priority for economic growth. A business continuity plan can directly boost performance as it encourages organizations to identify essential functions and maintain their operations during uncertain times. It helps save time, money, and safeguards people, processes, and technologies in the long run.

Spotlight

Waukesha County

Waukesha County is located in southeastern Wisconin, directly west of Milwaukee and 100 miles northwest of Chicago. Waukesha County is part of the Milwaukee Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. The County covers 576 square miles and consists of 8 cities, 18 villages and 12 towns and has the third largest population in the state. 2008 estimated population is 382,697.

OTHER ARTICLES
Emerging Technology

COVID-19: How do we get out of this quagmire?

Article | July 16, 2022

The COVID-19 virus (C19) pandemic is turning out to be the event of the century. Even World War seems timid in comparison. We are in the 4th month of the virus (in non-China countries) and have gone past the lockdown in many places. Isn’t it time we re-think the approach? What if there is another wave of C19 coming soon? What if C19 is the first of many such events in the future? Before we get into analysis and solution design, summarizing the C19 quirks: While a large section of the affected population is asymptomatic, for some it can be lethal There isn’t clarity on all the ways C19 spreads It’s known to affect the lungs, heart, and kidneys in patients with weak immunity It has been hard to identify a definitive pattern of the virus. Some observations in managing the C19 situation are: With no vaccine in sight, the end of this epidemic looks months or years away Health care personnel in hospitals need additional protection to treat patients Lockdowns lead to severe economic hardship and its repeated application can be damaging Quarantining people has an economic cost, especially in the weaker sections of society If one takes a step back to re-think about this, we are primarily solving 2 problems: Minimise deaths: Minimise the death of C19 and non-C19 patients in this period Maximise economic growth: The GDP output/growth should equal or higher than pre-C19 levels One needs to achieve the 2 goals in an environment of rising number of C19 cases. Minimise deaths An approach that can be applied to achieve this is: Data driven health care capacity planning Build a health repository of all the citizens with details like pre-existing diseases, comorbidity, health status, etc. The repository needs to be updated quarterly to account for patient data changes This health repository data is combined with the C19 profile (disease susceptibility) and/or other seasonal diseases to determine the healthcare capacity (medicines, doctors, etc.) needed The healthcare capacity deficit/excess needs to be analysed in categories (beds, equipment, medicine, personnel, etc.) and regions (city, state, etc.) and actions taken accordingly Regular capacity management will ensure patients aren’t deprived of timely treatment. In addition, such planning helps in the equitable distribution of healthcare across regions and optimising health care costs. Healthcare sector is better prepared to scale-up/down their operations Based on the analysis citizens can be informed about their probability of needing hospitalisation on contracting C19. Citizens with a higher health risk on C19 infection should be personally trained on prevention and tips to manage the disease on occurrence The diagram below explains the process Mechanism to increase hospital capacity without cost escalation Due to the nature of C19, health personnel are prone to infection and their safety is a big issue. There is also a shortage of hospitable beds available. Even non-C19 patients aren’t getting the required treatment because health personnel seek it as a risk. This resulted in, healthcare costs going up and availability reducing. To mitigate such issues, hospital layouts may need to be altered (as shown in the diagram below). The altered layout improves hospital capacity and availability of health care personnel. It also reduces the need for the arduous C19 protection procedures. Such procedures reduce the patient treatment capacity and puts a toll on hospital management. Over a period, the number of recovered C19 persons are going to increase significantly. We need to start tapping into their services to reduce the burden on the system. The hospitals need to be divided into 3 zones. The hospital zoning illustration shown below explains how this could be done. In the diagram, patients are shown in green and health care personnel are in light red. **Assumption: Infected and recovered C19 patients are immune to the disease. This is not clearly established Better enforcement of social factors The other reason for high number of infections in countries like India is a glaring disregard in following C19 rules in public places and the laxity in enforcement. Enforcement covers 2 parts, tracking incidents of violation and penalising the behaviour. Government should use modern mechanisms like crowd sourcing to track incidents and ride on the growing public fear to ensure penalty enforcement succeeds. The C19 pandemic has exposed governance limitations in not just following C19 rules, but also in other areas of public safety like road travel, sanitation, dietary habits, etc. Maximise economic growth The earlier lockdown has strained the economy. Adequate measures need to be taken to get the economy back on track. Some of the areas that need to be addressed are: One needs to evaluate the development needs of the country in different categories like growth impetus factors (e.g. building roads, electricity capacity increase), social factors (e.g. waste water treatment plants, health care capacity), and environmental factors (e.g. solar energy generation, EV charging stations). Governments need to accelerate funding in such projects so that that large numbers of unemployed people are hired and trained. Besides giving an immediate boost to the ailing economy such projects have a future payback. The governments should not get bogged down by the huge fiscal deficit such measures can create. Such a mechanism to get money out in the economy is far than better measures like QE (Quantitative Easing) or free money transfer into people’s bank accounts Certain items like smartphone, internet, masks, etc. have become critical (for work, education, critical government announcements). It’s essential to subsidise or reduce taxes so that these items are affordable and accessible to everyone without a financial impact The government shouldn’t put too many C19 related controls on service offerings (e.g. shops, schools, restaurants, cabs). Putting many controls increases the cost of the service which neither the seller not buyer is willing or able to pay. Where controls are put, the Govt should bear the costs or reduce taxes or figure out a mechanism so that the cost can be absorbed. An event like the C19 pandemic is a great opportunity to rationalise development imbalances in the country. Government funding should be channelized more to under-developed regions. This drives growth in regions that need it most. It also prevents excess migration that has resulted in uncontrolled and bad urbanisation that has made C19 management hard (guidelines like social distance are impossible to follow) Post-C19 lockdown, the business environment (need for sanitizers, masks, home furniture) has changed. To make people employable in new flourishing businesses there could be a need to re-skill people. Such an initiative can be taken up by the public/private sector The number of C19 infected asymptomatic patients is going to keep increasing. Building an economy around them (existing, recovered C19 patients) may not be a far-fetched idea. E.g. jobs for C19 infected daily wage earners, C19 infected taxi drivers to transport C19 patients, etc. In the last 100 years, mankind has conquered the destructive aspects of many a disease and natural mishap (hurricanes, floods, etc.). Human lives lost in such events has dramatically dropped over the years and our preparedness has never been this good. Nature seems to have caught up with mankind’s big strides in science and technology. C19 has been hard to reign in with no breakthrough yet. The C19 pandemic is here to stay for the near future. The more we accept this reality and change ourselves to live with it amidst us, the faster we can return to a new normal. A quote from Edward Jenner (inventor of Small Pox) seems apt in the situation – “The deviation of man from the state in which he was originally placed by nature seems to have proved to him a prolific source of diseases”.

Read More

5 (free) things governments can do to reposition for the future

Article | May 27, 2021

Over the last year, we’ve all witnessed years of digital transformation in a matter of months. A recent survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), sponsored by Microsoft, shows that government respondents were the second-most likely group (after financial services) to report increased investment in digital transformation since the start of the pandemic. As governments around the world continue to look to technology and innovation to respond to the challenges of today, here are five (free) things governments are doing to step-change the way they can achieve their economic, social, and sustainability objectives in the future.

Read More
Cybersecurity

Why Does the Government Around The World Appear to Adopt the Blockchain?

Article | March 23, 2022

Blockchain has started to take off. It is now seen as an important part of development. More and more countries and governments are optimistic about joining the race of leveraging blockchain to commence different projects. It can be used in process optimization, cybersecurity, or integrating connected devices. This distributed ledger format is intended to support both public and government sectors, concluding, identity management, digital currency, payments, health care, land registration, voting, and management of legal entities. Need For Blockchain in Government Sector To provide maximum governance, the government must transform itself digitally from both intra-departmental and interdepartmental perspectives. As different departments run on different disjoint technologies, it leads to the concern of data consistency and data integrity. Due to which it becomes highly essential to incorporate multiple digital identities based on citizens in each department to make cross-referencing an easier task. And this is what Blockchain is for and should be used by the government. Moreover, all over the world, banks are turning towards blockchain technology as a support for their complicated economy. They are going to utilize blockchain for issuing digital currencies. That’s the reason why the central banks of Russia, Japan, Britain, China, and the US are planning to meet and explore digital potential before launching CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). Advantages Of Blockchain By using Blockchain, governments can acquire several benefits. Some of which are: 1. Data Protection Personal data has always been higher risk in the unique ids saved by the government. Crucial details have sometimes been open to public records leading to data breach attacks. With the use of blockchain, these intensities can be easily avoided as the blocks are secured from cyber attacks. 2. Transparency It has been found that citizens have low trust in government bodies due to the unawareness of the reason behind their decisions. However, blockchain tends to remove the barrier of secrecy by creating a distributed network that enables participants to verify data that led to the decision. 3. Reduced Corruption Every public service department has at least one corrupt officer. So the government is taking measures to remove such personals which indeed is not possible due to other corrupt officials. However, with the inclusion of the Blockchain system, the mediator link will be terminated from the government system leading to the dumping of the corrupted officials. Final Thoughts One of the most intimidating things about blockchain is the absence of regulatory bodies that can cause any theft or scams. For a modern digital world, blockchain resembles a key-tool for securing digital records, developing economic transition, budgeting, and so much more. Companies that want to establish themselves as the pioneer in the upcoming blockchain revolution should also hire developers to develop their own blockchain-based apps or platforms for secured transactions.

Read More

American seaports provide thousands of contracting opportunities

Article | June 26, 2020

We know that an infrastructure bill is coming, and the debate in Congress will likely begin in July. Industry leaders, public officials, think tanks, and economic development organizations have provided lots of input. They know that some of their messages have been heard. There is no consensus between Democrats and Republicans about how the bill will be structured, but one thing appears certain – Congress must deliver an economic recovery bill. Because infrastructure is considered to be the quickest route to economic recovery, it is safe to assume that large amounts of funding will be allocated to infrastructure projects. Depending on how the final infrastructure bill is structured, the funding could come completely from government or it could be delivered from various types of alternative funding sources. And, when an infrastructure bill passes, it will almost certainly include funding for the country’s seaports. That’s because America’s sea and inland ports are essential cogs in the country’s economic recovery. Ports have played an incredibly important role in our short-term emergency response to COVID-19. The delivery of vital commodities and products reached recipients through ports. And, despite very difficult times, a vast majority of ports managed to remain open to cargo operations. Data is always lagging but according to the American Association of Port Authorities, cargo activities at U.S. seaports accounted for 26 percent of the U.S. economy in 2018. A study released by the organization outlines approximately $5.4 trillion in total economic activity and more than $378 billion in federal, state, and local taxes that resulted from economic activity related to ports. The anticipation of large amounts of revenue through an infrastructure bill is encouraging, but the reality is that there’s already a great amount of activity at most seaports. Planning documents have been completed or updated and contracting opportunities are abundant. Additionally, the potential for public-private partnerships is great. Florida The world’s third largest cruise port, Port Everglades, recently received approval from the Broward County Board of County Commissioners for its 20-Year Master/Vision Plan. The county manages the port’s operations, and the plan outlines 50 projects for delivery through 2028. Currently, the projects are projected to cost approximately $3.02 billion. Immediate opportunities include: Terminal 21 redevelopment at a cost of $124 million; the Ro-Ro Yard relocation and expansion for $10 million; upgrades to the Entrance Channel North Wall for $12 million; and other projects estimated at $26 million. California The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners has approved a $1.5 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 that includes a $163.6 million capital improvement plan that provides funding for numerous terminal upgrades. Projects include an allocation of $38.1 million for improvements at the Everport Container Terminal and a $4.8 million project designated for the Pasha Terminal. The port’s waterfront public access projects include work at the San Pedro Public Market estimated at approximately $42.3 million. Smaller projects are set for the Wilmington Waterfront Promenade. Security related projects, whichinclude the development of a Port Cyber Resilience Center, are funded at $7.8 million. This port is considered to be North America’s leading seaport by container volume and cargo value, and it facilitated $276 billion in trade during 2019. Oklahoma The U.S. Department of Transportation in June awarded a $6.1 million grant to the Tulsa-Rogers County Port Authority for the Tulsa Port of Catoosa. Funding was obtained from the federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Program. which provides approximately 50 percent of funding for projects such as the port’s rail switching project. Work will include the improvement of an existing 3-mile industrial rail spur. The completed project is estimated to cost $12.1 million. In 2019, the Public Service Company of Oklahoma entrusted the Tulsa Port Authority with future development of the Inola industrial site by granting an historic land transfer of 2,000 acres. In May 2020, a firm was hired to process survey data so that the project could move forward. Ohio A $16 million federal grant was received recently by the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. The revenue is designated for a project that will receive an additional $4 million to rebuild and upgrade a mile-long dock wall. The dock-wall reconstruction is expected to take three years to complete and will be done in phases so that port operations can continue unabated. About $6 million of the funding is allocated for construction of a bulk-liquid transfer and storage facility. Currently, the port authority cannot perform liquid cargo movements, but the completion of this project will remedy that as well as allow for multiple sources of commodities. Texas The Port of Houston Authority was recently awarded $79.5 million in federal funding to improve 2,700 linear feet of wharf and upgrade 84 acres of yard space at the Barbours Cut Container Terminal. Total cost of the project is $198.7 million. The upgrades will reduce ship delay by providing additional berthing capacity and will decrease truck turn times, idling, and congestion. The port has several other projects planned including an inspection and repair design of wharves at Turning Basin South. Another upcoming project is for construction at the Bayport Terminal Wharf 6. In the fourth quarter of 2020 construction is scheduled to begin on a new maintenance facility at the Barbours Cut terminal. Washington A study has been approved by the Port of Woodland to evaluate the potential of a railroad-dependent development on recently acquired port land along Kuhnis Road. The study will provide critical engineering information required for funding applications as well as future port investments. Once funding is secured, contracting opportunities will be available. There is no doubt that America’s seaports will continue to generate an abundance of contracting opportunities in the future. but contractors now may find projects of interest at almost every port in the nation. Mary Scott Nabers is president and CEO of Strategic Partnerships Inc., a business development company specializing in government contracting and procurement consulting throughout the U.S. Her recently released book, Inside the Infrastructure Revolution: A Roadmap for Building America, is a handbook for contractors, investors and the public at large seeking to explore how public-private partnerships or joint ventures can help finance their infrastructure projects.

Read More
Emerging Technology

The Advantages of Introducing 5G to the Federal Government

Article | July 16, 2022

The COVID-19 virus (C19) pandemic is turning out to be the event of the century. Even World War seems timid in comparison. We are in the 4th month of the virus (in non-China countries) and have gone past the lockdown in many places. Isn’t it time we re-think the approach? What if there is another wave of C19 coming soon? What if C19 is the first of many such events in the future? Before we get into analysis and solution design, summarizing the C19 quirks: While a large section of the affected population is asymptomatic, for some it can be lethal There isn’t clarity on all the ways C19 spreads It’s known to affect the lungs, heart, and kidneys in patients with weak immunity It has been hard to identify a definitive pattern of the virus. Some observations in managing the C19 situation are: With no vaccine in sight, the end of this epidemic looks months or years away Health care personnel in hospitals need additional protection to treat patients Lockdowns lead to severe economic hardship and its repeated application can be damaging Quarantining people has an economic cost, especially in the weaker sections of society If one takes a step back to re-think about this, we are primarily solving 2 problems: Minimise deaths: Minimise the death of C19 and non-C19 patients in this period Maximise economic growth: The GDP output/growth should equal or higher than pre-C19 levels One needs to achieve the 2 goals in an environment of rising number of C19 cases. Minimise deaths An approach that can be applied to achieve this is: Data driven health care capacity planning Build a health repository of all the citizens with details like pre-existing diseases, comorbidity, health status, etc. The repository needs to be updated quarterly to account for patient data changes This health repository data is combined with the C19 profile (disease susceptibility) and/or other seasonal diseases to determine the healthcare capacity (medicines, doctors, etc.) needed The healthcare capacity deficit/excess needs to be analysed in categories (beds, equipment, medicine, personnel, etc.) and regions (city, state, etc.) and actions taken accordingly Regular capacity management will ensure patients aren’t deprived of timely treatment. In addition, such planning helps in the equitable distribution of healthcare across regions and optimising health care costs. Healthcare sector is better prepared to scale-up/down their operations Based on the analysis citizens can be informed about their probability of needing hospitalisation on contracting C19. Citizens with a higher health risk on C19 infection should be personally trained on prevention and tips to manage the disease on occurrence The diagram below explains the process Mechanism to increase hospital capacity without cost escalation Due to the nature of C19, health personnel are prone to infection and their safety is a big issue. There is also a shortage of hospitable beds available. Even non-C19 patients aren’t getting the required treatment because health personnel seek it as a risk. This resulted in, healthcare costs going up and availability reducing. To mitigate such issues, hospital layouts may need to be altered (as shown in the diagram below). The altered layout improves hospital capacity and availability of health care personnel. It also reduces the need for the arduous C19 protection procedures. Such procedures reduce the patient treatment capacity and puts a toll on hospital management. Over a period, the number of recovered C19 persons are going to increase significantly. We need to start tapping into their services to reduce the burden on the system. The hospitals need to be divided into 3 zones. The hospital zoning illustration shown below explains how this could be done. In the diagram, patients are shown in green and health care personnel are in light red. **Assumption: Infected and recovered C19 patients are immune to the disease. This is not clearly established Better enforcement of social factors The other reason for high number of infections in countries like India is a glaring disregard in following C19 rules in public places and the laxity in enforcement. Enforcement covers 2 parts, tracking incidents of violation and penalising the behaviour. Government should use modern mechanisms like crowd sourcing to track incidents and ride on the growing public fear to ensure penalty enforcement succeeds. The C19 pandemic has exposed governance limitations in not just following C19 rules, but also in other areas of public safety like road travel, sanitation, dietary habits, etc. Maximise economic growth The earlier lockdown has strained the economy. Adequate measures need to be taken to get the economy back on track. Some of the areas that need to be addressed are: One needs to evaluate the development needs of the country in different categories like growth impetus factors (e.g. building roads, electricity capacity increase), social factors (e.g. waste water treatment plants, health care capacity), and environmental factors (e.g. solar energy generation, EV charging stations). Governments need to accelerate funding in such projects so that that large numbers of unemployed people are hired and trained. Besides giving an immediate boost to the ailing economy such projects have a future payback. The governments should not get bogged down by the huge fiscal deficit such measures can create. Such a mechanism to get money out in the economy is far than better measures like QE (Quantitative Easing) or free money transfer into people’s bank accounts Certain items like smartphone, internet, masks, etc. have become critical (for work, education, critical government announcements). It’s essential to subsidise or reduce taxes so that these items are affordable and accessible to everyone without a financial impact The government shouldn’t put too many C19 related controls on service offerings (e.g. shops, schools, restaurants, cabs). Putting many controls increases the cost of the service which neither the seller not buyer is willing or able to pay. Where controls are put, the Govt should bear the costs or reduce taxes or figure out a mechanism so that the cost can be absorbed. An event like the C19 pandemic is a great opportunity to rationalise development imbalances in the country. Government funding should be channelized more to under-developed regions. This drives growth in regions that need it most. It also prevents excess migration that has resulted in uncontrolled and bad urbanisation that has made C19 management hard (guidelines like social distance are impossible to follow) Post-C19 lockdown, the business environment (need for sanitizers, masks, home furniture) has changed. To make people employable in new flourishing businesses there could be a need to re-skill people. Such an initiative can be taken up by the public/private sector The number of C19 infected asymptomatic patients is going to keep increasing. Building an economy around them (existing, recovered C19 patients) may not be a far-fetched idea. E.g. jobs for C19 infected daily wage earners, C19 infected taxi drivers to transport C19 patients, etc. In the last 100 years, mankind has conquered the destructive aspects of many a disease and natural mishap (hurricanes, floods, etc.). Human lives lost in such events has dramatically dropped over the years and our preparedness has never been this good. Nature seems to have caught up with mankind’s big strides in science and technology. C19 has been hard to reign in with no breakthrough yet. The C19 pandemic is here to stay for the near future. The more we accept this reality and change ourselves to live with it amidst us, the faster we can return to a new normal. A quote from Edward Jenner (inventor of Small Pox) seems apt in the situation – “The deviation of man from the state in which he was originally placed by nature seems to have proved to him a prolific source of diseases”.

Read More

5 (free) things governments can do to reposition for the future

Article | May 27, 2021

Over the last year, we’ve all witnessed years of digital transformation in a matter of months. A recent survey from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), sponsored by Microsoft, shows that government respondents were the second-most likely group (after financial services) to report increased investment in digital transformation since the start of the pandemic. As governments around the world continue to look to technology and innovation to respond to the challenges of today, here are five (free) things governments are doing to step-change the way they can achieve their economic, social, and sustainability objectives in the future.

Read More
Cybersecurity

Multidomain Architecture Strategic Definitions: Part One of Multidomain Architectures, the IT Manhattan Project, and Delivering the “Real” Zero Trust

Article | March 23, 2022

Blockchain has started to take off. It is now seen as an important part of development. More and more countries and governments are optimistic about joining the race of leveraging blockchain to commence different projects. It can be used in process optimization, cybersecurity, or integrating connected devices. This distributed ledger format is intended to support both public and government sectors, concluding, identity management, digital currency, payments, health care, land registration, voting, and management of legal entities. Need For Blockchain in Government Sector To provide maximum governance, the government must transform itself digitally from both intra-departmental and interdepartmental perspectives. As different departments run on different disjoint technologies, it leads to the concern of data consistency and data integrity. Due to which it becomes highly essential to incorporate multiple digital identities based on citizens in each department to make cross-referencing an easier task. And this is what Blockchain is for and should be used by the government. Moreover, all over the world, banks are turning towards blockchain technology as a support for their complicated economy. They are going to utilize blockchain for issuing digital currencies. That’s the reason why the central banks of Russia, Japan, Britain, China, and the US are planning to meet and explore digital potential before launching CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). Advantages Of Blockchain By using Blockchain, governments can acquire several benefits. Some of which are: 1. Data Protection Personal data has always been higher risk in the unique ids saved by the government. Crucial details have sometimes been open to public records leading to data breach attacks. With the use of blockchain, these intensities can be easily avoided as the blocks are secured from cyber attacks. 2. Transparency It has been found that citizens have low trust in government bodies due to the unawareness of the reason behind their decisions. However, blockchain tends to remove the barrier of secrecy by creating a distributed network that enables participants to verify data that led to the decision. 3. Reduced Corruption Every public service department has at least one corrupt officer. So the government is taking measures to remove such personals which indeed is not possible due to other corrupt officials. However, with the inclusion of the Blockchain system, the mediator link will be terminated from the government system leading to the dumping of the corrupted officials. Final Thoughts One of the most intimidating things about blockchain is the absence of regulatory bodies that can cause any theft or scams. For a modern digital world, blockchain resembles a key-tool for securing digital records, developing economic transition, budgeting, and so much more. Companies that want to establish themselves as the pioneer in the upcoming blockchain revolution should also hire developers to develop their own blockchain-based apps or platforms for secured transactions.

Read More

American seaports provide thousands of contracting opportunities

Article | June 26, 2020

We know that an infrastructure bill is coming, and the debate in Congress will likely begin in July. Industry leaders, public officials, think tanks, and economic development organizations have provided lots of input. They know that some of their messages have been heard. There is no consensus between Democrats and Republicans about how the bill will be structured, but one thing appears certain – Congress must deliver an economic recovery bill. Because infrastructure is considered to be the quickest route to economic recovery, it is safe to assume that large amounts of funding will be allocated to infrastructure projects. Depending on how the final infrastructure bill is structured, the funding could come completely from government or it could be delivered from various types of alternative funding sources. And, when an infrastructure bill passes, it will almost certainly include funding for the country’s seaports. That’s because America’s sea and inland ports are essential cogs in the country’s economic recovery. Ports have played an incredibly important role in our short-term emergency response to COVID-19. The delivery of vital commodities and products reached recipients through ports. And, despite very difficult times, a vast majority of ports managed to remain open to cargo operations. Data is always lagging but according to the American Association of Port Authorities, cargo activities at U.S. seaports accounted for 26 percent of the U.S. economy in 2018. A study released by the organization outlines approximately $5.4 trillion in total economic activity and more than $378 billion in federal, state, and local taxes that resulted from economic activity related to ports. The anticipation of large amounts of revenue through an infrastructure bill is encouraging, but the reality is that there’s already a great amount of activity at most seaports. Planning documents have been completed or updated and contracting opportunities are abundant. Additionally, the potential for public-private partnerships is great. Florida The world’s third largest cruise port, Port Everglades, recently received approval from the Broward County Board of County Commissioners for its 20-Year Master/Vision Plan. The county manages the port’s operations, and the plan outlines 50 projects for delivery through 2028. Currently, the projects are projected to cost approximately $3.02 billion. Immediate opportunities include: Terminal 21 redevelopment at a cost of $124 million; the Ro-Ro Yard relocation and expansion for $10 million; upgrades to the Entrance Channel North Wall for $12 million; and other projects estimated at $26 million. California The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners has approved a $1.5 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2020-2021 that includes a $163.6 million capital improvement plan that provides funding for numerous terminal upgrades. Projects include an allocation of $38.1 million for improvements at the Everport Container Terminal and a $4.8 million project designated for the Pasha Terminal. The port’s waterfront public access projects include work at the San Pedro Public Market estimated at approximately $42.3 million. Smaller projects are set for the Wilmington Waterfront Promenade. Security related projects, whichinclude the development of a Port Cyber Resilience Center, are funded at $7.8 million. This port is considered to be North America’s leading seaport by container volume and cargo value, and it facilitated $276 billion in trade during 2019. Oklahoma The U.S. Department of Transportation in June awarded a $6.1 million grant to the Tulsa-Rogers County Port Authority for the Tulsa Port of Catoosa. Funding was obtained from the federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) Program. which provides approximately 50 percent of funding for projects such as the port’s rail switching project. Work will include the improvement of an existing 3-mile industrial rail spur. The completed project is estimated to cost $12.1 million. In 2019, the Public Service Company of Oklahoma entrusted the Tulsa Port Authority with future development of the Inola industrial site by granting an historic land transfer of 2,000 acres. In May 2020, a firm was hired to process survey data so that the project could move forward. Ohio A $16 million federal grant was received recently by the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. The revenue is designated for a project that will receive an additional $4 million to rebuild and upgrade a mile-long dock wall. The dock-wall reconstruction is expected to take three years to complete and will be done in phases so that port operations can continue unabated. About $6 million of the funding is allocated for construction of a bulk-liquid transfer and storage facility. Currently, the port authority cannot perform liquid cargo movements, but the completion of this project will remedy that as well as allow for multiple sources of commodities. Texas The Port of Houston Authority was recently awarded $79.5 million in federal funding to improve 2,700 linear feet of wharf and upgrade 84 acres of yard space at the Barbours Cut Container Terminal. Total cost of the project is $198.7 million. The upgrades will reduce ship delay by providing additional berthing capacity and will decrease truck turn times, idling, and congestion. The port has several other projects planned including an inspection and repair design of wharves at Turning Basin South. Another upcoming project is for construction at the Bayport Terminal Wharf 6. In the fourth quarter of 2020 construction is scheduled to begin on a new maintenance facility at the Barbours Cut terminal. Washington A study has been approved by the Port of Woodland to evaluate the potential of a railroad-dependent development on recently acquired port land along Kuhnis Road. The study will provide critical engineering information required for funding applications as well as future port investments. Once funding is secured, contracting opportunities will be available. There is no doubt that America’s seaports will continue to generate an abundance of contracting opportunities in the future. but contractors now may find projects of interest at almost every port in the nation. Mary Scott Nabers is president and CEO of Strategic Partnerships Inc., a business development company specializing in government contracting and procurement consulting throughout the U.S. Her recently released book, Inside the Infrastructure Revolution: A Roadmap for Building America, is a handbook for contractors, investors and the public at large seeking to explore how public-private partnerships or joint ventures can help finance their infrastructure projects.

Read More
MORE ARTICLES

Spotlight

Waukesha County

Waukesha County is located in southeastern Wisconin, directly west of Milwaukee and 100 miles northwest of Chicago. Waukesha County is part of the Milwaukee Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. The County covers 576 square miles and consists of 8 cities, 18 villages and 12 towns and has the third largest population in the state. 2008 estimated population is 382,697.

Related News

Emerging Technology, Government Business

CSG Government Solutions Selected for Program Management Office Services on the Connecticut Medicaid Enterprise Technology System Program

Prweb | August 03, 2023

CSG Government Solutions, a national leader in government program modernization, today announced that it has been selected by the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) to provide Program Management and Project Support Services for the Connecticut Medicaid Enterprise Technology System (CT METS) Program, including the implementation of an Enterprise Data Warehouse and Analytics module and Enterprise Provider module. CSG is supporting DSS’ initiative to replace their core MMIS and other systems supporting the Medicaid Enterprise with modern, modular solutions. The CSG team will provide full-service Program Management Office (PMO) services and expertise in Medicaid, enterprise architecture, system integration, Health Information Exchange, and security. The team is also providing quality assurance, risk management, schedule and resource management, and CMS certification support. “CSG is a leader in providing PMO and other services for Medicaid system modernizations across the country,” says Robin Dufresne, Executive Vice President and Senior Practice Director. “Our team applies our Medicaid expertise and dedication to help the DSS Medicaid Enterprise make a positive impact on the health and well-being of Connecticut’s individuals, families, and communities.” About CSG Government Solutions CSG Government Solutions is a leading government operations consulting firm helping states modernize critical program enterprises. We help governments leverage innovative technology and processes to meet the challenges of administering complex programs. Founded in 1997, CSG clients include 47 state and territory governments, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, and large municipal governments. For more information, visithttp://www.csgdelivers.comand connect with us onLinkedInandTwitter.

Read More

Cybersecurity

Semperis and Carahsoft Partner to Provide Comprehensive Identity Security and Recovery Solutions to U.S. Government Organizations

Business Wire | September 12, 2023

Semperis, a pioneer in identity-driven cyber resilience, and Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, today announced a partnership. Under the agreement, Carahsoft will serve as Semperis’ Public Sector Distributor, making the company’s industry-leading identity resilience platform available to the Public Sector through Carahsoft’s reseller partners and National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) ValuePoint, National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCPA), and OMNIA Partners contracts. Active Directory (AD) and Azure AD (now Entra ID), used by 90% of organizations worldwide to authenticate and access critical applications and services, are under sustained attack in the Public Sector by numerous threat actors. The Semperis and Carahsoft partnership will accelerate delivery of comprehensive identity threat detection and response (ITDR) solutions for protecting hybrid AD environments across U.S. Public Sector entities. “Our partnership with Carahsoft will further expand adoption of our identity-first security solutions designed to help Federal, State and Local Government agencies protect their critical identity systems from ransomware and other directory-related attacks,” said Jared Vichengrad, Vice President, Public Sector at Semperis. “We are excited to join Carahsoft’s trusted partner network of Government IT solution providers to prevent, detect and mitigate proliferating identity attacks that are disrupting operations in the Public Sector.” Identity-related attacks on Public Sector entities are intensifying in scale and severity amidst an expanding digital attack surface and increasingly sophisticated attack techniques. Verizon’s 2023 DBIR reveals that from November 1, 2021, through October 31, 2022, public administration entities faced 3,273 incidents—and of those, 584 with confirmed data disclosure. The Public Sector is a high-value target for cyber criminals who seek to disrupt State and Local Governments, schools and public utilities in record numbers. These attacks can steal or encrypt data, disturb services and jeopardize public safety. Public Sector organizations are particularly vulnerable to AD attacks because of legacy infrastructure, lack of identity security expertise and limited resources. With a multi-layered defense approach that spans the identity attack lifecycle, Semperis offers the industry’s most comprehensive security and recovery solutions for hybrid AD environments, combined with deep incident response expertise. “We are thrilled to partner with Semperis and our reseller network to offer its identity resilience platform, provide advanced ITDR solutions and protect Public Sector customers’ hybrid AD systems from attacks,” said Brian O’Donnell, Vice President of Cybersecurity solutions at Carahsoft. “We repeatedly see how vital it is to prevent bad actors from infiltrating Government systems and how having the right solutions on board can make a significant impact in remediation. We are committed helping Public Sector organizations get access to Semperis solutions to safeguard citizens’ data and facilitate uninterrupted Public Sector services.” Semperis’ technology and services are available through Carahsoft’s NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement #AR2472, NCPA Contract NCPA01-86, and OMNIA Partners Contract #R191902. For more information, contact the Semperis team at Carahsoft at (703) 889-9808 or Semperis@carahsoft.com. The dedicated Cybersecurity team at Carahsoft specializes in providing Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare organizations with security solutions to safeguard their cyber ecosystem. To learn more about Carahsoft’s Cybersecurity solutions, visit www.carahsoft.com/solve/cybersecurity. About Carahsoft Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator® for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, Customer Experience and Engagement, and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. About Semperis For security teams charged with defending hybrid and multi-cloud environments, Semperis ensures the integrity and availability of critical enterprise directory services at every step in the cyber kill chain and cuts recovery time by 90%. Purpose-built for securing hybrid Active Directory environments, Semperis’ patented technology protects over 50 million identities from cyberattacks, data breaches, and operational errors. The world’s leading organizations trust Semperis to spot directory vulnerabilities, intercept cyberattacks in progress, and quickly recover from ransomware and other data integrity emergencies. Semperis is headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, and operates internationally, with its research and development team distributed throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel.

Read More

Emerging Technology

Accela Migrates Five Local Agencies to the Cloud, Modernizing Critical Services in Cities Nationwide

PR Newswire | September 26, 2023

Accela, the trusted provider of cloud solutions at the heart of government, today announced new successful migrations across the nation. The milestones were shared during the company's government technology conference, Accelarate, punctuating a month of noteworthy business and customer modernization momentum announcements. Over the past several months, Accela has successfully migrated the City and County of Denver, CO; Allendale, AZ; Cleveland, OH; Indianapolis, IN; and Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control to the cloud to securely streamline their critical resident services. These migrations follow significant cloud migration momentum in Florida as well as Accela's migration of over 33 jurisdictions to the cloud in fiscal year 2023 alone. "Local governments around the country are increasingly looking to the latest technologies to streamline critical services and build trust with their residents. Cloud-based government technology is the key to unlocking this potential," said Jonathon (JK) Knight, chief customer officer at Accela. "Accela is proud to be there every step of the way in governments' modernization journeys, empowering agencies to break down data and departmental silos, and transform the government experience for staff and residents alike." Agencies nationwide turn to cloud-based solutions for improved user experience, service delivery speed and efficiency, and help in overcoming IT staffing shortages. With unprecedented federal funding, more municipalities are investing in cloud solutions to provide residents and staff with seamless digital experiences and create new efficiencies for critical services – like inspections and permitting – that support the livelihoods, health and safety of all community members. "Denver, like many other municipalities, is aggressively infusing more affordable housing options into our communities to offset the skyrocketing costs of housing," said Paul Kresser, deputy chief information officer at the City and County of Denver. "We rely on Accela's flexible, scalable and resilient SaaS environments to process all the activities needed to introduce affordable housing options quickly into our neighborhoods. From zoning to permitting to inspections, Accela's solutions support our work to build a stronger, more vibrant community." Accela's Civic Platform, powered by Microsoft Azure, hosts various pre-built cloud solutions ready to streamline delivery of critical services to support community growth. Agencies utilize the single platform to manage resident services, from building new structures, to licensing local businesses, regulating safety with regular inspections, and more. Accela recently closed its 2023 fiscal year with a 31 percent increase in SaaS annual recurring revenue, 36 percent increase in new accounts signed and a net customer retention of 117 percent. To learn more about Accela's solutions, please visit https://www.accela.com/solutions/. About Accela Accela is the trusted provider of cloud solutions at the heart of government operations. The company works with governments across the globe to accelerate their digital transformation, deliver vital services, and build stronger communities. More than 300 million residents worldwide benefit from Accela's government software solutions. The company offers agile, purpose-built solutions and the power of a platform that provides users with a consumer-like experience, shares data across departments, and ensures world-class security. With Accela, government agencies experience rapid and effective digital transformation. Accela's government software meets agencies wherever they are on their modernization journey, while also helping them prepare for whatever comes next. The company is a four-consecutive year Microsoft US Partner Award winner for its innovative SaaS solutions. In 2022, Accela was honored as a recipient of Inc.'s Best in Business award for SaaS, and selected by Fast Company for its World Changing Ideas Award. Accela is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with offices around the world.

Read More

Emerging Technology, Government Business

CSG Government Solutions Selected for Program Management Office Services on the Connecticut Medicaid Enterprise Technology System Program

Prweb | August 03, 2023

CSG Government Solutions, a national leader in government program modernization, today announced that it has been selected by the Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS) to provide Program Management and Project Support Services for the Connecticut Medicaid Enterprise Technology System (CT METS) Program, including the implementation of an Enterprise Data Warehouse and Analytics module and Enterprise Provider module. CSG is supporting DSS’ initiative to replace their core MMIS and other systems supporting the Medicaid Enterprise with modern, modular solutions. The CSG team will provide full-service Program Management Office (PMO) services and expertise in Medicaid, enterprise architecture, system integration, Health Information Exchange, and security. The team is also providing quality assurance, risk management, schedule and resource management, and CMS certification support. “CSG is a leader in providing PMO and other services for Medicaid system modernizations across the country,” says Robin Dufresne, Executive Vice President and Senior Practice Director. “Our team applies our Medicaid expertise and dedication to help the DSS Medicaid Enterprise make a positive impact on the health and well-being of Connecticut’s individuals, families, and communities.” About CSG Government Solutions CSG Government Solutions is a leading government operations consulting firm helping states modernize critical program enterprises. We help governments leverage innovative technology and processes to meet the challenges of administering complex programs. Founded in 1997, CSG clients include 47 state and territory governments, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Labor, and large municipal governments. For more information, visithttp://www.csgdelivers.comand connect with us onLinkedInandTwitter.

Read More

Cybersecurity

Semperis and Carahsoft Partner to Provide Comprehensive Identity Security and Recovery Solutions to U.S. Government Organizations

Business Wire | September 12, 2023

Semperis, a pioneer in identity-driven cyber resilience, and Carahsoft Technology Corp., The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, today announced a partnership. Under the agreement, Carahsoft will serve as Semperis’ Public Sector Distributor, making the company’s industry-leading identity resilience platform available to the Public Sector through Carahsoft’s reseller partners and National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO) ValuePoint, National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCPA), and OMNIA Partners contracts. Active Directory (AD) and Azure AD (now Entra ID), used by 90% of organizations worldwide to authenticate and access critical applications and services, are under sustained attack in the Public Sector by numerous threat actors. The Semperis and Carahsoft partnership will accelerate delivery of comprehensive identity threat detection and response (ITDR) solutions for protecting hybrid AD environments across U.S. Public Sector entities. “Our partnership with Carahsoft will further expand adoption of our identity-first security solutions designed to help Federal, State and Local Government agencies protect their critical identity systems from ransomware and other directory-related attacks,” said Jared Vichengrad, Vice President, Public Sector at Semperis. “We are excited to join Carahsoft’s trusted partner network of Government IT solution providers to prevent, detect and mitigate proliferating identity attacks that are disrupting operations in the Public Sector.” Identity-related attacks on Public Sector entities are intensifying in scale and severity amidst an expanding digital attack surface and increasingly sophisticated attack techniques. Verizon’s 2023 DBIR reveals that from November 1, 2021, through October 31, 2022, public administration entities faced 3,273 incidents—and of those, 584 with confirmed data disclosure. The Public Sector is a high-value target for cyber criminals who seek to disrupt State and Local Governments, schools and public utilities in record numbers. These attacks can steal or encrypt data, disturb services and jeopardize public safety. Public Sector organizations are particularly vulnerable to AD attacks because of legacy infrastructure, lack of identity security expertise and limited resources. With a multi-layered defense approach that spans the identity attack lifecycle, Semperis offers the industry’s most comprehensive security and recovery solutions for hybrid AD environments, combined with deep incident response expertise. “We are thrilled to partner with Semperis and our reseller network to offer its identity resilience platform, provide advanced ITDR solutions and protect Public Sector customers’ hybrid AD systems from attacks,” said Brian O’Donnell, Vice President of Cybersecurity solutions at Carahsoft. “We repeatedly see how vital it is to prevent bad actors from infiltrating Government systems and how having the right solutions on board can make a significant impact in remediation. We are committed helping Public Sector organizations get access to Semperis solutions to safeguard citizens’ data and facilitate uninterrupted Public Sector services.” Semperis’ technology and services are available through Carahsoft’s NASPO ValuePoint Master Agreement #AR2472, NCPA Contract NCPA01-86, and OMNIA Partners Contract #R191902. For more information, contact the Semperis team at Carahsoft at (703) 889-9808 or Semperis@carahsoft.com. The dedicated Cybersecurity team at Carahsoft specializes in providing Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare organizations with security solutions to safeguard their cyber ecosystem. To learn more about Carahsoft’s Cybersecurity solutions, visit www.carahsoft.com/solve/cybersecurity. About Carahsoft Carahsoft Technology Corp. is The Trusted Government IT Solutions Provider®, supporting Public Sector organizations across Federal, State and Local Government agencies and Education and Healthcare markets. As the Master Government Aggregator® for our vendor partners, we deliver solutions for Cybersecurity, MultiCloud, DevSecOps, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, Customer Experience and Engagement, and more. Working with resellers, systems integrators and consultants, our sales and marketing teams provide industry leading IT products, services and training through hundreds of contract vehicles. About Semperis For security teams charged with defending hybrid and multi-cloud environments, Semperis ensures the integrity and availability of critical enterprise directory services at every step in the cyber kill chain and cuts recovery time by 90%. Purpose-built for securing hybrid Active Directory environments, Semperis’ patented technology protects over 50 million identities from cyberattacks, data breaches, and operational errors. The world’s leading organizations trust Semperis to spot directory vulnerabilities, intercept cyberattacks in progress, and quickly recover from ransomware and other data integrity emergencies. Semperis is headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, and operates internationally, with its research and development team distributed throughout the United States, Canada, and Israel.

Read More

Emerging Technology

Accela Migrates Five Local Agencies to the Cloud, Modernizing Critical Services in Cities Nationwide

PR Newswire | September 26, 2023

Accela, the trusted provider of cloud solutions at the heart of government, today announced new successful migrations across the nation. The milestones were shared during the company's government technology conference, Accelarate, punctuating a month of noteworthy business and customer modernization momentum announcements. Over the past several months, Accela has successfully migrated the City and County of Denver, CO; Allendale, AZ; Cleveland, OH; Indianapolis, IN; and Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control to the cloud to securely streamline their critical resident services. These migrations follow significant cloud migration momentum in Florida as well as Accela's migration of over 33 jurisdictions to the cloud in fiscal year 2023 alone. "Local governments around the country are increasingly looking to the latest technologies to streamline critical services and build trust with their residents. Cloud-based government technology is the key to unlocking this potential," said Jonathon (JK) Knight, chief customer officer at Accela. "Accela is proud to be there every step of the way in governments' modernization journeys, empowering agencies to break down data and departmental silos, and transform the government experience for staff and residents alike." Agencies nationwide turn to cloud-based solutions for improved user experience, service delivery speed and efficiency, and help in overcoming IT staffing shortages. With unprecedented federal funding, more municipalities are investing in cloud solutions to provide residents and staff with seamless digital experiences and create new efficiencies for critical services – like inspections and permitting – that support the livelihoods, health and safety of all community members. "Denver, like many other municipalities, is aggressively infusing more affordable housing options into our communities to offset the skyrocketing costs of housing," said Paul Kresser, deputy chief information officer at the City and County of Denver. "We rely on Accela's flexible, scalable and resilient SaaS environments to process all the activities needed to introduce affordable housing options quickly into our neighborhoods. From zoning to permitting to inspections, Accela's solutions support our work to build a stronger, more vibrant community." Accela's Civic Platform, powered by Microsoft Azure, hosts various pre-built cloud solutions ready to streamline delivery of critical services to support community growth. Agencies utilize the single platform to manage resident services, from building new structures, to licensing local businesses, regulating safety with regular inspections, and more. Accela recently closed its 2023 fiscal year with a 31 percent increase in SaaS annual recurring revenue, 36 percent increase in new accounts signed and a net customer retention of 117 percent. To learn more about Accela's solutions, please visit https://www.accela.com/solutions/. About Accela Accela is the trusted provider of cloud solutions at the heart of government operations. The company works with governments across the globe to accelerate their digital transformation, deliver vital services, and build stronger communities. More than 300 million residents worldwide benefit from Accela's government software solutions. The company offers agile, purpose-built solutions and the power of a platform that provides users with a consumer-like experience, shares data across departments, and ensures world-class security. With Accela, government agencies experience rapid and effective digital transformation. Accela's government software meets agencies wherever they are on their modernization journey, while also helping them prepare for whatever comes next. The company is a four-consecutive year Microsoft US Partner Award winner for its innovative SaaS solutions. In 2022, Accela was honored as a recipient of Inc.'s Best in Business award for SaaS, and selected by Fast Company for its World Changing Ideas Award. Accela is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with offices around the world.

Read More

Events