Seven Drivers of Government Transformation

The forces affecting governments in the United States and around the world continue to increase in complexity, impact, and speed. Agency leaders must continually adapt to this ever changing landscape, but how? What are the key drivers that determine how government can transform? How can government’s partners help the public sector harness these drivers?

These were the questions that framed a discussion earlier this year hosted by the IBM Center for the Business of Government, which brought together government, academic, industry, and nonprofit leaders to explore the key challenges and opportunities facing the public sector.  

Participants agreed that government will continue to focus on controlling costs while improving operational performance. The group underscored the importance of transforming the people, processes, and cultures to drive results in an environment of constrained resources. They concluded that driving meaningful and sustained change requires innovative, effective and efficient decision-making.  

At the end of the roundtable, participants finalized a set of priorities, which we used to create a new report, Seven Drivers Transforming Government. This special report provides a resource from which government can draw practical, actionable recommendations on how best to address government’s Magic 8-Ball questions.

These seven drivers include:

1. Insight – Using data, evidence and analytics to create insight that influences decision making, actions and results.
2. Agility – Adopting new ways for government to operate, using agile principles and putting user experiences and program results at the forefront.
3. Effectiveness – Applying enterprise approaches to achieve better outcomes, operational efficiency and a leaner government.
4. Risk – Mitigating risk, managing cybersecurity and building resiliency to meet the mission of government.
5. People – Reforming processes for hiring, developing, and retaining workers and cultivating talent; and leveraging data and technologies to build the workforce of the future.
6. Engagement – Fostering a citizen-driven government through real-time, interactive feedback to engage, co-create, and co-produce services and programs.
7. Digital – Optimizing new technology and infrastructure models, focusing on the user experience and incentivizing innovators to modernize how government does business.

We will continue to collaborate with academic and nonprofit experts around the world in addressing these imperatives. Stay tuned as we further explore these topics in 2018.