Report identifies top 10 management challenges facing next administration

The federal government will face a wide range of challenges over the next decade, with retirement and health care reform topping the list, according to a report released on Monday by the IBM Center for the Business of Government.

The center identified 10 significant management policy issues expected to confront federal decision-makers and public sector program managers in anticipation of the administration transition and to acknowledge the center's 10th anniversary.

"I think we've started to think in a way the next administration will have to in terms of figuring out what they will need to wrestle with in terms of mission and management issues," said Jonathan Breul, executive director for the Center for the Business of Government. "There's arguably not much chance of a two-term president if he or she doesn't help lead to some solution on those issues."

The management challenges run the gamut from green leadership to balancing security and privacy. Topping the list is what Breul calls fiscal sanity, or the reform of retirement and health care programs such as Social Security and Medicare, which are putting a strain on the government's financial well-being. While the center did not rank challenges in order of importance, Breul said it made a conscious decision to put fiscal sanity first.

The center's report states that "all routes to salvation at the federal, state and local levels require reforming federal retirement and health care programs before they squeeze out other critical national priorities."

No list of looming government challenges is complete without mention of the retirement crisis. The center, however, did not focus just on the need to replace the throngs of baby boomers set to retire, but how that exodus could affect government operations.

"It's a question of competence," Breul said. "There are a whole set of issues that require substantial experience and training with much more technical and service-oriented capabilities on behalf of public service." He mentioned air traffic control as a field requiring a great deal of technical knowledge, and an area where the government is grappling with a skill drain.

Workforce challenges go hand in hand with procurement challenges, another shoo-in on the center's list. The contracting-related management challenges are broad and extensive, but Breul said the next administration must look at contracting strategically and understand "government needs a strong cadre of contractors supported by a strong cadre of good government employees." He urged presidential candidates to avoid making it just a "numbers exercise."

Breul said primary threats, such as food contamination and pandemic, which agencies must address in the near future are "nasty cross-boundary difficulties," requiring extensive collaboration among federal agencies, along with state and local governments.

The report also identified information overload as another challenge for the government. While new technologies and systems are providing the government with necessary data, such as surveillance footage, weather and climate information and census statistics, managers must still adapt to process all the data efficiently.

The government also must expect surprises and manage in a way that allows for early warnings, an understanding of emerging threats and effective government responses. "The country can't afford any more fumbled responses to catastrophic or nonroutine management challenges, whether caused by natural or human means," Breul said.

The 10 challenges outlined by the center in its report are:

• Fiscal sanity
• Crisis of competence
• Information overload
• Governing without boundaries
• E-government
• Role of contractors
• Results-oriented government
• Green leadership
• Security and privacy in a flat world
• Anticipation of emerging threats and disasters