Tech Competency № 1: Tech-Informed Decision Making
Tech Competency No. 1- Tech-Informed Decision Making is the first of 10 core tech competencies for leadership in government outlined in Tech Talent for 21st Century Government. Agency leaders need to understand the role that technology plays in executing policy decisions and delivering services. That role is often underestimated, sometimes with catastrophic consequences. But when we integrate technology and technical leaders into decision-making, our government is more effective. For example, the recent roll out of COVIDtests.gov was a success in part because technologists helped to inform decision making. The following post is drawn from the New Government Appointee Guidebook. It highlights the importance of bringing technologists to the policy-making table, provides some action items for agency leaders to engage their team’s technologists, and illustrates a micro case study regarding the 2020 CARES Act.
Tech-Informed Decision Making
When policies are designed without input from technology and digital leaders, they can result in significant unintended consequences and missed valuable opportunities. As federal government agencies wrestle with technical policy issues such as cybersecurity, as well as broader policies with significant digital implementation components (e.g., the operational rollout of the American Rescue Plan, or a change to how Veterans disability benefit appeals are processed), decision makers need to actively bring technologists to the table. Failure to do so could lead to missed opportunities and missteps that derail initiatives and cause painful problems for both everyday Americans and the civil servants on whom they rely.
Day One Actions: Get to know key technical and business/program executives responsible for delivering the three most critical services at your agency.
100-Day Actions:
First, answer these questions:
- What are the top three pain points in delivery of your agency’s mission? What role does technology play in these?
- How often are operational and technical leaders a part of your planning process? Note what happens when the implementers become a part of planning.
Also: Build a strong product management practice in your agency.
Micro Case Study — CARES Act
In March of 2020 Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which included several provisions to expand access to unemployment insurance benefits to those suffering economically due to the pandemic. But those policies were set without input from operational and technical leaders in the states who are actually responsible for implementing the system. As a result, the CARES Act and subsequent guidance unintentionally required states to spend months modifying their systems or building new services, and the U.S. took far longer to get much needed economic relief into the hands of struggling families than other countries which took simpler, more delivery-driven policy approaches.
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