A new KPMG report has found that 66 percent of government leaders said the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic have prompted them to advance their focus on digital modernization and 57 percent said they raised their IT budgets in response to the health crisis.
KPMG said it performed two surveys between August and September of last year and polled 85 government leaders from federal, state, Department of Defense civilian and military agencies for the first survey.
The study showed that 78 percent of government executives said the pandemic has increased their awareness of the need to modernize how their agencies deliver services to citizens, while 70 percent said they have become more aware of the need to advance IT transformation.
“COVID-19 has magnified the need for government agencies to transform their models for delivery of services. Citizens are demanding digital access to government services and government leaders are recognizing the importance of transforming,” said Lorna Stark, national leader for government and public sector at KPMG.
The professional services firm found that 57 percent of government officials said the health crisis has increased their awareness of the need to upskill and train agency workers and only 39 percent of respondents said their employees have the skills to adopt emerging technologies.
“A technology-only focus on modernization will only take governments so far. Equal emphasis needs to be placed on ensuring that the government workers have the skills and tools to provide the innovative services today’s constituents expect,” Stark said.
The survey also revealed that 79 percent of government executives said the age of their IT systems has a negative impact on their mission and 72 percent of respondents said obsolete IT systems hamper their agencies’ ability to respond to evolving demands.
For the second survey, KPMG polled more than 1,000 U.S. citizens about their government experiences and found that 70 percent of respondents said they would like agencies to deliver online services.
