The discussion around where technology is going in government tends to be around what’s the transformation going to look like. But the problem that IT is facing with this across the public sector is not the what, but the capacity to implement the what.
Based on research and his experience working with a number of groups, Craig Szelestowski, a Lean government and transformation specialist and president and founder of Lean Agility Inc., explained that IT lacks the capacity to keep up with all the demands because they are over delivering on the needs of their clients.
To make this point, he explained that a CIO had a 500-page requirements binder that he would be unable to implement before he retired in 10 years. The CIO was also unsure if it will work after implementation and was concerned that their client might over deliver. After they examined all the problems that the business was trying to solve they found that only about 20 to 25 per cent could be remedied by the software.
“So here we have a CIO, that was effectively being held accountable for 100 per cent of the problems when only 25 per cent could be solved by the software,” said Szelestowski. To get to the bottom of the issue, a list was created of what could be solved by technology and what by business changes. The group then went over the 500 pages of requirements and cut it down to just over 100 pages. It was then implemented in about six months, ahead of schedule, and way under budget.
By unpacking the business problems that clients are trying to solve, and really focus on the solutions that digital can provide, we’re seeing a real game changing way of implementation. “When you think about it, that’s 80 per cent less capacity that it took to implement that project. That means they can implement 2 to 4 other projects with the same amount of capacity without adding people or budget,” said Szelestowski.
This case study will be presented in more detail by Szelestowski at the CGE Leadership and TechGov Summit, taking place on April 24-25 in Ottawa. To attend, register today.
“This event is for senior public sector executives and also for senior IT and CIO level executives to attend. I think there’s something in it for everyone,” said J. Richard Jones, Group Publisher of Canadian Government Executive. “It’s the first year that we have combined the CGE Leadership Summit with the TechGov Summit. There will be great content and some wonderful networking opportunities as well.”
