The author of this content is a paid contributor for Verizon.
1 Whitehouse.gov, Federal Information Technology Operating Plan, page 5.2 CIO, Network Security, Citizen Self-Service Lead State/Local Government IT Spending Priorities, page 1.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Verizon, The future of networking is here. Are you ready to transform?, page 3.
6 Accenture, Federal edge solutions: Extending IT to the mission’s edge.
7 Gartner Press Release, Gartner Announces the Top 10 Government Technology Trends for 2023, April 2023. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Federal government IT infrastructure:
3-step guide to modernization
IT modernization is a top federal priority
Public Sector IT modernization is cited as a key priority in the Federal Information Technology Plan.1
Nearly three-quarters of government leaders are pursuing digital transformation.2
85%
State governments currently lead their federal counterparts, with 85% of technology decisionmakers in state governments starting to make or have already made changes to enable digital transformation.3
62%
Only 62% of federal IT organizations are at the same stage.4
How to modernize federal government IT infrastructure
The components that make up federal IT modernization include upgrading infrastructure, applications and balancing these federal IT solutions with a network that can support these changes. Each of these components are important but at the same time dependent on the others for a successful transformation effort. The following three steps can help federal agencies modernize their government IT infrastructure faster.
1. Adopt a Network as a Service framework
Network as a Service (NaaS) solutions can help make government networks more agile and adaptable, while at the same time helping to modernize them to support evolving cloud and edge applications and devices.
To start, government leaders use NaaS to help increase capacity, improve reliability and strengthen security.
And by using NaaS to simplify their networks and operations, agencies can more readily create a path to innovation.
Government use cases in areas where implementing NaaS can help enable desired outcomes include:5
| • Organizational productivity | • Smart grids |
| • Hybrid and remote work | • Continuity of operations |
| • Citizen services | • Telemedicine |
| • Finance and accounting | • Incident command and control |
As an approved, experienced Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions (EIS) contract provider, Verizon can help agencies to save time and reduce costs through contracting and procurement cycles that can help to flexibly and sufficiently meet objectives through a portfolio of supported contract types. Learn more about how our flexible, scalable technology solutions can help you support your constituents and meet mission-critical goals.
2. Build a modern and flexible network
Using the NaaS framework, agencies can build the high-performing, future-ready network that is essential to public sector IT modernization. By leveraging 5G fixed wireless access (FWA), multiple use cases for government can include:
|
3. Leverage modernized networks for edge use cases
More than 9 in 10 federal leaders say that edge solutions are very or extremely important to meeting mission needs, according to Accenture.6
A Gartner® press release advises, “CIOs must prepare for widespread AI use by ensuring data is available at points of decision and by establishing effective governance principles.”7
Mobile edge computing (MEC) can help to enable future-ready government applications such as:
| • AR & workforce solutions | • Natural disaster response |
| • AR & VR training | • Enhanced situational awareness |
| • Disaster recovery and business continuity | • Immersive tactical training |
| • Autonomous drone surveillance |
MEC can also help enable optimum application performance for latencyintensive apps or managing distributed IoT sensor networks.
How technology can help
In conclusion, digital transformations are an important part of maintaining a modern IT infrastructure and transforming the network as part of that is critical to the success of any such projects.