Federal CIO Martorana: ‘We must focus on service delivery to the American public’
Government agencies must double down on service delivery to the American public and use technology to bridge inter-departmental silos, according to Federal CIO Clare Martorana.
Speaking Tuesday at FedScoop’s FedTalks conference, Martorana said an improved user experience for citizens would in part be driven by departments adopting a more product-focused mindset.
“It’s technology, obviously informed by the massive amount of data we collect across government, that will enable us to power outstanding customer experience,” she said. “It’s not our citizens’ job to figure out how to navigate across department and agency silos to get the service they deserve. That’s our job.”
“We must focus on service delivery to the American public,” Martorana said.
Martorana also described the urgency with which cybersecurity across federal departments must be addressed and reiterated that modernization of federal IT systems remains a top priority for the Biden administration.
“By working rapidly and seamlessly, we can achieve results. And we must. Our adversaries are on the move,” she said, commenting on the need for action on cybersecurity.
The threat of cyberattacks across departments and the wider U.S. infrastructure has taken center stage since the Colonial Pipeline hack in May and a surge in ransomware attacks that began as early as the second quarter of 2019.
Martorana added that she is committed to modernizing federal IT systems and said that the $1 billion appropriated for the federal Technology Modernization Fund was a “down payment” on the myriad multi-year modernization projects that have been identified by the government.
“The faster we can adopt modern technology and cloud infrastructure, the faster we can deliver trusted services to the American public,” she added.
Since the funding was appropriated in March through the American Rescue Plan, the Technology Modernization Board has received over 100 proposals for projects, totaling more than $2 billion.
