Public sector CIOs are expected to adopt a more prominent role within their leadership teams, suggests a new study.
Eighty-one percent of public sector decision-makers surveyed for Riverbed’s Global Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Survey acknowledge the increasing relevance of IT within their organisation’s leadership team. Eighty-nine percent agree that IT is more responsible for driving innovation now than it was three years ago.
Eighty percent of public sector leaders are planning to accelerate digital experience adoption and implementation. The survey found that the cloud (44 percent), AI (38 percent), and automation (33 percent) will become mission-critical priorities over the next 18 months.
Delivering better DEX
Riverbed noted that government agencies are transforming to improve the digital experience for employees and citizens, allowing them to achieve goals such as unleashing staff productivity, and recruiting and retaining talent in the public sector. This transformation, it said, is also proving critical in overcoming the sector’s many challenges, including the acceleration of the hybrid workplace and skills shortages.
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“In today’s government and public sector organisations and agencies, the digital experience is more critical than ever,” said John Atkinson, director of solutions engineering, UK & Ireland.
According to the report, 88 percent of leaders agree that unified observability is important (45 percent critically important) to deliver DEX, and 87 percent say there must be greater investment in unified observability solutions that provide actionable insights for better employee and customer digital experience.
Moreover, 74 percent of IT respondents in government believe unified observability with greater automation can help close the skills gap. The survey showed that 58 percent of leaders in the public sector believe there would be disruptive or reputational impact on their organization if the DEX needs of younger generations aren’t met, while 63 percent agree that these employees would consider leaving the government organisation if they didn’t enjoy seamless digital experiences.
New investments are also expected to support the hybrid workforce, as 49 percent of public sector employees operate in a hybrid model and 92 percent of public sector leaders surveyed say hybrid working enhances their ability to recruit talent and remain competitive in the future. As a result, 83 percent of public sector leaders who responded to the survey plan to invest in technology over the next 12-18 months to support this hybrid workforce.
