IT modernization is a mammoth topic in government, and as such, no department or agency can tackle it alone. Agencies are battling against their legacy systems, constantly updating at the price of innovating, and employees across government are frustrated.
In June 2019, GovLoop, Verizon and Amazon Web Services (AWS) hosted a roundtable event that allowed public sector employees and leaders to discuss their top challenges and potential solutions for IT modernization. Bill Zielinski, Acting Assistant Commissioner in the Office of Information Technology Category for the General Services Administration (GSA), and Michael McFarland, Director of Acquisition Business Systems for the Health and Human Services Department (HHS), spoke to attendees and answered questions at the event. They were joined by Jamie Baker, Senior Manager of Federal Civilian for AWS, and Steve Lefrancois, Public Sector Chief Technology Officer for Verizon.
The following sections will recap five main takeaways from the event and provide color to what attendees and speakers had to say, offering current examples and policies related to IT modernization.
