Federal managers overall see the value of IT in improved productivity, efficiency and service to the public but believe the government is lagging in putting such improvements in place, especially when compared with the private sector.
Those were among the findings of a study by the National Academy of Public Administration, done in collaboration with a consulting firm that included a survey of federal leaders with about 500 responding.
Less than 7 percent strongly agreed that their agency keeps up with the private sector and 38 percent somewhat agreed, but 30 percent somewhat disagreed and 22 percent strongly disagreed. Lack of available budget was the most commonly cited barrier to greater implementation of IT, by 64 percent of respondents, followed by security/privacy concerns, by 60 percent, and slow acquisition procedures, by 44 percent.
The report also touched on a management-related concern that work-related technology is intruding on their private lives, for example by causing higher expectations and stress, increased work volume and an expectation of being available at all times. In general, the higher the level of employee, the greater the feeling of such intrusion.
However, about an equal percentage overall believe that technology improves their work-life balance, for example by allowing them to work remotely and with more flexibility in hours.
Further, it found widespread dissatisfaction with training in using technology for their jobs. Employees younger than age 39 and those with fewer than 10 years of experience in general are the most dissatisfied—in both cases, that view was held by more than 80 percent—although dissatisfaction with technology training topped 70 percent across the range of age and experience demographics.
