JULY-AUGUST 20258GOVERNMENT CIO OUTLOOKIN MYOPINIONs a teenager in the 1990's, I read articles proclaiming that a new digital age was upon us. Spectacular predictions abounded about what would happen by the year 2000, or soon after. With the birth of the internet, anything seemed possible. Various innovations over the last 100+ years have prompted similar claims about the future, some of which have come to fruition, while others continue to exist only in movies and TV shows set in a distant future.Fast-forward to 2022, and it's clear the digital age has lived up to the hype. Virtually every aspect of our lives is driven by technology. It dominates how we travel, shop, organize our lives, pay our bills, and interact with others. Your home's lights, air conditioning, and security system may be controlled in the palm of your hand from anywhere. Don't like what's on the radio or TV? Stream your favorite artist or movie. Need a ride? Summon a local chauffeur. "There's an app for that" is perhaps the truest statement around these days.A common trait among successful businesses is their prioritization of technology for optimizing service delivery. They recognize it as a necessity for beating competitors and meeting ever-increasing customer demands. Many businesses who haven't taken that approach have closed, or struggle to stay relevant. The COVID-19 pandemic brought this aspect of business sustainability to unprecedented clarity.The public sector faces unique challenges. Innovative but unproven concepts are susceptible to being beaten out by the familiar and predictable status quo. Budgets are tight. New ideas that cost money require a host of approvals and may take time to fund. Politics may get in the way. The public sector also has distinct silos: the staff who knows the agency operations, and the IT specialists who know the backend technology. They must work together toward new tech but may have trouble understanding one another. Also, IT resources are often stretched thin with existing projects. These dynamics can resurface once procurement officials get involved. All this can add up to years before new technology are implemented, especially if the efforts taken are disjointed.Corrections agencies face all these hurdles and more. Correctional work is proudly steeped in tradition, which itself can cultivate resistance to change. The person-to-person nature of the work can create real and perceived limitations about potential business use cases. Data and physical security risks are paramount to such an extent, that viable tech solutions may be ruled out prematurely.It isn't easy being a technology advocate and pioneer, but that's what corrections need today. Tech offers efficiency, safety, and work quality enhancements we could only dream of before. It's also crucial for recruiting today's workforce. Younger generations simply don't want to work EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY IN CORRECTIONSAJohn Mosley, Director, State of MissouriByJohn Mosley
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