On Jan. 29 at Hawai‘i Leadership Forum, THG hosted a robust discussion around the difference between digital government optimization and transformation. For example, OPTIMIZATION was described as continuous, incremental, evolutionary, strategic and intentional, but limited in scope and potential. TRANSFORMATION, on the other hand, was seen as mostly episodic, yet revolutionary, reactive and opportunistic, and even sustainable and scalable.
The conversation was led by Gartner Research Vice President Rick Howard, former Oregon state health and human services chief information officer and co-chair of a governor-appointed leadership council charged with coordinating the statewide adoption of electronic health records and promoting a regional health information exchange.
Participants ranging from members of the Legislature and state agencies to representatives of the civic community debated technologies and capabilities that are disrupting and transforming private-sector industries — and why these advancements sometimes appear to be adopted at a slower pace by government. THG was honored to welcome new state Chief Information Officer Doug Murdock and his staff, who shared insight as Mr. Howard focused the discussion on how to speed progress by prioritizing business optimization over transformation and establishing realistic expectations about the scale and scope of change their organizations can absorb.