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Drought, deluge, and data

Submitted by on Tue, 04/22/2025 - 13:24

From record-breaking wildfires in Eastern Spain and Southern California to deadly flash floods in Japan and across the US, governments and communities worldwide are confronting a new era of relentless, overlapping climate events. These crises are not just increasing in frequency but also in complexity—droughts fuel wildfires, wildfires degrade soil, then sudden storms unleash devastating floods on already fragile landscapes. The compounding nature of these events is overwhelming traditional emergency response systems, stretching financial resources, and

How TECHNOLOGY Can Drive GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY

Submitted by on Tue, 04/08/2025 - 11:33

This is highlighted by a recent report, led by the Technology CEO Council (TCC), in which the IBM Center for The Business of Government participated. That report, How Productivity, Innovation, and Efficiency Can Transform American Government, details how, if implemented effectively, technology-based reforms could reduce federal costs significantly—now and over time.

Resilience in action: Crisis leadership through innovation, collaboration, and human-centered solutions

Submitted by on Fri, 11/15/2024 - 10:45

In an era of unprecedented disruptions, the ability to anticipate future uncertainties and navigate through crises is crucial for leaders in all sectors. Global pandemics, climate change, geopolitical tensions, and other disruptions are testing resilience like never before. A key lesson learned from these challenges is that collaborative, forward-looking planning is essential to safeguard constituents and provide operational continuity.

Preparing Governments for Future Shocks: Building Cyber Resilience for Critical Infrastructure Protection

Submitted by on Tue, 10/08/2024 - 05:09

As demonstrated by the findings from the initial cybersecurity roundtable done through the Future Shocks initiative, cyber resilience is crucial for protecting critical infrastructure, which includes essential services from the energy grid to clean water distribution. These systems are increasingly targeted by cyberattacks. Cyber resilience involves not only robust cybersecurity

Building future ready governments - Transformational lessons learned from a global shock

Submitted by on Tue, 09/10/2024 - 15:04

From its origins in late 2019 until May 2023, when the World Health Organization declared the end of its pandemic phase, COVID-19 was an extraordinary stress test for governments around the world. It revealed strengths and weaknesses of organizational response and resilience in ways that will be studied for years to come.

A Prepared Federal Government: Preventing Fraud and Improper Payments in Emergency Funding

Submitted by on Wed, 08/14/2024 - 07:52

When the government distributes supplemental funding to address various national emergencies such as the global pandemic, time is of the essence. Putting money quickly in the hands of Americans in need benefits vulnerable segments of the American population and stabilizes the nation in a time of crisis. At the same time, transparency and accountability mechanisms are essential to safeguard these taxpayer dollars and maintain public trust.

The Role of Risk Leadership in Defining ERM Readiness in Government

Submitted by on Wed, 03/06/2024 - 09:05

Government orga­nizations must tackle risk and uncertainty in a more systematic and enterprise manner. The authors of this new report, Peter Young and Trang Hoang, provide timely and insightful perspectives that underscore the connection between lead­ership actions that support government risk management and successful efforts to implement enterprise risk management (ERM). The report explores two dis­tinct concepts—risk leadership and ERM readiness.

AI and the Modern Tax Agency

Submitted by on Thu, 01/25/2024 - 12:00

On behalf of the IBM Center for The Business of Government, in collabo­ration with the American University Kogod School of Business Tax Policy Center, we are pleased to present this new report, AI and the Modern Tax Agency: Adopting and Deploying AI to Improve Tax Administration, by Caroline Bruckner and Collin Coil of the Kogod Tax Policy Center.

Preparing governments for future shocks: A roadmap to resilience

Submitted by on Wed, 11/01/2023 - 13:48

Contributing Authors: Rob Handfield, Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management, North Carolina State University and Tony Scott, President and CEO, Intrusion, Inc.

This cascade of catastrophic events raises fundamental questions about how governments can anticipate, prepare for, and respond to these and other shocks yet to come.

Preparing Governments for Future Shocks: Building Climate Resilience

Submitted by on Fri, 10/27/2023 - 10:21

Indeed, they are shocks—more frequent and more destabilizing. While governments were exposed to a host of mostly unforeseen challenges from the global pandemic, they have captured valuable lessons. Leaders understand where they need to concentrate their readiness efforts for “future shocks,” carrying the momentum from rapid, pandemic-driven innovation into their preparation.

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