Every agency has a unique mission, and therefore a unique path to the cloud. But there’s one thing all agencies have in common: Each agency is carrying technical debt. The spectrum of debt varies as much as the missions, but every agency is seeking to modernize. Those variations mean private sector partners need to provide cloud solutions with maximum flexibility to accommodate those diverse  modernization roadmaps, while still providing the highest level of security possible to protect their systems and their data. That’s why FedRAMP High and DoD Impact Level 4+ authorizations are so important.

“Cloud authorization at High, in simplest terms, means the government trusts that vendor with sensitive information.” said Cindi Stuebner, a futurist and industry principal for U.S. government at Pega. “It demonstrates that the vendor has made the necessary investment in security and systems to do business with the government. And it tells the market that your company is interested in a long-term partnership with the government.”

Those assessments are rigorous, with both high initial standards for a vendor to meet, as well as continuous and ongoing maintenance requirements. That includes yearly audits, to ensure those standards continue to be met. That allows agencies to put their trust in the vendor, to know that their sensitive information will be secure, as will their applications, including any of the latest artificial intelligence capabilities  they may want to  use  in the  cloud. .

Applying and securing AI

Both the public and private sector are still in the early stages of figuring out  how to best take advantage of AI. Government in particular is looking for flexible solutions that best apply to their unique missions, without overburdening agencies with lots of extra tools they don’t need. Agencies’ budgets are too tight and mercurial to allow them to bite off more than they can chew. On top of that, the stakes are higher for government: Hallucinations or compromise of AI tools in the private sector usually means a loss of profit and reputation, while in the public sector, it can mean citizens don’t get the services they need, national security may be compromised, even potential life or death consequences. That’s another reason those cloud security authorizations are so important — they ensure any AI tools within the cloud operating environment are operating within the same parameters as other cloud-based tools.

But when agencies can trust that their applications and AI capabilities are secure, the possibilities to transform their workflows are endless. An agency like the Social Security Administration can use AI to digest and summarize the tremendous amount of regulations customer service representatives are required to reference, enabling them to provide advice and guidance faster. The could use AI tools to help citizens and organizations more easily find and apply for the correct  grant, or even expedite those grant applications in the event of an emergency, like a forest fire. AI tools can help agencies to satisfy their missions faster.

“AI requires agencies to learn how to operate a little differently,” Stuebner said. “AI can help provide a level of speed, accuracy and effectiveness that not only satisfies the mission, but can help free up agency staff to handle things that require human intervention to be most successful and satisfy the citizen need. And most importantly, with the latest developments in AI capabilities, agencies can digest new tools pretty quickly because the AI can augment their existing workflows and capabilities.”

Trusted partners help government build trust with citizens

Governments earn the trust of their constituents by doing what they say they will do, when they say they will do it. Citizens want to know that their claims, benefits or requests have been addressed within a promised timeframe. When government can not only meet that expectation but exceed it, citizens’ trust in it will expand and grow.

Technology vendors who understand where an agency is in their modernization journey, invest in the necessary security and tailor their approach to meet those agencies where they are and walk with them on the journey establish trust as well.

“We are certainly at an inflection point with technology and its role, and AI has added some layers to the relationship between humans and technology. We have to look at where we’re headed in the immediate term, the medium term and the long term to make sense out of all of that,” Stuebner said. “The good news is that when embarking on that journey with the right trusted technology partner, agencies can move faster, safer, to meet and support those missions as best they can. Technology is a linchpin and foundational aspect of that today. AI is really just the latest extension of that.”

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