'Social as an enterprise strategy'

In an era of emerging transparency and interconnectedness, citizens’ expectations for their government have shifted toward real-time connection, and they are increasingly aware of their influence as well as their needs, Sonny Hashmi, CIO of the General Services Administration, told a crowd at the Government Cloud Computing and Data Center Conference hosted by the Digital Government Institute in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18.

This "paradigm shift" has increasingly taken over the public mentality, and both government and the private sector need to adapt, he said.

Government and industry simultaneously exist and depend upon citizens who "expect transparency and real-time connection," Hashmi said. "How do we enable this environment, so that we can provide those services for them?"

Hashmi suggested that both industry and government adopt the concept of "social as an enterprise strategy" by tapping into the compelling and open nature of the networks available to them. In joining cloud computing, mobile technology and social channels made available within the digital sphere, Hashmi proposed that the federal government might readily “connect people with the resources and services they need, when they need them.”

Along the same line of reasoning, he advocated that agencies foster long-term relationships with industry communities to expedite the acquisition and implementation process -- while maintaining a competitive marketplace -- and invest in open platforms that facilitate reusing components and applications across agencies.