Presented by Appian
A technology investment earns its value through the service it helps government provide. Rick Chandler, Chief Financial Officer, Business and Administration Division, Fairfax County Park Authority, and Stephanie Weber, Senior Industry Lead, U.S. State & Local Government, Appian, say that begins with understanding the problem, the people affected, and the simplest effective way to improve the work.
In a Fed Gov Today Spotlight recorded at Appian Government, they discuss connecting financial decisions, employee workflows, and technology choices to better service outcomes.
He draws on earlier experience with VA’s National Cemetery Administration, where the mission involved serving veterans and their families. Understanding those customers and the partners involved in delivering benefits helped connect spending decisions to the results that mattered.
Weber brings the discussion to the service experience. Agencies should allow people to interact in ways that work for them and avoid asking for information they have already provided. Technology should reduce effort rather than transfer additional burdens to the constituent.
Employees matter just as much. Weber says modernization conversations should examine manual tasks, delays, and the systems employees struggle to use. Poor internal experiences can affect satisfaction and, ultimately, the quality of service.
Chandler describes an effort to digitize a paper application for veterans seeking a determination of eligibility for burial in a national cemetery. Connecting existing information and using automation could simplify parts of that process.
That would require thinking about how the organization maintains contact over decades and makes information available when veterans and families need it. The example illustrates how a technology project can become a conversation about redesigning the service itself.
The choice of automation should follow that understanding. Weber notes that repetitive paperwork remains a common obstacle, even when the document is already electronic. Some tasks can be handled through established rules and workflows.
AI may be useful when information is handwritten, inconsistent, or requires interpretation. A structured form, by contrast, may already provide the information needed to route and process it without additional model use.
Weber emphasizes the economics of that decision. AI has a cost, and its use should produce enough benefit to justify it. Simpler automation can be a sound choice when it meets the need.
Chandler returns to the basic question: what problem is the organization trying to solve, and what is the fastest practical way to improve it? Budget constraints make that discipline especially relevant.
Clear outcomes, better employee and constituent experiences, less duplicated work, and appropriate automation can help agencies improve service while keeping the needs of the people they serve at the center of technology decisions.
3 Key Takeaways