by Venkat Kodumudi, Chief Technology Officer
In recent years, there has been an increased focus on the role of data and analytics in government. As the use of technology has become more ubiquitous, the need for agencies to establish a Center of Excellence (CoE) has become more apparent. A CoE is a cross-functional team that is responsible for developing and maintaining best practices around a specific area or technology.
The purpose of a CoE is to improve efficiency and effectiveness within an agency by sharing knowledge and expertise. A CoE can also help to drive innovation and expanded adoption of new technologies. For government agencies, a CoE can be particularly helpful in managing large, complex data sets and adopting new analytics technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation.
Why Government Agencies Need a Center of Excellence
There are many reasons why government agencies need a Center of Excellence, but three key reasons are:
To Improve Efficiency and Effectiveness
A CoE can help government agencies to improve efficiency and effectiveness by sharing knowledge and expertise across the organization. For example, if one team within an agency has developed a new way to visualize data that is more effective than the current method, the CoE can share that information with other teams so that they can also benefit from the new technique.
The Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest employer in the world, with over 3 million active-duty personnel and more than 700,000 civilians. To improve communication and collaboration between these employees, the DoD launched a CoE for social media in 2012. The CoE provides training and resources for using social media tools effectively and helps employees to connect with each other online. As a result, the DoD has been able to better share information and ideas among its workforce and improve its overall communication strategy.
To Spur Innovation
A CoE can also help to spur innovation within an agency. By bringing together experts from different areas, the CoE can serve as an incubator for new ideas. The CoE can also help to promote collaboration between teams that might not otherwise interact with each other.
One example of this is the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, which was started in 2012. This special initiative was designed to embed experts from the private sector into government to work on specific projects. This has helped to spur innovation within agencies like the Department of Veterans Affairs and the General Services Administration.
Adopt New Technologies at Scale
Finally, a CoE can help government agencies to adopt new technologies at scale. When new technologies are introduced, there is often a learning curve as teams get up to speed on how to use the new software or system. The CoE can provide training and support to teams as they adopt the new technology. Additionally, the CoE can help to ensure that the new technology is being used effectively across the agency by monitoring usage and results.
One example where this has been implemented in the government is the Department of Defense's (DoD) Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx). DIUx is a CoE for accelerating the adoption of new technologies by the DoD. It was established in March 2016 and has already helped to adopt new technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
A successful cross government implementation of CoE’s is being spearheaded by GSA (https://coe.gsa.gov/) and can assist any Federal Government agency with their needs and reaping the benefits, as demonstrated in USDA, and VA, just to name a few.
The Bottom Line: Government agencies need a Center of Excellence to improve efficiency and effectiveness, spur innovation, and adopt new technologies at scale.
