It’s time to take notice

It’s time for government entities to get on board.

That’s the message that research firm Gartner, Inc., seemed to be sending when it recently released its list of the Top 10 strategic technologies it would be recommending to government CIOs and IT leaders. Topping the list was the digital workplace.

Now, “workplace 2.0″ is hardly a radical concept. Just about everyone understands the benefits in flexibility, mobility and decentralization. But government is often slow to adopt new technologies and new ways of thinking — and as a strategy to lesser risk-taking, that might indeed be something taxpayers can be happy about.

But putting the digital workplace as the top of this list sends a message: Even for government entitles, it’s time to meet the future. And if that’s the right path for the late adopters in government, it’s clearly a course that should be being considered by every other organization, too.