Remote work has shifted the mindsets of skeptics

The coronavirus pandemic has tested many of the strategies and concepts that CIOs have been talking about for years, including telework.

“We have had so many people [in leadership] that were so against the idea of telework,” one local government IT director said. “Now, they’re starting to change their tune.”

Another city IT official said that while responding to the pandemic has been traumatic, it’s also given the technology shop an opportunity to test its mission statement.

“My overall experience is that this is the vision of our CIO in action,” the IT leader said. “[The CIO’s office] has been talking about being nimble and keeping services available for years and now it has all happened. We didn’t anticipate how easy it would be.”

Another local government IT director said the overall success of the remote work transition lays the groundwork for technology officials to continue to have a seat at the table going forward — and to drive change across government.

“We can really force their hand,” one city CIO said.