GovernmentExecutive.com

The federal government will face a wide range of challenges over the next decade, with retirement and health care reform topping the list, according to a report released on Monday by the IBM Center for the Business of Government.

The center identified 10 significant management policy issues expected to confront federal decision-makers and public sector program managers in anticipation of the administration transition and to acknowledge the center's 10th anniversary.

"I think we've started to think in a way the next administration will have to in terms of figuring out what they will need to wrestle with in terms of mission and management issues," said Jonathan Breul, executive director for the Center for the Business of Government. "There's arguably not much chance of a two-term president if he or she doesn't help lead to some solution on those issues."

The management challenges run the gamut from green leadership to balancing security and privacy. Topping the list is what Breul calls fiscal sanity, or the reform of retirement and health care programs such as Social Security and Medicare, which are putting a strain on the government's financial well-being. While the center did not rank challenges in order of importance, Breul said it made a conscious decision to put fiscal sanity first.

The center's report states that "all routes to salvation at the federal, state and local levels require reforming federal retirement and health care programs before they squeeze out other critical national priorities."

No list of looming government challenges is complete without mention of the retirement crisis. The center, however, did not focus just on the need to replace the throngs of baby boomers set to retire, but how that exodus could affect government operations.

"It's a question of competence," Breul said. "There are a whole set of issues that require substantial experience and training with much more technical and service-oriented capabilities on behalf of public service." He mentioned air traffic control as a field requiring a great deal of technical knowledge, and an area where the government is grappling with a skill drain.

Workforce challenges go hand in hand with procurement challenges, another shoo-in on the center's list. The contracting-related management challenges are broad and extensive, but Breul said the next administration must look at contracting strategically and understand "government needs a strong cadre of contractors supported by a strong cadre of good government employees." He urged presidential candidates to avoid making it just a "numbers exercise."

Breul said primary threats, such as food contamination and pandemic, which agencies must address in the near future are "nasty cross-boundary difficulties," requiring extensive collaboration among federal agencies, along with state and local governments.

The report also identified information overload as another challenge for the government. While new technologies and systems are providing the government with necessary data, such as surveillance footage, weather and climate information and census statistics, managers must still adapt to process all the data efficiently.

The government also must expect surprises and manage in a way that allows for early warnings, an understanding of emerging threats and effective government responses.

"The country can't afford any more fumbled responses to catastrophic or nonroutine management challenges, whether caused by natural or human means," Breul said.

The 10 challenges outlined by the center in its report are:

• Fiscal sanity
• Crisis of competence
• Information overload
• Governing without boundaries
• E-government
• Role of contractors
• Results-oriented government
• Green leadership
• Security and privacy in a flat world
• Anticipation of emerging threats and disasters

COMMENTS

• The largest single problem facing the next administration, and the next Congress, is how to acknowledge and then bring to an end the 40+ year old Cold Civil War that this country has been fighting. We aren't shooting muskets and grapeshot at each other this go-around. Instead we have (a) used mass media and the Internet to demonize and denigrate anyone who doesn't agree with our views, and (b) used the legal system as just another weapons system to get what we want. We use lawsuits as neutron bombs: they destroy the soul and spirit while leaving the body and mind intact to service the winner. We collectively have only a very fuzzy understanding of what the responsibilities of US citizenship really are, and we have an even fuzzier understanding of how to carry out those responsibilities, but we can endlessly remind others of our rights. We fail or refuse to recognize that those rights always imply a responsibility somewhere. We clamor that "the country is on the wrong track" without asking whether or not OUR behavior might be part of what is putting it on the wrong track. It will take an Administration and a Congress willing to confront this. Additionally, both political parties have a lot of wrongdoing and wrong thinking to admit to. Above all, though, until we individually decide that (a) for us the war is over, and (b) rather than boast about our own rightness about one aspect of it or another, we are going to humble ourselves, admit our own wrongdoing, determine to change it, and seek real wisdom and help from God, nothing will change. dave Posted May 9, 2008 6:40 AM
• "Crises of Confidence?" I love it. What the heck would you expect after 40 years of affirmative action? Advocator Posted May 7, 2008 12:12 PM
• Check out the actual report link in the first paragraph: free advice from IBM! One can expect value from "private enterprise" only to the extent that one pays for it, and the government paid nothing for this "report." R. U. Kidding Posted April 4, 2008 12:42 PM