The COVID-19 pandemic has taught businesses that being able to respond to rapid economic changes is a competitive advantage. The digital hallmarks of agility and flexibility are now seen as essential for post-COVID survival.

Many commercial companies have established cloud strategies, and others are well-advanced on the journey. But the public sector is trailing in the global digital evolution. In 2019, this was a minor hassle. But in 2020, getting society back up and running can’t wait on red tape.

“This is the time where governments have to really transform,” said Sreeram Visvanathan (pictured), global managing director of government, healthcare and life sciences at IBM.

Visvanathan spoke with Dave Vellante, host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. They discussed how IBM is working to bring the public sector into the digital age. (* Disclosure below.)

IBM is the engine room of business operations

Ninety-five percent of IBM’s global workforce are now working from home, according to Visvanathan, and the company is continuing to support client’s core operations.

“Whether it is to keep a city running or a hospital running, our systems, our software, our services teams are engaged in making sure that the core systems that allow those entities to function are actually operational during these times,” Visvanathan stated.

The rapid change to remote operations has been a proof of concept for those reluctant to embrace new technology. “A lot of the naysayers who said we could not operate digitally now are starting to get past that bias,” Visvanathan said.

From education to life sciences to healthcare, institutions across the public sector are looking to speed up digital adoption. “They’re going to look to change processes quickly so they can react to situations like this in the future in a much more agile way,” Visvanathan added.

That agility comes from the ability to scale applications and infrastructure up and down as needed; a capability provided by cloud computing and, most notably, by hybrid cloud.

The pandemic marks a sea change in operations

The increasing number of Millennials in the workforce is intensifying the effect of the pandemic in driving change. By 2025, 75% of workers will be digital natives and “they’re going to demand that we work in new ways — in new, more integrated, more digitally savvy ways,” Visvanathan stated.

Adopting new technologies is just part of the change. ”It’s not just a matter of providing the tool itself. It’s the content. It’s the consumption. It’s the designers experience,” stated Visvanathan, explaining how IBM’s experience in both the private and public sectors allows it to bridge the divide and increase digital workflow adoption.

Using the commercial shipping industry as an example, Visvanathan described the convoluted procedure of a bill of lading, which requires approval at both the federal, state and local government levels. Implementing technology could reduce the current seven-day approval cycle to a seven-second cycle, speeding the flow of commerce and increasing the gross domestic product of the country, he explained.

“This is the time for us to break it all apart. The time is right for reinventing the core of this industry,” Visvanathan concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the IBM Think Digital Event Experience. Neither IBM Corp., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE