By Shyam Salona and Jeff Myers

Government agencies and technologists are focused intensely on getting their work done (and mostly doing a good job of it). Our responsibility as a reliable, effective, and innovative IT partner to many government agencies is that we can step back and look toward the future, helping our customers prepare for it.  Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the blog series.

This fourth blog in our series will address Long-Term Possibilities that could and should be a focus in the 3-10 year horizon. Few government agencies will see real results from these long-term opportunities in the next year or two, (despite some pundits’ suggestions to the contrary). These opportunities include:

• Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) – NFTs use blockchain technologies to identify and record key attributes of things – such as who owns a digital asset, and whether it is authentic and unique. Several possible government uses for NFTs are within sight, such as recordation of property ownership and location, identity confirmation for a passport, and perhaps Intellectual Property rights enforcement. However, the context and commercial readiness for such uses do not seem sufficiently mature for implementation any time soon. Federal agencies will likely wait for pilot demonstrations by state/local or foreign governments, and significant maturation of commercial counterparts before pursuing these technologies.
• Quantum computing – processing much more complex data much faster is not likely to see widespread implementation by government agencies in the near term – the discipline is not mature enough, and will mostly be a focus for research in the near and medium-term future.

About the authors:

• Shyam Salona is CEO of REI Systems, one of the Top 25 Government IT Vendors, and a leader in App Modernization, Data & Analytics, Custom Case Management Solutions, Grants Management and Advisory Services.
• Jeff Myers is a Senior Director at REI Systems who has more than 30 years of experience helping to improve government’s efficiency and effectiveness in achieving public sector missions.

If you would like to engage with Mr. Salona, Mr. Myers, or other experts at REI Systems, please contact info@reisystems.com