Executive Thought Leadership

Citizens worldwide are pressuring their governments to reduce costs and improve efficiency and accessibility to services, and governments are finding that the Internet helps them meet these requirements. But investing in systems or technology alone will not allow governments to achieve the productivity increases possible. Productivity results from first making a change in business processes, and then implementing business applications and network infrastructure, in addition to providing the right skills, tools, and business environment.

The reason we believe this so strongly is we see the changing business and government models on a global basis, and the applications that facilitate different methods of communicating with customers or peers.

The importance of public sector services continues to increase in this age of global economies, where a country’s public service infrastructure is a major component in the cycle of productivity that generates economic growth and higher standards of living. People often ask me, “Which countries do you see being the most progressive and which ones are you most optimistic about for the growth of IT?” I truly believe that the jobs and growth will go to where the best educated workforce is, with the right broadband infrastructure, and a supportive government. Many governments are beginning to appreciate the relationship between GDP growth, productivity, and their investment in IT infrastructure.

Thought Leadership

This issue of the Executive Thought Leadership Quarterly presents a variety of perspectives on public sector issues from Cisco executives.

Susan L. Bostrom, Senior Vice President, Internet Business Solutions Group and Worldwide Government Affairs, explores the changing expectations of citizens and the opportunities governments have to improve the quality of the citizen experience, including examples from progressive government services.

Doug Dennerline, Senior Vice President, U.S. Enterprise Sales Group, discusses a voice over IP project with senior representatives of the Municipal Court in Cleveland, Ohio, including their reasons for choosing voice over IP and the benefits they have realized as a result of the implementation.

Robert Lloyd, Senior Vice President, EMEA Operations, provides an overview of the recent Net Impact study by Momentum Research Group on productivity best practices in the European public sector.

Wim Elfrink, Senior Vice President, Customer Advocacy, looks at the role of services during various stages of the network lifecycle, from visualization to operation.

Gregory Akers, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Global Government Solutions, explains the steps that Cisco is taking to provide effective solutions for governments worldwide.

I hope you enjoy this issue of the Executive Thought Leadership Quarterly .