I have two big dogs that have gotten used to having me home. Sometimes they even block the exit from my home office! And, from what I’ve seen on social media over the past week, not only are lots of dogs happy to hang out on video calls, but plenty of cats are more than willing to warm up their humans’ keyboards. But what about the human element? How are we all doing in these times of uncertainty, and how can we be sure to care for ourselves, our families, and our communities?

The topic of workforce skills is much talked about, with a number of global organisations, including UNESCO, pointing to the fact that digital skills are becoming a critical requirement for employment. However, the skills gap is continuing to widen. The workforce of today has been educated for the jobs of yesterday, not tomorrow. This issue is particularly pressing in the technology sector, with many companies also struggling to bring a balance in diversity.

The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA) recently celebrated its one year anniversary. The goal of the legislation is to improve the way citizens interact with the federal government. The ability to provide a modern digital experience to citizens and employees is now a basic expectation for all federal chief information officers (CIOs). Today, trust in institutions is near historic lows, setting the stakes for successful digital transformations at an all-time high.

In a pandemic, it’s critical for government agencies and healthcare providers to mobilize quickly. Washington State is ground zero in the United States for COVID-19 where the first US deaths were reported in February 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Since then the disease has spread to nearly every state in the country, and is now a global pandemic. Health officials have been working around the clock to contain the virus.

Today ServiceNow announced a customer care plan to support our public and private sector customers in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of this effort, we’re announcing four new community apps to help our customers, including government agencies and enterprises, manage complex emergency response workflows. These apps are now available at servicenow.com/crisisresponse for customers to access free of charge through September 30, 2020.

Five things to consider for reinvigorating your optimization efforts. Remember that one amazing toy you simply HAD to have as a kid? It’s all you could think about. Every day without it actually felt painful. But when you finally managed to save up enough money to buy that wonderous thing…what you ended up with was a huge disappointment. It didn’t do what was promised. It broke easily. It was cheaply made. And it quickly was added to your heap of discarded playthings.

Here at ServiceNow we think people should be able to work the way they want to, not according to the rigid dictates of legacy software. Thanks to the Now Platform, help is on the way. The Now Platform Orlando release features new AI and analytics capabilities designed to make work, work better for people. We call this group of capabilities Now Intelligence. Now Intelligence enhances IT, employee, and customer workflows, so every department in your company can work smarter and faster.

Last week, ServiceNow hosted its annual Federal Forum, where federal leaders and industry partners convened for one day in Washington, D.C. to discuss how they are digitizing services for federal employees and citizens. Having joined the ServiceNow team less than a year ago and having previously worked in the federal government, I was fortunate to hear our federal customers share their dynamic stories and learn more about the steps they are taking to accelerate their modernization journey.

A quick checklist for deciding when delegated development is right. Sprawl and lack of governance continue to keep Enterprise Architects up at night. Unfortunately, their efforts to enforce logical control over application strategy and building often just frustrate departments needing an immediate solution to a problem. Rogue IT tools pop up and security risk increases. A 2019 Forbes Insights survey found that 1 in 5 organizations have experienced a cyber event due to an unsanctioned IT resource.