Summer Myatt
The only constant in the government contracting landscape is change, and that change has been accelerating significantly in recent years. Executive Mosaic spoke with CGI Federal President Stephanie Mango in a new video interview to learn more about the major trends and changes shaping today’s GovCon market.
According to the two-time Wash100 Award winner, there are three key factors that are impacting technology and mission delivery across the federal government landscape. The first trend she shared is an “increasing pressure to modernize.”
“We’ve been talking about modernizing systems forever,” Mango told Executive Mosaic’s Summer Myatt. “We are making more progress because there’s more pressure to do so. What’s driving the pressure is our adversaries are evolving, they’re changing, they’re adapting, so we need to have our technology adapted to meet them.”
Another factor contributing to this trend is that U.S. citizens have higher expectations of their interaction with the government. As the digital natives become a greater majority of the population, Mango predicted that the pressure to modernize will continue to increase.
Budget uncertainty is the second trend Mango sees ruling the GovCon market. In the past 12 years, there have only been three full government shutdowns, but there have been 47 continuing resolutions, or temporary spending bills that typically extend government funding at the same rate as previous years. Mango suggested that without reliable budget growth, it’s difficult for civil servants and government officials to continue to drive progress for federal missions.
The last trend Mango discussed is the changing relationship between government and industry, which she noted is closely linked to the previous two trends.
“50 years ago, government was really the only investor in technology,” Mango said. “They were doing all of the R&D for technology. Well now, industry, because of how much the technology has evolved, are making just as many investments, and in some cases, more investments. And so you’re starting to see government and industry work together differently to drive that mission forward.”
Stephanie Mango dives into each of these trends — and other topics like artificial intelligence and generative AI — in her recent video interview with Executive Mosaic. Watch the full video here, and subscribe to EM’s YouTube channel for more insights.
For more expertise on the government R&D landscape, join the Potomac Officers Club’s 10th Annual Defense R&D Summit on Jan. 31. Technology leaders from the Pentagon, government and industry will convene to discuss the latest advancements in defense innovation. Register here.
