Working with the Government with Karthik Viswanathan

I continue my conversation with Karthik Viswanathan, the President of Ochyo Inc, a consulting firm that specializes in serving State & Local governments around strategy development, technology enablement and business process optimization

In this part, Karthik delves deeper into the challenges and opportunities within government IT. He discusses the complexities of balancing top-down mandates with bottom-up needs, particularly in large, decentralized organizations.

Key points:

• Government structure: The unique structure of government, with different levels (federal, state, local) and political cycles, impacts IT initiatives.
• Technology adoption: While there is a growing recognition of technology's importance, the pace of adoption is slower than the private sector due to budgetary constraints, procurement processes, and risk aversion.
• Talent management: Government agencies face challenges in attracting and retaining IT talent, especially in comparison to the private sector.
• Intergovernmental collaboration: There's potential for increased collaboration and data sharing between government entities, but challenges remain in terms of standards, security, and trust.
• Consulting and government: Karthik discusses his experience in consulting for government agencies, highlighting the need for understanding the unique dynamics of the public sector.

Overall, the conversation emphasizes the complexities and opportunities within government IT, providing insights into the challenges and potential solutions.

Karthik Viswanathan is the President of Ochyo Inc, a consulting firm that

specializes in serving State & Local governments around strategy development, technology enablement and business process optimization.

He was previously the Vice President for Development & Strategy for AIinGov responsible for driving strategic partnerships and relationships to accelerate the time to market and operational efficiencies for AIinGov’s customers.

Prior to that, Karthik served in senior IT leadership roles in State and Municipal governments. He was the Assistant Secretary for Technology Services & Security to help streamline IT services for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts including CIO roles for Labor & Workforce and Department of Revenue. Karthik has also served as CIO for the City of Somerville.

He holds engineering degrees from the University of Mumbai and Texas A&M University, and an MBA from Northeastern University.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaviswan/