Technology

Technology is the foundation of workplace strategy. It allows for agility in the receiving, processing and sharing of work and ideas both inside and outside of the office. A communications infrastructure that includes wireless LAN, Virtual Private Networks, Voice over Internet Protocol, and Cloud computing makes a mobile, open office environment possible. These types of new technologies allow federal employees to work where they need to work as opposed to where they are supposed to work.

Workplace specialists not only will guide agencies through building, design, furniture and technology acquisition, but they can also use their own experiences in deploying the technology that Total Workplace uses to both create savings and increase productivity. They can assist with both decreasing space as needed and increasing utilization of existing space. These specialists can help you at every stage of the technology acquisition process through contracts with knowledgeable suppliers.

Introducing an innovative framework in workplace design: Tech Matters

GSA is dedicated to promoting innovative, flexible, and smart workplaces that can serve as models for other federal agencies. The principles of design call us to create workplaces, tools, and processes that revolve around the human experience. The digital age gives voice to a rising demand for agency leadership in providing workplaces that benefit citizens and public servants and bring the best thinking to solve the world’s toughest problems. Working with federal agencies to support the work of a 21st century government, we know that technology has changed the way people work. The integration of workplace and technology creates possibilities inaccessible until now. Tech Matters [PDF - 2 MB] frames the opportunity for government excellence in design.

Tech Matters serves as a framework or methodology to have the conversation about technology at the beginning of workplace strategy conversations thereby integrating technology into workplace design. From infrastructure to hardware to collaborative tools to analytics, a vast number of solutions now exist to support federal agencies. By addressing technology needs at the earliest stages in building or renovation projects, costly changes can be avoided, the user experience factored in, and ultimately the organization’s values incorporated.

GSA sits at the nexus of service to people, workplace and technology. Technology is no longer just a feature of how we work, it is rapidly the defining factor for the way we work. The design of work today and in the future demands a perspective that blends tools with place and accounts for the rise in digital literacy that will be required across all levels of the workforce. This framework provides a renewed approach across the federal government and in the global real estate practice, so that workplaces can better embrace mobility, collaboration and open government.

Information Technology commodities

Federal agencies can buy IT commodities such as laptops, servers, and integrated support services faster and at lower prices through GSA.

Workplace solutions library

GSA has created the Workplace solutions library to help our colleagues think about the way we design, create and use spaces. Our research and pilot projects tell us that you cannot effectively design space or select the right furniture if you do not understand how people work. In terms of how people work, we have seen that many similarities exist within very diverse projects. By capitalizing on these similarities, we can help our colleagues make the best informed and easily justified purchase, whether that is furniture, design, or construction.

Telework

Learn more about teleworking in the federal government.