Miles Jamison 
Tyler Technologies is urging federal agencies to take a people-centered approach to modernization and prioritize the needs of field workers as they develop field operations technology, Federal News Network reported.
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Why Is People-Centered Modernization Important?
According to Russell Gainford, chief technology officer at Tyler Technologies, modernization is less about adopting advanced technology like cloud computing and artificial intelligence and more about empowering government employees to deliver more effective, secure and user-friendly services.
As agencies face evolving cybersecurity risks, people-centered modernization is becoming more critical. Many legacy systems rely on a small group of employees with deep institutional knowledge, creating bottlenecks and security vulnerabilities when those individuals leave or retire.
Gainford added that modern tools like Tyler’s Augmented Field Operations, or AFO, platform, can help streamline work through AI-driven, automated workflows, allowing staff to perform more effectively and focus on higher-value tasks.
“’Modernization’ used to be a word we used for infrastructure upgrades. But what we’re starting to see now is that it’s more about the effectiveness of the service being delivered. It’s about usability, security and enabling the workforce with tools that support real change,” Gainford said.
How Does Tyler’s Augmented Field Operations Platform Impact Field Work?
For Sonia Sanghavi, vice president of engineering at Tyler Technologies, agencies should rethink how they modernize fieldwork. She emphasized that the needs of the workforce should be a priority as agencies pursue modernization goals, noting that current and future field operations technology should support those needs.
Sanghavi highlighted the AFO platform’s mobile-first design as a key driver of efficiency, enabling field workers to access critical data on-site and complete tasks in hours rather than weeks. The AFO’s offline-first approach lets field workers keep working without connectivity, automatically syncing data once back online. Its application programming interface-based architecture also allows easy integration with legacy and existing systems.
“The goal of Tyler’s Augmented Field Operations platform is to make lives easier and communities safer,” said Sanghavi. “To accomplish this, it infuses artificial intelligence, automation and real-time intelligence into every stage of fieldwork — not just during the pre- and post-work stages, but in real time, while the fieldwork is happening,” Sanghavi continued.
