When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many government IT systems were not equipped to handle increased demands. How can governments with limited resources upgrade outdated IT systems? 

Min-Seok Pang, Subodha Kumar and their co-author’s models indicate that it is more efficient for governments to share their IT systems with other government agencies than to not share. Systems sharing is an effective way to upgrade old technology for governments with low budgets.

The models evaluate the cost of three types of IT sharing systems: cost-sharing, profit-center and coordination. Choosing an optimal IT sharing system depends on various factors of the government agency at hand, but all three systems show promise.