Government legacy systems present critical infrastructure challenges that impede efficient service delivery and operational effectiveness. These outdated technologies, characterized by monolithic architectures and obsolete programming languages, create significant technical debt while consuming substantial portions of agency IT budgets through maintenance requirements. This technical analysis examines the multifaceted challenges of legacy systems, provides a structured evaluation framework to inform modernization decisions, explores strategic approaches ranging from incremental refactoring to complete replacement, identifies enabling technologies that facilitate transformation, and outlines implementation considerations to mitigate risks. By addressing both technical and organizational dimensions of modernization, government entities can transform legacy constraints into opportunities for enhanced service delivery, improved security posture, and data-driven operations that better serve citizen needs.
Keywords: digital government infrastructure, government IT transformation, legacy system modernization, modernization strategies, technical debt assessment
