On March 16th ServiceNow released four emergency response apps free of charge to help organizations manage through the COVID-19 pandemic. To date nearly 1,000 different organizations have started leveraging these apps to assist their employees during the crisis. They include federal and state agencies as well as hospitals and healthcare organizations. ServiceNow is working with its partners, including Accenture, Deloitte, DXC Technology, EY and KPMG, to distribute and support the apps.

On March 16th, we announced our Customer Care Program, including four no-charge emergency response apps. We’ve already seen tremendous traction with the apps. As of March 25, nearly 1000 organizations have downloaded the apps. In addition, our amazing community has generated many new ideas, resources, tools, and stories. Some are best practices, some are specific to customers of the Now Platform®, and some come from ServiceNow partners who are helping with new apps, services, and strategy.

Settling into any new job can be exhausting. New faces, new desk, new computer, new kitchen (and new kitchen rules), new… everything. On top of that, there are forms to fill in and return to multiple onboarding stakeholders, passwords to create, HR policies to read.

I have two big dogs that have gotten used to having me home. Sometimes they even block the exit from my home office! And, from what I’ve seen on social media over the past week, not only are lots of dogs happy to hang out on video calls, but plenty of cats are more than willing to warm up their humans’ keyboards. But what about the human element? How are we all doing in these times of uncertainty, and how can we be sure to care for ourselves, our families, and our communities?

The topic of workforce skills is much talked about, with a number of global organisations, including UNESCO, pointing to the fact that digital skills are becoming a critical requirement for employment. However, the skills gap is continuing to widen. The workforce of today has been educated for the jobs of yesterday, not tomorrow. This issue is particularly pressing in the technology sector, with many companies also struggling to bring a balance in diversity.

The 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (IDEA) recently celebrated its one year anniversary. The goal of the legislation is to improve the way citizens interact with the federal government. The ability to provide a modern digital experience to citizens and employees is now a basic expectation for all federal chief information officers (CIOs). Today, trust in institutions is near historic lows, setting the stakes for successful digital transformations at an all-time high.

In a pandemic, it’s critical for government agencies and healthcare providers to mobilize quickly. Washington State is ground zero in the United States for COVID-19 where the first US deaths were reported in February 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Since then the disease has spread to nearly every state in the country, and is now a global pandemic. Health officials have been working around the clock to contain the virus.

Today ServiceNow announced a customer care plan to support our public and private sector customers in managing the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of this effort, we’re announcing four new community apps to help our customers, including government agencies and enterprises, manage complex emergency response workflows. These apps are now available at servicenow.com/crisisresponse for customers to access free of charge through September 30, 2020.

Five things to consider for reinvigorating your optimization efforts. Remember that one amazing toy you simply HAD to have as a kid? It’s all you could think about. Every day without it actually felt painful. But when you finally managed to save up enough money to buy that wonderous thing…what you ended up with was a huge disappointment. It didn’t do what was promised. It broke easily. It was cheaply made. And it quickly was added to your heap of discarded playthings.

Here at ServiceNow we think people should be able to work the way they want to, not according to the rigid dictates of legacy software. Thanks to the Now Platform, help is on the way. The Now Platform Orlando release features new AI and analytics capabilities designed to make work, work better for people. We call this group of capabilities Now Intelligence. Now Intelligence enhances IT, employee, and customer workflows, so every department in your company can work smarter and faster.