For government entities, it is essential to stay ahead of the curve with regards to IT, systems capabilities and processes to ensure service quality is benefiting from the most recent technological advancements by keeping tabs on the latest trends. We list the most influential trends to be expected in 2019.
Fortifying Data Security
There is now a growing concern for the extent to which data is secure. In response to this, some of the leading global governments are looking to implement flexible, secure, and easily implemented cloud-based solutions.
Some of the leading digital public sector entities such Australia, Indonesia, and Denmark have included “security of data” to be one of their prioritized strategic objectives during the year of 2019, and many others have followed suit. This concern for increased data security has led many of entities to look for cloud-based solutions that are both cost effective and offer the highest levels of security, flexibility, and ease of implementation. Research backs up this trend to show that government adoption of cloud-based services will grow on a yearly basis by 17% until the year of 2021, as reported by Gartner. Further, governments have leveraged such solutions by using them as a point of establishing trust with the public due to the high degree of importance placed on security, with the relevant technology to back it up.
“Internet of Things” Making Its Mark
until recently IoT has been more closely associated with the private sector. However, leading governments are recognizing its potential for improving operational efficiency, and data management – directly improving responsiveness to residents, and rate of growth in communities.
Another fast-paced growing trend to look out for is the greater use cases for IoT technology. There is a mental shift beginning within local and regional governments in the way they perceive, as it is commonly known that IoT is fundamentally used in the private sector to optimize operations and efficiency. However, governments such as London – which has recently been awarded the international smartest city – has applied IoT in a way to significantly improve the process of gathering, sorting, and acting upon data, which has made them increasingly more responsive to the needs of their residents. However, the added value goes much beyond improving the satisfaction of residents, as IoT’s functionality extends into other avenues concerning the growth and development of various sectors within the country through entities’ enhanced capability to ingest vast amounts of data in a way that is both smart, and sustainably reliable. Governments must keep up with the pace, as studies indicate that IoT based infrastructure will generate over 40,000 exabytes of data, as well as integration of support systems to manage the data.
Harnessing seamless collaboration
A greater need for collaboration is evident due to the increased importance placed on eliminating silos. Governments are looking to foster better departmental collaborations, and process optimization to increase overall cost savings.
A guiding principle evident in the public sector recently Is the need for greater collaboration and seamless cooperation between divisions. A solution that facilitates this direction is the integration of DevOps, to help break down barriers and foster better departmental collaboration and efficiency through more automated processes. Many public sector agencies have already implemented some of these methodologies on a small scale, while others have undergone a full-scale implementation to reap the benefits. In addition to more efficient processes, governments can also expect these technologies to increase cost savings. In order to benefit from such a lucrative solution, governments need to be more welcoming of some of the newer technologies and encourage a culture of adaptation to keep up with the times and be more accepting of iterative processes. At this point, such technology is more prominent in the private sector, but in the coming year governments will be placing more emphasis on eliminating silos and driving collaboration by leveraging DevOps.
A Shift Towards Artificial Intelligence
Today governments are beginning to recognize the various ways that AI can effectively manage and sort data in order to create a richer customer experience. AI’s application has the potential to streamline services that span border control, public transport, and supporting people of determination to name a few.
While it may be true that private sector companies are further along the road of utilizing AI effectively, segments within the public sector have begun realizing its benefits as well. The opportunities to implement Artificial Intelligence are quite vast, ranging from border control, public transport, aiding people of determination, one-to-one service providing interactions among countless others – all of which can provide cost saving benefits and optimization of government operations. the matter of the fact is governments house large amounts of data, which can be used to employ artificial intelligence solutions instead of remaining idle. It is up to the public sector agencies to recognize the efficiencies that can be tapped into by exploring the different ways AI can support in gathering, compiling, and distributing data to revamp the way in which customer experiences are created and delivered to the public.