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Digital Governance: How High-Speed Connectivity Enables Innovation
While every organization needs digital governance to ensure proper oversight of its digital presence, this is particularly true in the public sector. State and local government agencies are rapidly expanding digital offerings, including both external and internal facing systems. From allowing citizens to pay for vehicle registration fees online to building efficient workflows for government employees, most government agencies digital presence is growing daily.
Without the right digital governance in place, agencies can be put at a high level of risk. While most cities and states have enabled digital governance in order to keep up with innovative trends, many are relying on outdated IT infrastructures that cannot support the rapid pace of growth. The future of digital governance is going to include cloud-based solutions, Artificial Intelligence, and increased regulatory requirements.
IT leaders in the public sector are looking for connectivity infrastructure to match this new pace. In this article, we will take a look at why digital governance must be a top priority for state and local government agencies, the key challenges IT teams will face as they keep up with modern trends, and how high-speed connectivity will enable innovation.
The Key Challenges States Face As Digital Strategies Advance
For government agencies, enabling digital solutions is complex. Many have fragmented systems or legacy programs that are difficult to connect. Additionally, government agencies must think about the digital experience through the lens of potential risks. Cybersecurity threats have the potential to affect critical state systems, including those that store sensitive citizen data. Adding to the complexity are strict regulatory and compliance requirements. It is for this reason that the entire process must include careful oversight – generally referred to as digital governance.
Digital governance includes operating rules and regulations, defined roles and responsibilities—including who has ultimate authority—, and systems for ensuring that all regulations are met. The more complex a state’s digital strategy becomes, the more innovative the governance of that strategy must be. However, this is not without challenges.
Increased Demands
Governmental agencies are seeing a rapid increase in digital demands both externally and internally. Citizens are accustomed to digital solutions in every other aspect of their life, and now, they are seeking those same solutions from the government. Whether it is renewing a state ID or making a payment to the state, citizens want to be able to handle transactions digitally.
Simultaneously, government employees are implementing digital systems that improve efficiency and allow for real-time collaboration. With this increase in demand, there is a greater need for hyper-speed connectivity. However, similar to a highway, connectivity can quickly become bottlenecked when demands rise. Outdated IT infrastructures can cause latency, resulting in a poor customer experience.
Expanding Datasets
Hand-in-hand with digital growth is an expansion of datasets. Rewind a decade, and IT teams could manage this data through local networks and servers. However, as these datasets grow, the demand for storage, computing power, and analytical capabilities is expanding. This necessitates a reliable, high-speed connectivity that will keep up with the demand.
It also means that teams need to look for cloud-based solutions that are better equipped to keep up with data growth. Yet another digital solution that results in a greater need for improved connectivity.
Artificial Intelligence Solutions
Closely related to the expansion of datasets is the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. AI allows for improved analytics, real-time data monitoring, and innovative solutions for adaptive customer experiences. Through the use of new AI platforms, agencies can improve efficiencies while decreasing labor costs.
However, AI solutions are only as powerful as the connectivity behind them. Without the proper infrastructure in place, the efficiencies of AI cannot be realized.
How High-Speed Connectivity Helps Mitigate These Challenges
Looking at the complexities and challenges that face digital governance at the state and local level, a clear need emerges. These government agencies must be backed by business-level internet solutions. High-speed connectivity modernizes governance and allows IT teams to provide innovative solutions to complex governance problems.
It does so in a few key areas:
- It is scalable. As the future of digital governance continues to evolve, IT teams need to focus on internet infrastructures that can grow with the agency. In the past decade alone, government agencies have seen a massive uptick in the demand placed on internet infrastructure. While there is no way to predict the exact needs of the future, it is inevitable that the demand for connectivity is only going to increase. By investing in a business-level solution now, states can be better positioned to handle the latest in future technology innovations.
- It provides security. When an agency implements new technology, one of the top concerns is the level of security that digital solution provides. However, even the most secure platform can be compromised by an insecure connection. As bad actors invent new ways of hacking into systems, IT teams must be prepared. Not only that, but state and local governments are being held to stricter and tighter security regulations. A dedicated business connection allows agencies to protect against potential cybersecurity threats. These secure connections help IT teams remain compliant with the increasing regulations surrounding digital governance.
- It improves the customer experience. Having a dedicated high-speed internet infrastructure allows agencies to prevent latency. This means that employees can collaborate in real time. Citizens can access digital platforms at lightning speeds. And AI workflows can operate simultaneously without connectivity issues. In the future, as digital offerings and data storage needs expand, the customer experience will not be sacrificed. High-speed connectivity will be the fuel behind every innovation unveiled.
