In my last post, I looked at how government IT needs to evolve past the traditional job description of providing secure connectivity to become partners in service delivery, leveraging the latest technology advancements to enhance citizen experience and streamline overall operations. In this part, we’ll take a closer look at one of those technology areas that’s gaining interest — location-based technology — and share actionable advice on how to transform government IT.
Location-Based Information
During busy times, government offices have to manage a sudden influx of citizens and employees in the same public space. Due to the high footfall traffic of citizens and employees, it becomes challenging to track movement. The recent global pandemic challenges have also highlighted the need to understand occupancy levels and make it possible to cap the number of citizens in a given location and enable contact tracing, should that be needed in the future, to ensure safety.
The latest networking technologies can allow government teams to control crowds better (and satisfy any future public health needs) as needed. Artificial intelligence (AI) can monitor for increasing occupancy levels and send automated alerts that the number of citizens needs to be capped off or that some need to be diverted to a different area because of crowding. It can also help identify whom specific individuals may have come into contact with, giving officials tasked with contact tracing some crucial details that can make a difficult and time-sensitive task a bit easier.
Location-based data services also allow citizens to utilize automated wayfinding assistance, which can be especially helpful when agencies and offices are spread out across an older building. Through a combination of sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, citizens can use a mobile device for personalized directions through a facility.
Operational Efficiencies
There are other areas where the latest networking technologies can enhance operational efficiencies. Smart IoT-enabled devices can monitor energy consumption, allowing the government to identify areas where energy is being wasted. AI tools can even be incorporated to automatically make adjustments based on pre-programmed guidelines.
Government agencies can use data to understand better which processes are manual and repeated and which could be automated, letting employees concentrate on more critical tasks (and saving time and resources).
Making Efficiency Improvements a Reality
Implementing these tools requires a world-class network experience that can evolve as needs change. Governments need a robust and reliable network infrastructure that can support a wide range of devices, applications and services. Their networks need to handle high-bandwidth applications and provide fast, reliable connectivity across multiple locations.
AI and ML-enabled network management tools are just as important. IT teams must monitor and manage networks in real time, quickly identifying and resolving issues. Downtime and performance issues can quickly negate any gains made in operational efficiencies, frustrating workers and angering citizens. The ability to use network activity knowledge and AI-driven automation tools to become proactive — discovering problems, addressing issues before they become public, and automating fixes — enables better services to be provided.
The needs of citizens change. Populations grow, people move in and out of areas, and the services provided evolve with the times. As governments digitally transform, it is important to ensure that investments are made in flexible equipment and solutions that can scale up or down to best support constituents.
Better Operations, Better Services
Empowering operational efficiencies through advanced networking technologies and AI improves how the government operates, enhances public safety and delivers better services. It’s important to remember that implementing these solutions requires a careful balance of technology, process and people. Governments need to work closely with their IT teams, external partners, and vendors to develop and deploy networking solutions that meet their unique needs and deliver the best possible outcomes for citizens and employees alike.
Todd Nicholson is the Director of Vertical Marketing at Juniper Networks. He leads vertical go-to-market strategy in Juniper’s target industry verticals. Key responsibilities include market development, sales enablement, demand generation and vertical product solutions. Todd has an extensive 25+ year tech industry background in executive-level sales, marketing, and product management roles for small emerging startups and large enterprise IT industry leaders, including IBM, EMC, and Gartner.
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