Latest Research

Summary

This IDC study discusses digital transformation (DX) in national governments and its influence on prioritizing use cases for investment as well as the mission and strategic priorities that are driving technology spending.

"As national governments invest in digital resiliency, areas of focus will include investments in cloud to extend the reach and reliability of digital services, business intelligence, and AI/ML to better leverage data and improve decision making; modernizing the work environment for employees; and greater investments in technologies that ensure sustainability and assure trust, including cybersecurity." — Adelaide O'Brien, research director, IDC Government Insights.

Summary

This IDC study provides insights into the use of open source intelligence for investigations.

"Agencies are increasingly looking to incorporate targeted OSINT tools and capabilities to circumvent gaps in situational awareness, and to establish insights, intelligence, and a record of events during investigations," notes Alison Brooks, research vice president for IDC's Worldwide Public Safety.

Summary

This IDC Market Perspective provides an overview of the key takeaways from the recent AWS Public Sector event held June 7-8, 2023, in Washington, D.C. The event showcased numerous technological innovations relevant to public sector agencies. During the two-day event, AWS made several important announcements on critical initiatives.

"AI, cloud platforms, compute power, edge processing, and reskilling themes stood out as key highlights," said Alison Brooks, research vice president, IDC Government Insights.

Summary

This IDC Market Perspective provides a discussion of developments IDC foresees as critical factors in this market throughout 2023. Public safety agencies worldwide are capitalizing on massive innovations in technology specific to their subvertical, as well as innovations spanning numerous technology markets. For this reason, public safety agencies no longer have to make tough compromises in their technology adoption. "2023 is the start of a new era in public safety technology. Agencies will be able to leverage secure, data-intensive, real-time solutions that afford them with unparalleled situational awareness," says Alison Brooks, PhD, research vice president, IDC Government Insights.

Summary

This IDC Perspective discusses the developments IDC foresees being critical factors in the data-driven policing market throughout 2023. "Broadly speaking, the technology market is on the precipice of a monumental change, with next-generation AI-driven capabilities having become usable, intuitive, democratized, and creative. Combined, technological innovations in cloud, compute, edge, connectivity, and AI/ML are culminating in a world of "AI Everywhere." Police agencies worldwide will only be able to take advantage of these innovations if they lead first with established, codified regulatory, and police guardrails guiding these transformations," says Alison Brooks, PhD, research vice president, IDC Government Insights.

Summary

This IDC Market Note discusses SAS' annual analyst conference that returned in person, after a three-year pandemic-driven hiatus, to showcase several pivotal market and technology developments of interest to government.

"In several key software business lines (decisioning intelligence, advanced analytics, and AI), SAS has arguably been ahead of the market, in effect waiting for the broader market to catch up; in others (cloud, open IT, interoperability, and usability), SAS has been trailing and has been focused on regaining ground," said Alison Brooks, research vice president, IDC Government Insights. "The three-year gap afforded by the pandemic provided some perspective on SAS' progress; SAS is indeed both taking its competitive threats seriously and leveraging its core expertise and differentiators."

Summary

This IDC Perspective looks at the Biden–Harris administration's release of its National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS) on March 2, 2023, which seeks to address profound shifts in the cybersecurity landscape, specifically growing threats to critical infrastructure, such as those seen in the SolarWinds and Colonial Pipelines ransomware attacks. "As clearly laid out in the NCS, cybersecurity fortification is indeed a precursor to the digital economy," says Alison Brooks, Research VP, IDC Government Insights.

Summary

This IDC Perspective provides conceptual guidance to organizations seeking to understand the evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) and its metamorphosis into a new framework, the Matrix of Earthbound and Extraterrestrial Entities (ME³).

"The time has come to discover the space between and beyond the lines of sensors, connectivity, and cloud. Now is the perfect moment for innovators to become inquisitive about what might unfold when the Matrix of Earthbound and Extraterrestrial Entities is explored with curiosity." — Marcia Elaine Walker, research vice president, Worldwide Industry Operations Technology at IDC

"The space-time continuum does not need to be broken or even bent to take advantage of next-generation opportunities. Innovators simply need to recognize that yesterday's technology framework will soon be increasingly conceptually irrelevant." — Alison Brooks, Ph.D., research vice president, Worldwide Public Safety at IDC

Summary

This IDC Market Glance sketches out the open source intelligence (OSINT) market, specifically drawing out the central OSINT capabilities, techniques, and use cases that are growing in importance for digital investigations. In part aligned with the intelligence disciplines, the document also highlights key trans-lateral capabilities and the OSINT Framework, as well as delineating which actors are pivotal to OSINT journalism. This is the first version of this IDC Market Glance, and we expect to further iterate and subdivide sections moving forward.

Summary

This IDC study provides our top 10 predictions for Smart Cities and Communities.

"Cities and communities around the world are tackling challenges unearthed during COVID-19 and recent severe weather events with a focus on foundational technology investments as well as technology innovations to provide more convenient and user-friendly experiences that are equitable, inclusive, and resilient," said Ruthbea Yesner, vice president, Government Insights, Education, and Smart Cities and Communities at IDC. "These efforts must be accelerated to respond effectively to environmental changes."

Summary

This IDC study provides 10 predictions for the worldwide national government market.

"From shifting to a digital business, attracting and retaining critical skills, selecting IT suppliers based on ESG value, and protecting agency data and personally identifiable information (PII) from nation-state attacks to reassertion of digital sovereignty, national governments face interconnected imperatives," says Adelaide O'Brien, research vice president, IDC Government Insights. "IDC's national government predictions address these imperatives with actionable advice for IT and agency leadership," she adds.

Summary

This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation provides a road map over three time horizons to prioritize deployment of each of the digital transformation use cases found in IDC's Worldwide Digital Transformation Use Case Taxonomy, 2022: Smart Cities and Communities (IDC #US48645922, September 2022). Every organization should evaluate its own digital transformation strategy against the road map and make adjustments as needed based on regional context and organizational circumstances.

Smart Cities and communities are prioritizing initiatives that address friction in economic development, community development, public safety, intelligent transportation, and connected infrastructure. They are also seeking to address human resource shortages, budget constraints post-COVID-19 shutdowns, infrastructure modernization imperatives, and hybrid work models. To that end, cities and communities are looking to become better data stewards, delivering more seamless, usable, and cost-effective services. IDC Government Insights introduced a number of new use cases, including metaverse services and augmented participatory budgeting." — Ruthbea Yesner, vice president, IDC Government Insights

Summary

This IDC study provides a framework for digital transformation (DX) in Smart Cities and Communities, how cities are prioritizing use cases for investment, and the strategic priorities that are driving technology spending.

"Smart Cities and Communities transform the urban ecosystem to deliver environmental, financial, and social outcomes. By understanding the strategic value of digital transformation, Smart Cities and Communities can deliver truly innovative services to residents, businesses, and visitors. Digital transformation of the urban ecosystem must start with a common vision or mission, identify the core elements to delivering on that vision, and implement the critical use cases that will catalyze Smart City maturity," said Ruthbea Yesner, vice president, IDC Government Insights.