Latest Research

Summary

This IDC study represents a vendor assessment of the digital evidence management solutions for law enforcement market using the IDC MarketScape model.

"Law enforcement organizations are having to manage unprecedented data volumes, and data types. By leveraging secure, open, and digital evidence management platforms, agencies are able to establish key facts relevant to the case more quickly, leading to better case closure. Leveraging advanced analytics, AI, agencies are further automating the investigative process. Now we have greater insights into which vendors have key capabilities in this market and which vendors are strategically poised to succeed. This is a game changer for public safety agencies seeking to radically improve case solvability and investigative efficiencies," said Dr. Alison Brooks, research vice president, IDC's Worldwide Public Safety.

Summary

This IDC Market Note discussed Google Public Sector's latest announcement and offerings as provided in an analyst forum, with a focus on cloud, security, and AI.

"Google Public Sector's public sector strategy is promising with Google Public Sector's approach to cloud for government, commitment to security with Mandiant, strong partnerships with Deloitte and Accenture Federal Services, and responsible AI tools," said Aaron Walker, research manager for Worldwide Government Trust, Security, and Resilience program at IDC.

Summary

This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation provides a discussion and analysis of the public safety use cases that will most likely be transformed by AI and generative AI. The document provides an initial examination of opportunities for vendors and end users alike.

"The emergence of generative AI has sparked a lively debate about avenues of opportunity within the public sector, and specifically, within public safety. As agencies begin to formulate strategies on where to move first, some use cases are more amenable to transformation from this workflow," said Dr. Alison Brooks, research vice president, IDC Government Insights.

Summary

On October 30, 2023, the Biden administration issued an executive order (EO) governing the use of AI. Specifically, the EO addresses eight overarching goals: establishing standards for AI safety and security; privacy protections; advancing digital equity and protecting civil rights; support for consumers, patients, and students; workforce support; promoting innovation and competition; advancing U.S. leadership in AI globally; and optimizing government use of AI technologies. While many commentators believe the EO is overly prescriptive, careful reading suggests it is tempered in its approach while trying to align with other new but intricate and internationally recognized regulatory frameworks.

Summary

This IDC study provides IDC's 2024 top 10 predictions for national government.

"The drivers included in this IDC FutureScape will compel agencies to take a strategic approach to national security, sovereignty, and resilience and protection of virtual interactions as new attack surfaces and vulnerabilities are exposed and exploited by sophisticated global actors," says Adelaide O'Brien, research vice president, IDC Government Insights. "As national governments replatform the organization, the recommended actions and guidance of these top 10 predictions can enable a secure, agile, and data-driven organization supported by an innovative workforce creating well-orchestrated approaches to customer journeys," she adds.

Summary

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

"We have seen a rise in a strategic approach by municipalities to think of Smart City investments with an eye toward the future — future needs of the public, future scalability, and future disruption. We have also seen how tech innovation changes the landscape of services, policies, and skill sets with the rise in generative AI," said Ruthbea Yesner, vice president, Government Insights, Education, and Smart Cities and Communities at IDC. "As a result, more local and regional governments understand the need to get digital data and technology foundations to be better prepared to embrace current and future technologies to meet social, environmental, and financial outcomes."

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 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 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.