Startup Talk: ‘Super users’ create need for governments to accelerate digital growth
by October 21, 2016 3:40 am 160 views
Editor’s note: Each Thursday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Startup Talk,” a round-up of startup, technology and entrepreneurial news.
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‘SUPER USERS’ CREATE NEED FOR GOVERNMENTS TO ACCELERATE DIGITAL GROWTH
State governments and public service organizations designing effective digital strategies for citizen services of the future may need to look no further than their mobile devices. U.S. citizens who transact a significant amount of business online – whether booking travel or conducting financial transactions – have similar expectations for accessing and using government services digitally, according to a new report from Accenture.
The report, Citizen Digital Expectations, is based on findings from a survey of more than 3,000 U.S. citizens and shows that these highly digital citizens, or “super users,” conduct nearly half (46%) of all interactions with government through digital channels, with nearly 30% of these super users interacting digitally with government more than 75% of the time. In comparison, 42% of all respondents report less than 10% of their interactions with government happen digitally.
Super users, the report states, can be considered a leading indicator of where the population as a whole is headed. They tend to be young, slightly more affluent and avid consumers of social media and mobile apps. hey are also significantly more satisfied with the digital services offered by government – with more than two-thirds (69%) of super users reporting satisfaction compared to only half of all citizens surveyed. Similarly, 84% of super users said that improved digital services from government would positively impact their attitude toward government.
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SELECTS 35 PRIVATE PARTNERS FOR GROUNDBREAKING DATA PROJECTS
The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Technical Information Service (NTIS) announced Wednesday (Oct. 19) that it has selected 35 organizations through a merit-based process as eligible to be joint venture partners (JVPs). Once partner agreements have been signed, the organizations, which include small and large companies, nonprofits and research groups, will be eligible to compete to work with NTIS on groundbreaking data projects conducted for and funded by federal agencies.
According to Commerce Department officials, the federal government collects an enormous amount of useful data about everything from weather and climate to statistics on the U.S. economy, population and demographics to trade statistics by market and industry, including jobs supported by exports. However, many barriers exist for efficiently using, sharing, analyzing and gaining insights from these national data resources, either alone or in combination with non-federal data.
“We want to accelerate the data innovation process by quickly connecting private sector experts with agencies striving to create smart cities, deliver critical public services, enhance operational excellence or improve accessibility and interoperability among national data sets,” said NTIS Director Avi Bender.
GARTNER SAYS GLOBAL IT SPENDING TO REACH $3.5 TRILLION IN 2017
Driven by growth in software and IT services revenue, worldwide IT spending is forecast to reach $3.5 trillion in 2017, up 2.9% from 2016 estimated spending of $3.4 trillion, according to the latest forecast by Gartner Inc.
The bright spot for the IT industry has been the software and IT services segments. Software spending is projected to grow 6% in 2016, and it will grow another 7.2% in 2017 to total $357 billion. IT services spending is on pace to grow 3.9% in 2016 to reach $597 billion, and increase 4.8% in 2017 to reach $943 billion.
The most recent IT spending forecast research is available at “Gartner Worldwide Spending Forecast” here.