Increasing Importance of Data Analysis and Cybersecurity
Government CIOs Name AI as Most Breakthrough Technology
Government digital initiatives lag behind other industries


Gartner announced the results of a survey conducted among Chief Information Officers (CIOs) of governments around the world.
Gartner's 2019 CIO Agenda Survey was conducted with a total of 3,102 CIOs from major industries, including 528 government CIOs from 89 countries worldwide. To identify trends by sector, government respondents were classified into national/federal, state/provincial (regional), local government, and defense/intelligence.

According to the survey results, in 2019, government CIOs worldwide ranked data analytics and cybersecurity as the top sector for the largest expansion of technology investment, surpassing the cloud. The high level of interest in data reflects the perception that AI and data analytics will be the most groundbreaking technologies for the government in 2019.

“Data utilization is the core of digital government and a key asset of everything the government oversees and provides,” said Rick Howard, a vice-president analyst at Gartner. “The ability to strategically utilize data in real time will be of great help to the government in providing services smoothly, even as the burden on limited resources increases.”


Improving digital maturity
A survey on strategic business priorities revealed that 18% of CIOs across various government agencies cited digital initiatives as a key factor in achieving performance goals this year. Meanwhile, 23% of CIOs in other industries gave the same answer. Among the business priorities selected by government CIOs, industry-specific goals (13%), operational excellence (13%), and cost optimization and reduction (8%) followed.

According to the survey results, the government is making gradual progress in designing and delivering digital services and has reached a level of maturity comparable to the overall industrial sector. When asked about the stage of their organizations' digital initiatives, 29% of government respondents answered that they are in the expansion and improvement phase, which is considered a turning point where digital initiatives are deemed mature. This represents a 15% increase compared to the survey conducted in 2018.

However, the government still lags behind other industries (33% of the total) in expanding and improving digital initiatives. This gap is particularly pronounced in the defense and intelligence sectors, where only 9% of respondents said they had expanded digital initiatives.

Howard, an analyst, stated, “Governments must continuously improve their digital maturity to meet citizens’ demands and expectations for effective and efficient services,” adding, “Government CIOs have clearly recognized the potential of digital government and have begun developing new digital services, but now is the time to move beyond vision to action through digital leadership.”

Despite their interest in digital, only 17% of government CIOs responded that they plan to expand investment in digital business initiatives. This contrasts with the 34% of CIOs in other industries who have plans to expand investment. While government CIOs present a clear vision of the potential of digital government and new technologies, 45% of them stated that they lack the IT and business resources necessary to implement them.


Groundbreaking Technologies for Government: “AI, Data Analytics, Cloud”
In 2019, 27% of government CIOs cited AI as the most groundbreaking technology. Data analytics followed at 22%, and cloud technology at 19%. Cloud, which took first place in last year's survey, fell to third place in this year's survey.
Howard, an analyst, stated, “Through new insights and delivery methods provided by AI, governments will be able to scale to unprecedented levels,” adding that “critical human resources will be deployed for more complex processes and decision-making.”

Among government respondents, 10% said they have already adopted AI solutions, 39% said they intend to adopt AI solutions within the next 1-2 years, and 36% said they intend to adopt AI solutions within the next 2-3 years.


Increased investment expected in cybersecurity, cloud, and data
Across the government, business intelligence (BI) and data analytics (43%), cyber and information security (43%), and cloud services and solutions (39%) were ranked as the top technology sectors where technology investment is expected to expand in 2019. Cloud ranked first in last year's survey but dropped to second place in 2019.
According to Howard Analysts, the expected increase in spending on cybersecurity reflects the government's recognition of its role as a public data keeper, as secure transactions in the digital world have become critical for the government as well.

He also stated, “In today’s digital world, cyber attacks are highly visible, malicious, costly, and undermine public trust,” adding, “Government CIOs have steadily raised the priority of cybersecurity over the past few years and are doing their utmost to remain vigilant to mitigate constantly evolving malicious attacks and threats as much as possible.”