Gartner has projected an almost 7 per cent increase in government IT spending worldwide, to total $588.9bn in 2023, with all but one segment seeing growth

Along with improving citizen experiences and engagement, governmental bodies can progress digital skills across the workforce through updating tools and approaches for operations.

Implementing what Gartner calls a ‘total experience’ (TX) strategy — which helps agencies manage employee and citizen interactions — can help towards minimising friction, while failing to do so can lead to service delays and underwhelming service experiences.

As with previous government spending predictions, software is set to be the highest growing segment in 2023, according to Gartner, followed by IT services and internal services.

The devices segment of Gartner’s spending research is predicted to be the only area not to see growth in 2023, as end-users extend the shelf life of devices that were acquired at the onset of the pandemic.

“Government organisations are continuing to modernise legacy IT and invest in initiatives that improve access to digital services as constituents increasingly demand experiences that are equivalent to online customer interactions in the private sector,” said Daniel Snyder, director analyst at Gartner.

“The total experience (TX) framework, which helps agencies manage employee and citizen interactions, is enabling transformation and will remain among the main drivers of IT spend in 2023.”

>See also: How the water industry can plug customer experience leaks

Data and digitalisation top agenda for CIOs

Initiatives such as migrating services to the cloud, modernising applications, and fortifying network security are among the primary innovation priorities that governments are focused on to improve public engagement and satisfaction.

According to the 2023 Gartner CIO and Technology Executive Survey, digital transformation; leveraging and using data effectively; and technology modernisation are the top three priorities of government CIOs.

Alongside these goals, CIOs will need to tackle challenges such as varying stakeholder expectations, and developing action plans accordingly.

“Delivering on these priorities depends on establishing a shared, organisation-wide digital vision and integrating that vision into enterprise-level strategies,” said Apeksha Kaushik, principal analyst for government and education at Gartner.

“In alignment to these priorities, investments will increase in cybersecurity, application modernisation, cloud platforms, integration technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), and business/data analytics tools.

“Government CIOs will need to address concerns of digital transformation with mission objectives. They need to work closely with government executives to ensure a shared understanding of vision, roadmap and linkage to mission critical priorities.”

Related:

Rebuilding public infrastructure with digital capabilities post-COVID — How governmental bodies can rebuild public infrastructure with digital capabilities.

Crown Commercial Service launches Big Data and Analytics framework — The UK Crown Commercial Service governmental department has today launched a framework to help the public sector improve data use and services.