Government technology trends to watch for

3. Cybersecurity in government

Governments are often the prime targets of sophisticated cyberattacks. A CloudSEK report indicates that cyberattacks against governments in the second half of 2022 increased by 95% compared to the same period a year earlier. 

As a result, there’s an emerging trend of placing greater emphasis on cybersecurity in the public sector, which goes far beyond just installing antivirus software or setting up firewalls. A National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) survey found that cybersecurity and risk management were the top concerns for CIOs in 2023. 

Recognizing the vital nature of cybersecurity in data-driven government operations, Esper has integrated the following measures into its policymaking platform:

• Cloud security: As part of compliance with the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), Esper uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the cloud provider, integrates with system health tools and undergoes auditing by recognized Third Party Assessment Organizations (3PAOs). Data is encrypted at rest and in transit using industry-standard protocols, and backups are maintained in locations with redundancy and fault tolerance.     
• Identity and access management (IAM): Esper provides single sign-on (SSO) for user authentication and implements role-based access control (RBAC) to limit what users can do and see on the platform based on their roles and responsibilities. 
• Logs and audit trails: Esper logs all user activities and system events on the platform and provides audit trails that can be reviewed and analyzed for security monitoring.

4. Government workflow automation

With the pressure to improve internal processes and efficiencies, government agencies are turning to automation to streamline their workflows and reduce manual, repetitive tasks. Workflow automation is the design, execution and automation of processes based on predefined rules where tasks are passed from one stakeholder to another for action according to a sequence.

Esper helps governments capitalize on this trend for streamlined policy management. The platform is designed to automate various stages of the policymaking lifecycle, from drafting and collaboration to review, approval and implementation. Esper also includes features like automated reminders for pending tasks, real-time tracking of policy status and painless distribution of finalized policies.

5. Artificial intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence has been recently making waves across the private sector, and it has transformative potential for government operations as well. A number of AI use cases already exist in the public sector, ranging from predictive analytics to natural language processing for citizen interactions and even policy formulation. A KPMG survey found that a majority (79%) of government decision-makers believed in AI’s ability to enhance bureaucratic efficiencies.

Leveraging AI’s impressive data analysis capabilities, the Esper team built tools into the platform to ingest and extract relevant information from state, federal and Canadian regulations and laws. These machine-learning tools enable policymakers to easily research and compare policies against these legal frameworks and ensure their policies remain current and accurate.

Completing your digital government transformation with Esper

Named to the GovTech 100 list for the second year, Esper innovates the legacy policymaking lifecycle many agencies struggle with. Not only is Esper in tune with the government technology trends shaping the future of policy management, but it also actively enables them. We provide agencies with a secure, compliant, automated and intelligent solution for policymaking, removing friction points and enhancing collaboration between all key players.

Take a step towards modern policymaking with Esper. Get in touch.