How government wireless solutions improve security and operational efficiencies
Like a runaway train careening down a mountainside, the evolution of technology shows no sign of slowing down. As each generation of technology improves over the last, so does the rate of progress. Many IT teams are struggling to keep up with this locomotive of change, making simple, future-proof solutions vital for connecting enterprises’ people, places, and things.
Through the lens of government technology, or GovTech, this could mean the difference between green and red on balance sheets, data protection and breaches, or life and death on the battlefield.
What is GovTech?
GovTech refers to the broad swath of technological solutions meant to improve operational efficiencies, reduce costs, and modernize the public sector.
In the past, revolutionary GovTech launches were the likes of Microsoft Office and online content management systems for commerce, security, education, and more. Today, GovTech has expanded beyond simple information creation and distribution and into the cloud, where government wireless solutions include streamlined data collection, IoT projects in military environments, remote surveillance, mobile connectivity for government vehicles, and more.
Visit Cradlepoint’s federal webpage to continue exploring how evolving GovTech can improve safety, security, and efficiencies for state and federal agencies.
What are the benefits of GovTech?
The transition to cloud-managed services across a Wireless WAN (WWAN) isn’t unique to government technologies. In fact, most industries are eager to cut the cord to achieve flexibility and accommodate for growth across networks, although their reasoning may vary. So, what does GovTech do to improve the public sector?
Operational efficiencies
As is the case with most technological advancements, GovTech applications often are put into place to streamline workflows, data collection, and communications. By automating administrative tasks, state and federal employees have more time and energy to dedicate to larger projects. For example, the Galloway Clerk’s Department in Galloway, New Jersey, reported 80% less time spent on records requests after implementing software that enabled automated request processing.
Flexible connectivity for fixed sites, remote locations, and vehicles
Cellular technologies enable federal offices to connect sites and mobile operations quickly and with predictable pricing. WWAN is an optimal failover solution that can be established almost instantaneously, providing reliable connectivity in places that can’t be reached with wired lines.
GovTech investments in dual modem capabilities can also provide automatic wireless-to-wireless failover and WAN redundancy that enable nearly 100% network uptime for mission-critical networks, including first responder networks utilized by AT&T FirstNet or Verizon Frontline subscribers.
Advancements in modern warfare
For state and federal employees, data can be anything from dollars and cents to populations to test scores and more. Although military members rely on similar data to do their jobs, information collected on the battlefield also actually saves lives. Through expanded government technology capabilities, service members can access position location information at any given time and use data from IoT sensors and radars to accurately review the movement of troops, munitions, and supplies; detect unsecured networks; and monitor the health of fighters.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is also used for target recognition, reconnaissance, and training. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2024, 60% of government AI and data analytics will directly impact real-time operational decisions and outcomes, including wartime decisions.
Enhanced security
Securing agency information, government-procured data, and personal identification information of citizens is a top priority for all federal agencies. Classified information leaks cause more than a headache; they can threaten the livelihoods of millions of people, making it a priority for GovTech investments to include a zero-trust strategy in their approach to security. By putting stock in wireless technologies with cloud-based management systems vs. relying on physical servers, state and federal agencies ensure hackers are less likely to find a way to distribute malware or carry out a ransomware attack.
5G, WWAN, and the continued expansion of GovTech
As government technologies expand their reliance on cellular broadband for connectivity, security, and remote access, the need for 5G increases. 5G for government means a robust network with the ability to outperform legacy wired networks in speed, performance, and reliability.
A 5G WWAN solution can deliver data at a lightning-fast rate, such as when Lockheed Martin Black Hawk helicopters connected to 5G were able to reduce data transmission by a full five minutes. Additionally, 5G supports extensive bandwidth needs.
Perhaps most critical to the government’s adoption of 5G are the security improvements built into the network. 5G network security is marked by enhancements that include encrypted authentication and expanded roaming security, as well as architecture that supports network slicing — a key component for allocating precise levels of security based on user or use case.
