Most public sector IT workers see benefits in mobile tech, survey says
Government IT professionals see many benefits for their agencies from the growth in mobile technologies, including more innovation and creativity, according to a new survey.
Nearly three-quarters of public sector technology employees in a recent survey said the global proliferation of smart phones and tablet computers is having a positive effect on their agencies.
Out of the 100 information technology employees interviewed, 31 percent said the impact of mobile device expansion and development was “very positive” and 41 percent said it was “positive.”
Overall, 72 percent reported beneficial effects on their agencies from mobile technology. Another 26 percent said there was no impact, and 3 percent said there was a negative impact.
The April 24 survey of federal, state and local professionals was commissioned by HP and performed by Wakefield Research. The 2012 survey included information about the impact of mobile technologies for the first time.
Of those who cited positive effects, the greatest impact mentioned by those respondents was from “greater freedom among agency employees to use mobile devices,” reported by 61 percent.
The survey did not provide details on whether the respondents were actually using, or allowed to use, mobile devices at work.
Other positive impacts cited included innovation, reported by 52 percent; adoption of “Gov 2.0” technologies, 48 percent; use of “Gov 2.0” technology, 44 percent; collaboration with other agencies, 41 percent; secure remote access, 40 percent; and creativity, 40 percent.
Of the 3 percent who perceived a negative impact, the primary cause was increased security risks, cited by 70 percent from that pool of respondents, and increased costs of integrating mobile devices into networks, cited by 56 percent.