In a context where the State, Local and Education (SLED) Government landscape is constantly changing, having the right tools to face upcoming challenges is key.

To better understand the contracting landscape of 2016, Onvia released a report on the three trends that will shape the landscape through greater efficiency, higher quality and more responsive services.

Smart Infrastructure

When building smarter communities, agencies often forget the importance of starting from the inside. According to Onvia, however, applying innovation helps agencies better utilize the existing physical infrastructure and increase capacity to, ultimately, better serve constituents.

“Smart cities are willing to invest in innovation… a critical ingredient in a growing, competitive community. Vendors that can provide the most innovative, integrated solutions to address cities’ infrastructure challenges will have a clear advantage,” said Jesse Berst, Chairman of Smart Cities Council.

Some examples of smart infrastructure projects include:

• Smart Lighting
• Smart Transit
• Smart Parking
• Smart Utilities

Efficient Government

Finding efficient ways to deliver services is key for the public sector. For this reason, it is not surprising that the Onvia report found that the term “efficient” has seen a 12% increase in RFPs and Bids within the past year.

In order to achieve higher levels of efficiency, Onvia mentions streamlining and modernizing the procurement process, shifting to non-traditional and consolidated purchases and taking advantage of online platforms.

Open Data

Creating a more collaborative and responsive government could be vital when trying to speed up the process of obtaining government information.

“Open data is a major technology trend that involves opening up and sharing large data sets that were formerly hard to access. More than 40 countries have established open data initiatives, and a total of one million data sets worldwide have reportedly been put online for convenient manipulation or download,” the report says.

With the adoption of open data, agencies can increase transparency and efficiency through more responsive services, as well as improving their economic development.

Is Your Community Ready For Next Generation?

Incorporating newer trends can seem challenging when the appropriate tools aren’t available to your agency. For this reason, finding a vendor that provides the right framework for information gathering, higher efficiency levels and improved services is key when developing new strategies for local government.

GovSense can help you build smarter communities by following these three trends. Contact us to learn more!