Dive Brief:
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Nearly three-quarters of respondents to a new Accenture survey cited improved data security and privacy as the top benefit anticipated by investing in emerging technologies, according to an announcement. The report examines the adoption of emerging technologies across government agencies, including advanced analytics, predictive modeling, the Internet of Things, machine learning and natural language processing.
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Revenue and social services agencies are the biggest adopters of data analytics solutions, followed by border agencies and public safety agencies. Accenture surveyed nearly 800 public service technology professionals from nine countries in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific that are piloting or have already implemented the emerging technologies.
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Public safety is currently the biggest adopter of biometric technologies, though more than two-thirds of all respondents said they are deploying or considering deploying biometric tech.
Dive Insight:
The private sector isn’t the only area that stands to benefit from new levels of customer service enabled by technology. Accenture’s survey indicates the public sector is looking to prioritize new tech as well.
It’s all about making things easier for customers while giving the company or agency an opportunity to streamline services. For many government agencies, that means improved security as well, which is a bonus given that many public sector agencies oversee huge troves of public data.
The survey also underscores the growing popularity of biometrics. As passwords become less effective and easily compromised, biometrics is becoming a more popular alternative. Last month, Apple announced it is working to add facial recognition for unlocking phones, authenticating payments and launching secure mobile apps in future iterations of the iPhone.
