Findings of a study -- to be released at GTC West in Sacramento this morning -- are published in ICIA's 2004 AV Trends and Opportunities Study: State and Local Government, which sizes the state and local government AV market, examines how AV is used in government today and projects future growth opportunities for AV providers who supply the government with solutions for command and control centers, public services, transportation monitoring, briefing rooms, training, collaborative conferencing, information displays, remote control monitoring, city or council meetings and more.
Local governments including counties, districts and cities account for more than $950 million of total state/local government AV spending. All levels of state and local government spending for AV are expected to increase. A large majority of AV decision makers and planners at the state and city levels (75 percent and 65 percent of respondents respectively) anticipate a substantial increase in AV spending over the next 12-36 months. While 40 percent of county/district level planners estimate increased spending over the next 12-36 months.
The demand for AV products and services is highest across these state and local government departments: Education, Public Safety, Emergency Services, Police, Homeland Security and IT. The most common AV product purchases for these departments are respectively, cables/connectors, audio/video recording devices, displays and projectors. Cable/connector purchases are highest because these are needed for most AV products and have shorter lifetime uses. Audio/video recording equipment purchases are strong because they support training, which is one of the top applications for state and local governments. Display products, especially thin displays for digital signage, are popular in airports, courthouses and convention centers. Projectors and displays, once considered optional, are becoming de rigueur for video conferencing and video streaming of live events.
State governments have the highest AV budgets with 80 percent spending $100,000 or more per year. Counties/districts have the next highest AV budgets with 50 percent spending $90,000 annually. Of all city respondents, 35 percent have an annual AV budget of $50,000-100,000, 20 percent a budget of $100,000-250,000, and 30 percent a budget of less than $10,000.
"The study demonstrates that the government market is the leader in discretionary budgeting for AV technologies and services in the $19 billion U.S. AV industry," said Randal A. Lemke, Ph.D., executive director of ICIA. "We also observe that government spending will rise to meet the continued need for audiovisual products as a means of getting information to the public, communicating between agencies and ensuring public safety and training."
ICIA commissioned Acclaro Growth Partners to conduct the state/local study and learn more about the purchasing process and decision makers for AV products and services in non-federal government markets. The study was conducted through individual interviews and online surveys with AV end users and purchasers in state and local governments nationwide as well as pro AV manufacturers, dealers, integrators and consultants. The state/local study follows ICIA's 2004 benchmark study defining the $19 billion AV industry in North America.
In future studies, ICIA will examine emerging markets for AV such as healthcare to identify trends and opportunities for AV solutions providers. Information about the 2004 AV Trends and Opportunities Study: State and Local Government, and other ICIA studies are available online.
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