Maybe government isn't hip, but it isn't dumb, either.
Mobile technologies and devices obviously solve problems, and government has plenty of problems to solve -- bridging the digital divide, advancing Enhanced 911, improving neighborhoods and keeping drinking water clean, to name but a few.
One glaring difference between how government and the private sector use mobile technologies is that government is more interested in meat-and-potatoes mobility. Glitzy wireless devices and applications are all fine and good, but government is about deploying new mobile resources where it makes sense -- and with prudence. It's not about giving every employee a BlackBerry and expecting instant increased productivity.
This approach may not land a government agency a starring role in a wireless ad during the Super Bowl, but it's the right approach. For all the talk about government needing to act more like a business, mobility is one area where a slow approach might be best.
In a time when not a lot of money is available for IT, spending on a large wireless initiative may not fly. Other areas may offer better bang for the buck --storage, infrastructure improvements or Web enabling certain business processes between agencies -- and convincing whoever has final procurement authority that a wireless solution is necessary could prove difficult.
Security issues also give governments reason to pause. Setting up a little Wi-Fi network for one floor of a building or a wing of cubicles has become cheap and fairly easy, leading to all sorts of temptations and giving system administrators nightmares.
In May, Delaware CIO Tom Jarrett started spreading the word to state agencies that the Department of Technology and Information (DTI) was using sniffer software. The DTI was interested in whether agencies were deploying Wi-Fi networks and if those networks met state standards.
Jarrett said he found almost 10 agencies or departments running Wi-Fi networks without proper security protections in place, and DTI either shut down the Wi-Fi network or helped agencies and departments secure their wireless networks.
Threats to the state's network posed by the illegal Wi-Fi networks' security holes are too great to ignore. Those holes could be used by bad guys looking for personal information to exploit, or by viruses as a way in to attack other parts of the state's network.
Technological limitations, though frustrating, also play a large role in taking a slow approach to wireless deployment. Building code inspectors or county assessors can access GIS information on a mobile device, but the experience isn't as rewarding as it could be. Mobile networks don't have the big pipes necessary to transport loads of data at high speeds, and the devices themselves don't offer a lot of screen real estate to work with. Tablet PCs can help solve the real estate problem, but such PCs aren't exactly small and don't lend themselves to being carried around for hours at a time.
As with any technology, advancements in mobile solutions happen fairly quickly. Governments might just want to wait a few months before they leap, lest they roll out a mobile application that, in a few weeks, could be made irrelevant.
A plate of meat and potatoes definitely doesn't pass for a gourmet meal, but you won't walk away hungry.
