When it comes to information technology, government CIOs and IT managers can attest to the fact that even small IT changes can create a domino effect across other systems.
This is according to a new report from IDC Government Insights: The Last Domino: Metro Area Small Cell (MASC) Networks and the New Cascade of Gov’ Big Data in Motion.
This new report looks at the rapid growth of new government data sources, many related to the emerging devices used by smart city applications, border management solutions and campus-centric information gathering. It also examines the significant impact these changes will have on government data management.
It indicates that larger systemic changes, including many new data sources and new edge devices, can trigger chaos and adjustment for public sector IT departments. This point is being driven home right now by a series of “IT
dominos” that are initiating a series of broad impacts, and which will stoke a wide succession of within IT departments. These changes could continue for several years.
To gather and properly channel these new sets of data, government is increasingly relying on the presence of small cell networks in urban and border areas. Because government is responsible for such large swaths of the urban landscape (and also border areas) we use the term Metropolitan Area Small Cell (MASC) Networks to describe this arena.
To explore the idea of how one of these new growth areas is having a measureable impact on the next, IDC Government Insights uses the metaphor of “dominos” within this study. Starting with the data gathering itself, via edge devices, it looks at how the data flow is impacting government IT choices.
The key dominos evaluated in the new report include:
* Domino 1 – The Starting Point for Government “Data in Motion”;
* Domino 2 – An Explosion of Mobile Collection Points and MASC Networks;
* Domino 3 – Big Data in Motion Meets Expanded Government Data Transparency and Sharing; and
* Domino 4 – Major System Changes Are on the Horizon for Public Sector IT.
According to the new report, as these dominos fall into place, new demands are placed on IT systems.
“Before government and education organisations can support a range of external IT services, many will need enterprise architecture upgrades,” says Shawn McCarthy, research director at IDC Government Insights.
This can include something as basic as increasing network bandwidth, to establishing more robust access control systems, to working to establish far-reaching WLAN control tools.
IDC has coined the term “MASC Networks” to describe the emerging presence of government small cell networks.
