IDC: Put active citizen engagement on 2012 agenda

By eGov Innovation Editors | Dec 11, 2011

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Citizens today are actively seeking engagements on social networks with brands, products and companies and they are looking to engage with government representatives in a similar fashion. However, IDC Government Insights said many governments across Asia-Pacific are delaying online interaction with their citizens until protective policies for security guidelines are defined.

"While keeping all senses tuned to maintain awareness of security risks until regulations and policies are finalized is good, online citizen interaction will prove critical to meet the increasing demand by citizens to address their needs and concerns 24/7. Ignoring their calls for interaction may not be wise in a long-run," said Frank Levering, Research Manager, IDC Government Insights Asia-Pacific.

Across IDC Government Insights’ key predictions for the government sector across Asia-Pacific, some key themes stand out. The research firm expects IT security to be commoditized in 2012 and any discussion with government entities about ICT solutions needs to have an elaborate security component. Ironically, both vendors and government representatives are unlikely to be fully prepared or equipped to have that conversation, it said.

IDC also predicts that cloud infrastructure and platform decisions will get well on the way among the mature countries. Developing nations, on the other hand, will look to cloud solutions to scale up their ICT offerings quickly.

Finally, Asia-Pacific has seen its fair share of natural disasters recently. Consequently, IDC Government Insights expects smart city initiatives to benefit from renewed government focus to limit the impact of disasters and manage the after-effects.

More insights are revealed in an IDC Government Insights report, “Asia-Pacific Government Insights 2012 Top 10 Predictions," which presents key predictions for the government sector across the region.