E-Government Thrives Post 9/11

Giga Information Group recently issued a report stating that while e-business has slowed in the private sector, e-government is flourishing in the public sector. Along with online government services for citizens, IT security and electronic records management were focus areas. Andrew Bartels, vice president at Giga, wrote that the government market is far ahead of the private sector in adoption of technologies such as biometrics and smart cards.

"Things were interesting before Sept. 11. Now they're hyper-interesting," said Lou Ray, president of Matcom, a government-focused professional services firm based in Alexandria, Va. "There was a lot of movement toward digitizing the government before, but the massive agency restructuring and concentration on improving infrastructure and security has sped it up even more."

Ray said government agencies have increased their efforts around technology adoption, speeding up what was often a lengthy contract bidding and deployment process. The federal government has also shown a growing interest in emerging technologies such as biometrics and new security tools.

"In the private sector, IT doesn't have the greatest reputation and there's not a lot of free dollars in the enterprises to spend on new technology," Ray said. "The government, on the other hand, has the money and is paying a lot of attention."

Brian Kelly, president and CEO of iDefense, an IT security firm based in Chantilly, Va., said security technology is an area where the government market has displayed a more aggressive approach than the private sector.

"I think the federal government is embracing this technology faster than the private sector," Kelly said. "The enterprises often close their eyes to threats and don't want to know how these complex security solutions work."

iDefense specializes in security services such as threat assessment and analysis. The company's iAlert intelligence service provides security administrators with information on possible threats, vulnerabilities and responses. Kelly sees threat assessment as a growth area for security technology as well as within the government market.

"One of the things we haven't done well in the security field is address threats," Kelly said. "You have to focus on threats along with vulnerabilities and assets, and I think we're finally moving in that direction."

Security and biometrics weren't the only highlights, according to Giga. The analyst firm also identified CRM, ERP and portal technology as potential growth areas for the government market. In addition, the federal government is facing a shortage in IT talent. Officials estimate that nearly half of the federal government's IT workforce is eligible to retire in the next five years. The shortage will lead to the government relying more heavily on private sector technology and outsourcing projects to VARs, Kelly said.

"There's a lot of unique opportunities [in the government market for VARs, and it would be a shame if they kept their heads in the sand and missed them," he said.