Digital Government Services

Many cities nationwide are adopting technology to provide digital government services for their constituents. From digital portals that let residents complete government-related business online, to online permitting services for businesses and eDemocracy tools for greater citizen engagement, digital government services have the potential to make interaction with cities easier, faster and more effective.

Digital government services may include:

• Websites that provide information about local government agencies.
• Digital portals for gathering information from residents.
• Online services that allow residents to register property, pay fines, pay taxes, report problems, order documents and apply for permits and licenses.
• eDemocracy tools that promote public conversation and voter registration.
• Sites for online applications.
• Social media channels that engage residents and provide a place for feedback.
• Online libraries.
• Websites that provide information about tourism, transportation timetables and other helpful general knowledge.

Benefits of adopting digital government services

The advantages of digital government services include:

• Greater citizen involvement and inclusion. By making it possible to conduct business online and at any time of day, digital government services open the opportunities and business of local government to more citizens, helping bridge the divide between residents of different economic means.
• More informed planning. Digital government promotes more effective data collection, which can drive clearer insight into the needs of citizens.
• Reduced costs. Digital government services create greater efficiency by improving productivity, eliminating time-consuming and paper-based processes and avoiding duplicated efforts in different departments.
• Improved reputation. Cities that provide innovative digital government services are likely to be more highly regarded by their citizens, businesses and visitors, strengthening the tax base and helping the community to grow and thrive.

Digital government services are one aspect of smart city technologies that also include solutions such as intelligent traffic management, smart parking, smart street lighting, smart utility management, and continuous monitoring and drone monitoring to ensure critical infrastructure security and safety.

The technology required for digital government services

Smart cities rely on a variety of technologies to deliver digital government services and other smart solutions.

• Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and cameras throughout the city provide a continuous flow of information about real-time conditions that city officials rely on to improve decision-making and manage city services more effectively.
• A high-speed networking infrastructure is the backbone of smart city solutions. Connectivity must be superfast, highly reliable, with ultra-low latency and superior security.
• An IoT analytics platform is needed to collect all the data produced by IoT-enabled devices as well as databases, timetables and other sources, compiling it and analyzing it to produce insight, automate actions, issue warnings and provide valuable information to city officials and citizens.
• Digital interfaces such as websites, mobile apps, digital signage and smart kiosks allow citizens to interact with digital government services, while dashboards and reports help city officials to digest the actionable intelligence produced by smart technologies.

Spectrum Enterprise: the connectivity that powers digital government services

Spectrum Enterprise provides a crucial piece of the technology stack that enables digital government services. With a nationwide fiber network that extends more than 840,000 miles, Spectrum provides communities with the foundation of connectivity on which digital government services and other smart city solutions can be built. Spectrum is already a premier partner to many trusted cities throughout the U.S. And with plans to invest an additional $25 billion by 2021, Spectrum Enterprise is extending capacity and capabilities to an ever greater number of communities.

To provide the connectivity required for digital government services and other smart city technologies, Spectrum Enterprise offers:

• High-speed connectivity: a two-way fully interactive digital network provides symmetrical connection speeds up to 100 Gbps for local government and large enterprises, in addition to gigabit connections for homes and businesses.
• Multiple connectivity protocols: in addition to wired connections for residential and commercial settings, Spectrum offers cellular connectivity through an LTE cellular network that is one of the nation’s largest, and WiFi connectivity at over 350,000 WiFi hotspots across the country.

Learn more about Spectrum Smart Cities at www.spectrumsmartcities.com.