According to aSacbee article, state and local agencies just aren’t ready for the mobile environment. The study revealed that people just don’t have the tools or systems in place in order to support a mobile environment. Not being prepared for mobile technology puts them at risk when it comes to natural disasters or a potential pandemic, so agencies have every right to be concerned about their unpreparedness.
In the U.S., government unprepared
Only 60 percent of management working with public agencies, according to the Mobile Work Exchange report. Fifty-six percent of these managers report having some concerns about security as a reason for why they were unable to pursue these opportunities. When asked if there was sufficient funding in place to explore these opportunities, 52 percent of respondents indicated that finances were a problem. Additional hurdles considered include management resistant and cultural barriers.
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Europe facing similar challenges
Although one third of people in the United Kingdom rely on the mobile website to access a council’s, only a few sites actually meet the mark. According to a study released by the Society of IT Management, 17 percent of local UK agencies do not have websites that can be viewed in a mobile environment. Of all of the agencies included in the study, only 8 percent of agencies report having a very good mobile site. Of all the respondents included in the survey, 75 percent of respondents indicated report feeling mobile ready in general. Whenever municipal websites were accessed, a poor visitor experience is 12 percent higher whenever a mobile device was used. When visitor satisfaction is taken into account, 28 percent lower whenever mobile devices were used to access these sites.
Problems with ill-prepared for the mobile environment
With agencies being unprepared, agencies face multiple internal challenges. Not being able to respond to growing staffing needs or a possible pandemic. State and local agencies are planning to increase their workforce over the course of the next five years. According to research, 65 percent of managers with public agencies across America will be adding new positions. The CDC alone reports that 40 percent of employees will be taking sick days this year. This means that 60 percent of public-sector employees and approximately 45 percent of private-sector employees will likely have a need to work from home. This mobile challenge may also affect the agency’s ability to save money in not being able to extend teleworking opportunities, accordingEveryday Uniforms.
Mobile technologies and teleworking
According to theFederal Times, savings for teleworkers when the mobile infrastructure is sound, according to an article in the Federal Times. According to research, $1.8 billion would be the estimated ROI for employees. If all federal employees could take advantage of the opportunity to telecommute, $10.4 billion in savings would be produced as a result.
Closing the mobile gap
Many agencies report that funding would be very helpful in addressing the mobile technology challenge. If managers could secure more funding for their agencies, updates can be made to the infrastructure supporting these technologies. This could improve the productivity of remote employees placed in a teleworking situation.
