Local government on the edge: The future of IT infrastructure
Weiquan Lin / Getty Images
Connecting state and local government leaders
Edge computing’s ability to process data more efficiently is not only essential to the modernization of the IT infrastructure itself, but it also secures the future of other key civil services.
Years of crumbling bridges, deteriorating highways and leaking water mains all highlight the urgency of modernizing the country’s infrastructure. In fact, most states scored a C- on the American Society of Civil Engineer’s Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Though illuminating, this scorecard leaves out a key public sector system: local government IT infrastructure. Like the roads, bridges and levees, IT infrastructure also requires urgent modernization.
State and local governments must navigate a growing flood of data – particularly unstructured data like video surveillance footage or internet-of-things sensor data from devices such as traffic cameras. This data is essential to the success and safety of state and local government operations, but the sheer volume threatens to overwhelm present data management infrastructure.
The current local and state IT infrastructures cannot support the future data storage and analytics needs of cities and states, but IT leaders can begin preparing now. Part of that preparation must include determining the role of edge computing.
Unlike traditional or cloud data storage that resides in a centralized data center, edge computing instead places data storage and processing near where the data is generated, which leads to faster, more efficient performance.
Edge computing merges the capabilities of cloud and on-premises data management, allowing technicians to have full capabilities out in the field. It expands the ways in which agencies can store and access government data and improves the public sector bandwidth overall. For states and cities, edge computing’s ability to process data more efficiently is not only essential to the modernization of the IT infrastructure itself, but it also secures the future of other key civil services.
Edge computing in state and local government
Emergency first response and traffic management are two examples where edge computing can support local and state government missions. In emergency response, edge computing could allow responders to understand the conditions on a scene more completely, improving safety for both first responders and the people they protect. With its ability to rapidly capture and process data at the edge, the network edge transforms into a mission-critical data enabler for first responders.
Future traffic demands also call for the flexibility of edge computing. State and local IT teams can harness edge computing – capturing and processing in-vehicle data or analyzing data from traffic cameras – to support autonomous vehicle traffic and transform our transportation infrastructure.
What leaders need to know
The massive growth in data will only expand the need for end-to-end, comprehensive storage and data management solutions to keep citizens safe and government running smoothly. It’s time for state and local IT leaders to explore how edge computing will impact their data ecosystems.
The nation’s IT infrastructure may be less tangible than its bridges and levees, but it’s no less impactful. Ongoing modernization of underlying IT infrastructure is essential to making people safer, healthier and more mobile. Edge computing can meet the needs of future cities and states – and leaders should consider how to incorporate it into their future IT planning.