Technology has become necessary to conduct day-to-day business, and state and local governments across the country face increased pressure to accelerate digital transformation. In response to constituent expectations, over half of government IT leaders plan to upgrade their technology by 2025, aiming to drive improved efficiency, savings and engagement.
It’s no wonder: between providing online utility account access, live-streaming public meetings, digital deeds and documents, electronic libraries, public Wi-Fi services and a whole host of other constituent-facing services, local government infrastructure is stretched to the max. These front-end demands on infrastructure are in addition to the backend bandwidth required to actually run those solutions and provide staff with access to the services, resources and applications they need.
With utilization that’s pushing the limits of availability, observability—the ability to monitor the health and performance of IT networks—has become essential for state and local government administrators. By gaining insight into network usage and device performance, municipalities and their agencies can use observability to optimize bandwidth delivery and provide seamless, efficient access to the services and solutions constituents expect at a much lower cost to taxpayers.
Why Network Observability for Local Government Infrastructure Matters
Network observability enables fast, reliable, secure digital environments and services for municipal staff and constituents. Not only can it prevent unauthorized access, malicious and/or inappropriate access, but observability also delivers a broad range of benefits to provide a modern, engaging experience for constituents.
- Support for convenient services. There’s a tremendous variety of digital tools to enable accessibility to services, ranging from online payment collections for taxes, licenses, and parking tickets to pothole reporting, online facility registration and even anonymous crime tip reporting. These rely heavily on cloud-based applications, third-party integrations, digital payments, and scheduling services. Observability allows admins to ensure adequate bandwidth availability to support these essential tools.
- Better reliability and up time. Network disruptions can prevent users from accessing government services and even run afoul of sunshine laws mandating open meetings. Observability tools ensure staff and constituents can get and stay connected with a seamless, smooth experience for zero interference with municipal business. Real-time monitoring can alert IT staff to issues like a failing router or wireless access point (WAP) or interference from other infrastructure equipment before these impact connectivity. Alerts for abnormal events such as WAP outages, access failures, or unusual usage patterns help IT staff address issues immediately to minimize downtime and ensure continuous access to public resources.
- Improved safety and security. Observability can help safeguard sensitive data. With the cost of recovering from a cyberattack more than doubling in 2024, 85 percent of government CIOs have prioritized prevention. By enabling security teams to identify abnormal network behavior, like unexpected data spikes or access attempts, observability can protect citizens’ data and municipal integrity. Dashboards that flag unusual spikes in traffic provide early warnings of malware activity or unauthorized access attempts, including ransomware attacks, and support compliance with data protection laws like California’s Information Practices Act and New York’s SHIELD Act.
- Real-time usage analytics. With network observability, municipalities can monitor constituent engagement with online platforms to gauge participation and determine which resources are most effective. Data shows that access to digital tools helps residents become more engaged, supports transparency and accountability and enables greater participation among previously excluded individuals. Observability can help municipalities track resource utilization to optimize investments or improve outreach and education.
- Optimize bandwidth allocation. By observing network traffic, municipal admins can dynamically allocate bandwidth for specific needs. For example, governments could provide more bandwidth for streaming public meetings, administering food service testing, hosting library events or festivals in municipal parks. Dashboards can show detailed network trends for managing high-traffic areas and identify areas where bandwidth can be stretched or borrowed.
- Troubleshooting. Observability tools can help identify root causes when a connection may be slow to determine whether the issue lies with the device, the building’s network, physical interference or the ISP. This minimizes disruptions, even for those accessing public services remotely.
- Managing IoT and smart technology. Observability improves asset inventory, streamlines maintenance and supports environmental goals. Monitoring network traffic from smart devices like interactive whiteboards, smart lighting, and environmental controls helps admins ensure smooth operations to enhance sustainability, efficiency and asset management.
- Support for emerging tech. Many government agencies are expanding their digital services to include virtual reality training simulations, AI-powered tools, remote court proceedings, and smart city initiatives. These are extremely high-bandwidth activities, and observability can help admins ensure each service has the appropriate network resource allocation.
- Scalability for growing networks. As municipalities invest more in expanding their technology infrastructure with IoT devices like traffic sensors, smart meters, public safety cameras, and high-performance applications, it’s helpful to know whether your current network can support new additions or whether it’s time for an upgrade. Observability helps ensure new systems integrate seamlessly into existing networks without performance degradation.
With the increasing adoption of digital services and remote work options, many government facilities are seeing their unprepared networks buckle under the skyrocketing demand for connectivity.
Network observability for local government infrastructure creates a more reliable, secure, and innovative environment for both public servants and citizens alike. To meet the service delivery needs of today’s constituents, government agencies should consider investing in observability tools that can help them monitor, allocate and expand network resources to ensure they can meet the demands of modern digital government operations.
Nomadix and our partners help SLED institutions with their digital transformation. We offer a range of robust networking solutions designed to enhance operational efficiency, streamline connectivity and improve public services. To learn more, get in touch with our team here.
This article originally appeared on Government Technology Insider.
Speleos Dravillas is Chief Revenue Officer and responsible for Nomadix’s go-to-market strategy and revenue growth through the execution of technology integration partnerships, strong channel and customer relationships, and industry alliances. He also is responsible for global sales and channel growth strategies and their plan executions.