GOVTECH TOOLS, APPS & WEBSITES FOR GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY LEADERS TO WATCH

From artificial intelligence and data analytics to cloud computing and digital services, emerging technologies have the potential to dramatically improve how governments operate and serve constituents. The growing category of govtech companies and solutions is tackling numerous domains across federal, state, and municipal agencies. We take a look at a few of the main areas innovators are focused on.

Citizen Experience & Engagement
Govtech platforms like Granicus, SeamlessDocs, and Citybase are helping government agencies improve outdated processes for communicating with and delivering services to citizens. Through mobile apps, chatbots, portals and automation, they’re modernizing things like requesting records, applying for permits, paying fees and taxes, and reporting issues. The goal is bringing government services into the digital age for better civic engagement and responsiveness.

Public Safety & Justice
Computer vision AI startups like Versatile and PatternEx are developing systems to help law enforcement analyze security camera footage and gunshot detection data in real time. Companies like Respondx provide software and data analytics to optimize deployment of fire, police and EMS resources. Others are using algorithms to assist with risk assessment and non-biased pre-trial decisions.

Infrastructure & Smart Cities
Companies like Remix are offering cloud-based transit planning tools powered by big data to help cities optimize routing and deployment of public mobility systems. Startups like RoadBotics use AI to automatically assess pavement condition and deterioration from smartphone images to prioritize road maintenance. Others are leveraging IoT, 5G and edge computing to enable smart parking, traffic signals, street lighting and more.

Data & Analytics
The public sector generates massive troves of data across domains from education and healthcare to permitting and code enforcement. Firms like Sumerian leverage data engineering and machine learning to help agencies combine siloed data sets and apply advanced analytics for improved decision support, fraud detection, forecasting and other predictive capabilities.

Cybersecurity
With expanding digital attack surfaces and threats from bad actors, demand has grown for cybersecurity solutions tailored for government IT systems. Companies like Virtru provide data protection and encryption for ensuring privacy and regulatory compliance. Others like Merculite are focused on biometrics, PKI encryption and other identity solutions to defend citizens and harden agency infrastructure.

From cumbersome inner operations to delivering better public-facing services and infrastructure, the public sector faces many challenges that new govtech tools and innovation can help address. While implementation has been relatively slow so far, governments at all levels increasingly view modernization efforts through a technology lens. The rise of cloud-based, AI-powered solutions tailored for civic and regulatory use cases will likely drive accelerating adoption of govtech.