Utah, Wisconsin Are Ahead of the Curve in Mobility Technology Investment

According to Vernon Hills, Ill.-based CDW Government Inc.'s (CDW-G) State and Local Government Technology Investment Curve for mobility technologies, Utah and Wisconsin are farthest ahead of the curve when it comes to investing in four categories of mobility technologies: Windows notebooks; Apple notebooks; non-wireless-enabled handheld computing devices; and wireless computing devices such as Blackberrys.

The State and Local Government Technology Investment Curve for mobility technologies is the fourth in a series of the CDW-G State and Local Government Technology Investment Curve, which is an assessment of state, county and city government purchasing behavior from 2003 to 2006. As the lead investors on the mobility technology investment curve, according to CDW-G, Utah and Wisconsin “demonstrate significant, committed investment in mobility technologies at all levels of government and over the entire four-year assessment.”

“Mobility technologies have the power to transform operations for city, county and state governments,” said Jim Grass, CDW-G senior director of state and local government sales. “Critically, mobility technologies improve emergency response times and the security of public safety officers in the field, as well as the citizens they serve. They also deliver data and applications directly to government employees serving citizens where they live and work. With mobility technologies, employees no longer have to return to the office to complete tasks – improving work/life balance while enabling completion of ever-greater volumes of work with the same number of hands.

We hope that the State and Local Technology Investment Curve will enhance the market dialogue on the important benefits of mobility technology.”

California, New York Among "Early Investors"

CDW-G points out that the Technology Investment Curve for mobility technologies is a quantitative, relative index of city, county and state government investment in mobility technologies. According to CDW-G, Utah leads the states with a mobility investment profile of 357.29, which is 257 percent higher than the average, and Wisconsin follows with a profile of 310.20, which is 210 percent higher than the average.

According to CDW-G, Utah and Wisconsin are followed in mobility technology investment by “early investors” California, New York, Oregon and Colorado. Next in investment are 12 “early majority” states, led by Virginia, Washington, Ohio and Maryland.

Ranked on the mobility investment index, the lead investors, early investors and early majority investors (and their respective investment profiles) are:

1. Utah – 357.29.
2. Wisconsin – 310.20.
3. California – 214.36.
4. New York – 191.96.
5. Oregon – 178.10.
6. Colorado – 173.39.
7. Virginia – 160.72.
8. Washington – 158.71.
9. Ohio – 147.26.
10. Maryland – 146.26.
11. Rhode Island – 139.36.
12. Florida – 133.47.
13. Wyoming – 131.33.
14. Massachusetts – 124.19.
15. Illinois – 122.75.
16. Nevada – 119.43.
17. Michigan – 117.23.
18. Arizona – 106.95.

Public Safety Often Drives Mobility Tech Investment

According to CDW-G, lead investors and early investors – those farthest ahead of the investment curve – share some common characteristics. Among them, CDW-G points out that public safety initiatives often spur investments in mobility technology products. As an example, CDW-G notes that laptop computers frequently are used in law enforcement and other emergency response vehicles. CDW-G also notes that mobility technologies often are tied to initiatives to expedite information to emergency responders.

Another common characteristic of lead and early investors, according to CDW-G, is that investments in mobility technology “frequently focus on already-mobile workers who would otherwise return to the office or rely on radio/telephone communications to complete tasks.”

“Mobility technologies free state and local government agencies from the confines of often-inaccessible office buildings, equipping workers to initiate and complete the delivery of government services directly at the point of the citizen,” CDW-G asserts.

CDW-G listed a number of examples of how investments in mobility technologies have been applied in lead investor and early investor states. For example, in Utah:

• Engineers and contractors working on road and building projects for the Utah Department of Transportation access information on site via laptops and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
  
• Utah Highway Patrol troopers use in-vehicle laptops to look up driver's license and vehicle information, fill out reports and track other troopers through an interactive mapping program.

In Wisconsin:

• The Wisconsin Department of Corrections, in lieu of polygraph machines, uses laptops loaded with layered voice analysis software in jail interrogation rooms when questioning suspects.
  
• Eau Claire County created a Web-based system that allows school officials, social workers, law enforcement officers and others to access juveniles' criminal records, and the county uploaded the system onto wireless notebooks in patrol cars as well as onto PDAs to allow anytime/anywhere access to this information.

CDW-G emphasizes that the Technology Investment Curve focuses on statewide technology investment at all levels of government and that the curve is not an assessment of leadership in mobility technology or of the quality of deployments.

To view the State and Local Technology Investment Curve for mobility technologies, click here.