Each year, CGI meets face-to-face with business and IT leaders to hear their perspectives on the trends affecting their organizations. In 2017, we conducted 392 in-person interviews with government clients to hear more about their top trends and priorities.

Top trends

Digital transformation once again ranks highest on the list of trends for central and federal government agencies. Protecting the organization through cybersecurity is a close second, showing a significant increase in importance compared to 2016. Assuring regulatory compliance, addressing the challenges associated with flat or constricting budgets, and increasing use of public and private clouds and implementing agile solutions are also top of mind for government IT and business leaders.

Top 2017 trends in central and federal government

  • 81% Becoming digital organizations to meet increasing citizen expectations
  • 80% protecting through cybersecurity
  • 64% Assuring regulatory compliance
  • 64% Flat budgets and economic lags constricting budgets and spend
  • 62% Increasing use of public and private cloud and implementing agile solutions

Looking ahead, executives cite the impact of an aging population, the desire to achieve operational excellence, and the need to exploit big data as emerging government trends.

Investing for innovation

Government executives indicate that budget growth is returning, with budgets for new IT investments up 2%. However, maintenance budgets have decreased by 0.8%. Digital transformation and business process improvements top investment priorities now and on the three-year horizon. Additionally, governments plan to accelerate investment in data and predictive analytics over the next three years.

Focus areas for government client innovation Now Within 3 years

  • Digital transformation
  • Business process improvement
  • Agile IT delivery and infrastructure
  • Cybersecurity
  • Data and predictive analytics
  • Mobile solutions

Central and federal government business and IT leaders agree on the need to prioritize modernization. They recognize that transformation cannot proceed without modernization first and that the challenges of existing IT systems must be addressed head on. Cybersecurity also continues to be top of mind for both technology and business leaders.

Discover the insight

Download additional trend information from the 2017 CGI Client Global Insights central and federal government summary, and contact us for a copy of the full report and to arrange a personal discussion with a CGI government expert for further analysis and insights.