If you ask almost any company that has incorporated mobile business apps into their business plan they will tell you that it has made everyone’s life easier. They have shown some stunning successes and though we have seen a few failures it is a new technology that is improving on a daily basis. Mobile applications have been taking the private sector by storm, but one very influential person believes that they can be used in public sector jobs as well.
In a memo titled “Digital Government: Building a 21st Century Platform to Better Serve the American People,” President Obama requires that government agencies make at least two services that are used by the general public available on mobile devices within the next year. It also requires government agencies to offer online resources to third party mobile app developers and make their data open and machine readable by default. There is an added stipulation that these agencies create a page within 90 days on their websites to document their progress in meeting these goals.
In a parallel movement the president released a statement saying, “For far too long, the American people have been forced to navigate a labyrinth of information across different government programs in order to find the services they need. Americans deserve a government that works for them anytime, anywhere, and on any device.” The president understands the importance of mobile applications and mobile devices acknowledging the fact that more people are accessing the internet through mobile devices than traditional computers.
This is not the first instance of government acknowledging the power of mobile applications. In October of 2011 the United States Army released plans to unveil an app store to support soldiers. While all of the details were not released for security reason they said they would offer both a tablet and multiple apps with different levels of access.
Whether they will admit it or not these government agencies have an advantage from the trial and error of enterprises using mobile apps. Mobile app developers have spent the last few years working tirelessly to try to perfect mobile business apps. While there may be no such thing as the perfect app these mobile app developers have improved mobile business applications in ways that were never thought imaginable. As government agencies step into the mobile app space they will be able to take this experience and apply it to applications meant to aid the American populous.
As the entire world turns to mobile devices as their main source of media, entertainment, information, and multiple other resources it only makes sense that government resources would quickly become available through mobile apps. As we transition from using traditional websites to heavily relying on mobile applications it is important that our government evolves with the times to accommodate the trends. This new endeavor only reassures the presence of mobile technology in our daily lives and how important applications are becoming in an increasingly mobile society.
