Mobile adoption has been growing exponentially in consumer markets, and is quickly redefining how government organizations engage with the citizens and solicit feedback for public opinion. To help agencies manage devices in the workplace, GovLoop published the report, Exploring Bring Your Own Device in the Public Sector, which was recently featured in the spring edition of The Public Manager . 

Our research finds that the public sector workforce is currently in the midst of a transformation as more mobile devices permeate the workplace. With federal mandates and executive orders charting the course for mobile technology adoption, agencies have been tasked to cut costs, increase transparency, and provide employees the ability to work where, how and when they desire. For many agencies, mobility has become not just a necessity, but is now a strategic imperative to re-imagine how government delivers services to citizens.

The report contains insights from a survey administered to the GovLoop community. The survey was designed to understand the common challenges and roadblocks for bring your own device (BYOD) adoption in the public sector. The report also includes expert interviews with Kimberly Hancher, Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and David Graziano, Director of Security and Unified Access, US Public Sector at Cisco. Some of the core findings from our survey are:

• 80% of survey respondents currently do not have a BYOD policy at their agency

• 62% of respondents acknowledged that a BYOD policy would be desirable to have at the agency

• 71% believed that “allowing people to work on most comfortable device,” was the greatest benefit, followed by improved productivity (58%), and cost savings (55%)

• 79% of respondents believe that BYOD could have a positive impact on employee satisfaction, productivity and employee engagement

Additionally, the report provides case studies from the City of Minneapolis, the White House BYOD Toolkit, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, all to help agencies implement a comprehensive BYOD strategy. In particular, the report provides access to five sample BYOD policies from the White House BYOD Toolkit.

The report identifies that a well-crafted BYOD policy aims to leverage the pace of individual technology investment for the workplace, as well as put in place a framework for managing the risks of integrating personal devices into the workplace.

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